Looking at 260

[Mr Volvo]

Hi everyone I have another one of those I tell everyone the details everyone says whether to buy or not posts.:classic:

I test drove a zed today, and was very impressed, unfortunatly I don't have any pics yet, but I will work on that over the weekend.

The car was from carsales and can be found here:

http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsales/!cs_content.private_vehicle?vehicle_id=104156&current_rec=1&total_rec=3&sort_type=&price_max=10000&make_id=37&model_id=457&search_distance=50

The car looks in really good nick almost everywhere. There are some areas of bubbling paint on patches throughout the car, but only on the flat pannels, none in the dogleggs, tip of bonnet etc etc.

I had a look at the frame rails and to my un educated eye it looked like they had fibergalss, or some kind of non metal material plastered over them, which got me kinda worried, I have no idea whether its a preventative or cover up measure.

As you can guess from the stats on carsales the car 'went' farily well, with no missing or dodgy sounds. The gearbox seemed fine with not a noise as I changed gear, and this time I made sure I went through all the gears. (im sure I only got to third last test drive of a zed)

As you can probably tell I really like the sound of the car, and the owner while not very knowledgeable (not for me to critisize!) seemed like a nice enough bloke, very interested in my plans for the car. Funnily enough once again I got to go on the test drive with just me and a mate, no owner, and yes the car was flogged hard. We must look like trustworthy young men. haha.

One thing I noticed about the car was the dodgy centre console which you can see in the pics on carsales, would something like that be a really expenisve thing to replace? To me it just seems stupid to fabricate your own.

The owner is selling it cos he has found a 240 that he wants, after only having this car for a month, I guess it would be intelligent to contact the previous owner, who lives in SA.

So opinions everyone?

And if anyone knows a good zed or rust specialist that I could take the car too to get it looked at I would really appreciate any contact details.

Thanks again everyone, I hope I'm not wearing out my welcome with these kinds of posts (Im trying to save that until I keep asking why it won't start..)

-David

[260Zed]

My first question when I was looking was "why are you selling it?". After only a month I'd doubt he'd know any real problems with the car, how long ago it was painted etc. Glass on the frame rails sounds scary. Is it in patches or all the way along? What about taking a decent bar magnet along with a bit of felt (so the owner doesn't get funny) and check that the rails and panels are all even?

Just seems wierd that if its in such good nick, that he's going to go thru the trouble of selling it to get another...

Oh well, second ahnd cars are full of unknown quantities :stupid:

good luck :classic:

Luke

[Murph]

Get in touch with the prev owner for sure. If the guy has any problem with you doing that, then walk away. Also the bit about him not being to knowledgable about cars could be another dodgy. Had that one pulled over me.

Glass (or anything non original) on the chassis rails sounds VERY dodgy to me. I'd be asking the prev owner questions about that. Alternatively if you are seriously interested and have the money waiting to go, and he hasn't got anything to hide, then out with the screw driver!

Oh, btw there is some fibre glass type product that has a rust inhibitor in it. The panel shop that did the work on my car used that on one of the inner wheel arches that had a few small holes rusted though it.

[gramercyjam]

What the others said, plus it seems to be missing the whole center console.

[260DET]

What the others said, particularly why is he selling it so soon? That bit sounds very sus. BTW, it should go up on a hoist for a proper examination. Wouldn't worry about the console too much though, used ones are available if you want one.

[Alfadog]

Yep, if you're a bit worried about something with the car then you ought to get it inspected by your equivelant of RACQ. They do VERY thorough checks and are harsh on old cars. Up here a full check on body and mechanicals costs $140. Not cheap... but might save you a lot of headaches later.

[Gav240z]

Is this the one in hawthorn with a custom made centre console?

If so i had a read looks to be a good car from description but in all honestly as the others said definately get under the car and have a poke around.

If you can get a hold of the PO have a word for sure.

Also I'm the in Hawthorn area daily for school as I attend Swinburne uni there.

I could come have a look at some stage with you,

Gav,

[drunkenmaster]

Originally posted by Mr Volvo

And if anyone knows a good zed or rust specialist that I could take the car too to get it looked at I would really appreciate any contact details.

Take it to zworx.com.au

you can see my car there too.

Rob can spot dodgy body work a mile away.

[halz]

Why not look at the Green one for sale in Southbank too? You can compare the two. I know its expensive at $13k but its been for sale for a long time so I'm sure you could make a nice low offer :devious:

[Deus Ex]

No dice, ive got my eye on that one

[halz]

Good luck - I like it because its the same colour as my 240!

[Deus Ex]

, when i say i have my eye on it, it means i have emailed the guy and hes getting back to me on Monday, its nice, abit $$ but as you said, its been there awhile, and you gotta haggle!.

Yeah the colours nice, i really like the Interior though.