New to e30- what to watch for on a test drive

[cheffy30]

Dang. Wish I didn't have something tomorrow evening.

I took a look at one yesterday- beautiful, but in talking with the mechanic there's a leaky head gasket, loose tie rod, couple bad struts, and power steering leak- should that be enough that I run away?

add timing belt and water pump....
how much time and money do you have...
keep doing your homework...

[MrBurgundy]

Dang. Wish I didn't have something tomorrow evening.

I took a look at one yesterday- beautiful, but in talking with the mechanic there's a leaky head gasket, loose tie rod, couple bad struts, and power steering leak- should that be enough that I run away?

Like said above, if the car has a clean body (no dents, rust ect..) all those things you've listed can be repaired, no problem, if you do the work yourself, or can afford to pay someone who can.

[e30davie]

Dang. Wish I didn't have something tomorrow evening.

I took a look at one yesterday- beautiful, but in talking with the mechanic there's a leaky head gasket, loose tie rod, couple bad struts, and power steering leak- should that be enough that I run away?

Lol. Didn't read a thing anyone said hey.

Its 30 yrs old at least. its an enthusiasts car. Its Guaranteed to have issues.

If you don't want to work on things yourself, or spend ALOT of money on paying someone else to fix things, an e30 might not be for you.

Assuming the head is in working order but needs some work (but nothing drastic). You are looking at around $2500 to fix those issues with all your own labor. God knows how much it would cost if you had to pay someone. Probably double i'd say.

[Little Matty]

I'll keep looking.
For reference, the mechanic quoted me $1900 for the head gasket.
I trust myself to do the other stuff but I'm not quite confident in my ability to do that yet.

[e30davie]

Keep in mind you might buy an e30 that doesn't have a blown head gasket, then discover 2 months later that it does.

[Mwishlist]

Its 30 yrs old at least. its an enthusiasts car. Its Guaranteed to have issues.

If you don't want to work on things yourself, or spend ALOT of money on paying someone else to fix things, an e30 might not be for you.

This, you really need to:
1. know how to work on cars, or
2. have the time and money to be willing to learn how to work on cars, or
3. have a crap ton of money to have a mechanic do it for you

In my opinion it's the perfect mix of just old enough to not be overly complicated but new enough to have modern conveniences and drive / handle well. And while there is a great community of people who are willing to help you learn it's still a big undertaking. These cars are old and stuff will randomly go wrong even on a well sorted example. So just be prepared.

[mr2peak]

What to watch out for:

Chicks showing their tits
Moms trying to give you their number
That chick who wrote "nice E30" on her ass and hung it out the window
Speed Bumps
Base model Hondas that are faster than you

[Stanley Rockafella]

What to watch out for:

Chicks showing their tits
Moms trying to give you their number
That chick who wrote "nice E30" on her ass and hung it out the window
Speed Bumps
Base model Hondas that are faster than you

:nice:

[Wolfman]

What to watch out for:

Chicks showing their tits
Moms trying to give you their number
That chick who wrote "nice E30" on her ass and hung it out the window
Speed Bumps
Base model Hondas that are faster than you

Corrected list:
Chicks showing their tits
Moms trying to give you their number
That chick who wrote " nice E30" on her ass and hung it out the window
Speed bumps
Any e30 that still has the engine it came with from the factory

And if you have any dignity or self respect you should give zero f's about base models or anything else from Honda on 4 wheels.....lol

[E30-Ellerman]

Dang. Wish I didn't have something tomorrow evening.

I took a look at one yesterday- beautiful, but in talking with the mechanic there's a leaky head gasket, loose tie rod, couple bad struts, and power steering leak- should that be enough that I run away?

I wouldn't say that's something to walk away from. $1900 for a headgasket job seems high though. If you can negotiate hard then it could be a good pick up if you get it for an aggressive price. And like said above, plan to do timing belt and water pump when/if head gasket is getting done as they'll be out.


What's the price on that one and is there any rust found? Search well... battery tray, under the rear seats, spare tire area, fenders especially the front fenders right under the doors.

[e30strokr]

I wouldn't say that's something to walk away from. $1900 for a headgasket job seems high though. If you can negotiate hard then it could be a good pick up if you get it for an aggressive price. And like said above, plan to do timing belt and water pump when/if head gasket is getting done as they'll be out.


What's the price on that one and is there any rust found? Search well... battery tray, under the rear seats, spare tire area, fenders especially the front fenders right under the doors.

$1900? wow things have changed..


all the head gasket work cost me was around $200iish timing kit plus a $75 dollar head from pick and pull ...done that in my two cars no other work needed.... or done.. but I could have gotten lucky on my two E30's


those are typical issues for the car if it looks nice, motor and tranny are Ok everything else is maintenance that you're going to do anyways...


one way to check the clutch is by revving high in first gear and change to 5 gear and stomp of the gas... if the clutch grips its healthy if its slides you may need one soon so take that into account


goodluck

[geovangelist]

Well-maintained driver vs Garage Queen

Although there are examples of high dollar well-maintained garage queens out there, in most instances I would opt for an E30 that is a well-used driver. As has been pointed out several times, don't be afraid of high miles on an E30. Do be afraid of rust (unless you've got the time and expertise working on rust repair)...

[geovangelist]

This, you really need to:
1. know how to work on cars, or
2. have the time and money to be willing to learn how to work on cars, or
3. have a crap ton of money to have a mechanic do it for you

In my opinion it's the perfect mix of just old enough to not be overly complicated but new enough to have modern conveniences and drive / handle well. And while there is a great community of people who are willing to help you learn it's still a big undertaking. These cars are old and stuff will randomly go wrong even on a well sorted example. So just be prepared.

Yes - they are old cars - but fortunately parts are readily available. And stuff goes randomly wrong on new cars too, but in many cases it's much more difficult to fix what's wrong on a new car unless you have diagnostic tools. On an 80s E30, many things that break can be fixed with a repair manual (of your choice) and time.