pickin up a mk3 got questions
 

I'm picking up a mk3 this afternoon, its got the 7m in it, what are some things i should pay attention to beside the normal shit

An by normal I mean, shaft play in the turbo, electrical, an blah blah blah. I've been a mechanic for 14 years now, but not familiar with the 7m-gte

Check for diagnostic codes; Modifications to the stock wiring; test for any signs of a blown HG (pH test the coolant, compression and leak down test and check oil for contamination); read the spark plugs... beyond that just check the usual stuff for a 20+ year old used and abused sports car (everything).

Motor was rebuilt....you can see the new gasket, I'm checking the head bolts for sure. It's clean tho. Wiring has a few issues but I do enough of that at work I know more than enough to do it right. Like nothin really major with it 700 bucks, body is clean except 1 small rust bubble, needs a caliper an radiator, got 2 spare heads (one turbo head an one na head with the na cams), loads an loads of extra parts.....

why is the owner selling the car for $700? A supra is worth at least $2500 N/A in for the 1990 KBB.

just bought a 89 turbo
 

Wondering if I could get your opinion. Just bought a stock 89 turbo with 45K miles. Leather, ABS, Targa, Red. Mint condition. Paid $7500. Do you think I paid too much? Doubt there's many stock non abused 89's like this anywhere in the country.

If you are looking for something to keep as a collectors car and not as a daily driver then it is not a bad deal. But if it is a DD then you will still have problems to fix due to age. The other problem is insuring it because if it was totaled the insurance company will only want to pay you book value which is far less than what you paid. Also 89 is not as rare as a 90 and 90 is not as rare as 91 and so on. Does it still have good leather or is it cracked or starting to?

Unless it's a flip, I pay what I think a given car is worth to me. If someone's asking high but I put it through the wringer and feel that I won't lose sleep over it that night or the next then I'll pay more. If I feel hesitant then I offer less or walk. I probably would pay $7K+ for either a WELL BUILT MKIII or an IMMACULATE, STOCK MKIII.... but not for 99% of them that I see.

907mge's dead on though, the age of it will *usually* hurt you a bit if you intend to move it from "garage queen" status to "daily driver" status; Fluids leaking out of nowhere, dried up bushings to start squeaking, rattles here and there show up; Plastic and rubber shrink and dry up so fasteners are miraculously loose, seals and hoses leaking, shocks bouncing and so on. Sadly the moisturizers and conditioners in the various fluids don't often circulate enough in low mileage vehicles to really help like they should. Now, you may find it was serviced thoughtfully and stored under ideal conditions and such upsets will be minimal... It does happen so don't panic.

At the end of the day what matters is if YOU think it was worth it. You didn't buy it to sell off right away and make a profit, right? Then who cares? If it's that low of mileage and well cared for it's a great find already.