Need help buyin 4th Gen Lude ~

[PrahVtec]

to all the lude owners out der ~

im gon look at a 95 lude vtir on the weekend ..
its done 120,000km but no service books, so im abit shakey whether its gon b a dodge ... goin for aroun 15k (reasonably cheap ?) .. also he sed its been detailed .. so possibly hard to see original condition ..

any help on what things to look out and what things to check for would be much apppreciated ~


cheers fellas

[ECU-MAN]

Hi

look for oil leaks at the stearing rack boots and where the oil piples go into the rack. look for cracked rear trailing arm bushes, make sure the 4ws works and that when you start the car 4ws light come son and goes out. it pays to check the ECU(s) for fault codes, check the cv joint boots for cracks or splits, and make sure there is no cliking sound when you turn corners. make sure the sunroof works,.

[vtek]

to all the lude owners out der ~

im gon look at a 95 lude vtir on the weekend ..
its done 120,000km but no service books, so im abit shakey whether its gon b a dodge ... goin for aroun 15k (reasonably cheap ?) .. also he sed its been detailed .. so possibly hard to see original condition ..

any help on what things to look out and what things to check for would be much apppreciated ~


cheers fellas

look for oil leaks, fliud levels, listen for sounds when changing gears and check to see if the tyres are wearing properly, better yet get the RACV to have a look at if your happy with it, because without a book with realively low kms and low price, it might be dodgy and you wouldnt know if the 100k service is done!

[bigteethygrin]

yeah make sure all the lights on the dash are working.. lots of times the bulbs get removed to hide problems.. 4ws and abs and srs come to mind.

make sure electric window switches ALL work.. including the passenger switch..

give it a good rev see if vtec engages... I found revving on mine revealled a rattle in the exhaust .. found out it was an aftermarket exhaust manifold that caused it.

and the usual checks gaps are even etc incase of crashes... let go of the steering wheel briefly and see if it pulls to one side badly.. (usually something to do if you spot evidence of a crash repair.

For the most part you should be ok.. 4th gens are pretty good cars to drive and not that bad to work on. If you have any probs ppl here and prelude australia are usually there to help ya.

oh and last check a/c is workin and look for a sticker indicating that the timing belt has been changed. If you cant find it tell him you will def need a timing belt done on purchase (offtopic.. timing belt is tricky.. careful who you get to do it).

[aznluder]

better yet get the RACV to have a look at if your happy with it, because without a book with realively low kms and low price, it might be dodgy and you wouldnt know if the 100k service is done!

RACV car checks dont do krap. I was selling my prelude 4th gen, and the guy that wanted to buy it wanted to take it into RACV for a full inspection, only picked out half the stuff that needed to be rectified. They even missed the leaking cv boot joint. cheaper for me to get roadworthy i guess.

i think if you look hard enough you will be able to find a prelude with lower kms and still roughly a 95 model vtir. look harder! be patient and you will stumble accross a gem eventually.

[bigteethygrin]

yeah i agree i had nrma do a test and they found **** all... biggest waste of money ever. If you have a trusted mech then pay him... for half the cost he will check everything inc a compression test.

[vtek]

yeh i guess, but i mean if you dont know what you are buying then it will decrease the chances of geting stung, theres alot fixed up written off cars around and and even if they dont find everything wrong with it atleast the find the major things, but with second hand vtirs or any second hand car, your bound to find something wrong with it its getting old, and i dont know many grannys who own 4th gen vtirs, so most of them are cained! except for mine ofcourse!

[PrahVtec]

CHeers mate .. any more help would be great! as i sed i aint experienced wit ludes az u guys...

took a look at it today... and dis car was certainly not bad ... drove smooth, good pull, well maintained, clean.. and all the things to be checkd was chekd out by my mechanic... he specialises honda so he noes wat he's doin...

only prob is front bar with alot of stone chips n stratches here n der... (but expected)... and he done his 100km service at 116km because he only got this car for a year ... previous owner b4 him din do it... would dis b any problem...

i have it at the end of my string for the price of 14,350 ... wat u guys reckon?!

omg im likely to become a proud vtir lude owner soon !! :shocked:

[PrahVtec]

o yeh... its comin wit rwc , 12month reg , minor detailing sunroof seals ... new tryes... completely stock ...

[bigteethygrin]

w00t! do it! .. what colour is it?? is he someone we know already??

[PrahVtec]

midnight blue ...

prefer jet black tho.. but dey are too raree ~

dun fink so.. jus some random private sale ..

[vtek]

if you want to get the car for $14350, offer something like $13000 or less then start increasing in small increments, sell the car down like what you have mentioned eg, no service history, repairs for bonnet, tyre wear, rego things machanic find wrong, be confident because hes more keen to sell the car then you want to buy it, dont seem too keen on the car... i got 3Gs of the asking price of mine because i had control on the sale...good luck with it