R5 GTT

[mikekean]

Hi, Im thinking of getting an R5 GTT and using at as a daily for a few months while im in between cars with an aim to keep it for the foreseeable future as a third car.

The car im thinking of buying is very original has no mods, done 40k, was owned by an old guy. Then some young lad bought it drove it for a few months and managed to bend the rear beam (Got lift off oversteer into a pavement) and its basically sat at his house for the last 9 months. Its not a minter but its not a s**tter either, and with only 40k on the clock its not your usual tired R5.

Im looking at paying £200-300 for it which I know is a good price, but even at that money I dont want to be spending £1000's on it getting it up to scratch.
I know the usual things to watch out for like blue smoke on startup, white smoke out the exhaust, obviously make sure the car doesnt overheat/Rad fan kicks in. and the usual mechanical checks. But is there any Key area's i should be looking at to make sure im not buying myself a whole load of trouble?

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Turkish]

Save yourself a lot of money and hassle and avoid it. I owned one and it was great, completely reliable and a pleasure to own. But that was over 10 years ago now and mine was a mint example. Buying one with known issues is a bad move especially now they're 21+ years old. Mileage is not the whole story, age causes things to perish/corrode so despite you assuming it's fresh I'd guarantee you'll sink large amounts of money fixing stuff that breaks.

 

[Zonda]

If its that good and you find its not as good as you want, you could break the car for more than you paid for it at that price.. or just sell it as it is again and still make a profit. Like Turkish says, depends on how the car has corroded over those 20+ years.. its nothing to do with the mileage.. I know someone that just bought a 'minter' for over £5k and its rust ridden underneath.. and the original hoses are brittle as a rich tea biscuit. After saying that, there are good examples to be had still... but they will be a lot more than what you'll be willing to pay most likely. I've spent well over £20k on mine! lol

 

[mikekean]

Thanks for the adivce, I live in Jersey so rust isnt such a massive issue over here as the roads arent salted etc in the winter. Best to go have a good look at it then really, I know its not the type of car that will just keep on going without any money being spent on it. I dont mind replacing all those hoses etc as stuff like that is common to go on an old car anyway, I just dont want to have any really expensive failures on my hands. There a pretty basic car and if i dont mess around with high boost and stuff can it really cause that much trouble?