Highish milage valvers?

[donsrno1]

I was just wondering what peoples opinons on higher milage valvers in terms of reliability and the likelyhood of things going wrong. The reason I'm asking is that there is a Mk1 1.8 16v for sale near me which is a J-reg with 115,000 miles on the clock but I just wanted to see what valvers tend to be like at these sort of milages?

Are they reliable enough as long as they have been well serviced and maintained? What sort of milage can valvers run to without becoming overly problematic in general?

Are there any problems/maintenance work that are common with valvers of this sort of age?

Thanks.

 

[Scott]

dunno how reliable they have been at these mileages but iirc theres a few on here with 140k, some with more.

 

[donsrno1]

Yeah there are a few on here on about 140k but I'm not sure how many give up the ghost before they reach 140k.

 

[TomS]

That's low miles for its age

Cliche but I'm sure as long as they've been serviced regularly and correct things done mechanically, it should be ok.

I'm hoping to have mine way past 140,000

 

[donsrno1]

The car sounds good from what the owner said. There have been onlny 3 owners from new (including current). The current owner bought it from a mate and before that the car belonged to that owners mate so he knows about all the cars history if you know what I mean. He says the first owner kept a diary of everythng done to the car but it doesn't include any receipts but he has receipts for loads of stuff from himself and the previous owner.

I'm going to have a look anyway and hopefully a wee drive as I have yet to see a valver in the metal or drive one so it would be good to see it for those reasons alone. Based on what i have said what sort of price would you put on the car?

 

[Matbrown]

Look for reciepts for recent work done, mainly cambelt and clutch, rest you can learn with a haynes manual.
Make sure the coolant is clean as they clog up the block when dirty and cause headgasket failure.
I would say £600 - £1200.


Mat.

 

[donsrno1]

Yeah, the cambelt was done 10,000 miles ago so should be OK for a while yet. The guy is after £800 for it but I reckon that I can get him down a little with my charm

As I say, if the car isn't too good then I will just walk away from it as I don't want to get stuck with a car that will constantly have problems. How many miles is a clutch likely to be good for because even if it has been replaced in the past I'm sure that at this sort of milage it could be about to go again.

 

[BRUN]

mines on 152k

but, it was rebuilt at 120k ish IIRC

 

[BenR]

mines on 130k, still running original components, battered every day and loving it.

get a good valver and its quite the workhorse.

 

[Shaun16v]

I've had 3 19 16v's so same f7p engine, and i've had one on 135k still running well when sold, another on 120k, again running well when sold, and the engine in my current one i replaced on 168k.... and that had a hard 40k miles before it was replaced, probably only having had cambelt done at approx 70k and oil changes every 15-20k. Even then, i only changed the engine due to 2 core plugs going but the top end was getting rattly also

 

[Mattie h]

iv heard that they can last up to 200k!!!

allthough at 115k id think about putin sum money aside just in case you need 2 recondition the engine, allthough as mentiond above check all the work he has had dun as milage isnt all that important as long as its been lookd after etc!

 

[edde]

You can pick up a different engine for £250 or so anyway.
Condition is more important than milage.

 

[Tom_16v]

Just check it out properly like any other car and at long as everything is fine, should last a fair while....

 

[cat171]

have you seen the one wayne & kathy are selling (slugger & special k) that looks a cracking car for the money - i know it maybe out of your budget, but it seems a really got price for a great example of a valver.

 

[Waitey]

Mines just hit 149K and its on all original components. Valver is a VERY relaible car iff looked after.

 

[cornburn]

Mine's on 125k and once it's warm and the rattles stop it runs beautifully. Like everyone says, depends where it's had the miles, if they bothered to keep revs low til it was warm etc. Mine was rougher when I bought it but a couple of oil changes later you just know it'd be grinning now if it could. I'd definitely give it a proper going over though, ignore the MOT. Get each corner up (or at least the front) and give everything a good tug to check for play. Check engine mountings are ok as some are a proper pain in the arse. I wouldn't worry about the mileage, there'll still be loads around with half the miles that'll need twice the work. A standard one's always nice too, you know silly bolt ons won't have added stress to anything. I'm looking at a 172 now but the valver won't be going til I'm happy with the new one, they really are great fun little cars. Happy hunting

 

[lawson706]

ive got one on a m plate and only on 69k

 

[casiodan]

Mine is on about 125k. It has a full service history upto 96k. I serviced it when i got it at about 114k and had the cambelt done. It runs better than my 52plate 172 with 26k.

Ive never had a breakdown in about 15months.

Its had niggles like the pressure cap on the cooling system was not sealing properly causing it to overheat, i guess that could happen to any car.

 

[cornburn]

One bit I forgot to mention - make sure the pads aren't about to fall out the back. I had this happen twice on me due to everything being worn. The little bit of metal that holds them in relies on the edge of a bolt to stop it coming out. Unless you tighten the bolt up so it has a square face to hit it'll slowly wobble out, then the pads will go, then you have no brakes and a warped disc. Not fun when you're coming off the M6 down a slip road at night at 70mph! It's unlikely but I had to mention it, couldn't live with myself if your next post was from a friend saying it had happened to you.