Hey all, joined these forums the other day. I'm a 17 year old bloke, 18 in a few months and am looking into buying my first car. I have to solely pay for the cars, insurance etc by myself (think parents are only willing to chuck in 500 bucks possibly for rwc or something like that) and yeh. Looking at this i can spend a MAX of 3000 bucks on a car. Looked around for a long time and decided that a mitsubishi magna 2nd gen is my best value for money car Around. Not toooo old, cheaper than a lot f other cars it's age etc and yeh. Only problem is i need to find a manual (100% don't want an auto, it's just a thing i have) and yeh. Any advice etc would be great as to where to look, what kinda things i should look for being wrong etc. Also, any pm's with 2nd gen manuals for sale in WA would be great. Can only be in WA cause i can't afford any shipping costs n stuff so yeh.
Also, i'm looking at the 4 cylinder but if i can find a v6 that would be great too. Cheers all

~twiggy~

yeh im selling my 4 cly manual wagon but im on the goldie... so thats no good.

Any way look for low km's, servicing, try looking in the trading post, Ebay, and Carsales.com.au and carsguide.com.au.

if you look hard you'll find one. just v6 manuals are really hard...

Go for the V6 if you can find one in a manual in your price range, there'll be very little price difference, economy is the same if not better than the 4, and you'll get a fair whack more power.

Verada would be good, but I don't believe there were ever any manual Veradas released.

rada manuals where only touring and i think 88 manuals where made...correct me if im wrong

Heres some important things to look for..... when buying a 2nd gen

- Clean straight body.
- Good paint.
- Close panel gaps.
- Crash damage.
- Smooth ride with no excessive rebound bounce (can indicate stuffs shocks I think).
- Interior for seat tears, trashed carpet, dash board cracks and whether all features working etc.
- Cabin rattles.
- Mileage.
- Smooth motor, revs cleanly, no rough idle or stalling etc.
- Clean engine bay.
- Log book.
- No water in the boot and spare tyre well. (Indicates trunk leak).
- Decent tyres and braking performance.
- Decent rego or if not use as a bargaining tool.
- Steering feel with no or limited play from straight ahead.
- CV's. Just drive in circles and listen for any clicking noise.
- High speed feel (110kph).
- All lights/electrics work.

-Check the usual things that wear in older cars like CV, stick your head underneath behind/infront of the front wheel(S) and check for a torn boot or grease getting flung everywhere.

-Check the suspension for rooted shocks and/or sad springs.

-Check the clutch, clutch travel and how it engages, do a quick take off and listen for noises in the engine bay (liek clunks) for mounts on the way out.

-Listen for noisey tappets, let the car idle for 5 mins then give it a stab to check for valve stem seals (puff of blue oily smoke will come out which means the seals are dead)

-Pull the oil dipstick out and check the oil colour and ask when its been changed (Dark oil on a recent change shows the rings are going/gone and there's blowby). Same with transmission oil


If you dont no how to spot those things, take a family member along, if you dont have anyone around who knows, get an inspection (most insurance companies offer some type of service like this.)

see here also: http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46017&highlight=car+buying

cheers guys, hopefully i'll be abel to grab a bargain now...If anyone sees anything i can have a look at(i'm in perth, WA btw) feel free to pm me or let me know on this topic. I just registered with RAC's keys2drive youth thingo so i can get cheap/free car checks and roadside assistance which is great

~twiggy~