Help educate me on the potential car purchase.

[cooltoy]

Hello everybody. I am looking at purchasing my first DSM and I'm kinda caught in a pickle because the car is some 400+ miles away from me. I've spoke with the dealer and got all the information I could about the car from him. However I need some help from the experts here.

The car is a 97 GSX with 90,000 miles. The dealer swears it runs and drives perfectly, (don't they all ). Now I'm very serious about purchasing this car but I'm trying to get every last bit of info I can before I make the trip to go see, inspect, and hopefully purchase the car since it's quite a drive. What kind of maintenance should I expect to be done by this amount of mileage? It has a 2GA front bumper which tells me someone replaced it at some point from the factory original. Which sends up a red flag that this car may have had a front end collision. So I am obviously going to run a CARFAX on it to figure this out. If this in fact the case, what kind of residual damage should I expect to find or look for when inspecting the car?

All the interior is fine, minus horrendously dirty carpet and super ugly outdated cloth seats. From all the pictures the dealer has sent me the outside looks straight and the paint isn't peeling or fading. The only other thing that I noticed wrong on the outside (besides the front bumper) was it is missing the front side skirt end cap. Which also leads me to believe it was in an accident.

Also from the pictures I can see that the previous owner(s) have installed a large exhaust and maybe a few other things in the engine bay. I was hoping to pick your DSM educated brains so that you can maybe tell me a little bit more about what all is going on here in the engine bay. Anything look off to anyone? All I see is an optima battery and a different BOV, but I'm still very new to knowing anything about these engines.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

[TrystanGST]

Well the car has an aftermarket intake, aftermarket hard intercooler piping, a greddy type S BOV, and some sort of odd contraption that looks like a WGA sticking out from the heat shielding. You're also missing an upper timing belt cover. I see prothane motor mounts too.

 

[GST-1997]

There isnt a timing belt cover which isnt really a good thing but isnt a bad thing either. I would take one with you if you decide to buy it. Looks to be an aftermarket intake as well. Those are the only two things I noticed minus what you stated, but im new to this also.

 

[cooltoy]

Well the car has an aftermarket intake, aftermarket hard intercooler piping, a greddy type S BOV, and some sort of odd contraption that looks like a WGA sticking out from the heat shielding. You're also missing an upper timing belt cover. I see prothane motor mounts too.

Awesome! Thank you so much for the input. I really appreciate it, because I assumed there were a few more things I was not seeing.

 

[H@xtGSX]

That's a big external waste gate, which normally means big turbo. Look for larger fuel injectors, a boost controller, and gauges (boost, pressures, temps), because you likely need them. Also, look for something that will give you the means of controlling the air/fuel ratio. An SAFC, or flashable ECU, or a eprom ECU socketed for ECMLink.

What the heck is that yellow thing? A recirculation line off of an AFPR? And I don't see the O2 sensor shadow outline in the way I would expect it to be. That makes me think the bung may be moved for a wideband.

You'll want to look at how that waste gate is plumbed too. It is sitting in a weird spot for it to be plumbed into the main exhaust pipe... If it is vented to atmosphere, it is going to be LOUD when it opens. Think drag car with open pipes.

That little wavy look of the chassis under the driver side fender kinda makes me think it was straightened from a collision. That is normally pretty smooth and even. Something to think about is that Carfax only gives you info on REPORTED collisions. If it was hit, the cops weren't called to file a report, and it wasn't repaired by a filed insurance claim, you won't see it.

 

[Alan11]

the question is how much they want for the car?

 

[Silver99OZ]

Someone posted a thread about this car last week. The condition of the interior of the car is most likely cause of flood damage. Thats why the carpet looks the way it does, and also most likely why the leather seats are missing. You should get the CARFAX report before you make the drive.

 

[TrystanGST]

I have to make a slight correction - there is an aftermarket intake FILTER, but the intake itself is stock.
I really hope there isn't a larger turbo lurking under thos heat shields, since I can't tell if the supporting mods are in place. Definitely check the carfax, but the different bumper doesn't mean an accident. These cars sit pretty low, even stock. The bottoms of the bumpers can take quite a beating driving around the city. And with 2gb (97-99) bumpers in hot demand, maybe he just replaced the beat up one with what he could find. Or maybe he like the smiley face better! Who knows.

 

[Silver99OZ]

Here is a link to the other thread about the car.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/424368-found-gsx-whats-up-interior-motor.html

 

[eross92304]

i believe that it has a hyundai valve cover installed and you can see the ribs of the timing belt. who knows how long it has been driven without the cover i would recommend replacing the belt and installing a pulley kit to ensure there will be no problems with the belt. also whats up with the hard pipe? looks to me like some steel exhaust tube could be just me tho

 

[H@xtGSX]

Oh yea... That belt is a little suspicious. Mine doesn't look like that...

... Don't knock exhaust pipe intakes. That's what I have!


It's only until I have all my parts for a water to air IC, so I don't mind looking ghetto fabulous until then.

You're right though, that seam does suggest exhaust tubing. Not necessarily a bad thing if done right, but it isn't going to win any popularity contests.

 

[cooltoy]

Here is a link to the other thread about the car.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/424368-found-gsx-whats-up-interior-motor.html

Good god that was a life saver thank you! Thing is I was interested in this car as kind of a toy/project car. I all ready have a reliable daily driver, but it is rear wheel drive and here in missouri we do see some snow so AWD was of particular interest.

 

[gofer]

I wouldn't buy that car for a few reasons.

• The pictures the dealer provided are less than impressive and not worth your 400 mile drive.
• That car came from the factory with the two tone black/tan interior, I ran the VIN # through my ASA program.
• The carpet should also be tan and not gray however, it appears someone shit on it and smeared it around attempting to give it that tan look.
• Its been modified and poorly, the external wastegate off the exhaust manifold is on the #4 runner and should be on the #1.
• Who runs an external wastegate setup on a stock t25 turbo? Nobody, which means that car had more modifications done to it before the dealer got it.
• From the appearance of the timing belt and the overall appearance under the hood I'd say maintenance was left ignored so the PO could afford more aftermarket parts.

All the above points make me wonder, are those the actual gauges that came with the car (incorrect mileage?) and what kind of condition is that motor in if it had a bigger turbo on it, etc.?

Is it worth your 400 mile drive each way?

If it was love at first site then print this off and take it with you, your checking account might thank you later. DSM Used Car Buyers Guide

 

[cooltoy]

I wouldn't buy that car for a few reasons.

• The pictures the dealer provided are less than impressive and not worth your 400 mile drive.
• That car came from the factory with the two tone black/tan interior, I ran the VIN # through my ASA program.
• The carpet should also be tan and not gray however, it appears someone shit on it and smeared it around attempting to give it that tan look.
• Its been modified and poorly, the external wastegate off the exhaust manifold is on the #4 runner and should be on the #1.
• Who runs an external wastegate setup on a stock t25 turbo? Nobody, which means that car had more modifications done to it before the dealer got it.
• From the appearance of the timing belt and the overall appearance under the hood I'd say maintenance was left ignored so the PO could afford more aftermarket parts.

All the above points make me wonder, are those the actual gauges that came with the car (incorrect mileage?) and what kind of condition is that motor in if it had a bigger turbo on it, etc.?

Is it worth your 400 mile drive each way?

If it was love at first site then print this off and take it with you, your checking account might thank you later. DSM Used Car Buyers Guide

No I'm absolutely walking away from this. I'll just keep looking and hopefully come across a much better GSX on the horizon. Thank you everybody for all your insight it was very very helpful and educational. Thanks!

 

[Technoklipz]

Good luck with your decision. Buying a dsm can be a hard decision, especially when others have modded it and you don't know what they have done to it. Be patient and the right one will come your way.

 

[TrystanGST]

I know how tempting it can be. I drove a couple hundred miles to get mine, and was advised against it. A 95 GSX with 60,000 miles for $4000!? Who can pass that up? Sure, it's a reclaimed salvage. Sure, it got whacked pretty good on the passenger side. Sure, the paint on that side sucks. Etc. It's easy to let these things cloud your judgement. It's up to you if you want to deal with the headaches that will come with a less than ideal car.

 

[H@xtGSX]

Since you aren't planning on buying I can say that car is this:

PsychoStick - Two Ton Paperweight - YouTube