Morning,

I might be getting a cossie in about a month or so, it's an 89 g plate what should I be looking out for?
It's got stage one chip, 3" s/s exhaust and piper-x ik and apparently running about 260 bhp. Does that sound right?

Cheers guys,

Matt.

 

Sounds like a great starting point. Congrats! You may find the power more than acceptable. A good spec considering the high petrol prices and the high maintance costs that these Cosworths can sometimes have. Your stage one should prove to be quite reliable, unless you tinker with it.

 

All the usual things you would look for when buying a normal car also apply to buying a cossie mate, check engine number and vin plates against V5 document and have it hpi'd to make sure its not been stolen or written off. Rust is not usually a problem on cossies unless its been accident damaged and repaired in the past but bear in mind that the car is 15 years old now so there may be some superficial corrosion.
When you take it out for a test drive look for excessive smoke, black smoke means its overfuelling and probably needs setting up properly, blue or white smoke under acceleration points to one of a number of problems....Cracked block, Piston ring wear and / or a knackered turbo. If she's showing white smoke even when idling then cylinder head gasket has gone.
Listen for rumblings in the drive train, make sure gearbox is smooth to change both up and down the box and check that brakes are good as warped front discs are common. After the test drive have a look at the underside of the engine as well, as a lot of cossies suffer from oil leaks, especially if the car has higher miles. Breathing problems are common and this leads to the crank case, head and rocker box being pressurised and as a result oil can be forced out through worn engine seals. Basically, use common sense, if you spot anything your not happy about then walk away, there are plenty of good cars to choose from and prices are really low at the moment so dont buy a bailer as it will cost you three times the purchase price to put right

 

Stage 1 is a nice state of tune for your first Cossie mate

Will last forever if you look after it. Stage 3 is cheap to go to for but running costs go mad!.

Power is about right for a stage 1 but a rolling road setup should see another 10-15 bhp...

 

I forgot to mention that it's my best mate selling it, body work is mint, there's no oil in the engine bay that shouldnt be there, no smoke and he's already let me drive it and it blew my mind!!
I know it's all legit as well.
If that falls through though I'll have to look else where so this advice is especially good. Cheers for the guide Pete.