Hi - I'm new to Fchat but was directed here by Tony Hopkins from Pistonheads. Hello Tony if your here! I've been looking for a black 355 spyder and have finally found one in Harrogate from a private dealer. The car is black\black, '95 N (96 model year), manual, 22k miles, RHD @ £47.5k HPI check came up clear. Plus i've spoken with Strasse who last serviced the car and they said it was a good example. However only downer is that i will be the 7th owner. Although last owner has had it since Sept 2000. Can anyone advice of a good independent specialist from the Leeds area who i can get to come along to see the car with me. Happy to pay whatever this service may cost? Thanks in advance Stu
Hi Stu, Whats the name of the dealer? If its The Old Star Garage you can be assured that it will be a first class example. I bought a MG Midget in concours condition from them and theres unlikely to be a better one in the World. I can highly recommend them.
£54k down to £47.5 is some drop in price.Nice haggling Should deffo leave enough for Sport Pack Tubi....
Stu, It looks pretty good to me although im not to familiar with that model. As regarding the number of owners......I was always taught at a very early age that 7 good owners are much better than 1 bad one! Just look upon it that all 7 owners may have spent a lot of time and money making it pristine where as one owner will invariably not have spent as much on it but what he has spent you can possibly multiply by 7 therefore keeping it an immaculate example.
stu i'm no expert but i pass that way each week and have owned a 355, i can drop in and check it out for you if you want, worth getting a specialist to check it over though, most dealers offer this service
Yes, hence my reluctance to let the 6 owner issue bother me. I've seen LHD cars at this price! Tubi.......you bet
Many thanks Steve. I'm going to ring JCT on Monday and see whether they'll give the car a once over. Basically want them to check for minor damage repair and if there are any nasty surprises lurking, although at this price i can afford a few grand of fettling if required. However bearing in mind it was MOT'd in June, anything major should have shown up then?
Why don't you get Trevor at Strasse a call to check it over? He's looked after my 355 for 3 years and stevef's 512 plus a host of others. I suspect you would get a more balanced opinion as JCT will point out every little thing and probably frighten you to death.
All set for for PPI at Strasse tomorrow. Seemed very reasonable at £117+VAT I guess they have a checklist that they go through?
That does seem reasonable - I paid £400 for mine, they did check the ECU's etc - are they included in your check too ? Rick PS the car looks mint.
They store 'codes' and can be downloaded and checked, I'm not sure if by disconnecting the battery the codes are all deleted though. Rick
Great bargaining skills, I guess they must have been pretty keen to sell it on, perhaps as its end of summer and they have had for a while..
Ask to see the checklist, you definately need compression check and leakdown test and for £117 plus vat I doubt that they would include that in the price.
Stu, here is a explanation of a compression test: http://www.dsmgrrrl.com/FAQs/compression.htm and a leakdown test: http://www.geocities.com/dsmgrrrl/FAQs/leakdown.htm
Just got back from Leeds. Car is FANTASTIC, immaculate body work with a few miniscule scuffs on the leather. Trevor gave it a thorough going over for a few hours, then roadtested it. Said it was a "gooden", so i snapped her up. Going to collect next Wednedsay, can't wait!!! Thanks for everyones advice. Very helpful.............