I should be viewing a fairly low millage rst tomorrow so can I have some must have pointers on what not to forget to check...ta

 

Rot, rot and more rot. If you can see rust anywhere then it will be hiding everywhere

 

If you don't know these cars I seriously suggest you take somebody with you that does.

Look for rust everywhere, esp around the sunroof, inner wings, wheel arches, inner sills, outer sills, rear chassis legs, front cross member, basically everywhere.

 

Iv had fords but never one of these, and have no one who has which is why I wanted to ask, so basically, rust anywhere!

 

yeah rust is the biggest issue, sunroof is 1 of worst to repair areas.

 

Take it bubbling is the tell tell sign around the sunroof? it looks it good nick, but ofcourse I'll have to give it a good road test and going over.

 

yeah bubbling, idealy you wanna get car on a ramp to check underside, have a good look at battery tray and bulkhead too

 

Thanks will post how it all goes

 

How did it go?

 

I never made it lol, after picking my car up from the garage after having coils injectors and sparks done on the warranty made it down the m40 only for the engine management light to come on, busy weekend this wkend and having to get the car sorted may have to look to do that then sell then buy, rather than fix buy sell, weyl see. Maybe it's an omen....

 

round two, should be viewing one this saturday all being well, feel free to throw in some must have advice, should be interesting...

 

This is about as comprehensive as i can get - be more aware of "D" platers/early S2's as way more prone to rust than later vehicles.

RUST

Bottom of doors
Inner wings
Outer wings
Fuse area
Slam panel area
Battery Tray
Front cross member
Floor pans
Sills inner + outer ( Around body kit )
Jacking points
Chassis legs
Suspension mounts
Rear valance behind bumpers etc
Fuel pump carrier/Holder
Boot floor
Rear arches- inner/outer
Around boot shut and door shuts + hinges etc
Sunroof area
Scuttle panel
Around window screen rubber

ENGINE

Tapping
Smoking
Engine mounts ok
Gearbox ok
Oil/water leaks
Under oil cap
All fluid levels
Check fan comes on
Cambelt last Changed ?
Last service done ?


EVERYTHING ELSE

Temp gauge working
Clutch position/slipping
Brakes condition
Handbrake working properly
Brake and fuel pipe condition
Tyres
Wheel bearings
Read service history
Smooth gear changes

INTERIOR

Seats condition
Speedo working properly
Rev counter work
Fuel gauge working
Electric windows
Central locking
Alarm and imobiliser (what spec etc)
Trip computer
Heaters/ blowers working
All lights and indicators etc work
Under boot carpet
Spare alloy wheel/Tyre
Seats fold forwards
Seatbelts working
Electric mirrors

 

Ignore the 'beware of D platers' bit thats nonsense.

I've owned 3 of these MK4 Escorts.

My D plater had no rot on the front crossmember, the front chassis legs, the front wing i've also seen plenty of other 'decent' D platers.

They all rot including the C platers that the above poster failed to mention, right up until the late builds.

Just go with your head on your shoulders and if you find any rot, consider it and ask yourself can you fix it or afford to get it fixed.

Buying an RS from a enthusiastic like an RSOC member will set your mind at rest as these people care more for their cars than your usual car owner.

But above all you can only trust yourself. A genuine seller will be happy for you to have a good look over everywhere.

 

Thanks for the advice, it has low mileage and is on an 'h', hpi came up fine and the guys assured me theres no rust bar an odd blemish, it has an rsoc tax disc holder so am feeling positive...i just hope everything iv been told to check i dont forget once i get there, like you say im pretty sure ill have a good idea on whether its a gud'n or a bad'n. spoke to compomotive about alloy availability so fingers crossed all goes well tomorrow!

 

Have you tried the RSOC forum to find out if any of the registars know about the car. Its a good place to source info as you can find out if its been in the club, had any valuations etc etc.

I thought Compomotive had good into liquidation?

 

I'd be cautious of the "odd blemish" as they rot from the inside out. If you can see rust with the bumpers, bodykit etc on, it will be worse than it looks. So make sure you have a good prod at the arches, sils etc..

 

yeh anything majorly obvious ill walk away from, not sure if odd blemish meant rust related or not. surely most of these cars have some sign of corrosion if you look hard enough, am i right, or is nothing something i should be after? couldnt see it on the rsoc s2 register...

 

I'm sure most of them do have, but some can be much worse then they look.
When I picked up my car there was no visual signs of rust and it didn't look to bad underneath. Yet when I stripped the kit off it and started poking around it was a very different story.
Then my mate bought one, with more miles on it and it was solid as a rock in comparison.

That's why you need to have a real good look round and under the car, and if you do see anything bad take into account the work you can do yourself or if your willing to spend etc.

 

ill spend plenty of time having a good look over and poking around, intrigued to get there now

 

mae sure you check any new underseal as it can hide some real issues as i found out

 

i bought it! seemed in real good nick, drove well, was surprised, non power steering was much easier than i remembered. the guy had trophies for previous concours cars so was confident it wasnt a dudd, time shall tell

 

Get some pictures up!!

 

as above, get some pics up, I pick my new one up tomorrow ill be starting a resto thread but quite a few of you will know the car

 

will do, was hoping to pick it up saturday (a weeks time) gave the bloke most of the money in a cheque for a reciept, the v5 slip and filling the form out and will pay the rest when i pick it up but his bank said today it take 6 working days...WTF! didnt realise it took so long :-(

 

be worth the wait mate

 

sure will, missing it already ha ha. fingers crossed it clears by saturday so i can go get it!!!

 

if you got some pics lets see it lol the suspence is killing me

 

I didn't take a photo and the blokes removed his listing :-( can't wait to see it again!