Hello Andy,

Have a good look under the rear end for rust, the places they go are the rear box sections above where the rear beam mounts to the chassis. It quite hard to see in there so run your hand along the section and see if you can feel any holes. If it is starting to go it’s not the end of the world but the box section is no longer available from Ford so your going to need to get it patched up.

Other than that the rear arches are prone to going but that’s easy to spot. As for the engine listen for piston slap when starting from cold, a fair few do this and it should stop after 30 seconds or so, if not then walk away.

Check for the usual smoke on startup ect and excessive smoke on overrun could be the turbo knackered. Cossies do tend to smoke a little anyway, especially when letting off the throttle at high ish RPM that’s nothing to worry about. If its chipped expect some black smoke when being booted that just unburnt fuel.

Good hunting!!