Which model fto would best suit me?

[Sweep]

Hi everyone being as im new to fto's i was hopeing that some of you could help me pick which model of fto would be best suited to my needs.
firstly my budjet would be around the 7500 mark.
I would be looking at doing some minor mods ie headers, zorst, air filter. being as i do not want to spend a huge amount on performance mods i would like to pick up a fto that goes well in standard ish form. I would probably like to concentrate more on body styling than performance.
Its also going to be a daily commuter, as for the gearbox probably a manual would this give me more of a edge on acceleration than an auto and would a manual box be stronger & less maintenance?
I gather their are two engine a standard & a mivec, not sure if a mivec would be in my price range?
reliability would be good for a commuter, im not sure if some models are more reliable than others or if a certain model can take a bit of a thrash and not die on its arse.
Lastly i see a lot of fto's in car yards in the sydney area would i be best to give them a miss & buy privatly as i know these guys buy their cars for minimal amounts and sell them for top dollars, and fuel consumption is not a concern.
thanks Andy

[Kustom]

Hey mate,

Firstly... WTTC.

Secondly.. If I was you I would be keeping your pennies and holding off for a little longer and maybe spending a little more around the 9-11k mark.. that way you can pick yourself up a nice tidy Manual GPX (mivec) (which also has the bigger brakes) and you won't regret it. You will love the Mivec roar.

Thats just my 2cents, I started off with a GPX and went to a GR thinking I could live without Mivec, I was wrong....... I'm now on my 3rd FTO and its a GPX manual...
Where are you located? Maybe you could pop around at a meet and i'm sure some of the guys will take you for a spin in the different models.

Goodluck,

Kustom_FTO

[Sweep]

Ok thanks for that, I do not like my chances on waiting to get some extra cash together mainly because im about to move house which is going to get very costly, and i need a second car asap.
currently im in sydney but will be moving to the goldcoast in a couple of weeks.

[MH999]

Hey sweep wttc

A budget of 7500 will get you a fto with a couple of problems so be careful and look for service history if it has it.Ftos are prone to roof

rust ,noisy tappets and things like alternators,starter motors and stepper motors dont last very long compared to other makes and models.

The tiptronic auto boxes are great but they are very clever and complicated boxes and if they go wrong they will cost a lot to fix so get the

manual,its less complicated it will give better accelaration but when test driving one listen for a grinding noise between 1500 rpm and

2000rpm which indicates a bad thrust bearing.Gpx mivec has ajustable tappets and the gr non mivec has hydrolic tappets which have to be

replaced when they get to noisy.Good luck

[Lawso]

just don't do what i did.

buy a gr for 3 grand and have to do copious amounts of work on it. not that i mind, but its probably not the most desirable means of owning an FTO

[AJ]

For you I would say a manual GPX. Although do what Kustom said and save a little more. A cheap FTO is a problem FTO. If you are good with mechanics then fine, spend a little less. When it comes to acceleration, the auto is only slower off the line. Once you are moving a good auto will beat an average GR driver on the gear change. If you are not looking to turbo the car then you have you get a GPX/GPvR. If you want to turbo in the future, then get a GR.

[nikhan]

+1 with what they guys said above. If you have gone through some of the threads, fixing the FTO with problems could be very costly. There is a reason why some FTO's go cheap and I can tell you it's not worth it in the long run where the repairs can go up to a couple of grand and sometimes the problems might not go away. I hope you had factored in insurance and other minor repair cost after that 7.5k that is your budget. I bought mine at 10k and even after that I had to spend another 3 grand on major service, bushes, brakes, suspension, engine mounts, cat convertor and some other minor stuff. It would be better off for you to wait till you have a bit more saved than to rush into a cheap one that might cost you heaps more. But saying that, there are also really good deals where the owners took really good care of their pride and joy. Have a look at our trading post to see some of the cars our members are putting up for sale.

Remember when you pay peanuts...u get monkeys

[yotka]

+1 to buying a cheap FTO.

I ma having so much issues and fixing up my FTO, it should cost way above 10 grand now, after buying if for under 7500 in early May.

[Lawso]

cheap fto is problem fto.

got mine for 3 grand, first thing to go was the whole braking system, followed by a head gasket. all within about 2000 k's

[brad_gpx]

Wasn't yours From taffysturbo?

[Kustom]

Wasn't yours From taffysturbo?

His wifes yep

[brad_gpx]

I thought it would have been in better condition then....

[rock_it]

You can never really tell when something is about to die... I think off memory the car was looked after by his daughter ... Then when it came back it just sat around in their driveway ...

So yeah, you just never know what is going to happen to a car when you buy second hand .. Especially an older car .. I am really surprised that my 97 has had no drama's considering I got it when it was 10 years old.. When I was growing up in 96, I bought cars like corolla 1990 models and what not... Could never find anything that was not shot, or burning heaps of oil ... And they were not even 10 years old..

[I8A4RE]

3k for a fto, what do you expect, regardless of who owns it.

[zuihoujueding]

if i have a second chance, i would buy a 3k fto and spend 5-6k restoring it. at least u know you are replacing most of the wear and tear bits to brand new and they will last and i'll have a peace of mind.
Spending over 10k on a car which appears ok when you buy, will most probably reveal its problems one after another very soon. Thats the reality of an old car.

[aza013]

110% agree ^^^^^^.
And also by doing the work you get to know the car and the mechanics of it.

[yotka]

110% agree ^^^^^^.
And also by doing the work you get to know the car and the mechanics of it.

Yeah, in a way, but u lose a lot of time researching what to by, where to buy, get sale quote from tons of places, etc.
There also the waiting, and the possibility of shipping issues, or getting the wrong part.

Mine went almost totally smooth during the parts ordering portion, except I missed out some parts(gaskets != seals), and my car was at the mechanic for a week, waiting for some parts I missed out to arrive.

I did get to know my mechanics a lot better, as in the guys.

[MH999]

if i have a second chance, i would buy a 3k fto and spend 5-6k restoring it. at least you know you are replacing most of the wear and tear bits to brand new and they will last and i'll have a peace of mind.
Spending over 10k on a car which appears ok when you buy, will most probably reveal its problems one after another very soon. Thats the reality of an old car.

I also agree but finding the parts will be a bit of a pain.I recon in 5-10 years time poeple wouldn't bother restoring these cars because with the way they are depreciating in value now they would be worth nothing and i dont think they will ever be consided a appreciating
classic like other jap cars of its era.

[zuihoujueding]

5-10 years time? we'll see! FTO lives on! lol.
if you are good at google, its not hard to look for parts. Furthermore, a good handful of the best car forums to look after you.

[MH999]

Yeah finding parts now wouldnt be too hard you just have to wait for them to come from overseas and pay a sh*t load for them.Imagine parts availability in 5-10 years time.