Need E9 Buying Advice!

[sirshorty]

i agree with all of you

hi , i live in nyc and own a 2 3.0 cs coupes. the car you are looking at may have belonged to a friend of mine before she sold it 2 years ago. If it has a moto-lita steering wheel it was most likely hers. Anyway, she had it for 8 years and kept it up well at the little garage but it was kinda rusty and before she sold it she was in a rear ender that was more than a fender bender. She had it quick fixed and repainted cheaply and sold it for 7k. Her name was gina. Ask the current owner if he got it from her. If it was her car, 12k is a fantasy and you should listen to the board members and pass on it. You can find a way better car for a budget of 12k and if you buy this one will have put at least another 12k into to make it right which equals 24k which equals extremely nice e9 for sure!!!!. Also someone who wants 12k for a car most likely wont settle for 2k unless crack has come back into fashion. In closing , all these cars have rust unless you have hit the lottery or the last owner paid dearly to fix it all. I've dealt with east coast rust on these cars and it is not pretty nor cheap to remedy. if you just want a cool rusty beater to drive around NYC you can get one for a lot less then 12k and drive it till it falls apart. Hell, i might even sell you my cool e9 beater!!
cheers,
Shorty

 

[deQuincey]

2k$ is fine as a driver, drive it then part it.
It will be a love-hate relationship, especially if you like the way it drives.

Absolutely ok


i have found sellers not being realistic in their understandig of what is a reasonable price for their cars

i have a friend that is willing to own an e9, and i have been taking a look to some cars with him, we have found that many owners are not "experts in e9´s", they do not know what is inside and around these cars, they felt in love with "the thing" and adopted it at once, and then two months later, and some $-hundreds later also, they will be in a hurry to get rid of the "enemy-down-there-in-the-garage",

but they have not considered that this is not a business case, so they are not prepared to lose money, they have heard that a classic car increases its value, and there it goes the price up !

in fact, we found a good base project car priced 10.000 €, but with enough mechanical, interior, paint,... problems, and after explaining what we found (even with a detailed list of items and jobs) to the seller he only said: "sorry but you are wrong, this car is much more valuable than what you said"

after 6 months we saw it sold for 1/3 of the original price, the problem is that we know he paid 7.000€ to the previous owner (only 1 year ago !), and that hurts !

 

[JohnHein]

Take if from a guy that went in too fast without proper consideration of what is necessary to stabilize the body and bring an E9 just to a nice driver status. I came in at nearly $12K also and that has proven to be a fairly rarified basis to start a project. Stay patient and wait. Look at that "Black Beauty" that was recently sold by a forum friend for (+-) $16K. The five K jump is nothing compared to that underpass queen.

However, if you want to just buy one try it out, like several have said, just pick it up cheap, get it running and see if it meets your fantasy.

 

[Erik]

The other members here are giving you good advice.

Walk away. Look at a lot more cars.

The body is the most important single part of the car and any discernible rust is an indication of usually much more below the surface.

Look for a car kept in a southern climate by someone who can afford to properly store and maintain it. ie: Southwest USA preferably.

IMHO, there is no reason to purchase a csi. These cars were only privately imported and usually from northern, not southern Europe unless it's a rare Italian car. That almost inevitably means rust from road salt. The injection components are available in period or updated versions if that's what you want. Plus the appointments are substandard to most US spec cars, again IMHO. -Although some consider velour, hand-crank windows, no A/C and no sunroof to be a more desirable trim selection.

Find some local coupe owners who will show you their cars or wait for the summer shows to see several at once. I've learned a lot about my own car from friendly owners at shows who know a heck of a lot more than I ever did about the model. Take your time.

 

[John Buchtenkirch]

You have posted the wrong photo. Photos of the car covered with snow & taken from the other side of the street are useless. You need to post photos the tops of the strut towers taken from the opposite side of the car that the tower is on.

Also post photos taken of the bottom of the rocker panels & floors while holding the camera at ground level. Finding a solid car in the Northeast is almost impossible, that is why I flew to Texas to buy my car that ended up coming originally from California. They are sweet looking cars but unfortunately many are rusted out money pits that will in the long run make you hate them or go broke. Buyer please BEWARE. ~ John Buchtenkirch

 

[execmalibu]

VERY INTERESTING that someone AVISED him to buy (poll) a rusty car for $12,000!

I was amazed to see that a member advised in the poll that this car should be bought at $12,000 or more... Knowing that the car is rusted out...

 

[JhwShark]

I was amazed to see that a member advised in the poll that this car should be bought at $12,000 or more... Knowing that the car is rusted out...

Maybe the seller...??

 

[blumax]

Voting on your prospective CS

My vote is--NO TO YOUR PROSPECT!!--Im expressing my input based on 39 years of Coupe ownership and over 500,000 seat miles of driving them.

Unless you are skilled as a journeyman "panel beater" with a few years experience in cutting, welding and forming metal parts--after complete disassembly of this patient--have a really fat budget, patience and a lot of time--read years--to do the step by step work of fabrication of parts, repair of those body parts simply damaged and then the prepping and re-paint. You may be in over your head to ever have a coupe that is road worthy and safe to drive at speed--I assume you would want to drive it at speed rather than have it as a simple object to admire.

My foregoing comments just scratches the surface and doesn't even take into account the added time of renewing all of the interior soft features and costs attendant thereto to bring the car to something resembling its original condition cosmetically.

My suggestion--take your time--save a chunk of money--at least $20K toward purchase and that which follows--be prepared to spend all of that and more--get realistic about the real cost of buying, improving, owning, maintaining and having one of these beauties and take the time to learn as much as you can about them before taking the easy step to get in over your head.

My advice is not being sought by you--but if asked--I would always clearly state to a prospective new owner--"buy the best one you can find and be prepared to feed it a lot more if you really intend to own something you will want to keep a long time".

My .02 cents worth