newbie in need of help!

[dan_2k_uk]

Yeah sounds a fair price if its in a reasonable state. I would buy a tin top if I was buying a Vit but that's just me.

[robbie1985]

Yeah I've been tooling for a tin top but none have really come up near me that have caught my eye.

Well have just got back from check it over and to be honest it wasn't anyway near as bad as I thought. The body work looks fairly straight, with the front wings being rusty, the last MOT came up with the body being corroded on the passenger side at the rear. The rear arches are solid and I gave them a fair old poke and prod. Had the rear carpets up and the floor pan In the back looks fairly solid, with some rust bubbles coming up on the passenger side seat belt bracket. Underneath was covered in mud but nothing stood out as bad, it doesn't look like it's had much of a kicking from off-roading and the drive train all looks in good working as do the suspension parts. Under the bonnet was surprisingly clean and tidy, the engine ticks over nicely with no bumps or taps. The exhaust is blowing but easily fixed or replaced and it drives alright, and he also mentioned that the drivers side rear brake cylinder is weeping but he has a replacement. All in all I wasn't put off.

Just a couple of questions,

How do lifted vits normally feel to drive? And how much trouble can the grud on the underside be hiding?
He's looking at getting £650 for it which I think is alright.

Cheers for all the help so far :-)

[donkeychomp]

The crud could be hiding all manner of things...you could ask him to jetwash underneath the chassis is normally rock solid but the floor pans rot. A lifted Vit will be fine as long as the width has increased too. So a 2" lift means you need wider wheels and maybe spacers too. Did you check the bottom of the doors and the windscreen surround? Another problem area. £650 sounds cheap to me...and I prefer soft tops...lol.

[robbie1985]

Yeah that's what I was thinking about the crud and crap underneath.
The wheels have been changed and the track is a lot wider then standard the windscreen surround looks fine and the bottom of the doors seemed okay but they have the door trims along the bottom that old be hiding some rot. I used to be a steel fabricator and have access to a car club at work that has all the gear I'd need, also has a few lifts which help so rust I can handle lol
From inside the cabin was in good nick and there was only a little bit of bubbling so I don't think that the floor pan is to far gone.
Just need to decide if it's worth the chance or not. But then I bought a 07 plate golf gti last year that was perfect and died on me 2 weeks later! It's all done to luck really :-/

[donkeychomp]

I'd buy it. Zooks are a doddle to fix

[robbie1985]

Hahaa in that case I'm sold!lol! Slindon safari is open next weekend so I think it would be rude not to give it a run out, providing I win it of course! Lol

[Anton]

Oh, I forgot to say Hi!

So, erm, Hi!

Where are you in the world, Robbie? I've gotta visit Slindon sometime, but first up is the new cuddy munts. A friend of mine says that place is pretty good, so I wanna join him and go down there sometime.

[Ladaman]

Hahaa in that case I'm sold!lol! Slindon safari is open next weekend so I think it would be rude not to give it a run out, providing I win it of course! Lol

Just make him an offer.

It will save him ebay fees too, naughty, but you won't be the first, or last.

[robbie1985]

Hey anton, I'm down in portsmouth. It's perfect for slindon, box grove, and muddy bottom. Have heard good things about slindon and alway see off-roaders burning up and down the A27 covered In crud! :-) where abouts is cuddy munts? The name rings a bell. I am a complete newb when it comes to off-roading though will need to be picking your brains on technics. :-) if that's not a problem then I'm well up for it :-)

Ladaman I did ask if he was open to offers when I veiwed it and as he is waiting for for the v5 to arrive cause of a house move so wanted to wait. To be fair there hasn't bee a lot of interest from what he was saying so could get it for a song through fleabay, luckily the fees are his to cover! ;-)

[Anton]

Linky dink

It's entirely in the wrong direction for you, I think. My cousin lives in Portsmouth, my brother in Worthing, so I'm down south quite a lot - been to Mud Monsters in East Grinstead a bunch of times, and always planned on Slindon sometime - but never got around to it!