The Triumph Dolomite Club - EzBoard Archive

I've found a cheap sprint for sale for £395. Apparently the rear wheel arches are rusty, and the doors need work (repair panels for the doors included), but the mechanicals are OK. Is it worth a punt, since I shall have to buy it without looking at it (it's a couple of hundred miles away)?

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Never ever buy a car without viewing it! If it only needs rear arches and door repairs,the chances are that it will also need lots of other work too.Whereabouts is the car located? Maybe one of our local members could take a look at it on your behalf.Failing that,you'll have to go and have a look yourself,but don't commit yourself to buying it before seeing it.<br>


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It's actually on ebay, but it's in a particularly inobvious position. The car's situated in march, cambridgeshire. Anybody near that area?

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Ah ebay,I might have guessed! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> Buying a car from an online auction site isn't like buying a brand new DVD player.If you saw an advert in a magazine for a 20 year old washing machine,would you buy it without seeing whether it worked? I know I wouldn't....unless it was dirt cheap and I had the ability to fix it myself or the money to pay someone else to fix it....<br>
Unless you really want a car to restore,my advice would be to buy a car that is in good condition,it'll cost you less in the long run.

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I frequently buy cars without viewing them, especially through eBay....but then I know what to expect, arrive with an air of pessimism and then go away pleasantly surprised!<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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The questions you have to ask yourself is can you afford to spend £400 with the risk the car may remain stationary at your house for a while? Do you have the space? Are you prepared to spend more on it once you have it? Do you have the skills or confidence to try to do work on it yourself? If it doesn't work out you may have to sell at a loss (probably not much of a loss if at all; in my experience the worse you describe a car on eBay, the more folk seem to want it!!)<br>
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There are quite a few Sprints going through eBay at the moment and the prices they are fetching as a result are a bit deflated; you may get a better one for not much more.... I am full up at the moment and have no intention of buying another for the forseeable future; e-mail me the link to the advert off forum and I will give you an unbiased remote opinion if you want together with the promise not to disclose the link to anyone.....

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I bought my mk3 Escort off ebay - just under 100 quid, 4 months tax, 10 months test. Flogged it end of the tax for 60 quid (enough to tax the 1500 auto <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> ). The owner was happy to deliver it, so I figured it must be OK for the money, as he was about 25 miles away. It wasn't as good as described, but did the job - Got me to Katy's and carried an engine and set of seats back here (about 300 miles round), the only fault being the alternator bearings started to pack in, so it whines a bit. True the engine and box aren't great and both leak oil, but the new owner doesn't care, so why should I? <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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Got a Dolly 1500 off Ebay a while ago - Well, was on ebay, but I ended up being offered it free a while later. Another damned good car, especially for free <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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Got my old Dolly 1300 off a Yahoo Triumph list - 35 quid, in Watford, with MOT and IIRC some tax. Didn't view the car, as it was too far away, so got on a train, and bought it. The owner was a bit concerned I didn't really look over the car much before saying I'd have it, but then, 35 quid plus petrol to get me home was about as much as a train ticket home!<br>
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Got my carmine TC off the same list, free, but local. Needed alot less work when I got it than it does after standing so long though.<br>
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So I reckon some of my best "buys" have been unseen impulse decisions - Some of the cars I have viewed have turned into real nightmares... I figure unseen is fine if the price is right <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

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I've not owned a classic before, but I've looked after an MGB with a faulty alternator in winter before, so I know what I'm getting myself in for. :P

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PRO 324R!!<br>
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I can do better than give remote comment, I owned this car for three years until last year! <br>
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Well worth £395 (well it was last September!), go for it!! When I get home I can e-mail you close up piccys of the door bottoms and the ding on the wing. It is lowered......by about 3 inches at the front

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Cool. If you don't mind me asking, why did you get rid of it?<br>
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My email address is Dave(at)kennedysunday.com, if you have any other pictures of it. <br>
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Cheers.

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Alun,<br>
Was this one in the road when I collected the Panel's

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Probably; cant remember for sure Phil<br>
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Dave, I still have three sprints, at the time I had another one too. That is why I sold it; one less to tax and insure!! You have mail...

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Thanks for the pictures. I guess if the rot hasn't quite literally set in in those scratches and dents they should be fairly easy to sort. <br>
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Alun, if you read this before 4:30 tomorrow, could you tell me what sort of state the engine was in when you sold it? was it in good condition? any performance parts fitted?

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Dave,<br>
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It was OK. Not the best engine I've ever had, but nothing to worry about. In time the timing chain will be due for renewal and the valve clearances weren't the quietest I've ever heard, but both were liveable with at point of sale. It had K&N filters and a Janspeed performance exhaust together with the adjustable Spax all 'round.<br>
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It had been debumpered by the previous owner to me, I gave the guy a set of bumpers but whether he ever fit them I don't know. The scratches and the dent were put in by the PO also and they barely deteriorated at all in the three years I had the car.<br>
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It had one new cill this last MOT and the other side the year before with extensive work to the inners at the same time. Previous year also saw the o/s chassis rail get sorted. I replaced the alternator and fan belt just before sale. Also two new rear tyres in mid 2003<br>
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When he bought it he drove from West of B'ham to March with no problem (none that he told me about anyway) and he left me very good feedback, so he wasn't too disappointed, and he also paid more than he's asking for it!<br>
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Alun

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Well, it still went for less than he paid me for it....and he's taxed it.<br>
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Did you win it?

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Yep, got my friend to bid for me cos I'm not allowed to buy things on the internet at work. I should be off to get it tomorrow in that same friend's MG midget. after driving a hundred miles in that, even a dolly with no exhaust at all would sound quiet. Thanks for all you help, and I hope I'll be a member of this great club soon.

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