Buying an old Stealth

i am looking for some stealth es' s around my neighborhood. I only like 91-93, so thats what i have found. I was wondering if theres anything that i should look for in a car when buying it...i dont want to buy a dud...

i always look for the obvious signs like exterior and interior damage, but what else should i look for mechanically and what kind of questions should i ask?

.....could i even pay an inspector to do this for me???

DRIVE THE CAR. That should give you plenty of warnings if the car isn't running right, etc. If you hear a clicking noise coming from the engine bay, don't panic. This is probably what is known as lifter tick, and can be easily fixed by either a. changing the oil or b. buying new lifters from 3SX performance or another company. Those will run you in the $300 area.

Other than that, just do the normal checks, make sure it doesn't smoke, and welcome to the boards.

Read the FAQ.

If you want 99 lifters you can get them for $168 shipped from doctorstupid on 3si.;)

hey if you want i have a stealth Es its a 91 in fairly good shape but the trans is bad.. it has reverse but no front gears im in PA where are you....im looking for like 900 for it i bought the car off a guy for that and never had the time or money to put a new trans in it... it does have 150k but engine looks clean

milwaukee, wi...

i am trying to find cheap stealths around the city and i am on a tight budget (freshman in college)

my parents want me to keep driving my 92 corolla but its a piece of shit and i'm getting tired of ppl laughing at me lol

so i have to find one thats in good condition plus i only have around $400, still trying to save up until i have $3000

the thing is if anything goes wrong with the stealth, i wont have money to fix it, so i'd be screwed

milwaukee, wi...

i am trying to find cheap stealths around the city and i am on a tight budget (freshman in college)

my parents want me to keep driving my 92 corolla but its a piece of shit and i'm getting tired of ppl laughing at me lol

so i have to find one thats in good condition plus i only have around $400, still trying to save up until i have $3000

the thing is if anything goes wrong with the stealth, i wont have money to fix it, so i'd be screwed
Honest opinion, stick with a beater. No point in spending every last dime on a car then having no money for maintenance or repair.

Honest opinion, stick with a beater. No point in spending every last dime on a car then having no money for maintenance or repair.

:1:

seriously, I whole-heartedly agree with this. If I could have stuck with my honda for another 2 years and put off my vr4 purchase, it would have saved me SOOO much financial BS. Let people laugh, when you are driving your vr4 in 2 years, they will still be sniffing rubber cement.

Honest opinion, stick with a beater. No point in spending every last dime on a car then having no money for maintenance or repair.

Agreed! You're in college...you're supposed to be broke. Those who are laughing at you and have better cars well, their parents probably purchased it for them. Just finish what you gotta finish doing and when you're ready, purchase a car that's to your satisfaction. No point in buying a car that looks better but doesn't run.

thats true, some friends that i know have a turbo jetta, a cady, and srt4
and their parents paid for them

i knew it was going to be really expensive to own a 3/s but i just didnt realize it since i wanted one so bad

thanx for the advice...

whats a beater by the way

Exactly what it sounds like. Something you can flog as hard as you want, day in, day out.

what are some "nice" beaters?

i need some ideas....

"nice" beater is an oxymoron. Try a civic, corolla, etc.

LOL. Best beater I ever owned was a 87 Dodge Shadow. I paid $100 for it, put another $100 to get it running and ran the living hell out of it. I somehow put close to 60k on it in 6 months. Then I sold it for $400.

90-93 honda accords are my personal pick. But I'd go with any early 90s 5spd honda or toyota. You can get them cheap, repairs are cheap and they are easy cars to learn on, they get good gas mileage, last 200k easy, and you don't need to have collosion insurance. Just affordable and reliable all the way around.

what about the early laser, elcipse and eagle?

what about the early laser, elcipse and eagle?
Perfect beaters. I had a 93 Eclipse that loved to get beat on. If you want a lower maintenance engine get one with the 1.8. It is a power difference between the 2.0 DOHC and 1.8 SOHC but the 1.8 just wont die. Its non interferance so if the tbelt gives way the engine is safe.

http://myspace-028.vo.llnwd.net/00240/82/01/240141028_l.jpg

you could always go with a hyundia!! like my beater!! haha they can handle any thing!

what about 95 talons or eclipses?

i like those especially the tsi/gs-t's (cheaper than gsx/tsi awd)

can these be good beaters as well or do they have many problems?

Those are still in th $5000 range plus. Stay non turbo. A good first gen DSM is a good beater.

i totally agree with the beater idea. i got my stealth when i was 17 and didnt know anything about these cars. im now 22 and almost have this thing sold. im already looking at vr4's and tt's drooling but i know its gonna be a couple years before i can actually get one that will be worth my time. point is i dumped 10k (between what i paid for the car and repaired/modded) into a base model, and im sitting here thinking why didnt i just drive a POS for a couple years and save for the car i really want. dont get me wrong i LOVE my sohc and i wish i could just keep it but i know i will be so much happier with a vr4 and the pathdfinder i got. if u can find a early 90's cavalier thats a 5 spd, now THAT is a good beater. doesnt get any cheaper to fix and mine ran untill it rusted out so bad i didnt feel safe driving lol. oh yeah...havent been here in a while...whats up -rob

Earlier miata's will always do the job.

i found a 95 gs-t for $2200, but it has 160,000...

the guy was stationed in virginia and drove to visit his parents in Florida and Wisconsin, do you think this is a good bet or a lemon?

also, i dont want a beater thats a big POS, because i have a 92 corolla, which is really rusty and slow

I agree... being only 19 (18 when I got my Stealth)... making $1200 a month, that doesn't cover all of the expenses that a teenager incurs, between insurance, gas, cell phone, and various other things... it woulda been better to stay with my 90 Corolla... it was a light little hatchback, with 40MPG, and would still take most of the rice in my locale... but the transmission screwed up... with the money it cost to buy the Stealth, I could have modded the hell out of that Rolla, or even better, SAVED for what I really wanted... a year later, I'm looking at a totalled Stealth, no money, and $7k in the car... and don't have shit to show for it...

whats wrong with buying a 1 or 2G turbo car?

what could really go wrong with a GS-T that wouldnt happen with a RS/GS?

i really like stock turbocharged cars, but then again, i own a 92 corolla with 103 hp so i wouldnt know what i'm getting into.

ps what the heck is the difference between the RS and GS

RS and GS differences are options. And what could go wrong. What couldnt go wrong. Early 2g's have crank walk issues, having a turbo adds a whole bunch of extra things that could have something go wrong with them. Stay non turbo while you're in school. You are just asking for trouble with having little income and a car that could end up costing you a lot of money if something breaks.

whats wrong with buying a 1 or 2G turbo car?

what could really go wrong with a GS-T that wouldnt happen with a RS/GS?

i really like stock turbocharged cars, but then again, i own a 92 corolla with 103 hp so i wouldnt know what i'm getting into.

ps what the heck is the difference between the RS and GS

As Stealthee has said... there are major issues that could arrise... I'd stick non-turbo... save money, enough money to buy the turbo and have bank... that way if anything does come up, you can fix it... I have seen that the prices for turbo cars cost a lot more, and the forced induction setups cost a lot to maintain...

yeah, i heard about crank walk...

so does that only happen to the turbo cars or does it also happen to to RS/GS?

also, what is the estimate of total horsepower that i would get from simple mods(intake, headers, exhaust) on a stick eclipse RS/GS?...and maybe even cams

just a rough estimate from 140 hp - ?? hp

yeah, i heard about crank walk...

so does that only happen to the turbo cars or does it also happen to to RS/GS?

also, what is the estimate of total horsepower that i would get from simple mods(intake, headers, exhaust) on a stick eclipse RS/GS?...and maybe even cams

just a rough estimate from 140 hp - ?? hp

ANY CAR can crankwalk....
Buy an early 1g turbo, with the 6 bolt block, and you don't really have to worry. Besides, crankwalk isn't as common as you might think.

Estimated hp, maybe 155-160 ish with the cams. You won't make any power out of the n/t unless you slap a turbo, or nitrous in it. And even then, it will get pretty expensive.

Well my eclipse rs had full header, down pipe and apexi exhaust (2.5 inches) and aem intake and some other little things....I had about 160-170 hp.

just buy a Cavalier (I have a 2002 one) and that thing will take about anything you give it. Good decent car.

I agree with the two people who said you should by a cavalier. My brother has one of those and it gets great gas mileage, very reliable, cheap to fix should something break, and they are easy to work on. Any year of cavalier is a good bet.