What is this car worth / Is this car a good deal?

[Devilsfutbol17]

I found a 1996 Spyder GST for $4900. It is a 5-speed, 91,000 miles on it, white with black top, 17 inch rims. There is 80% tread left on the tires but the guy has a brand new never used set of tires for the car that is included in the price. He says the top doesn't leak, but it had a rip and was repaired, but he didn't like it, so he bought a brand new oem top that isn't installed and is included with the car. He says the interior is really nice, everything inside works, but you have to help the top up a little bit. He doesn't know if the timing belt has been replaced or not. It has a 3 inch cat back exhaust, 16G turbo, apexi intake and a greddy bov. He says it runs great and has no issues. He says he just wants to get rid of it because he doesn't drive it and its taking up space in his garage, which sounds good to me because he kept it garaged at least. he also said that the paint is good on it, no clear coat coming off, no body damage or dents. I'm going to check for crankwalk be looking at the clutch pedal when I turn left. I have been talking to the guy over the phone and I'm suppose to go drive for 4 hours to go and buy it if it checks out on Thursday. Does it sound good? Should I ask him or check for other things on it?

 

[Cdc1221]

You didn't say how much you paid.

First sentence . Not horrible. It looks clean, and adjustable shocks arent cheap

 

[Mykill2GB]

paid 1500

is the rod issue or possible crank walk a nightmare or not so bad to fix, also any way around machining the crank like could i be lucky and have no damage to crank or is that unheard of?

 

[Cdc1221]

Very slight chance that it didnt eat a rod journal. At the very least it will need polished. In most cases though, the car is ran too long after the bearing spun. At the very least, you could grab a used motor and if you can change it yourself, will have stillpaid less than some people. But you could easily part it out for what you have in it

 

[Mykill2GB]

also ive heard of people changing bearings with out pulling motor any input on this? or pull motor and quit messing around?

 

[mechreatalon]

Looks clean. If anything looks like a good shell.

 

[Cdc1221]

also ive heard of people changing bearings with out pulling motor any input on this? or pull motor and quit messing around?

You can if the rod and journal aren't toast. But if there is one little knick or scratch on your rod journal, it will eat the new bearing fast. Its definitely worth pulling the pan and looking at it, since it'll only take 15 minutes to do. You mightve gotten lucky...

 

[uummm]

If I were you, I would pick up a running short or long block on craigslist to drop in then save the motor you have now (if its salvageable) and rebuild it over time for either a spare or an all out build. Either way you go about it, I don't think you got screwed. Just my .02

 

[schalk35]

I dont think you overpayed. I just recently bought a very clean 90 black gsx for 1500. Interior is mint, ETS fmic, and thermal exhaust, with no engine for 1500.

 

[gieri002]

It really depends on where you are located but here in MN you definitely overpaid for a fwd model that needs a rebuild. You can replace the bearings by dropping the oil pan but the crank is almost certainly scored and it will be knocking within a few miles without cutting/polishing the crank. You would probably be best off buying a used short block and throwing that in but you do have the rebuild option as well. It does look like a nice car but you could have bought a blown awd model for that.

 

[n0de]

If I offer this seller $5,100 for his car would this be a good deal?

 

[Mykill2GB]

gieri002 well i looked on craigs list not only in wisconsin where im from but my neighboring state of minnesota and i couldnt find anything cheaper than 1800 and your state didnt show many results also this car ran stock boost its whole life and unmolested plus since last september to december when the knock happened the guy i got it from put 3,000 in parts all new brakes and calipers drilled rotars and a rebuilt tranny along with various other things. but before he dumped 3,000 in he bought greddy type rs bov, k&n intake full cat back exhaust and kyb adjustable suspension short throw so i dont think i over paid, also awd is cool and even better if you are in the 4-500hp range but i like the fact my fwd will have better gas mileage and honestly its less to go wrong but trust me i might get a 1998 talon tsi awd as well

 

[Rikolas]

Alright, I just recently moved down to Florida without my car. And I was wondering if you guys think this would be worth it? The guy says it's having trouble boosting. Maybe he has a boost leak? Or something else minor? Any thoughts on it?

Eclipse Gs-t

 

[Archer Fabrications]

Gotta love it when a "friend" posts the ad, that thing looks beat to shit, but maybe the owner isnt really a car guy so you can low ball the crap out of it.

 

[Rikolas]

Yeah he said he didn't know anything about turbo cars, so was thinking maybe it was just a boost leak. But the thing is I don't have any tools down here. And I just got down talking to him, and there is a heating issue it has on the highway. He was saying something about the coolant being pushed out into the overflow while being on the highway for awhile. But its fine during town driving. Any thoughts on it?

 

[Archer Fabrications]

Uh, head gasket? Or bad thermostat. A heating issue or an over heating issue?
Could be a number of things, like his fan could be unplugged or somethin.

 

[Rikolas]

An over-heating issue. My bad. I'm really hoping it is not the head gasket. I was thinking bad fans or bad thermostat too, or possibly the front mount blocking the wind?

 

[gofer]

An over-heating issue. My bad. I'm really hoping it is not the head gasket. I was thinking bad fans or bad thermostat too, or possibly the front mount blocking the wind?

Fans working, or not, have no factor on coolant temps at highway speeds and if the FMIC was restricting airflow (wind) it would overheat all the time.

I'd say headgasket, more than likely, but it could also be a blocked up radiator, bad radiator cap, failing waterpump, t-stat, or a mixture of all of the above.

You don't have any tools but you're buying a car that needs A LOT of maintenance even if the headgasket isn't blown, probably not a good idea.

 

[NHerron]

Fans don't cool at highway speeds. Theyre only for idle and low speed. In fact, theyre an obstruction at highway speeds.

 

[Rikolas]

Well, I don't have my tools down here yet. I'm going to get a lot of my stuff shipped down to me and I'm going to buy some of the tools I need. But there are a few people down here with tools that are willing to help me out.
So, this would probably be a bad buy then?

 

[Paniagua]

Hey, im tryna help a friend out, and figured you guys were the best to tell me what im dealing with.
Basically my friend is tired of pouring money into his 1995 eclipse gsx.

1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse Gsx ( 5 speed located in NJ)
- 178k on the body, -around 80-90k on the engine estimated( 1 gen engine swapped in)

The bad: Car DOES NOT DRIVE ( Engine turns on and runs fine)
-Transmission went( mechanic told him he needs a new one)
-rough idle on cold start (said from CAI)
-left tire rod needs to be replaced
-weak alternator (still works, just needs to be replaced in future)
-small exhaust leak

The Good/Maintenance: (done within 5k miles or less) Has many reciepts for work done
- stock turbo replaced, upper intercooler pipe replaced
-spark plugs replaced
-headgasket replaced
-Radiator, all anti freeze tubes replaced and oil pan replaced
- Throttle body sensor replaced
-Alignment and oilchange

Mods:
3 inch turbo back exhaust, greddy blow off valve, k&n cold air intake, ( He also has 97-99 bumper brand new in box and 97-99 black halo lights also brand new in box)

He wants to sell the car as is and with everything included. What would be a reasonable asking price. Thanks alot

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[Jdz136]

So guys, I bought this beautiful 95 talon tsi, black on white, with 105k on it. It ran perfectly when I went to look at it, managed to talk the guy down from $3000 to $2650. I needed a car since someone totaled my lancer, and I wanted a fast car with awd. This car seemed perfect. I own it for a day, then I notice this knocking, get it looked at by my friend, of course the motor is bad. I assume the guy who sold it to me knew it, and some how concealed the noise for when we went to look at it. It ran perfectly at first, took it a day to start acting up. Anyway I end up having to replace the motor, and to save money I got one online, with a 3 year 30,000 mile warranty. My friend and I spent about fifty hours working on the car, he is a mechanic, me not so much. We finally got the motor in, and then i believed there was a trans problem. I decided to give up working on it myself, so i took it to my family owned garage, to have them look at it. They had to fix a lot of different things on it. Luckily for me they only charged me $400, which is incredible since they put so much work into it. Though, before I could get it back, turns out the motor is also making a knock, so this one is done for. I attempted to contact the company for the warranty, though it wasn't activated, as the garage never sent paperwork that they needed to fill out for the warranty to be activated. So after all of that I am stuck with this car with a messed up motor, with about 5,000 into it. I decided to sell the car as is. Hopefully someone will be looking to rebuild the motor. Now my question is what do you guys think a good price would be. They replaced the break lines, alternator, fixed everything that was wrong with it, other than the motor. The body has relatively low miles at 105k. It's awd, in great shape, its a great car. I just don't want to put more money or time into it. I have spare parts as well. I have the small block from the old engine, extra valve cover, exhaust manifold, muffler, spoiler, alternator, starter, fog lights, water pump housing, extra pulleys, and a bunch of other stuff. I was going to start at 1,500 including all of the parts. Though I just don't know if I could get more, or if that's too much. Any opinions would be great. Thank you

 

[clipto]

I payed $3,000 for my 95 tsi talon with 80,000 miles from this old asian guy, it was very well maintained. So hopefully that gives you an idea work from that minus whats missing and $1,500 sounds decent but I would always start high you never know what people will pay, then go down on price over time. If it's that white 2g in your profile pick I would buy it right now.

 

[4g63t]

I payed $3,000 for my 95 tsi talon with 80,000 miles from this old asian guy, it was very well maintained. So hopefully that gives you an idea work from that minus whats missing and $1,500 sounds decent but I would always start high you never know what people will pay, then go down on price over time. If it's that white 2g in your profile pick I would buy it right now.

I thought you were done posting in the hang out?

 

[Jdz136]

I payed $3,000 for my 95 tsi talon with 80,000 miles from this old asian guy, it was very well maintained. So hopefully that gives you an idea work from that minus whats missing and $1,500 sounds decent but I would always start high you never know what people will pay, then go down on price over time. If it's that white 2g in your profile pick I would buy it right now.

It's not the exact one. It looks exactly the same. Except it has the black talon rims with the low spoiler

 

[sayaovang dsm]

I would like to know what you guys think about this car and is it worth it? i like the look and color its the model im looking for, and will be a project if i decide to get it, so please tell me what you think. thank you!!! 1992 eagle talon tsi AWD