Newbie! First Time Purchase St205 Any Advise Please

[devils_tale]

Hiya all,

this is my first post and the first time im buying a propper performace car, i was hoping to get some advise to see if its a good buy. ive been reading post on many forums and found the members here to be most polite and helpful so i thought il join you guys.

im looking to buy a -

ST205 4x4

1994 L plate

GT4 turbo (twin entry)

2L

Jap import ( reg in UK - 2003)

2 UK registered owners

Mat Black

67K on the clock

some to little service history

all MOT certs

some receipts

little mods i.e stainless steel exhaust , turbo kit nothing much.

cat 1 alarm with cert

Ive driven the car and their doesn't seem to be any knocking sound when driving/accelerating/turning ..so i guess that's a good thing from what i have been reading from this forum.

the bodywork seems to be in good condition no rust or dents on the outside, however inside its a little dirty but nothing a good clean cant sort out. Under the bonnet is a beast compare to my 306, which looks clean and tidy...well as much as i can see, thier is a little to almost nohting black smoke when the boost kicks.

the only 2 concerns i have are the timing belt, which hasn't been changed, and the car is registered with DVLA as GT and not a GT4 ,other then that i know little more about it......now for the questions :0)

1. how much is it worth? ( rough guide)

2. how much is the timing belt going to cost me?

3. what implications does the GT and GT4 details have with DVLA

4. what kind on mileage am i looking at from a full tank (which i totally understand is down to the driving, just a rough idea would be helpful.)

5. what other stuff do i need to look out for?

6. what and when maintenance needs to be carried out?

Any help would be much appreciated and if i buy car il even let u see it...lol.

Ja

[dawesy]

if you can get the guy who owns it to come up to nottingham then ian at Toyauto centre will look over the car and give you a report for £35. he is THE bloke for all things GT4. sounds as if its not too bad.

ian charges £175 for a timing belt, auxiliary and power steering pump belt change (incl parts)

if the car is an import then it sounds as if its a typo on the DVLA's part. shouldnt be anything to worry about but worth having an HPI check to make sure its got no history

depending on how you drive it you should get 300-350 miles to a tank (i may be corrected)

check the underneath and make sure there is no rot issues under there. also check the radiator top, if its a biege or whiteish colour its ready for replacement.

when you say its got a turbo kit what doi you mean? is it another turbo?

make sure you remove the oil filler cap with the engine warm and running. there should be nothing but a breeze comming out. any mist or excessive air could be a sign of piston ring land faliure (engine rebuild time) this is usaly accompanied by a scoobie type throb to the idle.

leave the car running for 5-10 mins after a good hard drive, if it starts smoking then its a sign that the turbo oil seals are on their way out.

if boot has been up'ed see what its been running, should be no more than 1.1bar, and be wary if it just has a bleed or grainger type boost controller as these are unreliable. an electronic boost controller is best.

hope that helps

[devils_tale]

Hiya dawesy,

thank you for taking the time to respond. im looking to buy the car tomorrow il have a good look around at the points you made.

referring to the turbo kit.. all i know its not the standard kit that the car was imported in with, he mentioned it is a after market kit.....il ask him more about it.

Again cheers for the heads up

Ja

[devils_tale]

hiya,

any indications to how much i should pay...if all is up to standards?

cheers

Ja