[chriszz]

Hi All,

I am about to buy a pajero, and the seller is doing a motor test for me. Not being an expert it will be difficult for me to read the results so. He said he expects something like 92% and that should be fine. What should i expect and what would be a problem?

It is a 3,5 Petrol 1999 with about 220000.

Advice welcome!

PS> Yes, i am still looking / hopefully this one is now the one to buy.

regards
Christian

[4ePikanini]

Pay an independant mechanic to do a wetr and dry compression test and post up the results here. Anything out of order should show up.

My dad taught me to go with your gut feel. In other words if he looked after the exterior and interior of the car then chances are the engine has been looked after as well. Look at the seller as a person as well. Is he well presented and smart on himself or is he sloppy. The image will probably be an indication of the way he treated his car.

When I bought my passat the owner told me to take it for a 50km drive to make sure all is well, and when I fetched it, it was full of fuel and he presented all the invoices (including speeding fines). Needless to say my passat is in almost perfect condition after 260'000km.

[tonton]

Chris,

What happened to the one you were about to buy recently?

Anton

[chriszz]

Hi Anton,

well, this was quite disappointing story. We did an autocheck (and i payed 1200 for it). It was okay but far from immaculate (as advertised). I was ready to pay 80000, but of course after everything has been taken care of. The owner decided, that he was not ready to do anything about the main things such as clutch and driveshaft. He told me that his mechanic says those things are still fine.

Furthermore there have been 100 small issues, that have not been taken care of such indicators not working, back seats not working, crack in the screen and so on. The engine was also unsteady in idle. So there was a whole bunch of issues / which was really weird as he said that the vehicle was completely serviced.

But still / everything appeared to be solid enough to be taken care of with an investment of 10 / 15000 Rand. I think i might have accepted to take care of a few thing by myself if the price drops to 70000. But he said 75000 not less / and did not want to take care of the major issues.

So the deal did not happen. I think he sold the car to somebody else, as it is not advertised anymore:
http://johannesburg.gumtree.co.za/f-paj ... riceZ80000

Whatever / now i am about to buy a car from Autoselect in Pretoria. I am really ready to pay 80000 for it, as everything is fine / and everything, that was in the DEKRA Report has been taken care of. It is a 1999 Model, 3.5 Petrol Manual LWB, 230000. New tires / very good condition.

I think i am really lucky with that car, that we are buying now. He did the engine check and told me that the engine is running at about 92.8 % of the original performance. I am still waiting for the test results / but i am very much convinced with the car. I have seen more than 10 cars / and this is the very best car / and the very best dealer. Not even a discussion about doing full service and taking care of any problems!

regards
Christian

[tonton]

Chris,

It is good to follow your gut - especially what NOT to buy. If there are lots of small issues not attended to, I can guarantee you major issues are also neglected.

I hope it turns out well with the purchase.

Anton