General Advice on Buying a Sprinter

[chaRwie]

hey guys, Just in a little problem at the moment. I am looking at 2 options at buying a sprinter but I need some advice on which one might be the better buy. Both are around the 7grand price range but both have pro's and con's which i need some advise on. The first option is a adm sprinter with a 4gze conversion done to it. The engine only has 90xxx on it, but the body has around 315xxx on it. The interior and bodywork seems pretty good nick, and suspension has been replaced, but has the stock trannie in it which i think might need replacing, but other than that its pretty stock.

Now the second option is a import JDM with 109xxx genuine on the body/engine. The car has a couple of mods including suspension, exhaust, couple of engine mods and a bucket seat. The car looks pretty good and the k's are what really makes the car look good, but with all these mods to make it a 'ameteur set up', is it a risk to buy an import, then 100 k's later the thing falls apart. Im a bit unsure thats why i need your help guys. Let me know what your thoughts and advise all would be handy. Cheers Guys, Hayden

[Julz01]

realistically dont believe any km reading on a import , it is highly unlikely that they are correct. Really just all depends on the bodies and how much rust the have , check all the usual places, under door , guards, the back end etc. Then look at what they need to have done the way you want

[Jonny Rochester]

If in the end you want a AE86 with alot of the twincam / GT bits, like disks all round, vented front disks, clutch on non-exhaust side, LSD, then get the JDM import. Because there are alot of different parts (which you can get seperately, but takes ages), plus you will get some quirky JDM bits, plus maybe Jap brand coilovers and stuff like that.

If you just want the wheel spinning power then get the 4A-GZE one. If you eventualy want big brakes, big 8" diff, W series gearbox, turbo etc, then you have little use for the import AE86 stuff.

Also, read everything on this forum. Except don't read the TAS-Hobart section, rubbish. lol

[flamingheads]

I second what Jonny says.
As long as they both look like they aren't going to have major problems it just depends what you want out of your car.

[chaRwie]

hey guys really helpful, just wondering should I be concerned on the k's on the chassis??? will there be much effect, i know like rust would be the major problem, but are there any other problems that would come with a chassis that old. Im leaning towards the agze but wondering whether it would be a big difference from converting to turbo???? would there be much of a price hike on both of the engines? Thanks Guys, hayden

[Hen is a total nutcase]

Get the GZE one from Matt. He used to run Toyospares and so knows his stuff. I would hazard a guess that the conversion is done well, plus it is fully engineered already.

At the price it is a bargain. I considered buying it myself, however came to my senses given my bank balance and never ending list of projects.

The gearbox will be fine unless you REALLY abuse it. I drifted a T50 for two years (events every month) behind a more powerful GZE before it broke.

Hen