New p5 Member..hopefully..

[sky88s]

..lol..

ive been keeping my eye out on a 2002 p5 for a while now..

and if anything i might end up getting it if the price is right this monday or tuesday..

I was wondering..since im a noob at p5s, what signs should i be looking out for when i go take a look at this thing?

the car and i are in CA, so i dont think the rust problems would really be a factor, but ill check..

other then that the car is @100k and it is salvage.. =p ..i said **** it..no money for a clean one so ill do with whatever..but in no way does this thing look like a salvage..

any help would be appreciated..

 

[akbyrner92]

Idk if it was just the idiot the owned my car before me, or if it's a common problem. But my piston rings are going bad and I either have to break down the engine to get to them, or replace the engine. So if the guy says he's losing oil, or if you start the car and white smoke (or any smoke for the matter) comes out of the exhaust pipe, beware.

 

[akbyrner92]

I've got 118K and I lose about as much oil. But I was told it was a problem that would progressively get worse...

 

[akbyrner92]

Lol, well that's good to know. How do you drive? I usually drive fairly normally except for a few times when my driving gets a little "spirited". Would that affect anything?

 

[slavrenz]

I would check for large cracks on the bottom of the air intake tube, as well as rust in the rear wheel wells and on the fron passenger side wheel well (at this location it's common for it to rust through into the engine compartment right below the passenger side motor mount).

Other than that, the timing belt needs to be changed at 105k miles, and I'd go ahead and replace the ignition coils and spark plug wires, as I can almost guarantee that these will go bad sooner or later and ruin your catalytic converter.

 

[Wishmaster]

I owned a rebuilt/salvaged P5 for a couple years. As long the rebuild has been done well and it wasn't too complicated of a job, then you're usually getting an awesome deal.

If you're going that route, probably best to plan to own the car until it dies, it's pretty tough to sell a salvaged then used vehicle... I know, I did it. I did end up almost getting what I paid for it, but it took a while and was not painless, some people might not be up for the battle.

Also, really check it out, people don't often realize that rebuilds almost always look better than a similar year car because they usually have a new hood, bumper, headlights and maybe a fender or two, it may also have been repainted. You need to ensure this work was done well and that everything under this work is as it should be.

I live in Vancouver and had BCAA (AAA in the US) come and do their full mobile inspection service. Not only is it a good piece of mind tool, (don't trust the re-builders own inspection reports) but they'll double check everything... during mine they found: One foglight burnt out, a few front bumper clips missing, needed an alignment, front brake pads were down to about 25%, and there was a hole in the windshield washer fluid reservoir so it wouldn't hold a the full amount ... I then negotiated to have all these items remedied for the same price (pretty easy stuff for a shop to fix up).

What sold it for me was the fact that beyond the few little things, the overall work was very well done, no frame, engine, engine mount, driveline or suspension work needed to be done, it was mostly cosmetic, bumper, headlights, foglights, fender, hood, radiator and misc tubing.

Usually what turns a car into a salvage car is the simple fact that an airbag went off, so if you can find an good example, one that wasn't in that bad of an accident but was hard enough for the airbag to go off and the work was done well... go for it!

Also get the inspector to double check what's been rebuilt, make sure it jives with what the re-builder is telling you.

Check that all the panels line up and are flush... if they are not, ask why and if they can be fixed... if you don't like the answer, it maybe a bad rebuild

And as another poster mentioned, the timing belt needs to be changed around 100,000, it may have already been done, but if not, you may want to work that into the deal somehow.

Otherwise

 

[sky88s]

Hey really appreciate everyone's inputs..

so as of now the price is at $3,500..and im going to knock this thing down to $3,200..I have $4000 to work with..

I'd figure that'll help me regain some lost for the big tune ups..

does anyone know how much these things usually cost?..like wishmaster had mentioned, yes i do plan on keeping this thing for awhile..so when i do get it, ill probably drop the other $800 into doing the spark plugs, wires, dist., alt., starter, belts, fluids, etc..i figure if i get it for $3200 and total it close to $4000 ill be satisfied..then when the time comes..LOOKS!!..haha

also..ill be getting some 17 mazda 3 rims on this thing..so if anyone wants em LMK..i dont plan on keeping it..just an early heads up for those on this thread..shoot me offers..eventually ill put them on the for sale section..

 

[planefreak]

Picked mine up a few weeks ago. It didn't run right and had been in an accident but the title is clear. I've noticed that there is a slight color difference between the front and rear doors but for 2700 I can't really complain. New ignition coils and it runs great, although all the time spent on the ignition coils and figuring that out might've taken the warm up cat with it. Not a huge deal but just another small issue...

Check for the usual stuff like broken fog lights, engine start up noises, oil leaks, odd dents and dings...

Good luck