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New and looking to purchase


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Hi everyone.

I am familiar with clubs after being a member on another site for around 3 - 4 years. i currently own a Renault Clio mark 2 phase 1 172, i purchased this after my mark 1 clio 1.8 16v, to be honest i have been dissapointed since the start and have now made the decision to sell it, so the clio is up for sale and i now want something a bit more fun again, so am looking at starlets and glanza's.

i was pointed in this direction by a member of my current club but also by a few friends who are already owners, i come in the hope to increase my knowledge on these before a purchase but to also maybe find some good examples to look at / possibly purchase.

would welcome any pointers or advice people can give.

thanks and nice to meet everyone

neil

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welcome to the club mate, hopefully you will find anything you need starlet reated on here,

so your after a Glanza.

good choice, :p

and the ergonomics of the car are decent, no shody french engineering here

ive just spent a few mins comiling a few questions on the capabilitys and the buying of a starlet hope this comes handy

what to look for?

toyotas are hardwaring so check for any signs of clocking, aparently comon before the cars come over from japan,

check to see if the stearing wheel and gearselector are abnormaly shinny,

also check how worn the drivers seat is,

strut tops are a comon weakpoints aswell as rear shox

tour round to the back of the car, open the boot and take of the two caps the the strut tops, bounce the car up and down, it will be clearly evident if the strut tops are away,

get on your ass and check both rear shox to see if there is any sign of oil weaping offf the rear shox,

if there are any problems use as a bartering tool,

start the car and give the throttle some decent stabs, if you see any blue smoke pouring out the back run away, could be some worn seals,

take the oil filler cap and check for signs of mayo, if here is any, waters inthe system, again walk away,

check the oil level and all fluid to check if the car has been well maintained,

starlets are usualy straight bodywork wise with tight panel gaps,

check around the lights, front crossmember and both wings to see any signs of ill repaired crash damage, should be easy to spot,

most of this is comon sense

check to see if the car has been bitmad,(japanese equivlent of HPI)

go over the service record(manditory) to see if its been wellmaintained,

turbocharged cars require a higher level of mechanical sympathy compared to na cars.

the oil should be changed atleast every 3-5k

finaly,when goin for a test drive watch the temperature guage like a hawk,

if it dosent move or it has a sevear lathergy problem that will be a screwed thermostat, cheep to fix(15nicker)but another barterin tool

i made this mistake when buying my first v and used it to get some money knocked off with my last one.

lasty check around the fourth exhuast port for cracking, a few starlets have suffered this with age, usualy a problem resulting from a faulty thermostat where engine overheats causting the head to crack

in all honesty these cars are bullet proof and ultra reliabile if looked after but im just giving you the fuller picture. . .

if you want i can post up af few more pointers and advice but thats enough for now.

if you have any questions just ask :p

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thats great enzo thanks very much.

know what you mean about the french build quality, i din't mind it in my mark 1 as it ended up being stripped and lightweight but with the mark 2 i have never had the same love.

as for the starlets / glanza's they seem to be the only thing that fits in the same range as clios for ££££, fun, power, handling etc that is not french.

is there any owners cars that you could point me at that are up for sale as i know the advantages of owning an enthusiasts car. i am obviously looking for as good condition as possible and its something that i would be spending time and money on as with the rest of my cars.

again thanks for the above knowledge

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sound .

how much money do you have to spend and what model of starlet do you want?

the ep82 gt is faster + lighter

the ep91 glanza has the same chassis and engine but newer shape

have you checked our cars for sale section, there are quite a few decent owners cars for sale at the moment. here

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I have around 4k to spend, after speaking to a friend last night who between him, his brother and his girlfriend own 3, very nice examples with some impressive power outputs he advissed what i should maybe be looking for, maybe not a highly modified example but an example with new suspension, breathing mods and exhaust, then as many factory extras as possible.

to be honest with regards to what shape, first of all i am not totally sure, my knowledge of each one isn't exactly great but secondly i am not really fussed on shape, i quite like the white glanza's compared to the other main colours of black and silver, but i am not disregarding the early starlets.

i have had a brief look through the for sale sections but was finding most were above my price range, i have been looking through pistonheads quite a bit though

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hello and welcome mate.

glanza is a great choice!! just be careful of the cheaper ones theres alot of rubish comin in and being sold on pistonheads at the mo. Toby @ ToyTuning (trader section on this site) can import cars, and so do some realy good companys on the net longer wait but get a better standard of car alot of the time. maybe worth a look.

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added seemd pretty decent guy, thing that stumped me... the car is only logged as 1.3 not turbo??? , also he said he imported it for more than 4k but would let it go.. for £3500-£4000

just for the heads up... a little while back he was looking for a bonnet/ Indicator/ Front Bumper dont know reasons why

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