Skip to main content

Closed29 replies

Should I buy it? (side of the road sale...)

FM Former Member
Hi everybody,

I test drove a side-of-the-road speedster last night. It's titled as a 1998 Speedster, has 37k miles - no information on which engine, but it was pretty peppy. It's being sold by somebody who bought it from the original owner/builder. The body's in pretty bad shape, lots of scratches, holes, dings, etc. Loose steering, weak brakes, lots of missing screws, rust on the frame underneath and inside under the seats. None of the doors/hood/trunk align well, etc. The interior wasn't very good when new, and looks like it's been left in the rain a few times, driven by some young kids, etc.

The seller wants $7500, but will probably sell for $6k. My question is - I don't mind doing repairs and taking my time to make it nice - but with all these issues - would it just be a waste of time and money to start with this as a project?

Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions. I'm new to this site and have been reading for the last two days - very cool that you're all here.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

FM Former Member
Hi everybody,

I test drove a side-of-the-road speedster last night. It's titled as a 1998 Speedster, has 37k miles - no information on which engine, but it was pretty peppy. It's being sold by somebody who bought it from the original owner/builder. The body's in pretty bad shape, lots of scratches, holes, dings, etc. Loose steering, weak brakes, lots of missing screws, rust on the frame underneath and inside under the seats. None of the doors/hood/trunk align well, etc. The interior wasn't very good when new, and looks like it's been left in the rain a few times, driven by some young kids, etc.

The seller wants $7500, but will probably sell for $6k. My question is - I don't mind doing repairs and taking my time to make it nice - but with all these issues - would it just be a waste of time and money to start with this as a project?

Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions. I'm new to this site and have been reading for the last two days - very cool that you're all here.
WOLFGANGWOLFGANG'89 CMC FWB, FL Supporting Member
A few of us are near by and gladly will take a look with you or post up pictures. Not sure how VA will treat the '98 Speedster registration as it surely will not meet '98 emissions requirements. Weak brakes and loose steering are probably adjustments (it's a 40 year old chassis so don't expect it to be same as a new car). I'm in Springfield, Dale is Stafford and Todd in Alexandria. Sounds a high based on your description - and if you can't do the work yourself not worth it. If you have more time than money and hobby mechanic skill it might be a deal.
FM Former Member
Thanks Wolfgang. I appreciate the response and offer to look at it. I realize a lot of the fun is investing the time and care to make it nice. The seller seems pretty desperate to sell, so he's willing to come down at least a bit. Last night, I was convinced it was in too bad shape to make a restoration project - then I saw some photos from other people of vehicles that started out in far worse condition, and I'm reconsidering.
FM Former Member
The registration was sitting in the glove box, so I actually took a picture of it and have all that information. It appears valid to me. The seller said he was selling it for somebody else as a favor, so he didn't know a lot of the details and was kind of vague about a lot of it. It was missing the inspection, but he said he'd go get that done if it was a condition of the sale.
FM Former Member
Oh, sorry - I mistyped - I just checked the title picture again and under year it says '1988'.

Title info
Date issued: 04/08/11
Expiration: 06/07/11 (weird)
Vehicle Make: SPECI CONST
Model: Speedster
Body: Roadster
Year: 1988
Purchase date: 04/08/11
Odometer at titling: 36124 Actual

edit: I see that puts it at 23 years old, and VA seems to require smog checks for anything under 25 years.


FM Former Member
I don't think it's terrible. I might offer five large for it, and it'd be up to the seller to get me a clean inspection and explain the registration if he wanted more.
It looks to have some good parts on it, and a little welding isn't too tall of an order. We can help with the adjustments.
Where in Virginia?
S schu
I might be able to do Saturday - Greg up for it? Might be a nice drive out that way and help check out the car. My first impression from the pic's is the car does not look that bad - of course it may change at close up inspection, but it sure beats the car I towed home.
If you title it as a VW you will need no state inspections/emissions and can get lifetime plates for about 60.00. Something to think about.
Dale
edsnovaedsnovaBaltimore - BCW 52 MG TD Supporting Member
Looks like a possible deal to me--$4k-$5k. Clock is a good guide here, surely.

Like the aircraft gauges but not everyone will. New brakes, upgrades is what? $1k plus a few days of cussing and fussing. Rewiring is fun. Ask me how I know--or ask Wolfgang. Interior rebits are fun too. You'd be amazed what they want for professional upholstery staplers--and the ones I got for $30 and $100 are not as good. Not at all as good...

So yeah, Clock is probably right on. But you might get lucky with the drive train and have a very serviceable car after only a season or two of tinkering and, say, $2k of parts. Then work out the rest as you go along. I'd go for it myself if I'd not already done something similar....
FM Former Member
One other thing that I just remembered - at one point it stalled out, and it was very hard to start. The starter didn't want to turn the engine over. The seller says it's a standard issue with this type of engine, something to do with the rings getting warm and more resistance, and that a replacement more powerful starter would fix the issue without problem. It didn't seem to have any problems when cold. Is that a known 'feature', or something I should be concerned about?
Post Content
Remove This Ad

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×

Access to this requires a premium membership.

Supporting Member

Please help keep us running!

Supporting members have donated about $4.00 a month ($49.00 US per year) paid annually.

  • Priority support
  • Removal of inter-page (between thread) advertisements.
  • Access to Build Manuals
  • Access to Knowledge Base
  • Access to Supporting Members events.
  • Access to Leveraged Group Buying from site Merchants.

AUTO RENEW: You membership will auto-renew after 12 months. If you prefer not to auto-renew, you can cancel your premium membership at any time and it will remain in effect until the end of the 12 months. To cancel, sign in at SpeedsterOwners.com and navigate to: (Your User Name)  > Premium Membership.

PLEASE NOTE: Your credit card will receive a charge from CROWDSTACK PAY, the payment processor, not SpeedsterOwners.com.

$49.00 per 12 Months (plus tax if applicable)
×