Buying 2003 Protege 5, I need some advice

[Jaysdogjazz]

Hi there and thank you in advance for any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

I am in the process of Purchasing a 2003 Protege 5. It has a few problems and I would like to get some peoples thought of to the problems and if you still think its a fair deal.

What I found is a car that has a brand new rebuilt Motor. I am working on getting the receipts to verity what was rebuilt in the motor. From what I understand the daughter didn't take care of the oil and ruined the motor.

It has 101k miles and the motor seems to sound good. I did turn on all of the accessories and the RPM's stayed at 800. Now the test drive seems to go good but I did have 2 little quirks I am concerned about. While accelerating light to a medium throttle I heard like a little grunt sound from the front of the car. Kind of like a grr or an err that lasted all of a second or two while accelerating. Kind of like a sound of a cold air intake. but this car doesn't have one its all stock under the hood. Could this be the thing people talk about with the throttle body tubes? It doesn't happen every time but, under a hard acceleration you don't notice the noise.

Now the second problem is at slow speed on a left turn parallel parking experience I was hearing a Clunk kind of sounds not all the time but a couple of times. Bounced the front of the car a few times and no noise. So a suggestion on this would be greatly appreciated.

So I have am looking at getting this car for $ 5500 With the new motor and everything being said this car seems like a fair deal for a Southern CA Car.
VIN Number is JM1BJ245331159682 If any one can run a car fax for me that would greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Jason

 

[SoCalMP5]

Don't trust the receipt unless you can drive to the shop that rebuilt the engine and they can verify that they did the work.

99 times out of 100, when people advertise a "rebuilt engine," it's had nothing but a replaced head gasket or valve stem seals. Nowhere close to a "rebuilt engine." Not to mention, 100k sure seems awfully low to require an engine rebuild. There's a lot of people on here with 200k+ miles.

I'm new to P5's as well, but I have a suspension "clunk" as well, and I've heard other people post about it too, so I think it's a common issue. Mine seems to come from the rear driver's side. I know for a fact the car hasn't been in any accidents because my family bought it new, and it only has 82k miles on it.

Looking at values, I don't think I'd pay more than 5000 for it...given the engine and suspension noises. And if you can't personally verify with the shop that the engine was rebuilt, I'd probably go for 4500...because who knows what else they might not be telling the truth about.

Good luck!

 

[UncleShrek]

Ill sell you mine at that price. 5500 as is.

 

[Jaysdogjazz]

SoCalMP5, Thank you for your input... I am actually having them fax me the receipt for the work that was done on Monday and I intend to contact the shop and try to verify what was done on the motor and if the warranty for the work will transfer to me. That will shed some light on being told it had a new long block installed.

UnlcleShreck, Sorry your a little to far away for me to buy your car...

 

[P-Funk!]

I say (based on what you have told us) to go buy it.

 

[Jaysdogjazz]

Alright got a Copy of the Work that was done. To be honest it has me on the fence.

I talked to the shop and they said it was a used motor from the US, "Completed block and head no manifold or electrical components".

Unfortunately that also means that it wasn't a Japanese motor swap from Japan, I was hoping if it was a used motor it was like the one that I put into my Honda Used Motor from Japan. It does have a 90 day warranty from that shop. The shop did tell me that it came in with no oil and metal in the oil. They installed a new water pump and timing belt on the used motor that was installed into the car.

They also told me they didn't think anything else needed to be repaired on it when it left the shop.

I still want it but now I am on the fence.

 

[zhy]

Alright got a Copy of the Work that was done. To be honest it has me on the fence.

I talked to the shop and they said it was a used motor from the US, "Completed block and head no manifold or electrical components".

Unfortunately that also means that it wasn't a Japanese motor swap from Japan, I was hoping if it was a used motor it was like the one that I put into my Honda Used Motor from Japan. It does have a 90 day warranty from that shop. The shop did tell me that it came in with no oil and metal in the oil. They installed a new water pump and timing belt on the used motor that was installed into the car.

They also told me they didn't think anything else needed to be repaired on it when it left the shop.

I still want it but now I am on the fence.

here's a general rule when buying a car
if you have any doubts on whether the seller is lying, dont buy the car.
I had to try 4 different p5's after finally finding someone honest and had all the receipt, i am the 3rd owner
dont be shy to refuse to buy it if you have doubts!

 

[82735]

Yeah I looked at a handful of p5's before I got mine. Some had rust others had rebuilt parts, and some barely worked at all. And the majority were sketchy sellers. Find a car you fall in love with not doubt. It could be a much larger problem than you could imagine. IMO

 

[Jaysdogjazz]

Update

I talked about it with the Wife. We agreed 5500 wasn't worth it for a car that had the motor swapped. The owner wasn't to happy to have me tell him that he $ 2k Paid for a used motor swap with new water pump and timing belt. He was like do you want the car or not? I was like sorry at $ 5500 I would have to pass. So I had the wife make a counter offer of $ 4800 the next day. Like all good wives she convinced him at $ 4900 we would get it. So looks like I will be on this forum for a little while as a new Owner. Actually kind of excited about it now.

 

[P-Funk!]

Cool! Welcome aboard!

 

[BRIAN_MP5T]

^^ What He Said...

 

[Jaysdogjazz]

Pfunk and BRIAN_MP5T thank you...

BRIAN_MP5T that is an outstanding looking ride