As titles sais. My brother let me know of a dealer that is selling a couple of nice looking 3rd gens and am seriously considering buying them both because my mums car is dead and my 1st gen is unroadworthy ( rust, HUGE cracked window and pretty much falling apart )

So what are specific things to look out for when inspecting ? 100,000 timing belt service is one thing that pops to mind.

EDIT: I meant 2 3rd gens lol

All the usual used car stuff; engine noise (rattling, ticking/tapping), wrecked suspension (overly bouncy, clunky), smoke, smooth power delivery, even braking, smooth transmission operation.

check the colour of the auto fluid, it should be a clear red. darker colours means that there could be something wrong.

Yeah just checked them out. I made a mistake they are 2nd gens not 3rd. There was a blue one that was really nice. Nice paint and interior, air con, boot smelled a litle musty and looked like the rear wing had some sealent so it may be leaking. Drove okish but handled like a boat and for a v6 auto it felt sluggish and this is coming from someone who drives a manual 1st gen. Could have been because aircon was on but still, pretty slow.

The 2nd one was a manual v6. Paint was pretty bad and so was interior and worst of all, it stunk massively of smokes. Didnt test drive it. Oh well. Keep on hunting lol.

Spotted a VR SS but he wanted 6k for it :(

Spotted a VR SS but he wanted 6k for it :(

Who in their right mindds would pay that sort of cash for a VR SS when iv seen VT SS for less than 8k.

Four wheels, doors, seats, steering wheel...

Just the normal ticks clunks etc. Check the oil, does it rev easily, does it accelerate easily both calmly and under load (hills, foot to floor).

1. Check for Oil leaks (this is VERY common with dealer cars)
2. Check the coolant is actually the right color ie. no white clouding or oil (blown head gasket check)
3. Check for engine noises
4. Check the colour of the oil and transmission fluid
5. Check for rattles (rev it hard, engine mounts are common)
6. Check suspension (Push down if you must see what the travel is, springs could be sagged, shocks could be dead)
7. Check the tyres, if they are bald, or becoming bald, have the dealer throw on new ones :)
8. On your test drive, trash it, throw it around corners - Make sure everything is working well.

life.. my coolant is red, do i have a problem? :)

life.. my coolant is red, do i have a problem? :)

Good point - Edited :P

1. Check for Oil leaks (this is VERY common with dealer cars)
2. Check the coolant is actually the right color ie. no white clouding or oil (blown head gasket check)
3. Check for engine noises
4. Check the colour of the oil and transmission fluid
5. Check for rattles (rev it hard, engine mounts are common)
6. Check suspension (Push down if you must see what the travel is, springs could be sagged, shocks could be dead)
7. Check the tyres, if they are bald, or becoming bald, have the dealer throw on new ones :)
8. On your test drive, trash it, throw it around corners - Make sure everything is working well.

Yeah i checked as much as i can. I could tell the guy didnt like me poking around he was saying "these are old cars if you wanna perfect car by brand new" and "why you looking at that ?" "oh, rust ? find me an old car that doesnt have rust"

Kind of glad i didnt buy a car for my mum from him he come across to me as someone who wouldnt do any repairs if something went wrong.

@ parker, i wanted to offer him 3k but he said that someone is coming from Sydney or something to buy it for $6k. Sif. It was a 5 speed too.

It had oil leaks and had an old coke bottle as a window wiper reservoir :nuts:

Life missed other not so obvious ones,

: The bolts holding the bonnet and bootlid, can point towards accident damage, the water channels on the bootlid (tend to rust there)

Make it simple, dave_au's post from ages back.
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showpost.php?p=774453&postcount=5

Make it simple, dave_au's post from ages back.
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showpost.php?p=774453&postcount=5
Mate, go with the link Lugo put up, and you can't go wrong, and if your that worried, take a friend or relative with you who has a bit of knowledge on what to look for.
When I went car shopping for my car coupla years back, I was real anal about it to, think from memory I went through around 15-20 Magnas before I settled on the one I got.
Take your time, theres nothing worse than rushing about cause you need to buy a car now, especially used.
Took me 3 weeks to find mine, and it was three weeks well spent.

Wife didn't know anything about it till I brought my new pride and joy home. Boy did I cop itlol She rant and raved till she went for a drive, her first comment was, it's so quiet and smoother than the old one, I like it. I was let off the hook.

When you take it for a test drive find somewhere you can pour some water over the windscreen and check for internal water leaks in the footwells, a lot of 3rd gens leak there.

u should also look out for blown g/box cause i had to change mine and if it blows again the car will make a nice warm fireplace out in the bush :thumbsup:

thanks driving 2 hours to melb to look at another TF adv for the missus sunday. i told her strait dont be surprised if i walk away. she found this one herself :) i guess my 3rd gen grew on her