FTO AUSTRALIA

Hey people

i'm a newbie, yeh hi...we were all one of those

one of my friends dads owns a 1994 passion red FTO GPX. 85,000k's, 4 speed tiptronic gear box, and he is non actively trying to sell it. basically, i test drove it, creamed my pants, and decided i must have it or someone will die.

we took it to a mechanics to get an evaluation, and we got a sheet back saying it needs approximately $2540 of work to it.

the work and approximate repair costs on the sheet include.

Brake Test: Shudder - $400
Tyres and Rims: NST Rim Damaged - $? *
Exhaust Leaks (Report): Modified Noisy - $? *
Body Damage (Rust): NSR - ?
Shocks (Rust): Rear x2 knocking - $400
Hand Brake Cables: Trailing Rim Brushes - $250
Oil Condition: Service and Flush - $100
Cooling System (test): Heater hoses - $150
Oil Leaks (motor): Front and rear - $300
Headlights: Damaged - $600*
Rear engine mount braken (couldnt read what it said) - $300

*I was going to modify anyway, so i'm not sure i'm not counting those parts at all

any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated

thanks

thats worse condition than mine!

the brake shudder... $400? wtf... you can get new rotors for $200

OK, firstly, how much is he asking for it, because with that list, you can probably knock it down a bit.

Lets take these one at a time:

Brake Test: Shudder - $400

New front slotted rotors will only cost about $200. You could get a second hand set of stockies for a lot less than that (the rotors will be warped from excessive heat - common failing).

Tyres and Rims: NST Rim Damaged - $? *

Are they stock rims. If so, I have a couple lying round. You need to find out what they mean by damaged though - is it just a gutter scrape. If so, this can be ignored in the short term.

Exhaust Leaks (Report): Modified Noisy - $? *

This is a bit of an unknown, but a few people have stock exhausts lying around. If you are after a new aftermarket one, they tend to set you back quite a bit.

Body Damage (Rust): NSR - ?

They are susceptable to rust in the roof. If there are lines of bubbles about 10cm behind the front or in front of the rear screen, this is bad and will cost a bit to fix. Youll be looking upwards of $1K to get it repaired and repainted and there is no guarantee that it wont come back. Cars with a sunroof cost more to fix than one without.

Shocks (Rust): Rear x2 knocking - $400

You can get a set of second hand ones for $50 if you look around. About 30 mins to change over (if you know what you are doing).

Hand Brake Cables: Trailing Rim Brushes - $250

Not sure about this one

Oil Condition: Service and Flush - $100

Yeah, sounds about right.

Cooling System (test): Heater hoses - $150

Not sure what the labour is in changing over the hoses. Is there anything actually wrong with them or are they being a bit anal. Havent heard of many members having to do this before.

Oil Leaks (motor): Front and rear - $300

Oil leaks are a variable kind of thing. The price quoted for fixing this could be quite reasonable. Just depends where the oil leak is.

Headlights: Damaged - $600*

This could be as simple as clouded lights and if that is the case can be fixed with a bit of polishing. If there is a probem though, ill have 2 headlights arriving in about a week and they will go for $150 a pop (not $300)

Rear engine mount braken (couldnt read what it said) - $300

I can get a rear mount landed for less than $100 if that helps. Bennoz will be able to give you an indication of how long to replace as he has done it a number of times.

The labour cost is the unknown in all this. Are you handy with a spanner (or someone you know?). If your prepared to have a shot at it, then at least half the jobs listed above could be done by yourself and then you would come in WELL underneath that figure. The other unknown is the asking price. The car is worth 12K at most (private sale) and with those problems, I wouldnt be wanting to pay more than 10.5K. If there is rust in the roof, I would be looking at a different one. There are plenty out there for sale to choose from.

Dont be too hard on the workshop, they will have just got quotes from Mitsubishi or local wreckers. The prices they have listed are actually not bad considering who they will be sourcing parts from. Having said that, with a little help from the members out there, we can probably drop the part cost of that quote down a bit. And if you are prepared to have a go at a few things yourself, the labour cost will come down too.

Hope this helps.

alternatively you could come to a DIY day or something and we'll get a few of those things cleared but that doesnt mean you should run off and buy the first fto you inspect... have a look around first

he's asking for 10k, but because i'm good friends with the family, he said that he could knock the price down to about 8k for me, and going on prices i've seen or car sales sites and in the paper and ebay and such, that seems like a pretty damn good price for the kilometres it has done.

the stock rims, the exhaust, and the headlights i was going to modify. the rims do have cracks and chips taken out of them, and i was going to get them replaced anyway. the exhaust i was going to change to a quiet muffler, just to stay under the radar with the cops, and the headlights, i was going to do some of the DIY fixes i've read on them, and maybe change the bulbs to xenon 10000k's or something like that.

the rust is just below the driver side door handle, and isn't bigger than a 5 cent pice, not the roof. can i ask why rust in the roof would make you look at another car though? i'm a little confused on that one sorry

i recon i'm alright with a spanner, i've been helping my mate mod his r33 skyline, engine parts, did the headlights on saturday, took apart to dash to do something i forget. nothing gone wrong with it yet, and i recon i'd be up to doing as much as i possibly can by myself without having to pay anyone.

i've read about the brake problems that the fto has, and the rotor option sounds like a good one. they would have to be installed by a mechanic though right, i mean, i don't exactly want my brakes to fail if i put them in myself

i recon if i did some work to fix some of the problems that he'd ask for less for the fto right?

next time i go over to my friends house, i'll grab my camera ond grab some pictures of the rust and headlights and rims. hopefully tomorrow.

DIY day? that would be brilliant! where are they usually held, i live in sydneys eastern suberbs. i'll have to run this all by my friends dad. i may not be allowed to drive it. insurance would be an issue

i guess i've looked into this one because i know the bloke really well who owns it, he has full sevice history, doesn't drive it like i will be driving it . i guess also because i know there will be no complications with the sale, no finance issues, no problems like that like you'd get at a dealership. i see this as a lot easier and convinient for me, and i'd be taking the car off him which is kinda what he wants. but i will scan ebay and car sales and whatnot now that you've mentioned that

thanks heaps

Actually, that sounds prettty good on the surface. I dont think you are likely to find a better deal than that for 8K thats for sure. Particularly if its a family friend - no hidden nasties to worry about.

Brakes are easy to swap. Take off the wheel, undo 2 bolts and the caliper comes off, stick on your new rotors and then put the caliper back on. Think ive got a guide here for it somewhere,

As to the rust on the roof thing, Mitsubishi used a defective glue in the 94-97 ftos where the glue holds water. The glue was used to separate the subframe from the roof skin and if it collects significant moisture, will rust out your roof from the inside. I have seen pictures in bad ones where it is a complete strip 5cm wide across and the roof leaks water. Unfortunately, the only way to be sure of getting rid of this issue once you have the bubbles is to get them cut out and welded up, but as with all rust, if you miss a bit, itll eventually come back. Your rust spot on the door is a non issue in comparison - thatll only be surface rust

Go buy some new brake rotors & a rear engine mount & I'll swap 'em all out for 2 cases of beer. Boags Premium before you ask

Bennoz wrote:Go buy some new brake rotors & a rear engine mount & I'll swap 'em all out for 2 cases of beer. Boags Premium before you ask

me first me first!

Ahhh Bennoz, youd do anything for a case of beer

Bennoz wrote:Go buy some new brake rotors & a rear engine mount & I'll swap 'em all out for 2 cases of beer. Boags Premium before you ask

i turn 18 soon, i'd be quite glad to do that for you bennoz . i'll get back to you when i get permission to get the car on one of those DIY weekends jonowong mentioned

i'm getting those pictures of the rims, headlights, and the rust today and i'll post them if i work out how lol

damn newbie sydrome...

alright i got the pictures of the rims, the headlights, and the rust...bad news, the thing below the door handle was just chipped paint, the rust is in several spots in the roof. the biggest one is about 1 and a half cms in diametre.

i can't upload them now, i'm having trouble with my websites server, but i will have them up by tomorrow afternoon

Thats not good at all:

http://www.completefto.com.au/CompleteFTO.asp?hid=199

those are the pictures. they came out alright.

the rust doesn't look too bad going on those pictures i just took a look at.

oh yeh, and this one doesn't have a sunroof. going on the diy stuff i've read in reference to getting rid of rust i'll be saving a fair bit of money if i end up getting this car. is it wrong to still be interested in this car seeing its a family friend, even though it has this many problems? should i look at something else? i still recon i've got a good deal, but i may have adopted some tunnel vision on this one, and is this rust removal able to be done on your own? no i don't know how to weld before anyone asks, but i am thinking of expenses here.

Here mate use imageshack:

http://www.imageshack.us/

Geocities doesn't like linking of images from memory.

not getting the pics at the moment, so cant see how bad yet. Not wrong to still want to get it. Just make sure you know what you are up for to get it repaired. If it helps (and it may not), I have 2 clean roofs that you could cut panels out of to repair the damage. When mine got fixed, the repairer welded up the holes and then did the bog and respray thing. Cost over $1000 at the time. Some of that may have been because it had a sunroof though.

Hey buddy, welcome to the club.

I'm just going to post an alternative viewpoint to give you something more to think about, not that I disagree with what anyone else's said.

My first FTO was a bit of a sh*t box, it had rust in the roof, paint work was not in good condition, shocks were stuffed, had a dirty illegal canon on it, windows rattled like nothing else (only when down but)...

At the time I said that I could fix it all up over time (and with money). But, less than a year later it was back on the market and I was looking again.

This time around, I got one that already had everything done to it, had no problems, and from an owner I knew and trusted. Sure I paid a bit more for it, but I reckon it's worth that for peace of mind, and you just feel heaps better about the car.

I know for some people it's all about buying a car and doing it up, but for me I'd rather pay more money for a good example out of the box.

If it was a TA22 Celica, then rust would be acceptable.

If there's rust in the roof, dont bother. Its hard enough to find a high quality panelbeater that could actually weld in new metal, and wont charge through the arse, but they'll probably quote you more because its an 'import', as is the case with everything else.

Dont go tightarse on it, spend a decent amount on a car you know wont give you the sh*ts later on.

the guy is trading it in to get his daughter a car so she can get to school

i think i'm gonna take nicholas' advice and find a good condition car and pay a bit more for it.

just out of curiosity, which model fto is favoured?

i've really only looked into the gpx pre 97 because it has 200bhp, and at the time i hadn't seen the facelift model, but the 200 bhp hooked me in straight away lol. if there is a thread discussing this, please direct me to it, but if not, i'd like to know so i make a more informed decision on what model fto would be best.

i'll use imageshack next time, sorry about that

thanks

If you arent looking at turboing it, you should either get a GPX or a version R. The version R is lighter (and therefore probably slightly quicker), but costs more. Think of the GPX as the luxury model and the version R as the sports model. As to the options on each, see here:

http://www.completefto.com.au/CompleteFTO.asp?aid=454

If I were you id be looking at a 97 or later model. Then rust is not an issue.