Well, I gave the car a visit today...
When I got there, it had already been driven which was annoying as I couldn't check cold start up smoke, water+oil filler cap.
Good points:
> No rust
> Body/chassis looked solid with no visible holes.
> 12 months MOT
> 1 previous owner
> Panels are straight and equal gaps
> Spotless boot
> Tyres good
Odd points:
> No stone chips (on a 125k car?!)
> Pininfarina badge snapped off on dashboard - why?
> Both front lights need refurb
Bad points:
> Exhaust on way out
> Dent on rear quarter (minorish, but needs PDR to remove)
> Partial service history
> Cambelt due now
> Gear lever doing funny things - hard to determine what gear you're going into
> Nasty chrome surrounds, etc on gear gator, handbrake
> Roof needs respraying (seems to have gone thin) as white showing underneath
> Front grille needs replacing
> Part of bonnet lining melted?
> Cloth interior - drives seat needs replacing due to exposed wire work
So all in all, it strikes me as far too much needs doing! Shame but thats the way it goes
It was the whole clutch/gearbox/gearstick thing that threw me. Now I've never driven a 20vt before so can't compare but instinctively it felt wrong. The gear lever was all over the place and you couldn't tell what gear you were going into. The clutch felt like it was slipping in 5th on acceleration (not that I've ever felt a slipping clutch, but its the best description that fits the symptom).
Now unless someone wants to tell me that behaviour is normal, I'm along the lines that something is about to flake out clutch/gearbox related.
Pulls hard and fast so that was a thrill (first for me).
Oh and oil pressure was about on 2.9 to 3 bar when warm so that was encouraging.
