considering this '02 Protege5... thoughts?

[tylert]

hey all,

I'm up in Canada, buying first car. Seriously considering this P5, might make an offer today... I know you can't tell much from the pics... but what do you think?
They're asking $6900 CAD

PLEASE CHECKOUT PICS ON FLICKR

 

[tylert]

oh yeah....

5spd manual
133000 KMs ... (= 82,642 miles)

guess I should ask about the roof rack inserts too... they seem to be popular

 

[MP5_Joe]

Not to bad. I just bought mine for $7,399 (canadian of course) from a dealer in TO with 76,000km. Try to talk them down a bit cuz of the milage. Find out about the service history (past due for a timing belt). Do you plan on usin the roof rack?

Other then that I would go for it... then black out the headlights!

 

[Action Jackson]

A lot of rust on the body in the front of the engine bay. Look at the rad support brackets!

White colored springs????

Wonder what the underbody looks like.

My 2003 was rustproofed after I bought it so that's something you need to check out.

Can you check it out in person or do you bid first then check it out later?

 

[tylert]

yeah I was wondering about the timing belt, but the dealer said they didn't have any info... apparently they will provide me with the carfax report, but that won't mention repairs.

i'm taking it to a mechanic this afternoon, but i don't know if he could tell me much about the belt either...

I figured I'd offer $6k... and pay a max of $6400... because this dealer adds $200 admin, and 4% for their profit (because they sell on consignment)...

 

[tylert]

A lot of rust on the body in the front of the engine bay. Look at the rad support brackets!

White colored springs????

Can you check it out in person or do you bid first then check it out later?

Do you mean rust in this pic?
Because I think that is just dirt. Same with the springs, they are not white, just dirty i think...

Yeah I drove it for a few minutes, sounded fine. Going to take it out again today and push it a little harder... looking for vibrations, noises...

 

[Action Jackson]

Yup that's the pic. Either the weather stripping on the front of the hood is toast, or the hood bumpers are set too high or....

It could've had a different hood with no weather stripping such as a CF hood.

 

[MP5_Joe]

LMAO! It even looks likes there's rust on the driver wiper blade!

Chances are, there is rust under that dirt... it is a canadian car after all. Mine is pretty rusty. Get them to detail it so you can see any rust. Cuz that is seriously dirty.

edit: OH! it seems like an oil spray material (from what I can see), prolly got a crappy wal-mart oil spray.

 

[bermankahns]

wow... that car is literally a rust bucket... it wouldn't suprise me if you took off a door panel and found rust there too. i wouldn't suggest getting this car unless they do all of the required work, such as the breaks, springs (the painted ones and the rusted ones) etc... especially for that price.

 

[danielschweer]

is that even rust in the engine bay? almost looks like it got a little toasty in there

 

[tylert]

thanks for all the replies.

I was very seriously considering this one, but took it to a mechanic for a pre-buy inspection:

- found the back end suspension was totally re-done
- body work badly done on the back
- various little changes to the front end, underneath

they said it was probably in an accident, and it wasn't worth it to buy with the crappy body work.

needless to say, i'm back to looking