Looking at a 95 TA, need advice about previous maintenence
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Looking at a 95 TA, need advice about previous maintenence
I'm looking at a 95 TA 6-speed. Its in very good shape, very clean, never wrecked. It has about 106,000 miles and is being sold by the original owner. It has headers, full exhaust, K&N, and Bilstein shocks.
The price is right on the car and I'd jump on it except for one thing.. the owner has been very honest with me about the car, and I asked him if he'd been changing the oil every 3000 miles since it was new and he admitted that we hadn't kept up with the oil changes and had probably done them every 20,000 to 30,000 miles. This was a suprise to me because he seemed very meticulous about everything else.
What would you guys do? The car runs great right now, but I'm wondering if its a time bomb. My instincts are telling me that there's probably an engine rebuild in the car's near future. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Michael
The price is right on the car and I'd jump on it except for one thing.. the owner has been very honest with me about the car, and I asked him if he'd been changing the oil every 3000 miles since it was new and he admitted that we hadn't kept up with the oil changes and had probably done them every 20,000 to 30,000 miles. This was a suprise to me because he seemed very meticulous about everything else.
What would you guys do? The car runs great right now, but I'm wondering if its a time bomb. My instincts are telling me that there's probably an engine rebuild in the car's near future. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Michael
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 1,208
From: Tulsa
1. What kind of oil was he using?
2. Was he at least changing filters?
3. Go get the oil changed in the car and check the oil pressure
Not changing the oil is TERRIBLE on a vehicle but on occassion there are instances where the car will still run like a champ despite improper maintenance. Check it out and have a mechanic look at it and use a mechanical guage to read the pressure not just the gas guage and that'll give you a feel for at least how the bearings are holding up...if the oil wasn't dirty and maintained some of its viscosity there's a chance the car is still ok...but its a rather small chance...if the price is dirt cheap it may be worth it to you but otherwise be very very careful.
2. Was he at least changing filters?
3. Go get the oil changed in the car and check the oil pressure
Not changing the oil is TERRIBLE on a vehicle but on occassion there are instances where the car will still run like a champ despite improper maintenance. Check it out and have a mechanic look at it and use a mechanical guage to read the pressure not just the gas guage and that'll give you a feel for at least how the bearings are holding up...if the oil wasn't dirty and maintained some of its viscosity there's a chance the car is still ok...but its a rather small chance...if the price is dirt cheap it may be worth it to you but otherwise be very very careful.
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 842
From: San Diego, CA
I wouldn't sweat it personally if everything else looks great and the price is right. Take it to a mechanic and have them change the oil or send it in and have an analysis done if it's bugging you. Back when I had an 87 IROC it got the oil changed maybe 6 times in it's 133K life before it got totalled. Maintenance is the last thing you want to spend money on as a teenager...but even so, I never had a mechanical engine problem with that car and it was running great up until it got hit. A lot depends on how it's been driven (something you'll never really know) and newer oils are lasting much longer anyways. With the exception of the 95Z, the 4 other vehicles I own/owned since are on the 7500 mile oil change plan. As always, YMMV...
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 127
From: new york
Maybe ask to lower the price alittle,but like the first guy said "as long as he changed the filters", you should be okay.
Check to see if the car is running hotter than normal (friction).Other wise it should be okay.
Check to see if the car is running hotter than normal (friction).Other wise it should be okay.
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3
Thanks for the responses!
I took the car out for a drive today. It runs great. There's a slight lump in the idle at times, but I've felt that in other LT1's I've been in. I took it for a couple of hole shots and it MOVES! I was pleasantly suprised. I hit some stop and go traffic and the temp got up to around 190-200 degrees but not over (this was without the air on). Once we were moving the temp went back down.
I checked the oil when we got back and it was dark and about a quart low. He hadn't checked it in about a year and he thought it was pretty good to be only a quart low in a year. The last time the oil was changed was about a year ago, when the dealership changed the intake gasket.
Also, he's never had the coolant flushed or the trans oil changed. I didn't check the coolant to see what it looked like because the car was still warm.
I'm still thinking about it so any other opinions are appreciated!
Michael
I took the car out for a drive today. It runs great. There's a slight lump in the idle at times, but I've felt that in other LT1's I've been in. I took it for a couple of hole shots and it MOVES! I was pleasantly suprised. I hit some stop and go traffic and the temp got up to around 190-200 degrees but not over (this was without the air on). Once we were moving the temp went back down.
I checked the oil when we got back and it was dark and about a quart low. He hadn't checked it in about a year and he thought it was pretty good to be only a quart low in a year. The last time the oil was changed was about a year ago, when the dealership changed the intake gasket.
Also, he's never had the coolant flushed or the trans oil changed. I didn't check the coolant to see what it looked like because the car was still warm.
I'm still thinking about it so any other opinions are appreciated!
Michael
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 645
From: Modesto, CA
God what a moron.. if its all still running good, and you're mechanically inclined, you could freshen up the motor with new bearings/rings/gaskets and just start doing regular maintenece on it. Still makes you wonder how he treated the car if he didn't care about basic stuff like that.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 174
From: ohio
This reminds me of a banana I once ate as a kid. It looked really good on the outside. It looked perfect! All was untill I took my first bite and found a worm in the middle of it!
Personally I wouldn't buy it. Let's face it.... I think we all probably have some hard driven miles on our cars. I can't imagine what motor oil with 20,000 miles under easy driving conditions would look like.... let alone hard driven miles. Sounds like a ticking time bomb. RUN!!!! JMHO....
Later and good luck!
Mike
Personally I wouldn't buy it. Let's face it.... I think we all probably have some hard driven miles on our cars. I can't imagine what motor oil with 20,000 miles under easy driving conditions would look like.... let alone hard driven miles. Sounds like a ticking time bomb. RUN!!!! JMHO....Later and good luck!
Mike
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