Evening all,

Ill admit im not a Magna owner but i do like them. My Mrs drove a friends TJ Magna and fell in love so she is currently on the hunt for one and for some reason she wants the AWD version.

We have found a 2002 AWD Magna with 160,000kms for $4k and will hopefully be viewing the car tomorrow after work.

I have searched the forum and found a few threads on the AWD model. In a nutshell i should be looking for the following;

- Signs of leaks from rear diff, transfer case and gearbox.
- Service history for the above with specific oils from Mitsubishi
- Rear suspensions bushes
- Drive line play
- Gearbox smoothness/shifts
- General smoothness
- Leak from rear rocker cover
- Timing chain changed
- Rear spark plugs replaced
- Engine service history
- All electronics work

Is there anything im missing? If there is something that presents later down the track are the AWD's hard to find parts for and are they expensive parts?

Thanks in advance.

Daniel

I cant speak to mechanical stuff, but i can tell you that generally the AWD's have more noise and vibration than the FWD versions, so the experience is not as refined, although you get used to it. Fuel economy takes a big hit too. My KH does around 10.5/100 (depending on how its driven of course) whereas the AWD does 12.5.
Otherwise there is a touch of understeer, but its not annoying.

The AWD sits very confidently on the road, especially in the wet.

Also little things like the cruise control stalk not being snapped (~$30+ to replace second hand)... also smell the inside of the car and check the driver and passenger footwells for signs of water leakage (happens rarely but can be a bitch to fix)

If this one does not work out there is a member here also selling an AWD, is a clean car and has a motor with about 140k fitted to it from his own TW AWD which he put a 380 motor into. His name is Munkeymanz will be in the forsale section

Generally, like any other car, you do take a risk with a used car so if you do check for the standard service items, history in my opinion means SFA as some places do use second rate items such as oil and to be honest a good quality oil changed every 20k will fair better than cheap and nasty oil changed every 5k, have seen so many engines which have low mileage with issues due to poor quality oils etc

Also Magna's run timing belts, not chains lol

4k for a AWD is quite low to be honest. Especially for a car in WA. Could be a bargain, but don't let the price blind you unless you're prepared to do the work yourself.

Here's a list of general problems that magna's have:
- Leaking oil from the rocker cover gaskets/spark plug tube seals/front thrust/cams cap. Parts are cheap, labour is not.
- A dodgy transission if maintenance has not been kept up. Most evident when car is cold.
- Noisy tappets on cold start.
- Rough idle thanks to usually a broken rhs engine mount and/or dirty tb/isc (latter leads to jerkyness during acceleration as well)
- Busted CV's (normal for most cars that are used really)
- Hardened heater core seals that results in coolant dousing the carpet - look for signs on the passenger side.
- Stalk problems - cruise/lights can stuff up. Thankfully these are super cheap to replace 2nd hand.
- Power window combination switch (pretty easy to check!)
- TCL solenoid (check for light on cluster)
- Handbrake problems. Usually just needs to be tightened however sometimes they require handbrake shoe replacement from a "hissing"/"rubbing" noise they can make.

And then the usual checks you make cars:
http://forums.mightycarmods.com/showthread.php?2307-The-Official-Unofficial-Car-Buying-Thread

I find driving through a underground carpark is a great way to better hear any noises a car might make. Do a few full lock turns and try and check the transmission when the car is cold. Once warmed up then check the fluid level and colour.

Thanks all, i really appreciate the advice.

Timing belt! My apologies, fairly evident we dont own a Magna eh.... yet.

KWAWD - The additional noise and harshness shouldnt present a problem. Her current car is a 1979 VB Commodore which is recieving a EFI engine conversion in the next few weeks hence the reason she is chasing a nice daily.

Pickles - Are you talking about leaks in the footwell from heater core issues or the frameless windows seals?

Madmagna - Where is this AWD Magna? It needs to be in WA.

MagnaP.I - Thanks so much for that advice. I agree, the price does seem a little to good to be true which is what led me to this forum. Ill make sure i take note of the items you have mentioned.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97304

Welcome to AMC by the way, hopefully you stick around after the purchase :D

Pickles at the very least will be talking about Heater Core issues.

One reason it is cheap could be that it will probably be due for a second timing belt. They should be replaced at 100 000km OR 5 years. It is a 2002 with 160 000km, so it should have had 1 replacement already 5 years ago and be due or past due for it's second. If it's had 2 replacements, that's great for you. If not, be aware you are up for some $ soon. Therefore haggle a lower price if this is the case! Check the Service & Warranty logbook (which it hopefully has) in the 100 000 km replacement item section (page 33) and 60 month service (page 30) and 120 month service (page 40) pages.

I side with your Wife on AWD. After 2 previous Magna's, the last being a 2002 TJ, I recently obtained a 2003 TJ Sports AWD. There are advantages and disadvantages to either a FWD or AWD Magna. FWD's tend to be quicker due to lower weight, use less fuel, and be a bit cheaper for maintenance over the long haul. But the AWD's leap away no problem from, for example, a traffic light standing start better no matter if it's wet, dry, greasy or over painted lines. Grip and safety in dry, wet or greasy conditions is impressive in city and highway driving. My AWD uses about 2lt/100km more (city or highway) than my other TJ. I miss my faster accelerating (to legal speed limits) and cheaper to run TJ FWD, but am happy with the advantages of my AWD.

Oh, check the roof lining or if it's been done. They tend to let go at around the 8-10 year mark and it's like driving a tent! Costs about $200. Anything to haggle a better price is good.

Thanks Mal and Jamie for suggesting the TJ AWD i'm selling.

All I can say is that going from a front wheel drive magna to an All wheel drive, i'd never turn back. The handling and on-road confidence of the AWD is in a different league especially on anything other than dry tarmac. Relative to a 5 speed sports/VRX or ralliart FWD, the AWD isn't as quick in the dry (different story in the wet or gravel), but certainly quicker than a 4 speed FWD magna. The other advantage of the AWD is you get much larger brakes standard (same as the ralliart) and a better ABS/EBD.

Well said munkeymanz. I was trying to be very diplomatic with FWD vs AWD in my previous post. But I'm with you, I'd never turn back!

Cheers for the advice all, i really appreciate the information provided. We headed down to see the car yesterday after work but the dealer had already closed unfortunately. Even when we rang to say we were coming from NOR (North of River, I forgot this forum is Australian wide).

We will have to go Saturday morning now.

I spent some time looking around the power/dyno threads on here and was quite surprised with the figures. We arnt planning to mod our Magna but power gains do interest me. The Magna's ive driven feel so punchy and responsive, much more so than the equilvalant Falcon/Commodore yet are producing modest results. Im not trying to offend anyone, just found that intresting.

Good observation. Peak power isn't the most important thing, it's where the torque and power is available through the rev ranges. Low RPM torque makes these cars more "driveable" and responsive, rather than relying on screaming revs just to move.

Agree with the driveability, the AWD is designed to be a very competent performer on the road with lots of grip & ability to stop.

On paper, it's more like power to weight ratio that matters rather than power alone, but unfortunately its peak power that's measured... & Peak power figures will look real unimpressive if you try to spread useful torque across a broader rpm range for real world driveability...

Re: harshness? I don't find the AWD harsh at all - quite a gentle cruiser I thought, with a nice sounding factory sports exhaust.

Got to agree with the FWD to AWD differences , i love mine, owned a TF sports and now the TL AWD , cant believe how smooth it drives , only had it on the road two weeks and its been wet, WOW, i like it