New to site looking to buy an astina

[Mop]

Hi everyone I stumbled across this site today trying to find info on the astina I'm looking at buying. At the moment I'm driving a '95 ford laser liata (a nana car) 1.6 manual which I hate. I was at a car fair on sunday and found a tidy looking '92 astina gt 1.8 dohc dark red manual with about 150000ks on the clock for around $2700 NZ. I think it's what you guys call a BG hatch but I'm not too sure because there are many '90-'93 non gt astinas in nz with only a 1.5L sohc engine and no flash bits and I don't know how you refer to those but it is similar to this: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-148337030.htm
Just wondering if there are any common problems I shud look for when I go to have another look and a test drive this week.
Cheers

[Nate]

yeah sounds the same as our BG SP ... the only things to look for are rust in the sunroof, worn tappets (a tapping noise coming from the engine), check all the windows work as they should (drivers side switch usually wears out) and wheel bearings arnt worn (as they are hell exspensive to replace).

good luck with your search

[bourbon]

the engine tappet noise comes back not long after rebuilds...there just crap in our engines

[marcs_sp20]

Welcome mate

[Mop]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep that in mind when I'm checking the car out again. I have to admit I was rather amazed to find a forum dedicated to astinas but it seems to be extremely helpful!

[mussing]

If NZ dollars and Australian dollars aren't far off, that sounds like a really good deal. 150,000kms is pretty low, and in where I've looked on carsales, trading post, drive.com and ebay they end up >$4000 for an sp, and that's usually with more than 200,000kms. So assuming there's nothing wrong with it, it's great value!

As for stuff to look for: make sure the car doesn't knock when turning corners (ie. cv boots are good), and check if the a/c needs gassing. Don't forget to include rego in your price, too...

[hks_kansei]

Originally Posted by mussing

If NZ dollars and Australian dollars aren't far off, that sounds like a really good deal

Au$1.00 buys Nz$1.17

Nz$1.00 buys Au$0.86

[Mop]

Ah thats what the knocking noise in the laser I'm driving is... good thing my dad is buying it off me to teach my siblings to drive in. I don't think the car is NZ new which does devalue it slightly, but it seemed in good nick apart from 1 small dent by the headlight which looks like it can be pushed out fairly easily. I'll see what it drives like soon enough anyway. I suppose you don't have many jap imports in oz then?

[Putonyourshoes]

we do. but no where near as many as you guys have. the sp's drive pretty well.. let us all know what you think

[Mop]

For anyone whos interested this is the car http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-149796354.htm
Its dark green not dark red (I have a bad memory and the guy I went to the car fair with convinced me it was red) like I originally said.

[mussing]

Looks nice and tidy, and you get the spoiler too - bonus!

What's with the stripy thing on the sides? Decals?

[Mop]

Originally Posted by mussing

Looks nice and tidy, and you get the spoiler too - bonus!

What's with the stripy thing on the sides? Decals?

I think it's just a stock decal. I will remove it if I can without damaging the paint (thats if the test drive goes ok on saturday and I decide to buy it). Does anyone know if there is any difference between this and the sp in oz?

[Rupewrecht]

The extra wing on the back, and it might be the non-catalytic converter version which had a little more power from memory.

[zappy65]

Almost all cars in NZ are alot cheaper then in OZ, due to the lack of compliance rules and legislations, it is now and always has been in NZ, alot easier to import...I had a mate who bought a SP version of the BG in NZ for $2500 clear...that is very hard to beat in this country...unfortunately...the minus to this is of course the new car market in NZ, apparently ever since importing became easy, the new car market has had a dramatic decline in new car imports, apparently imported "aftermarket" cars are better and easier to maintain, hence why NZ is full of Familia's and RB26's....
Also, Mop...Would you be able to post up a pic of the placement of the wing, it would be a nice help "especially for me in the near future"...a close up and pics of all the location that sit on the hatch would be great,,,,thanx if you can...

[Mop]

Went to look at car today. Drove really well, I was impressed. Found out it's actually NZ new which would be a bonus. Clean and tidy apart from very small dents, probably from car doors etc. Front bumper has been cracked and had a ****ty respray job. This isn't a big problem can get a replacement fairly cheap I would think. Main problem: sunroof seals dont sit exactly flush with the roof. I think it may have drains or something to let the water out and I wouldn't be too concerned if I couldn't find rust. However where the sunroof meets the front of the body the body has been rusting. It looks like it has been properly repaired with rust killer then the green paint etc. Also on the rear underside of the sunroof itself it's rusted. The previous owner has atempted to stop with rustkiller etc. but when touched bits of rusty metal were falling off.

I have no idea what it costs for a repair or new roof but I simply cannot trust that part of the car (the roof seems fairly important) not to rust further. It's a shame because I would have made the guy an offer and probably have the car. Friggin sunroof.
Anyway I'm going back to the carfair tomorrow to continue my search for a new car. I'm really not sure what to think about the astina, it would have been a nice car but I'm not sure I should take the risk with the rust. What do you guys think?

[Mop]

I'm now looking at a '95 BA 1800cc for somewhere between $3500 and $4000. I like the BG shape better but they all seem to have badly rusted sunroofs over here and it gives me the ****s. Are there any common faults in the BA's or are they generally pretty good?

[DavoAust]

mate from what i've read the sunroof problem is common among BG's here too. Dan (FEM) was selling perspex sunroofs which looked good though