Price looks pretty high considering it's just a few bolt ons, without a tune, and he clearly states that the car has been a headache. Relatively clean example, but it's still a stock auto with 95-96 stock bottom end on a 100,000+ mile chassis.

Things to watch for, headache cars, amataur mechanics working on it (i.e. the seller), shocktower rust, rust on underside of hatch or hood, rotted underbodies. As for the engine / drivetrain, with the 200-250whp that this car might put out with a tune it should handle it all day long. If you are looking to build a much higher hp vehicle, you would be better off looking for a better example with proper modifications.

Honestly I don't mind building the car even if I replace all his mods. I've bought a built car and it was the worst decision I have made. I knew nothing about it and enjoy building cars so I know how it all goes together.

Its hard to ever find a car this clean local to me. I've searched for a clean dsm forever. I was planning on using the base tune and the fact its a stock motor, as a some what low ball excuse.

What would you offer?

Jack the car up and look for rust or damage to the underside, make sure everything looks straight and original. If that looks good, $3000 seems fair.

I've read some posts on here about guys buying one and finding butchered wiring under the hood and dash.

Average price of a 2g AWD is around $3-4k depending on the condition of the car. The supporting mods of this car are about $1k, so I would negotiate at $3,500 up to $4,000 max.

I always deal with standalones, any idea what I should expect on the tune? flash tune? whats popular on these cars.

The seller already has DsmLink V3 which by far majority of Dsmturners use and most popular. DsmLink V3 is sufficient for your future setup goal.

A/c has been removed
Only has a base tune at the moment, so the air/fuel ratio isn't perfect.
Leaks a little oil, not bad.
The car idles funny, due to a bad iac or tps.
Will need tires soon.

Not sure how much of this matters to you it seems like you can do it yourself with help from information here. My questions would be was the car really ever tuned and if so why is it on a base map? IAC and TPS is a easy fix but has never been taken care of. The body work and paint look nice but I would look for a Man transmission unless a full auto track car is something you are looking for. I would offer no more then 3k if I was dead set and the above issues aren't a problem.

Does the guy even know that if you have BC272 Cams its going to idle a little loopy? You can tune to dial it in but with upgraded cams it will idle funny. Some people really like the auto trans because it shifts faster. I know track only guys that only like the auto. The iac and tps can be looked at in the ECU to tell you if they are bad / reading incorrect values. The car does look pretty clean so I would say price is not out of ballpark. After running autocross in a 1g with a hopped up 14b I can tell you at higher psi they run more power than the T25 I was in an autocross 1g that was running like 20lbs and it got. Guy wasnt worried about blowing up the stock 14b he was running so I think sometimes he ran even more boost than that.

Well he just accepted my offer of 3k. Probably going to go look at it soon.

Matthew Yonke said:

Alright guys. Looking at this to purchase. I started building vw 1.8t 4 banger big turbo cars when I was 17. I sold everything and went to v8's. I bought a few corvettes. Build a twin turbo lsx 1000hp and just got out of another twin turbo ls2 c6 build. I have had no fun with v8's. They are a bi*** to work on, insane heat gets put out from them, etc. Looking at going back to 4 bangers for a fun car.

Here is the car. I have a ton of knowledge, I could rip the car apart and back together and fix mostly anything.

I would like any advice on things I won't know. What sucks about these cars, what always breaks, what do I need to look out for. Lastly how is the price.

https://columbiamo.craigslist.org/cto/6012745327.html

Click to expand...

Now I'm just going to put it this way...
You get what you pay for most of the time with dsms.
I have seen people like me have a almost everything in a 2g break...
I got my 95 awd MT for 2k with 106k miles on it.
Here's my list of ishus...
All the wiring...previous owner did not know what he was doing.
I've crank walked one stock 7 bolt engine.
It didn't like me pushing it as hard as I did.
It had an early 7 bolt so we could debate if it was already an ishu before I got the car.
I've broke 3 transmissions.
I've broke 2 transfer cases.
I've broke 2 shifters...
Throttle cable broke...
Oem radiator overflow can't seem to keep coolant in above 400hp-600hp.
I think the car should have been given a better oil pump and bigger oil pan so we don't run out of oil at 7500-9k R.P.M.
Tune is important to keep the cars running...
So try to know how to do it you're self so you don't spend lots of $$$ on a dyno.
The 2g is a Bit heavy when compared to a 1g...
Labor for a 2g always cost a lot if you can find a shop willing to touch it.
So try to do labor you're self...
The list go's on and on...
But I and others can keep writing lists of what can go wrong but keep this in mind...
Many people have better luck than others.
The car it's self is a good car.
Looks pretty, is rally fast for the $$$, handles like one of the best sed cars I've driven, easy to work on for the most part, the sound of a 4g63 turbo is orgasmic- and women love a fast 2G.
I see the 2g going for $3.5k-$9k on the west coast.
And after all the problems my car had I wish I had got a $6k mint stock AWD if I could do it again.
My friend did just that and fixed it up.
I think he sed it's a 6 bolt now with 600hp.
But it's easy to build a stock 2g.
Just getting a car that's already mest with can mean a lot of work to get it back to the point it's reliable.
Don't know if this helped but it looked like a good car to start with for the $.
If the old owner knows what he did and why he did it to the car Than it looks like a good deal.

If that 2g was located in seattle I would buy it for 3k... with the intention to 6 bolt swap, rebuild trans and go through the suspension. It looks really clean in and out. If the underside is clean.... sold haha.
It has some decent bolt ons.

Have him hook the laptop up during a test drive log into link and check how much knock its generating. Don't tell him that's what you're doing... just play dumb and have him drive it first... he will drive it how ever he is comfortable driving on this "base tune" i bet it has plenty knock.. if so... Don't be surprised if the engine let's loose sooner than later. Being that he drives it like this.