[VillageIdiot]

I looked at a low mileage 94 Spirit yesterday. 60452 original kilometers, only 2 owners with some original sales documentation. It's a 2.5, 3 speed automatic. The paint is faded on the roof, hood and trunklid. AC doesn't kick in, it's got a code 22 and the tach seems to come and go. There is no rust on the body but what looks like a soft spot underneath near where the driver's feet sit. It needs the front part of the parking brake cable replaced and a transmission seal where the axle shaft goes into the transmission leaks. It's not currently registered or inspected. What do you think it's worth? I am strongly considering trying to sell my 98 Civic (382000 kms) and buying the Spirit, I've had 3 and I just simply love them.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

I'd bid no more than $500. You have a significant rust repair to do on the floorpan, you have a safety item to fix (the parking brake). Here in MA, the seller would have to pay to fix the parking brake, as it's a safety item that would cause it to fail inspection. Something that should be repaired right away, along with the floor (which will be a carbon monoxide hazard as well as safety).

Other than that, these are great cars. But you will be out-of-pocket right away fixing important items, so bid it down.

 

[VillageIdiot]

Other than that, these are great cars.

Indeed they are. I've had three and I loved each of them

 

[russ93spirit]

It is definitely worth 700, but it never hurts to make an offer, pointing out politely what you will have to do to it. you could get many years out of it, as you know. Floor pan fix is easy, with grinder, a piece of sheet metal, rust preventative, pop rivets and a good sealer.

 

[SGspirit]

That Spirit looks like it's had a very easy life. I'm a bit surprised that it could have one area of rust, and not others. Unless the floor pan was damaged in that one spot.

You know, automotive journalists obsess about soft-touch vs hard plastic interior surfaces. I had a look at our Spirit in this sense, and it has very little hard plastic surface in the interior. It's almost all soft-touch or fabric. However, it doesn't do so well with the other obsession, panel gaps But who gives a crap, I want a car that does what cars should do, and lasts. The Spirit fills that bill.

 

[B10alia]

I had a rust problem in exactly the same place. Check the cowl drains if you do buy it-- if they get backed up, they can force water into the passenger compartment, giving you leaks, smells and pooling under the carpet causing rust. Code 22 is an easy fix, coolant temp sensor. I would put down 500 as a starting offer and see if you can get it for about 6. You need well under 100 bucks in repairs if you do them yourself.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

You mean well OVER 100 bucks. He needs possibly a CTS (or there's a wiring issue); his A/C is not working; he needs a new parking brake cable; and he needs significant rust repair. Even if he does it himself, that can be anywhere from $100-$500.

 

[Doug D]

You mean well OVER 100 bucks. He needs possibly a CTS (or there's a wiring issue); his A/C is not working; he needs a new parking brake cable; and he needs significant rust repair. Even if he does it himself, that can be anywhere from $100-$500.

Even $500 is not bad for all the repairs needed. It's hard to find a good used car for $1200-$1500 around here. Most cars at the price range are pretty much junk. Given how reliable AA's are, $1200 is not bad money spent. Even spending up to $1500 (purchase price + repairs) is not bad in my book.

The possible repairs are not bad - CTS is relatively cheap, and for a decent amount of $$ the AC can be converted over to R134a. Floor pan shouldn't be that expensive even if a shop has to do it. E-brake cable - again relatively inexpensive.

 

[VillageIdiot]

I went up and had a look at it again earlier today. As it turns out, there's nothing wrong with the parking brake cable at all. It moves freely and holds the rear wheels firmly. My main concern was whether the head/headgasket was leaking, the seller said something about the gauge going up to about the 3/4 mark, couldn't really understand what he was talking about (strong french canadian accent). Anyway, the gauge goes up to about 3/4 on the gauge then the thermostat opens and the gauge drops, which I guess is normal operation. The issue with the CTS seems to be loose wires at the connector. I jiggled the wires and the fan stopped running and the idle smoothed out but when I let go, the fan turned back on. The floor looks relatively solid, but I would need to jack it up or at least put one end of the car up on some wheel ramps to get a better look. The rear track bar is bent in one spot as if someone tried to jack the car up on it. It's not too badly bent though, maybe I can straighten it out. After I paid for the car and signed the receipt, I was looking at some papers in the car. The guy selling the car bought the car 2 years ago from a local public auction ( :scared: ) but only put about 200 kilometers on it since then. It'll be a week or so until I can get the car into my own name and bring it home.

 

[chuzz]

The temp gauge going up to 3/4 and then coming down could just be air in the cooling system. Try parking it on an incline and bleeding the air off first. My 94 Spirit started doing this and I finally found out that I had a loose radiator hose clamp that was allowing a slight weepage when the car warmed up. Tighten all of your hose clamps while you're at it.

 

[B10alia]

I meant ignoring the A/C issue. A CTS is less than 20 bucks, the parking brake cable can be fabricated with some thin cable from Home Depot. Rust repair will kill you if you get it done professionally. You can get by with some steel plate, sheet metal screws and liberal amounts of sealer of your choice. It will not be pretty, but it'll be solid and will not leak. if it's under the floor anyways, you won't see it. I think that's probably in the $80 range.