To Buy A Snotter Or Not

Hello all 

 

Got to go for a short drive in a VX today with a view to buying it. I'm pretty certain it's not the one, to go for as it's got pretty much everything on the hit list wrong with it. 

 

Cat C/D

Tatty inside, ripped drivers seat.

Odd DIY immobiliser switch with loose wires

Frunk release broken.

Low coolant 

Cracked sills.

Cracked drivers door top and window rubber buggered.

Paint mismatched on rear clam, and hazing down left side. 

I'd say both front links are gone and rack is probably shot

Gear cables are stiff

All 4 wheels curbed

Doors rattle

Drivers seat rocks

 

So the question is. If it could be bought for very low £££'s, say 3k-4K, worth sticking in another 3-4k to get it completely sorted?

 

What do you think? Madness, wait for a nicer 7-8k? Probably the sensible option eh? Or bring one sad VX back from the brink

 

I guess it depends on whether you like a project, and the option to select replacement parts to you own spec (e.g. if its destined to be a track car, you can spend the budget on track spec suspension and brakes, strip unnecessary weight, paint in garish colour etc.)..

 

Or if you just want a nice road car. A tidied up Cat C/D with say 70-80k miles is only going to get 7-8k tops in the current market. You could get a cleaner, non-cat NA for 8-10k region these days, or a low-mileage one for 10-12k. 

 

Depends what you're after and how much time / money / effort you want to commit.

 

The key thing is no chassis damage. Anything else is just time / money / effort

would you get it for 3-4k? surely they would break into way more?

You've described most VX's! Other than the DIY immobiliser I'd say it's fairly normal fare for the bulk of cars these days unfortunately. From what I've seen a few unscrupulous VX owners are looking to make money on the car so will skimp on the unseen bits and make good the superficial bits, often with fancy trims etc. Often the ones that look OK on the outside are needing some serious renovation when you get down to the nuts and bolts. Don't forget these are getting quite old now. You need to get right into all the nooks and crannies and have a good look at them. Go see a few before deciding.

Don't know how much it is up for but the list of 'problems' are pretty run of the mill for these cars.

 

 

 

Cat C/D - is it C or D?

Tatty inside, ripped drivers seat - normal for cheap end of market

Odd DIY immobiliser switch with loose wires - remove

Frunk release broken - the handle or the whole mechanism?

Low coolant - top it up

Cracked sills - do you mean sills or the black plastic covers over the sills? If just the black plastic this is normal

Cracked drivers door top and window rubber buggered.

Paint mismatched on rear clam, and hazing down left side - cosmetic

I'd say both front links are gone and rack is probably shot - if it has MOT then its personal opinion

Gear cables are stiff - £200 for cables IIRC

All 4 wheels curbed - cosmetic

Doors rattle - normal

Drivers seat rocks - normal

 

 

The things you need to check for are items such as condition of wishbones, corrosion between rear subframe and chassis, corrosion between front shock mounts and body, front and rear lights, brake hoses (particularly the one that runs through the sill), records of when the rear toe links were last changed.

 

Timing chain replacement is nice to have but can also be used as a bargaining tool.

Buying a rough one is false economy, buy the very best you can afford, bar a radiator and track rod end mine has been faultless in seven years

sometimes a good cheap vx does turn up, I spoke to an owner recently who had just bought a vx220 for £3k and it was easily worth double what he paid.

 

That said I've seen some really bad cars over the years, so be careful what you buy.

 

Mine is one of the very last NA's built and that is now sixteen years old

 

The most overlooked thing is subframe shims, the damage the corrosion does is scary and it will eventually cause vx220s to be scrapped.

Was it the blue one in Wrexham?