k3nny said:
I will have the car checked by Links power sometime this week before committing and should i be worried seeing as the car has done 119,000kms?
And there is rust in the engine bay around the battery. Could that be from the acid from the battery or possibly an accident there before?
Thanks alot once again
Kenny
Hi Kenny,
First of all, welcome to MLOC tread and enjoy your 'stay' here with us. We are a friendly bunch..dun worry !
To address your concern, I'll assume you are going for a original TME rather than converted version so I'll forget about 'lecturing' the difference and what you should look about between getting a converted vs ori evo (TME in this case).
Mileage:
At 119K, it might 'looks' a bit high but let's do some logical calculation to see if it's a case of overusage. We know that TME production range from year 2000 to 2001 so let's assume you got a year 2001 TME.
That will means an average of 24K a year. This means this car get's service at a frequency of every 2.5 months throughout the year assuming it's servicing is done every 5K . Now at this rate, it would seem a little heavy of a usage. However, if it's a year 2000 TME you are getting, then the positive figure might go even down and negative would go up so you can do your math from here. Ie..is worst than. :Not_Impressed:
However, don't get me wrong. We cannot simply assume higher mileage means worst engine condition. Is definately not true as long as the engine is well taken care of. Imagine an owner who does his servicing every 15K and sell you his car at 30K mileage ! LoL..that means 2 times service only lar.
Rust:
It's very likely to be a batteries water/acid causing the rust if it's indeed around the batteries bays but then again, do take note if it's using a dry cell batteries instead of the water type. You are right on the 2nd possibility as it might also be a case of 'minor' accident causing a knock and repair on that particular part (especialy joints) where welding takes place and without proper layer of re-paint to cover the repaired surface up, rust will appear after sometime.
Wear and Tear (Value vs $$ ):
At 120K, you need to bargain youself for some wear and tear items to be replace. However, we all know it's a used TME you are looking at so what I really meant is to have a price comensuarate with the 'package'. Anyone can sell a used TME or evo at a lower price but if you get one at a higher price, don't jump into conclusion that it is expensive because chances are, it's owner maintain and replace all these W&T parts by the book and trust me, they are COSTLY !
Very often, buyer tend to overlook all these mini minor item and end up forking extra of more than 10K upon getting the car to have all this replace. Item to look out for when hunting and bargain.. CLUTCHES, Tyres, Timing/Oil belts, Drive shaft bearings, brake rotors & pads (is not cheap for full set of evo pads)..etc. Aftermarkets in the car is of course, a PLUS !! (ie..ECU, RIMS, EXHAUST..etc)
Get the service record, bargain with the seller approariately if you get what I meant. Getting Links or any professional garage to check at your potential car is definately a good measures to get an idea of the car status.
Getting a TME is a good idea coz although it is older than the current evos, it is really a Limited edition of the evo lines (with 5000 production runs only worldwide) and personally, I felt that TME has the best 'looks' (fierce lah) in stock form compared to other variant of evos. Hehe..
Remember, some of the very valuable parts of a TME besides it's engine and chasis is it's limited edition of original bodykits and interior (recaros) so make sure you get what you paid and not get conned with some do up fibres TME. LoL
In MLOC, we have original Evo 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 as well as converted evo 4, 5, 6 and TME so our 'experience' and advice is here to share on both ori vs convert whenever you need it.
Hope this helps ok.. ;)
Rgds,
Ben
p/s: No idea about the silver WL* 412 TME though..can't remember plates. hehe :embaressed_smile:
