Intro Thread / Hoping I didn't buy a 30K lemon... (5 Viewers)

[ZackR]

30k for a 30 year old vehicle sight unseen is a pretty big roll of the dice. Like others on here when I looked through the photos there were a lot of little things that left me scratching my head but I've also owned an 80 series for ten years (sounds funny to say it out loud) and have looked at pretty much every nook and cranny in that thing multiple times.

From what I'm seeing these are all fixable things, just really unfortunate that you have to deal with them on a top dollar cruiser.

As for the technical issues... go through the FSM and follow the steps but here's my hunch:

I'd start with fresh 02 sensors, a fresh engine wiring harness, pull the upper intake and replace all the vacuum lines, PHH (pesky heater hose) and related coolant hoses, etc (while you are in there things) and adjust the IAC and TPS per the FSM. This made a massive difference on my 94', it runs and idles so much better than it ever did before. The wiring harness gets old and crispy causing all kinds of drivability issues, some show up as codes and others are intermittent.

 

[NeverFinis]

You can tell who is willing to fill a bad engine with diff oil and screw over some poor sucker (or more likely has) and who isn't throughout this thread.

100% agree.

VIN: JT3HJ85J4T0129030

This thread might help the next potential owner not get screwed...

 

[Batameez]

My whole point with bringing up the law re: cats was as a way out of what was a stupid, stupid, stupid stupid purchase. You want to live with it, then that's your deal. But the guy's gonna keep fcking people and you have a chance to possibly stop that by nuking him from orbit via FL AG, consumer protection, FBI (they're the ones that handle interstate fraud), ect...

Or you can sit on your hands and wallow in it and let bad behavior continue to be rewarded. Your call. I'm out.

That's basically why shady used car dealers still keep doing what they do, no one gives them a scare.

 

[joecrow]

@NeverFinis Thanks for pointing out those things, some I knew, some I didn't (The engine ground).

I'm tending to agree with your assessment. Dash being out could explain some things I didn't mention, Speedometer is off, the flapper that controls air direction (floor/vents/defrost) doesn't work. Glovebox falls all the way open.

I almost wonder if there was some kind of engine fire? I don't know why else the engine bay would have been painted. I notice the overspray as well. The paint in the engine bay is definitely a different shade / matte finish compared to the rest. The info plates on the firewall are also missing, and there's a big dark spot on the underside of the hood where the hood blanket thing should have been? idk..

The front and second row seats were recovered with some aftermarket kit, the leather is noticeably brighter than the 3rd row seats. Agree on the carpet. Not sure what to make of the sellers comment.

I have not contacted the seller, although kinda funny that I never got even got a "everything good?" text/email after the sale. No idea how he ended up with it, but looks like he listed it on BaT after he picked it up somehow. Car spent its life in Alabama via several owners. Even the title I got from the seller was an Alabama title.

Regarding the flapper that controls the blend door, I would check the blend door module to see if it's unplugged. It's kind of directly below the ignition cylinder. When I removed my dash I forgot to plug that in and had the same issue.

The black module when looking up from below.