Anyone know this 1988 Cab in Vancouver BC?

G

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Looks like a very nice car. I quite like the aftermarket wheels, although many prefer stock. The aftermarket steering wheel just looks wrong on the car, the OEM wheel is getting scarce to find if you want to revert to stock.

When people use the term "major" they are often referring to the timing belts/bearings. A real major is much more extensive and includes eg. valve adjustment, various new seals/gaskets, fuel filter, and lots of inspections of eg. CV joint boots, suspension items, shifter seals and things that would be potential issues for a 30 year old car of any make.
Part of the service appeal of this generation Mondial is everything can be done with the engine in situ, although some mechanics do engine out for ease of access and depending on how much "while we are in there" type of work is contemplated.

Distributor caps and rotors, and wires are much more expensive than on normal cars, and are often not replaced proactively, but can be important to a well running reliable car, I would probably replace them.

All that said, the key timing belt change is important, a change every five years would be fine, the low mileage is not necessarily better than higher mileage, the cars function best when used frequently. But in this case 2,000 miles is low use but still use, if the car had 200 miles over 3 years I would be more concerned.

There is no way to check clutch condition, other than if there are obvious problems with engagement, noise, etc. But a clutch job on the car is not that big a job, access through the wheel well and although some parts for these cars are ridiculously priced, or becoming unavailable, the clutch/pressure plate is actually reasonable.

If things run fine, and there are no oil leaks, and the car passes an emissions test (I think required in BC, it is in Ontario, the Bosch fuel injection is complicated but no more so than same period Mercedes systems and modern systems for that matter, a successful e test tells you the fuel system is in order) I would just change out oil/gearbox fluid and bleed the brakes and get a new battery and see how things go for a couple of years. Make sure the ABS chatters under a hard braking, as ABS problems can be expensive (albeit problems are very rare, especially if fluid is bled every couple of years).

Longer term I would probably also be replacing many of the fuel and coolant hoses, age is the enemy of these rubber parts and the mid engine design throws off a lot of heat. I like the kits from Scuderia Rampante, they also have fusebox replacements as some cars have some issues with the fusebox circuit boards deteriorating with time. Probably would replace the relays even if the fuse board appears fine.

A good look around and inspection is necessary. But these are hardy cars, and the mileage is high enough that the car must have been reliable for the previous owners, so the car was probably looked after. It looks like a good bet at a fair price if the condition holds up to an inspection.

I have had a great long term experience with an 88 Cab , so happy to answer any specific questions you might have. Also good to check out the exploded parts diagrams on Eurospares or Ricambi, take a look at parts prices, for eg. brakes discs, ignition plug wires/extenders, coils and other typical items that get replaced with age, you can get a sense for the cost of dealing with consumables and the typical "rolling restoration" that often is part of the experience of keeping an old car reliable.

 

I guess I'm a bit out of touch with these car values. The car looks great and correct in photos. I don't like that it lacks tools books maintenance records. Being complete and original is where top value lies in these cars. So on that end I would not pay top dollar. However as this car is approaching 30 years old it is all about condition. If wear is minimal and consistent with miles it might be harder to find the "good ones". A ppi should not raise mileage questions as the odometer on these cars are easy to disconnect. This is not to scare but to look for condition consistency. If the car is right they are great. As an aside my car has 72k on it and has original fuse board and I've had no issues in 8 years and 25k miles. The a/c is inop though. Good luck.

Question to everyone else here that is trading in these cars. Is an undocumented car going for these prices now?

 

The oem steering wheel is not the 328 one, its similar to the late 400i and early Testarossas. Needs to be a certain larger diameter or else it blocks the site lines to the instruments. That said some like a smaller sized wheel, but just clarifying if returning to stock is the objective. The fuse box has really one problem, where a large white connector that includes current to the fuel pump can overheat and damage the board. One could check this contact for burn signs, if it is ok the board would probably be fine. The scud rampante is a gold standard solution, but it is not every car that has the problem.

The manuals are all online, the owners manual is packed with good information. The toolkit is a nice to have, but nothing really useful in there other than the spark plug removal socket. You would want the jack though, hope that is there, otherwise you can buy reproductions of both the jack and tool roll.