318ti.org forum - Lee County Florida

I contacted the seller yesterday after a tip that the car was for sale on Craigslist. I received a few (bazaar) emails from the owner. One email was a price negotiation. lol I simply stated that I wanted to view the car this weekend. Trust me...it was weird.

Anyway, I made it out to see the car at noon today. The pictures might lead one to get excited...yet, the car was badly neglected. The damage to the rear suspension (half shaft? sub-frame?) was bad. The wheel took one hell of a smack and was bent inwards as well as forward. The impact was great enough to bust off a 7" section of the lip on that wheel. The hatch was also knocked out of shape (look closely at the pictures for this clue). She stated that the latch on the hatch was broken and the thing was always open...no kidding! The impact made it easy for the hatch to tweak out of shape.

The inside of the car was a complete mess. Not trash...rather, a tweaker on a full blast of homemade meth decided to fix everything that had worn out or broke on the car. It was a terrible sight.

The car runs...but has a few ticks and hisses. Started right up tho. CEL, Brake wear sensor and airbag light were on full blast. The engine bay was neglected and super nasty. Oil was black and stinky. Coolant level was on the low side. Intake boot was riddled with cracks (CEL?).

The doors (outside), hood, sunroof, gas filler door, side trim, side mirrors, rear bumper cover, drivers fender, kidney grills and surround, headlights, corner lights, tail lights, side indicators, both front wheels, front seats and rear seats were in good/great shape. The cargo cover was once black and had faded to purple...yet, in 90-95% good shape.

Front bumper (with Lux grill) had gone over a few parking blocks and pulled off of them upon leaving. So, the bottom was pulled out some...a bit distorted. The passenger front fender has a small 3-4" crease behind the corner light. The windshield looked ok.

There was what appeared to be white paint splattered up the hood/windshild/mirror on the passenger side. Flaked off with a thumbnail...but, must be noted.

Ignition switch must have gone out (the dreaded tumbler spin) instead of replacing the ignition...it was wired with 2 switches (toggles) and a push button located on the panel bellow the fog light switch. Glove box handle held on with electrical tape. Headliner sagging front and rear. Covers to interior lighting was missing. Sunroof opened and closed. Both driver and passenger windows are INOP. drivers door panel in back seat with a few tweaker mods that failed. Trim pieces on doors, along with mirror controls were missing. Carpet was warn. Only the screw driver was in the tool compartment. Rear carpet was NASTY. CD changer was hanging by one side.

The struts, shocks, springs, sway bars, etc. were all stock. The car had no mods. Completely unmolested (except by a cheap bastard who tried some home remedy repairs).

All in all. I will give the car a 3.5 out of 10. The owner isn't too far off on her asking price. If someone was looking to build a car like Dave Kerns...it would be perfect. It would certainly require a lot of attention. Anyway, there's your report. Happy motoring from SWFLA

http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/4570946515.html