How would you feel about buying a tuned car? Any stories?
Discussion
Recently in my never-ending quest to find a fun car at the right price with the right number of seats, someone pointed me at a certain 1990's turbo. I started to have a look at what's available and most of them appear to be modified. Exhaust, induction & filter kits are easy to understand, but then things I've no experience of like rechips & remaps, upgraded turbo's, intercoolers, boost controllers and aftermarket ECU's. I do have a techy background, just haven't had the chance to play with cars for many years.
Has anyone bought a tuned car with no previous experience? I realize I'd learn more easily if I bought an unmodified one and worked on it myself, but they're expensive to buy in the first place, and I don't actually need the extra power.
Assuming I do the usual checks on bodywork, engine, oil/water, exhaust smoke etc and it sounds and drives well, how risky is it? Any stories?
Has anyone bought a tuned car with no previous experience? I realize I'd learn more easily if I bought an unmodified one and worked on it myself, but they're expensive to buy in the first place, and I don't actually need the extra power.
Assuming I do the usual checks on bodywork, engine, oil/water, exhaust smoke etc and it sounds and drives well, how risky is it? Any stories?
Money pit
Unless being bought from a true fanatic with reciepts for everything, brand new (no ebay specials) then costs will be cut elsewhere and workmanship will be poor.
Basically, you want it from the guy, who supplies everyone else with 2nd hand ebay bits when he decideds to break his pride and joy because no one would buy it, because he poured so much money into it.
But that shouldn't put you off. Always be optimistic
Unless being bought from a true fanatic with reciepts for everything, brand new (no ebay specials) then costs will be cut elsewhere and workmanship will be poor.
Basically, you want it from the guy, who supplies everyone else with 2nd hand ebay bits when he decideds to break his pride and joy because no one would buy it, because he poured so much money into it.
But that shouldn't put you off. Always be optimistic
I bought my old punto GT it had a superchip, induction kit, Front mounted intercooler, Decat alloys and a full suspension kit. It also needed around £1000 of welding ( average quote) but the engine was really well cared for it had loads of reciepts for services etc but the body had been neglected. I eventually sold it for £300 and now its been repaired by someone with much more knowledge and time than me it was on 144,000 miles when i sold it.
Id be very cautious about buying another tuned car tbh.
Id be very cautious about buying another tuned car tbh.
I know what you mean but quite a few of these are "owned it for 5 years" cars, it just seems to be the nature of them that they're chipped. And if the turbo's 10 years old and needs replacing, why not pay a bit more for the one with the better oil seals? (If the mods promise not to move the thread, I can let you know I'm talking about Fiat Coupe Turbo's... not to many unmodified ones out there, as far as I can see, and those that are cost more because of it.)
Modified cars are all very well but have a look at what can give you the same performance as standard. I have a modified Mustang and insurance companies really don't like insuring it as a daily driver and to keep the insurance relatively cheap, I'm now down to 3000 miles for just over £400 a year. I keep thinking I could have had more fun with an unmodified one as a daily driver though. Nothing like as quick but probably quick enough.
Annoyingly a much heavier GT500 would be cheaper to insure because it's standard.
Annoyingly a much heavier GT500 would be cheaper to insure because it's standard.
I have just bought (paid deposit) on a Modified Volvo 850 T5.
Do your research
Take someone that knows there stuff with you to view the car
Do more research
Make sure it is an enthusiasts car with history , story, reasons and receipts for everything.
Then bite the bullet it's part of buying a heavily modded car, it's a gamble spending a little more than a standard car for thousands of work but could potentially cost you thousands re doing it right.
Do your research
Take someone that knows there stuff with you to view the car
Do more research
Make sure it is an enthusiasts car with history , story, reasons and receipts for everything.
Then bite the bullet it's part of buying a heavily modded car, it's a gamble spending a little more than a standard car for thousands of work but could potentially cost you thousands re doing it right.
iva cosworth said:
You haven't actually told us what car.
Anyway,a tuned car is a good buy if as said reciepts from reputable big name tuners are included.
Oh yes I have... (panto season is nearly here)Anyway,a tuned car is a good buy if as said reciepts from reputable big name tuners are included.
OK, good point, DIY tuning's not a good bet, but receipted tuning by a reputable company should be ok. Thanks.
Gaz. said:
My first questions regarding the Fiat Coupe:
1. What has actually been done to it.
2. Who modified it - DIY or rated & reccomended garage?
Thanks Gaz., I think you're saying the same as the previous poster. There isn't one particular car, I just started looking at them in general and saw quite a few that had been modified, I've no experience (although probably all the right skills, mechanical, practical, electronics and software) and I wouldn't hesitate to tune a car myself if I found the need.1. What has actually been done to it.
2. Who modified it - DIY or rated & reccomended garage?
A pre-tuned £1-2K car seems like a potential bargain, with little to lose if it goes 'pop'.
But this wasn't a Fiat Coupe specific question, just modified cars in general.
I guess it comes down to the type of modification and how reputable it is, the older the car and the more 'fragile' the car, the bigger the worry IMO. I wouldnt buy a modified Fiat because of the reputation of them for being so fragile, but if well cared for, im sure it would be fine...
I bought my MX5 modified already and to be fair, it's a sound enough car but it has cost me a fair bit getting it to the spec I wanted, which kind of defeats the whole point of buying a modified car! With modified cars, they can be masking something else far more serious, so keep your wits about you when looking over the car. My MX5 actually had duff shocks on it but the seller had masked it by putting the shocks on their hardest setting (they're adjustable). Apart from the knackered suspension, the car wasn't too bad at all and is now running great thanks to £600 of work 
A few of my cars have had aftermarket kits fitted to them. I don't see a problem - after all, I like to think I look after my cars, and they sometimes end up with additional bits of kit on them. As long as you're not being told "yehhhh, got da induction kit cos its sikk blad, m8 wired it up in his shop but did it off the books yeh?" then I don't see a problem - a genuine petrolhead will have receipts detailing the mods, and a really decent chap will chuck the original bits in as well. I always saw it as a bit of buyer judgement - if they were decent and the paperwork was in order, there's no problem. If they were a bit shady, I can and have walked away in the past.
I think if the seller seems geniune and the receipts are there (and wow, do some of them have receipts!) and it drives ok then there's no problem.
I do wonder how many of them have declared the mods to their insurers, it looks hard enough for young people to get insured these days without mods.
I do wonder how many of them have declared the mods to their insurers, it looks hard enough for young people to get insured these days without mods.
I've bought a few modified cars and it's been a mixed bag. I had a Sapphire Cosworth that had been fairly heavily modified and worked flawlessly. On the other hand I had a Turbo Technics kitted Sierra 4i that developed a sudden and terminal fuelling problem not long after I purchased it.
Basically unless you know the bloke that did it, or if it was done by a reputable company, it's a lottery.
Basically unless you know the bloke that did it, or if it was done by a reputable company, it's a lottery.
Not all modded cars are done by chavs in sheds!
I bought mine (1999 Saab 9-3) from a local dealer who specialises in old ("classic") Triumphs; he had taken it in part ex. Turned out that it had been worked on by probably the best known tuner in the country within the main Saab dealer network and that the owner had kept it for six years, had spent thousands on "proper" parts and was a professor of engineering at a rather well known university.
Four years on (and at 120k miles) it still excites me and I've kept the covenant that I made with the previous owner: still being serviced within the main dealer network; oil & filter change with fully synthetic every 6k miles; only ever drinks Shell V-Power.
Previous owner was mad - but in a good way; and I guess I am too!
I bought mine (1999 Saab 9-3) from a local dealer who specialises in old ("classic") Triumphs; he had taken it in part ex. Turned out that it had been worked on by probably the best known tuner in the country within the main Saab dealer network and that the owner had kept it for six years, had spent thousands on "proper" parts and was a professor of engineering at a rather well known university.
Four years on (and at 120k miles) it still excites me and I've kept the covenant that I made with the previous owner: still being serviced within the main dealer network; oil & filter change with fully synthetic every 6k miles; only ever drinks Shell V-Power.
Previous owner was mad - but in a good way; and I guess I am too!
Nothing wrong with buying a modified car. Just think, your Alpinas, Brabus, etc are all modified cars.
Do your research, it's not so much the modifications that are the problem, it's the quality of who fits them.
Pas example...
One of my friends bought an Octavia VRs. Supposedly forged internals, stroked to 1.9 litres, IHI turbo and allegedly "350bhp". It had forged internal... Well BAM pistons, but no stroker kit and on a rolling road it made 290bhp. He's an idiot though and didn't thoroughly check the car. He ended up putting a hole in the gearbox, tried to bust it for spares, lost everything as parts got stolen through his own stupidity again, and is left with an engine he can't sell, basically he's lost thousands.
So in short, thoroughly go over the car. A lot of people who modify cars are perfectionists - I'm incredibly fussy and believe I maintain my own modified car to a very high standard. Owners clubs will be able to explain common mods on the cars, they are an invaluable resource.
Good luck anyway
Do your research, it's not so much the modifications that are the problem, it's the quality of who fits them.
Pas example...
One of my friends bought an Octavia VRs. Supposedly forged internals, stroked to 1.9 litres, IHI turbo and allegedly "350bhp". It had forged internal... Well BAM pistons, but no stroker kit and on a rolling road it made 290bhp. He's an idiot though and didn't thoroughly check the car. He ended up putting a hole in the gearbox, tried to bust it for spares, lost everything as parts got stolen through his own stupidity again, and is left with an engine he can't sell, basically he's lost thousands.
So in short, thoroughly go over the car. A lot of people who modify cars are perfectionists - I'm incredibly fussy and believe I maintain my own modified car to a very high standard. Owners clubs will be able to explain common mods on the cars, they are an invaluable resource.
Good luck anyway
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