Biggest mistake EVER ! R34 Turbo

[34Red]

I bought a Skyline R34 Turbo for about $10,000 but without roadworthy, the dodgy owner said there shouldn’t be anything needed for RWC and I trusted his words! :s
 
But once I got the car and took it to mechanics and inspected it..

 
Mechanic said the car had a accident in the front and it pushed in some mechanical parts.
 
Founding:
-Ignition Coils MisFiring & Spark plugs were on there way
-Rear Suspensions were busted
-Missing Parking light wires
-Water Pump leaking at weep hole
-Instrument Cluster is Faulty
-Missing 5 Wheel studs in Total
-Harmonic Balancer was bent and damaging the belts
-Radiator slowly leaking
-Tyres has about 30% tread left
-No coolant found in radiator so it rusted and corroded
 
And the list goes on.. I just wanted to share my devastating story.
 
I got $20 savings left in my bank account and hopefully that covers the cost of repairs ?
 
 

[admS15]

Oh dear

[r32-25t]

Did you inspect the car with your eyes closed?

[Dobz]

Big lessons being learnt the hard way.

If you don’t have much money then you’d better start learning how to fix things yourself, don’t expect to have it on the road any time soon.

[iruvyouskyrine]

$20 should cover it, you'll be fine.

[hardsteppa]

Caveat emptor. But on the plus side, paintwork looks alright.

[Jordy32]

As long as you're smart with the parts you buy and do the work yourself that's still a bargain, got mates that can help you?

The fact that it was 10k and the market average is higher than that should've been a red flag but eh..

[r33cruiser]

Oh mate, I feel for you.

It seems this is happening alot. My facebook feed is filled with people trying to sell their registered cars without RWC's or "can get RWC at buyers cost". WTF, isn't the legislation clear, if your selling a registered vehicle you must get a RWC before advertising?

 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

for $10k, it's not that bad -  spend a few here and there and rip skids.

[tridentt150v]

Track car!!!

But honestly, you got what you paid for...it will be OK eventually.

[PranK]

Poor bugger. Imagine how nice it would be if everybody selling a car was nice and trustworthy!

Theres a few things to do but nothing in the list is huge (that I'm aware of). It will be a satisfying project if you can forgive yourself and let go of the grudge you're probably holding onto. The perfect time to learn how to fix cars! 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

6 minutes ago, PranK said:

Poor bugger. Imagine how nice it would be if everybody selling a car was nice and trustworthy!

It won't sell, I tried - so I turned up the wick, thrashed the living daylights out of it on the track and the motor exploded LOL

[GTSBoy]

12 hours ago, 34Red said:

Ignition Coils MisFiring & Spark plugs were on there way
-Rear Suspensions were busted
-Missing Parking light wires
-Water Pump leaking at weep hole
-Instrument Cluster is Faulty
-Missing 5 Wheel studs in Total
-Harmonic Balancer was bent and damaging the belts
-Radiator slowly leaking
-Tyres has about 30% tread left
-No coolant found in radiator so it rusted and corroded

Coils are easy.  $500, but easy.

Rear dampers are easy.  A few hundred for cheapies, or much $$ for things worth having.  But easy.

Parking light wires are easy

Water pumps are easy, and I replace the pump on EVERY car/engine I buy, along with the timing belt and any seals etc in that area while it is accessible.

Instrument cluster might be harder.

Wheel studs are easy

Harmonic balancer is easy.  Not necessarily cheap, but easy enough.

Radiators are easy.  And cheap.  And easy.

30% tread on tyres could last 10000km.

Dirty cooling system will take you at least 5 flushes and uses of muck-out etc etc to clean it up.  Manual poking of bleeders on the inlet manifold will probably also be required.

$20 will not do it.  Time to go turn some tricks to pay for your new habit.

[tridentt150v]

Had a bloke do the same thing on a Triumph Motorbike...bought a bobber over the webz from photo's for $12K.  It was only a 500cc twin and a mish mash of parts...sum total worth of the bike was maybe $1500. 

He bought it to me with a death knock...the big end was gone and about to throw a leg out of bed.....and he swore black and blue that the bike was fine 'just needed a tune up'.  Said the bloke selling it told him it was just rebuilt... but no receipts? I tried to get him to churn it, cut his losses, but he wasn't interested.

Eventually I convinced him to let me at it....and another $5K later the bike is running fine and has been for a 18 months now.  But he still has a $1500 bike that he paid $17,000 for.

Poor bugger.

Anyway, off topic....but it can be done, GTSBoy has given you a good map.  Do what you can as you can afford it, prioritise and address the immediate stuff first.  You will get there.  Plenty of good help on this forum, you're not alone 34Red.

 

[eightsixboy]

4 hours ago, r33cruiser said:

Oh mate, I feel for you.

It seems this is happening alot. My facebook feed is filled with people trying to sell their registered cars without RWC's or "can get RWC at buyers cost". WTF, isn't the legislation clear, if your selling a registered vehicle you must get a RWC before advertising?

 

There is no legislation saying you have to sell it with a RWC. I have sold cars/bought without many times.

If something happens where the vehicle is not transferred then you just submit the transfer form or cancel the reg. Has happened to me.

By the look of it the car isn't even registered anyway. Which is also another massive red flag.

The fact it was A) Cheap B) No Reg/RWC and probably some fully hectic guy selling it should have been enough alarm bells to stay the hell away from it.

Judging by the pics he bought he not running or something? Doesn't look like its had coolant or anything running through it for ages.

Edited October 11, 2018 by eightsixboy

[PranK]

I think OP is well aware of the mistake thats been made, so we probably don't need to flog a dead horse.

 

[niZmO_Man]

On the upside, it has factory xenon lights (D2R low beam bulb)

[Robocop2310]

Thanks for sharing your story but honestly before buying a used car always do a crash register, registration and finance owning check as a minimum and if you’re savvy you would have given him a small deposit and agreed that the car would be sold subject to a RWC.

Although unlikely, speak to the police as they may be able to get your money back as this was a misleading sale which could have resulted in a  bodily injury. Also speak to Legal Aid to see if there are any grounds for legal intervention.

What a shame. 

[RB25Detonator]

If I were you right now, I would comp test the engine to check its health but it's probably farked from the looks of it. I'm probably putting my money on head warpage/gasket.

Those things you listed looks pretty easy to replace (to me).

You should try looking for second hand parts on gumtree and FB market. Theres sometimes some cheap stuff on there (for example if someone decided to upgrade their radiator to aftermarket then they usually sell the old orignal one for like $50)

I find auto r34 clusters to be way cheaper than manual ones (just not sure about odometer swaping over to other cluster. Anyway there is a trick to put the cluster in dianostics mode (or something like that) and it puts the needle dails on the default position (RPM will go to like 2500 or something then just turn it to the default position with your finger, check the r34 workshop manual lol i cant remember)

On the plus side it does have a dfecent body kit and paing job (not like those ricey bomex kits out there)

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by RB25Detonator

[r33cruiser]

19 hours ago, eightsixboy said:

There is no legislation saying you have to sell it with a RWC. I have sold cars/bought without many times.

If something happens where the vehicle is not transferred then you just submit the transfer form or cancel the reg. Has happened to me.

By the look of it the car isn't even registered anyway. Which is also another massive red flag.

The fact it was A) Cheap B) No Reg/RWC and probably some fully hectic guy selling it should have been enough alarm bells to stay the hell away from it.

Judging by the pics he bought he not running or something? Doesn't look like its had coolant or anything running through it for ages.

Rules might be a bit different here in QLD, especially when registered:

https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/buying/rules/selling