Hi, great forum, really useful

Just won the auction and paid the deposit for my 1st Fiat of any description, this is a 20VT, I'd welcome any comments as I'm going to pick the car up on Tuesday:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230347774398

What do you think?!

Thanks, Mark.

Looks nice.But what is the milage?I presume you went and checked the car out?

I do hope you didn't buy the car blind

Against my own better judgement I find myself blind! or will it be ??! Worst case I will lose my deposit plus a bit of time....
The car was too far away for me to view within the auction timescales, it has done 130k but I am assured that the owner is meticulous and if anything needs doing then it is done, I am also assured that it has not been thrashed so some of my concerns are that problems will come to light once it has had a bit of a thrash!!

Go on, shoot me!!!

If its done 130k and the belts were changed at 65k then they need doing again now! So long as its been well maintained it should be OK but it is worth getting the belts done and a health check at a specialist, Motormech in Brum or PowerItalia in Essex

Yeah that was my thoughts but apparently (and I will have a good read through all of the receipts) the belts were done at 85k due to the new engine being fitted at 20k, still they're getting close to needing doing!
The car will be moving to Preston, Any good specialists in this area?

Thanks

I saw that one on e-bay and thought it was one that would be worth taking a look at. Even though you've already won it, I'd be tempted to get an expert to go and take a look before you hand over the cash. A lot can go wrong in 130k miles, and it's better to lose the deposit, than to get a money-pit, but you never know, you might have got a real bargain

Check out the buyer's guide on the forum as well. There are lots of useful things to check out.

The broken FOB isn't an issue, as you can get a new one for about £50.

What did this bit mean from the advert though, as it sounded a bit weird to me:


If I were you, I'd offer £200 for them to leave the Private Plate on. It's probably worth >£500, so could easily ensure it's a good deal

Did a quick search and P4 VKY is going for about £600, so I would think it's well worth haggling for them to include the plate, as number 1 plates are generally worth quite a bit more

F1 VKY for example is up for over a grand.
P1 NKY would have been worth £45k. So close, and yet so far !

'1998 model on a 'P' Plate'

i was looking at this car on ebay looks good

welcome to the forum

I'm assuming his P means private!!

I believe the plate is quite treasured as the owner is called PINKY, P1VKY is pretty close with a screw cap in the right place!!

I don't suppose anybody knowledgeable is available in the Aston area of Birmingham on Tuesday (15th) morning are they? I have printed the buyers guide and will have a good check over it myself but I'm no expert on things mechanical!

Contact Paul at Motormech and see if he or one of his guys can go along and check it out? (for a fee). He's in the centre of Birmingham.

I'm always wary of ads that say "I'm selling on behalf of my sister" and then go on to say "I've spent £500 in the last year" or "I can provide the tuning chip and instructions".

None of that advert makes sense, she bought it 9 years ago, whihc would have been the year 2000 and its a 98 model which would have meant the car was 2 years old and he states he bought it for £7000.... thats £14k depreciation in 2 years!!

Heated front screen!!

I wouldn't bother!

The whole advert is "we bought this . . . we've done this....we spent this on it". Something aint right - he definitely aint selling it for his sister.

"I think its at 130K but you have to take off 20K as a brand new engine was fitted by Fiat dealers on warranty" Yeah right, not off everything else you don't. Its a 130k car, not a 110k. His answers to the Qs aren't exactly helpful. And this made me laugh:

"I drive a Ferrari and my sister is an investment banker so just want to sell the car but not give it away" I don't understand what possible bearing either of those facts could have on anything.

On reading the listing, I'd walk.

He was the same when I was talking to him lastnight, he's the big brother so when he was talking "we" it really did sound like a big brother that helped and did everything with her.
Just done a HPI check on it and it's not 1998, it's a Jan 1997 model and last change of owner was in Oct 2000, everything else is HPI clear.
Also a friend phoned the phone number on the ebay listing earlier just to see if the car was still for sale (bit of a scammer check!) and he apologised, said it was sold and went on to say that he had omitted to mention the new clutch and exhaust from the advert but it was definately not for sale unless the ebay sale fell through which he highly doubted due to the condition of the car....
I don't know what you think but personally if I was going to own a car for that long I would look after it!

Cheers, Mark.

The questions at the bottom have me worried. 'Not going to give it away' 'this is a no reserve auction' - in the same answer!

Also a bit passive - aggressive.

Just does not feel right.

It might be fine. But there are plenty of money pits out there. I hope you have access to another £2000 or so for if it is a hound. And if you have the £2k, buy a sorted one!

You could buy mine for less than 2 grand.. Plus a whole load of others for around the £2k mark

Mine is the same year but on an R plate, done less miles and doesn't need any major jobs doing on it.
Check the for sale section.

Ebay cars tend to be cheaper, but also tend to be in need of £££'s spending.

I thought most of it sounded fairly genuine in the advert, but I must admit, the line above sounded a little suspicious. First of all, look at the background in the pictures... Does that look like the place you'd park a Ferrari, or the kind of place an investment banker would live?

Secondly, he doesn't want the hassle of a regular sale, but his last e-bay purchase was for a Saab 93 (2001) wing mirror, so he is fine with the hassle of patching up old cars, and saving a few quid on spare parts.

He says 'test drives recommended' but didn't think to make sure the car and keys were in a place where this could be done.

Having said that... £1000 is a reasonable price if it is mechanically sound, and you never know, some people just like the simplicity of an e-bay sale. It's a gamble.

If you can't get a member to go and take a look, I would recommend paying Motormech to do the job.

Fingers crossed.

Ian.

I really hope for your sake that it's not in the same condition as some of the Coupes that appear on ebay. They look great in the photos but when you get up close they are real dogs. I saw one earlier this year which was horrendous.

But hopefully this one is okay

In fairness, I bought my last one on e-bay.

It seems OK, but I'm having it fully checked over in a couple of weeks, so fingers crossed, there are some reasonable ones out there

I walked away...

When the guy talks about new this, new that etc he means sometime in the past 10 years!!
Cam belt had been done 50k ago but not an engine out job so nothing but the belt.
There was a nasty noise that sounded like a dry bearing on a pulley or something "All Fiat Coupes make this noise" he says.... yeah yeah....
Clutch was very juddery which suprised me as he said it was new, ah yes new when the car had done 20k!!
ABS light was on, says the sensor needs dipping in coca cola and the weather was too warm!!
Brakes felt bad considering it has new disks, they feel warped and lots of juddery vibration coming thru the wheel even when braking gently, he tells me that the rear brakes on coops are notoriously bad, can anyone smell any bull yet??
Steering wheel not straight (not a biggie but again not a sign of a loved car)
Odd tyres and one of which only just legal.
the engine was good as was the turbo and the car was straight but it didn't have full history as advertised tho did have lots of receipts and hasn't been dealer / specialist serviced in years.
Quite a shame really, I travelled from Preston to check it out and it's lived in London for the past 9 years, ironically it spent the 1st 4 years of its life a mile away from where I live!

Cheers for all your advice guys, need to find something better but still on a budget and now all these Fifth Gear peeps will be looking too!!

I bought my 16VT on ebay and it was a cracker, it's just as I got into the cars more it wasn't good enough, I wanted a minter, so I went out and bought a scruffy LE

Anyway, sounds like you did the right thing.

As everyone on here will tell you I'm sure, it's better to spend the extra on a better car than have to spend time and money on one that is in need of work, unless of course you have the time, money and ability to sort it and it's stupidly cheap.

Plenty of good ones about though, I hope you find yours soon.

Gareth

My last two coupes were off ebay and they were both brill but agreed, there are lots of total dogs on there unfortunately i think you made the right decision with this one as something just doesnt hang right with it

actually he was right in alot of aspects!
cambelt needs to be done by the looks of it but everything can be replaced without take the engine out! most places don't take it out and a about £400 for the full job.

abs lights do come on if the sensor is dirty or needs changing. mine is on at the moment but the asb works fine and just needs a front sensor hub cleaned or at worst a new sensor but they should be changed on 72k service and i would imagine again about 130k!
clucth can be juddery if worn but also if the engine munt was worn or stablizer bush as mine does it with a new clutch and needs either a right hand side engine mount or stablizer bushe which is £10!
coops brakes feel bad, hardle any feel and not good untill you press on them but thats due to loads of rubber hosing and i guse after 12 years and 130k they would be past there best.
rear brakes are crap and so are handbrakes but it might need a bis valve for the rear brakes! if warpped they aren't good but not un coomon on coops! might have been abusing them!
tyres sound rubbish and should be better than that and the steering wheel shouldn't be like that.

my car has fsh and had 62k on it when i bought it and need more work than that and it now has 78k and still bits and bobs and cost more than that. if you buy a coop i would still buget for problem no matter how much you spend.

i would buy off here for a good price and have some stashed away!

oh yeah and nearly all coops whine mine does and most do from the belt areas even after band new ones like mine. they even change pitch with temp but this is actually normal!

Yep, they do whine! I never came across one that didn't have some sort of whine or squeak, and usually from the belt side of the engine!

G

i paid £400 for mine to be done due to the whine as i thought it was knackered and then after i got it done i relised it was changed 3 yearsa ago and covered 26k! kinda gutted.
but hey piece of mind lol
its always the way with cars you need to learn your beast to find out whats what and owners clubs help alot.
i have always made mistakes on cars i have owned through lack of knolage when i first bought the cars but by the end im always nearly a expert lol