Hello folks,
I'm considering coming over from the N body world to the J body world. With the long commute I have to work, I want to buy a car that gets better gas mileage than what I'm currently getting. I drive a lightly modded 02 Grand Am GT, and get around 23 mpg mixed.
I've found a 96 sunfire convertible for sale locally. I've been looking at them for some time, and I've always wanted a convertible stick shift one. This one has 120000 miles on it, and is selling for about $1200. I get my tax return back in a few days - and I want to check out the car and see if I like it. What all would you suggest looking for? Here's what I'm going to check so far:
tire tread, wear
brakes (are they disc? drums?)
oil
clutch/brake fluid
power steering fluid
convertible top wear, make sure motor works
cv boots
rust (any common rust areas? wheelwells?)
all lights work
shifts into all gears properly
What else should I look out for?
Fronts are discs and rears are drums. Test drive it and get a feel for how the engine runs. While on the test drive find a straight section of road and see if the car drifts from one side to the other.(take your hands off the wheel and see if it drives straight) If it does drift there could be an alignment issue or improper tire pressure.
^^^^^ although drifting to the right a little is normal due to the crown of the road.... but if it drifts left...... thats not right....
.
Make sure to floor it a few times, if theres a noticeable lag in acceleration (it slows down before speeding up) theres a problem. Take it around a few corners, you will notice a lot of body roll (normal for Js), but you'll know if it's out of line. Check the coolant (important that you do) foam with oil residue means there is likely a head gasket leak. Have the dealership perform as many maintenance items as they can (coolant flush if it is anything other than green or orange, oil change, air filter, transmission fluid). Look around the head of the engine for leaks (basically if any part of the head is wet, there is a problem). If you want to test the suspension, a great way to do that is to have a couple of your friends come with you (fill up the car) and drive around a bit checking for odd sounds. Thats all I can think of atm. You can also take the car up to a VIOC (valvoline) and have them look at it - it's free, but tip them (and off camera too, their not allowed to take it).
_________________________
^^And by tip I mean $5.
_________________________
