good deal?

hey all, im new to the board and need your opinion on this car im lookin at. its an 87 tc tbird with 187000 miles on it, t5 trans, cd, glossy red paint, clean but worn interior, but it does have a rough idle and wants to die on start up. dealer wants 1300-1400 cash. my dad says turbo cars have been ran to hell, and he might be right but hes an idiot, so i need a real hot rodders opinion. thanks

This coming from a 18yr old kid(well in elagal terms im an adult). I bought my TC from a "junkyard" for 500 bucks, had peelign paint blown engine, good deal i also spent about 2500 int it so far,it is my seocnd TC, but i had my first for 2 year beofre drivign and fixe dit up to until its passing at a intersection with a 86 Delta 88, these
cars can be good, just remeebr to put in a lot of hours of work and sweat(if you work on ti yourself), and money(even more if you send to mechanic). No car is perfect, no car is unfixable. but if you dads says its not a good diea, dont go for it just yet, research it, take the car for a drive. These TC's are great cars, just be ready to learn from them and fix them when it needs it, i spend aruond 3hours a week workign on my TC. i learned a lot (i'm also in the auto trade) so its fun, but stresful. but go for what YOU think, but agian is you dad thinks not a good idea i wouldnt do it, cuz i did it and well guess who is the only one working on the TC when its busted, yep ME.
but i do get help from friends and family, m and my dad does help, but he busts my balls cuz i beat the living crap out of it. so i gotta fix what I broke.
only you can decide what you want to do.

think all the poisitives and negatives before the big purchase, does the car come with any type of warranty by any chance????????

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Brian J Larkin
1988 Turbo Coupe 5spd, dark blue and shining like a peice of polished glass.
http://crazydriver358.5u.com

I've purchased two running cars for a total of $800. They both had body damage, one was fixable, the other not. 187K miles is a lot, probably nearing the end of the engine life. You'd really have to do some checking to see if it's worth $1300. See if you can take it on an extended test drive: Pull the plugs and read them (see chart) as to how it's been running, check the compression, run the codes. Also, take off the inlet hose to the turbo and see if there is any play in the turbo impeller. A slight amount of side-to-side play is OK (but it can't be hitting the housing), but any end-play is not a good thing.

If everything checks out, discuss these items with your Dad and make a discision together. My Dad was an idiot too, until I moved out. He's been getting smarter ever since!

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Jim Portteus
NATO Member
86 Turbo Coupe, LA3 w/ Intercooler and Larger VAM, Gillis Valve, 2 1/2" Downpipe to 2" Duals w/ 18" Glasspacks, 245/50R16's, 140MPH Speedo and new paint.

I paid $900 total for BOTH of my turbo cars. One has about 160K, the other about 180K. I don't forsee them being retired any time soon.

On the other hand, I have had to put close to $2,000 in the TC and $300 in the XR7. And I do almost all of the work myself, so that's mainly parts costs. After that, everything works and the cars are real dependable.

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Mike Walsted - NATO member
1986 5-speed TurboCoupe and 1985 5-speed XR7

thanks all, i think ill see if i can talk to the previous owner, since he wont have a biased opinion anymore, and get a carfax report. did i mention the tc has the abs check brakes and engine lights on? lol thanks

Definately need to run the codes, for both the EEC-IV and the ABS.

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Jim Portteus
NATO Member
86 Turbo Coupe, LA3 w/ Intercooler and Larger VAM, Gillis Valve, 2 1/2" Downpipe to 2" Duals w/ 18" Glasspacks, 245/50R16's, 140MPH Speedo and new paint.

I paid a thousand for my and the car runs great with 230,000 on the original turbo, trans and engine. The ABS was a problem so I just switched it to non-ABS brakes. I rebuilt the front end with P-S-T parts. I probably have $2000 tied up in it and it is a great car!

i dont have a code scanner or anything like that. could you tell me where i could get one, and how much it costs? anything else ill need? and if i bought one would it work for any other cars?

by the way i live near st louis missouri, if anyone one with experience would like to take a look at it with me, id appreciate the help, thanks

You can get code scanners at most parts stores. Just make sure it is one that is EEC-IV compatable.

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NATO Member. it's not a vice, it's an obsession
"The nice thing about each new day is nobody ever used it before" Barnaby Jones
88 TC X 2, 86 SVO, mods list at
http://www.turbotbird.com/showroom/pd_88tc.htm