Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Stratofortress]

Hello all

I currently drive a company owned 3.2 litre 2003 Omega which I have an option to buy for approximately USD 5300 or GBP 2600.

The previous owner did not have the car serviced regularly as a result of which the engine had seized and was subsequently overhauled about 2 years ago. The entire exhaust system was replaced shortly after. New alloy wheels were fitted later.

After a collision a few weeks ago, the grille, front bumper, radiator and bonnet were replaced.

While the car seems to run fairly well, the local Opel service centre have stated that front suspension and related parts replacement must be done at the earliest. The damage will be about USD 1800 or GBP 900.

Considering all this, would it be a good idea to buy the car? I must admit that while I have an engineering background, I’m not very knowledgeable about cars.

Thank you in advance.

[hotel21]

I will shortly move this to general chat as I think you will get a better response....  

Lots of things to bear in mind....

Car mileage versus engine mileage?  Was the engine 'overhaul' a new VX engine or done in a workshop with genuine parts or simply a lashup to get it running again?  If the former, could well be worth better money, if documented.  If the latter, well, who knows....

Single most important thing is timing belt and tensioners and to be proved done at 4 years or 40k miles, no exceptions....

New alloys are a bonus.

Collision damage replaced with genuine or pattern parts?

Front wishbones are about £50 the pair from E-bay and straightforward to replace, if following guide in maintenance section here.

Overall value?  Check Autotrader to get a flavour of value, that would be my first place to look.

Welcome to the forum, by the way!!  

[Stratofortress]

Thank you for the welcome and quick reply.

The overhaul was done in the Opel service centre with genuine parts. This cost the company about USD 5300 / GBP 2600. The car has done 90,000 km. Tensioners were on the list of recommended parts to be replaced at the last service at the Opel service centre. Collision damage replaced with genuine parts.

[hotel21]

90k Kilometres is not a lot of miles - 56k miles or so - and if it has all the trim/toys such as leather, cruise control, climate control, colour info display etc etc. then worth that almost any day, but it does sound that the previous driver was a bit rough in his handling....

If it was me, I would be chancing my hand and trying to get the company to pay for the required work to be done at the GM dealership (health and safety issue?) before purchasing at or near asking price, or alternatively, getting that much discounted from the price and doing the work myself.....  

No doubt someone else will be along soon with an alternate opinion.  Its like that around here......  

[TheBoy]

Sounds not a bad price, though I don't know what the values are in your country (obviously you are not UK based).  Worth checking prices for similar cars.

[cem_devecioglu]

Most the cars around have the history unknown ...

Mine didnt have accident..But was necessary change too many..VERY ORIGINAL..  



Its a matter of luck...

If the repairs and changes are done proper way theres no reason not to buy it

 (this can be best seen if you lift up and look the car from down and check the parts+geometry+paints generally)