Suzuki Grand Vitara 1995 - Buying Advice

[Eddavidson]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and am currently looking at 1995 Suzuki Grand Vitara for sale. The car has been sat since 2011 in a garage storage and has just come onto sale. The car from what i have seen is rust free, it also runs and drives but has no MOT. If upon purchasing the car I will be booking it in for full service to get the MOT as I don't have the tool available where I will be purchasing from.

My question is what are the common faults of 1995 Vitara's, it is a 1.6 petrol manual with 45k on the clock. The guy selling it has said it started first time when putting a battery in. What do i need to look out for when having a look at the car?

MOT advisories from the past has stated that the break pipes are painted with greese and underseal should this be a concern? It is also stated that the 'vehicle freshly and heavily underseal' assuming this is linked with rust protection or build up?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Cheers,

Ed

[RichyP]

I wouldn't worry too much about the grease on the pipes I think most cars I've owned have had that come up on the test. Underseal like you say could be that it's just been looked after or could be hiding something but just have a good poke around the car for any badly rusted bits. Not had a Grand vitara of that year but a guy from the village has an r reg 1.6 which is 97 and that seems to be going well. With it running if the price is right I'd say its worth a view

[maxaret]

Hi Ed
Chassis/Underbody corrosion could be a significant risk and always worrying if you cannot see because of heavy underseal.
What area of the country has the car been driven - do you know ??
If the Vit is cheap enough - might be worth a risk - worst case scenario - at least the body is removeable if chassis work required.
I would definitely be cautious and certainly would not pay too much for it.

rgds max