Saleen S7 Bad Paint Job?

I looked at a yellow saleen s7 at Gold Coast that I was considering buying since its my dream car, but when I saw the car in person I almost threw up! There was lines and flaws all over the car, literally looked like the whole car was dipped in bondo and painted with house paint!

Please tell me that not all saleens are like this!

Thanks!

 

Not all Saleens are like that; no S7 is perfect, or perhaps even "good" depending on what you are expecting. It is IMHO even more race-car than the Enzo Ferrari is. Feel free to browse some of my ~old~ pictures of the S7 about 100 ft. away from me here

I've heard the n/a engines are less reliable. There is an owners forum that isn't terribly active, however, there is good information there. Saleen S7 Forum

The old joke about the Saleen facility on 15 mile was that they had state of the art paint booths with $14/hr. painters.

 

That's funny. I visited that facility (the old AMT) model factory several years ago when they were making the Saleens. I wouldn't have described it as state of the art.

 

Before or after the Ford investment? maybe not SoTA... I differ to your expertise

 

I saw a new one at a local dealership. I also saw two others at a spouth Florida car show

As I remember they looked good from 30 feet distance. As you got closer they looked like a kit car. They had very ugly rivets at the bottom of the doors and the fit and finish was very bad.

The big surprise was the motor had a weird niose when given gas. it sounded like nuts and bolts in a coffee can. Not a very nice sound. As I remember they had two hps.

This car came up a few years ago on this forum and somebody said the cars where so bad they could not be sold in Calif. He was challenged on the statement by another poster. He then put up the exact language on the Calif court rulling and details.

I would avoid that car. oh and they lost reverse alot. Most I saw including the new car at the dealership had no reverse.

If it was my choice I would by a Mosler which looks the same, is still made and has Corvette underpinnings so it is easy to have stuff done and they are very trouble proof.

Good luck

Lee

 

While the bolts are on the outside on some parts of the car, my feel for fit/finish compared to the Mosler are pretty much opposite; and noting that neither are "great" with fit/finish. Yet, the S7's race pedigree is 2nd to none. The twin turbo cars are known to be better than the original n/a cars.

 

I remember reading somewhere where Mosler ceased operations last year. Can someone confirm?

I've only seen one in the wild and it looked to have pretty good fit and finish. There is an Mosler owner on the other site that might be able to give you some insight if your considering one instead of the Saleen.

 

now that's a good question. i was through there in '08.
When did Ford put $$ in there?
At the time,they were working on a boatload of Mustangs as well,but couldn't remember any "official" Ford ties.

 

I just called Mosler Auto and talked to a nice lady named Silva. They are still making cars. She also told me they can come pick up my Mosler and do service if needed.

Yes I do own a mosler. To someone commented, the fit at finish on the Mosler is very good. it should be because they are hand built.

My only mention would be the car creaks a little because of the light material used to build it. It is a tube frame with a very light body, 150 lbs. if I remember correctly. At at the time I bought my Mosler it was the only certified car with a 100% carbon fiber construction. The car has a Vin number so getting it registered for a plate is not a problem. Some cars that are from a small manufacture give you an MDO and you have to work it out with your state.

As a side bar they have a two year warrenty with the car and they seem to stand by it although I really have not had any problems with the car.

Lee

 

Another Mosler owner here. I originally considered the S7 as well but the Mosler just seemed to fit me better. The finish on my car is spectacular and I would consider it a show quality paint job. If you search Candy red Mosler it will likely be my car.

The Mosler lends itself to owner modification very well and I have exchanged the original motor for a 820 HP Duttweiler LS-2. With the triple disk carbon clutch and light weight fly wheel the car is faster then anything I have ever experienced. Possibly faster then my ZX12 Ninja.

My guess is the squeaking noise is the heim joint suspension pieces. My car does the same thing a little bit annoying but I only experience it when pulling into my drive.

I believe Mosler will build a car on order but they are definitely slow at best.

 

Forgot to mention the Mosler is usually about 100K cheaper.

I remember a used one recently asking 250K.

 

I appreciate all the reply's, I do like the Mosler but the Saleen just sticks out to me since I saw it in a magazine back in 03. I am in no rush to buy one so I will just wait for a newer TT in Liz Stick red or Silver (hopefully they will be better quality then yellow).

One of the main things that I really liked about the S7 was the ford influence which I always assumed since 03 meant reliability... until the past week when I have just been finding out more and more bad things lol

 

To my understanding, the factory is closed, and nothing is in production. The Raptor was scheduled to be produced but legal issues are holding up production

 

I love the lines and race history of the S7, short as it was. But I have to agree with the others. I worked at a Saleen Ford dealer, and we had two in that I could look at close up. One on display, the other trashed its trans. Up close, fit and finish were horrible, worse than the mustangs they did from 2005-2006. Pieces broken, panel gaps not tight, stuff didn't work. Really was a let down. Looked like a kit car.
But I will say I've seen one that was perfect, and it was gorgeous. But to consider one, might as well expect to treat it like a race car. Money wise too...

 

By 2008, Saleen was a shell of it's former self, and I believe they had already closed down their Irving, CA facility, and Saleen Store. It was pretty unique back in 2005-6. The Ford investment was in 2003-4. When I get home tonight, I'll post some pictures of my tour there. If those pictures were in 2008, then I don't have them anymore, sadly.

 

I think it was 2007 when I got to hear one of the upper guys from Saleen (maybe the CFO?) talk to us at a Cobra gathering. He talked about Steve Saleen's racing history, the S7 (it was built to be an endurance race car, not a road car) and the subsequent Ford GT.

My memory of the events went like this:

Steve Saleen won a crap load of races. The S7 was intended to be the worlds best race car and it was pretty successful.
Ford wanted to build the GT, but knew that it would not come off the regular assembly line in the shape that they wanted it, so they invested heavily in Saleen including a new facility and paint shop (rumored to be one of the best in the world). Saleen built the GT, but by labor union agreements the motor was bolted in by Ford workers so that they could say they actually completed the car.

The problems came because the investments were so significant that Saleen essentially lost control of the company. The subsequent CEO was the former CEO of Viking Appliances, and had no knowledge of cars, the industry, etc. So Steve left and I think it died. It was a bit of a tragedy really.

 

Other Makes CORVETTE in Other Makes | eBay Motors


Saleen/Corvette custom one off.


AKA crap.

But it does have 1200hp. Says so on the engine covers.

 

It was my understanding all Ford GTs were built at Wixom by Ford UAW workers, so what role did Saleen actually have there ?

 

Building most of the GT... final assy. was at Wixom.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had high thoughts on Saleen's paint booths...

After the GT was done, Saleen was building a bunch of the Viper's body panels.

 

it's fair to say the mosler 900 has (had) more development, competing in leman in 2001 even, and involvement from derek bell and son
the saleen s7 is a strong design IMO, to bad were poorly buit as things went along there, sadly being hand built doesnt ensure 'best' quality result
too bad really, i think the s7 looks even better than the mosler

 

Competing in FIA/ ALMS isn't the same as being a championship caliber car. The Mosler is very cool, but the S7R was quite successful for years against stiff competition from the Corvettes, the Prodrive 550's, 575 GT1's, and a host of other GT1 cars.

 

remark was of Moser beginning developed before the S7 began production ....if the S7 teams development work was reflected on the production (especially later models) S7s, it would have been great ....IMO the smaller/closer knit Mosler shop and development perhaps helped it translate better in that regard

 

Saleen's are very kitcarish.

It wouldn't suprise me with a little age they look like sh!...

 

A person in our area had 2 Lipstaick red S7's- his name is Jerry. 1 was production car #1 (non-turbo) and it was the one in the Gillette commercials in 2003. The other was the twin and appeared at alot of local car shows. Up close and I thought they had good fit & finish- then again that's just my opinion. I'll post pics when I have a chance

 

good for what it is... a race car converted for street use. I believe they are far better than Mosler... ive only seen 2 moslers though.... and seen 5 S7s