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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002
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Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Tue, 24 August 2004 14:13
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Hiyas
I'm going to check out an MX23 coupe on the weekend which has some accident damage. It has side damage behind the rear wheel, which has apparently damaged the taillight, bootlid and side panel.
I just need to know what to look for to decide if it's worth getting or not. Obviously cracks in the floorpan are bad, and blatant signs of the thing being twisted/bent majorly.
Are there any more subtle things to look for? Will be looking for roof creases, C-pillar creases, etc.. anything else I should be looking for.
The reason I am considering an accident damaged one is that, apart from being near impossible to find, the car had a full body restoration, reco'd engine and reco'd transmission not long before the accident. As such if the repairs are doable without extreme expense (say $1500 if I supply all the parts) I would be left with quite the daily driver.
Unfortunately am yet to see the car so am hoping to get some advice in advance! For those who are wondering why I would go to the effort, THIS is what they look like:
[Updated on: Tue, 24 August 2004 14:15]
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Location:
c'town, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Tue, 24 August 2004 22:37
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i so want a set of those mirrors.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Tue, 24 August 2004 22:51
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Ask for the coupe only, don't take the sedans and haggle like an Italian.
If damage is confined to the areas you have specified, make a $1-300 offer. Let the seller know that the bumpers and bootlids are totally different between sedan and coupe (ie rendering them useless to you) and point out the very obvious differences in taillights and rear panelling. Acknowledge that there has been a lot of work put into the car but shake your head a lot stating clearly that the panel damage is tremendous. DO NOT let on about the one in the wrecking yard.
Be patient - seller may take a little while to get real. Took me 3 weeks to get the first coupe for the price I wanted to pay. Don't get too fretful - you'd be the only person in Qld wanting a Mk2 coupe.
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Tue, 24 August 2004 23:37
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Bloody Italians 
As you said, I want nothing to do with the two sedans and am really only after the hardtop... I'll see how I go with the haggling - as long as it's repairable I'd be happy paying $400 for the hardtop... so I'll start with a nasty offer and work from there.
Do you know of any MX2x bootlids floating around? Will know on Saturday if this one is salvageable, and admittedly do have a lead on one possible car at a wrecker on the Northside but not sure what is/isn't on the thing. The other car at my local yard (thanks V8_MA61 for letting me know about it) should have all the other bits I want... including a manual conversion.
Do you know anything about the MarkII model range running different clutch master cylinders? I have a clutch master that I'm pretty sure came from an MX13 (maaaay have been an MX10 but I don't think so.. can't remember as it was 6 months ago) and it's very different to the one on the MX23 at the wreckers... wierd. The MX23 one is a compact one, while the one I got off a sedan is a chunky thing with a big bolt on the end! Wonder if they're interchangeable or if they are paired with the slaves.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Wed, 25 August 2004 03:21
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The big chunky one sounds very much like an old Crown (MS45-55) master cylinder, but I haven't played withmany MX10s so it could be standard on them too. The MX13 one is much more compact.
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Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Wed, 25 August 2004 07:07
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Oooohhh I like it when a plan starts to come together..Keep us informed on the damage..Guess who has a set of V Good tail lights and rear panel tucked away for such an occassion 
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Wed, 25 August 2004 13:20
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Dave - of course that woul dbe the case, this f_cking thing cost a right fortune to rebuild when there's a cheaper more compact one that's actually right that I could have used. Aaaaaaaargh it will never end! 
Greg - assuming noone gets there between now and about 11am, I will have a replacement for the rear panel and the broken light... I hope also to get a cut & shut for that guard off the same car if necessary, but will hold off until I've seen the damage! If I miss out, I'll be in touch...
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
June 2003
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Thu, 26 August 2004 06:16
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picsorban
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Location:
Gold Coast
Registered:
October 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Thu, 26 August 2004 09:16
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^what he said
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Thu, 26 August 2004 13:18
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Turns out to be a no go... the damage is repairable but fairly extensive, and I would need to buy both coupes to put one together. Unfortunately don't have the room to store one broken car, much less two. And then it will need a full (not just partial) respray - the bodywork is generally very good but over time has marks and scratches so it's not really anything special.
For anyone who's interested and has the space, there are two MX23's which would combine nicely into one car. One is at ABC wrecking in Oxley (silver, but originally bronze I believe) and the other is in Wynnum West - it's advertised in Just Cars towards the end.
I ended up buying a car today, an RT104 as a daily hack. The grandma special with uber rare air conditioning! Of course it's missing the pump, though... so if anyone knows of an RT104/18RC aircon pump, let me know!
Dave, there's mention of a coupe in a wrecekers down south, thought you may be interested:
http://forums.toymods.org.au/index.php?t=msg&t h=42860&start=0&rid=1707&S=0eb72a5d75e 89ce7b374e69fdcc24498
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I supported Toymods
Location:
I renounced punctuation
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Sat, 28 August 2004 05:12
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That's Cambelt and his coupe (outside the wrecking yard). I think he'd know who might have started stripping his coupe at Centre Rd Wreckers' carpark!
By the way Centre Rd has 3 sedans (one is a manual).
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002
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Location:
Adelaide, SA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Buying an accident damaged car - what to look for?
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Mon, 30 August 2004 04:18
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You should have bought it just for the sticker on the back windscreen
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)! 
