First impressionsMy first impression of the car, was that of an exceptionally clean and tidy, 2003 facelift late 3.2 Elite.
All panels entirely straight, and paintwork immaculate. The Wheels are also in pristine condition, and the car looks a treat all over.
Internally, I sat in the drivers seat and the black leather, and interior, is supurb.
Basically appeared, at a first level look, to be a cracker.
Body:I had a good scout around under the car, cannot see a spec of rust up in the arches, boot floor area, or anywhere else. No signs of any prangs, all nice and straight.
TyresFront Offside: Dunlop SP, 4mm of tread, and even wear across the entire tyre.
Front Nearside: Goodyear Excellence, 3mm tread, and again even wear.
Rear Offside - Goodyear Excellence, 3mm tread - even wear
Rear Nearside - Dunlop SP - 3.5mm tread - and if I was picky, it looked like there was SLIGHT wear on the inner shoulder.
Tyres all in good condition - all easily road legal and MOT worthy, not down to the wear markers, with no bulges, damage, or sidewall cracking etc.
Suspension and brakes:Raised the front end while Di was in Asda getting a torch (!) -
Wheels - no play noticable in any direction, vertical or horizontal. Span freely, no indication of brakes binding
Wishbones - appeared to be very new. Couldn't ascertain brand, but there was no play in them. No play in steering idler apparent either.
Bounce test - passed on all corners. Visibly the shocks and springs seemed to be in excellent condition, and the ride height was fine.
Disks all had minimal wear and looked OK from what I could see.
Electrical:Everything electrical was tested, and is fine, all bar a small dash bulb blown.
Test drive:Di took me for a spin up the bypass. Engine started on first turn of the key - no undue noises and sounded like any other healthy 3.2. All warning lights came on and then disappeared as they should.
The car appeared to pull efforlessly and change through the gears no problem, without any fuss.
The steering wheel was centrally aligned as it should be - and there was no apparent pulling, pitching etc. The brakes were effective and the car was stable under braking with no wobble under braking either.
Sport mode works fine, and by the way it pulls with the pedal nailed down, the multirams are most defiantely working!
There is a very slight - only just noticable wheel wobble, between 60-80mph. I'm sure given the good condition of the tyres and suspension, a simple balance at a decent outfit will sort this.
MechanicallyThe exhaust is a gneuine GM one, in good condition bar a tiny amount of surface corrosion where it meets the rear box. The exhaust did not seem restrictive.
Stood outside the car with the engine running, it sounded fine. a VERY slight occasional squeak from aux tensioner - probably needs a trained ear to identify it!
Revs up to the read line, falls back down, and idles consistently.
The oil was quite black, and requires changing soon. This was confirmed by some mayo on the filler neck, which as we all no is no cause for concern. The oil on the dipstick had no cross contamination.
The coolant is old and could do with a change - but there is a reasonable antifreeze mixture in there.
Having had a good listen in the cambelt area, there are no undue noises.
The temperature is steady at 85deg on the gauge when stood still idling - but does drop lower when cruising. My believe is that the stat is stuck open - confirmed by the holding the hose test.
There were no fault codes present.
Had a good look around the engine bay and under it - all dry, and not recently cleaned or anything - so there seems to be genuinely no leaks or such.
There were a couple of small signs of sloppy workmanship, Eg couple of plenum caps missing, bracket for aircon pipe missing - but all in all, no causes for concern.
Way forwardsMy proposed course of action is as follows. Please note part costs are an ESTIMATE depending on source etc, but will give a ball park:
1) Renew timing belt kit (£90) kit aux belt (15) and water pump, (£30) for peace of mind factor.
2) Renew thermostat, incl O rings and transfer pipe to cure slight overcooling - say £50 worst case for stat pipe and rings.
3) Renew spark plugs (£15)
4) Renew oil and filter (£20)
3) renew air and pollen filter (£15)
5) Renew coolant and flush existing stuff out (£13)
So it needs around-about £200, maybe very slightly more, spending on all the bits to do a proper good job - that will see it good for a long, long time to come.
Aside of a bit of normal servicing that any car needs - there is no cause for concern with this car and I've advised Di not to loose any sleep about driving it to France - based on the fact that I would personally drive that car there. End of the day, it's only down to Dover, sit on a ferry, and a short commute at the other end.
In terms of how it's been running - taking the stats from the CID (which is lovely by the way!)
over the last 2914 miles, it has averaged 23mpg. It's done mainly local runs around reading, so for a 3.2 is aroundabout right really, over that many miles. This will improve when the stat is done, and it will be a smooth, reasonably efficient car on a run.
Di - as before - if you can get the bits, my offer to fit them as a favour still stands, as long as I can do it leisurely, EG over one weekend.
Stop worrying about the car - because it's cracking example that any of us will be proud to own - and you will not get better support than what you do here
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Topic: A Full Appraisal of Diane's Car - and way forwards (Read 5301 times)