zmaricz Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hi all,Reeeeally sorry if its been covered before, I couldnt find anything with the search function so my apologies if this is a repost!Basically i'm viewing a 1.4e xreg lupo tomorrow at a good price, with low miles, decent paint, clean interior etcI'm not a total newb when it comes to lupo's as my girlfriend's got one in the exact same model and year, that i have done servicing on and driven in the past.I was wondering if you can give me some pointers as to what to look for? Any common problems? I know the gearboxes often have issues, so gonna give it a long testdrive at various different speeds but should i be looking for anything else?The second part of my question is more of an opinion, the Lupo i'm looking at's grill doesnt look right to me, the gap between the grill/bonnet and grill/lights looks too big, yet the bonnet/wing and grill/wing lines seem spot on:Do you think this is crash damage? or has some fat bugger just sat on the grill?! Looks like it just needs screwing onto the slam panel at the right height? should i be worried about this?Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treblet Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Common problems include, pedal boxes going, rust on roof gutters, very tappety engines on the 1.4's, burning oil due to worn piston rings/valve stem seals and damage to sills where people have jacked the car up incorrectly.The panel gap looks fine between the bumper and grille and between the bonnet and headlights but it is way out between the bonnet and grille and the grille and headlights at the bottom. I'd very much suspect some slam panel damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaricz Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 thanks for the reply treblet - just done one of those vehicle check things for a couple of quid and found that it was a cat d write off way back in 2003, so nothing to worry about particularly! suprised they wrote off a 3year old car though?!!how do you go about checking the pedal box? or if its burning oil?thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmanncfc Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) For cehcking the pedal box id ask if its had the recall done as vw did a recall on itIf the pedal; box is going then the brake and clutch pedals wont be level it may creak and it might be a bit difficult to engage the gears/clutchCheck the oil and see whereabouts it is on the dipstick and ask if it uses much oil and put your hand under the exhaust often if its got a bad oil burn issue then your hand will get coated in black spots also check the back of the car for that.Also check the door check straps for creaking and check the shut lines.If its been a write off at only 3 years old and they havent mentioned it id be a bit suspicious about it.That grill to bonnet gap definately look like slam panel damage but it could just be a missalighend grill.Good luckChris:-) Edited March 15, 2011 by madmanncfc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaricz Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 cheers chris! the guy's only had it since may last year, so i dont know if he even knows about the writeoff! probably wont know about the recall either i guesscheers for the advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmanncfc Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 On mine they had no idea about the recall but it wasnt really an issue and the pedalbox is still good 40k miles later I find the best way to tell if a cars been looked after is to look at the mots and see what advisories there were and if they were fixed on the next mot if they were chances are its been looked afterChris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jase Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 if it was a write off at 3 years old probably of been quite bad... although its only a cat di have a cat d and its pretty much bob on, just needs a bit of fettling with the panel gaps and it will be spot on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaricz Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 am i right in thinking that cat d is the lowest damage needed to be a write off?isnt it the one that doesnt need a vosa check or anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jase Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 yeah cat d is usually uneconomical repair...no vic check neededcat c req vic check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaricz Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 got my dad to go have a look the other day as i was away - i'm gonna go have a drive myself tomorrow.He says the only thing he was worried about was that when stationary at a t junction, when pulling away whilst turning right, it felt like the car was lurching forward then over an invisible bump - as if it was driving over its own driversside wheel? Anyone have any ideas what this could be?????He also said there's a bit of a metallic rubbing noise when driving, i'll be checking the brakes to see if they are the culprit, but is there anything else it could be?ta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidebrothers Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Sounds like the brake discs to me! Could even be caused by lack of use, usually slight surface rust on face of dusc creates a slight scraping sound when in motion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaricz Posted March 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 thats what i thought rapide, but he said it didnt go away after a couple of miles of driving, and some heavy breaking!anyways, should find out later. Might whip a wheel off to have a check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myRie Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 (edited) i recently brought a lupo 1.4s and it has a squeeky clutch. i got the clutch checked over by someone who knows more and he said its fine. noting wrong with it at all. all previous MOTs checked online were great, few advice notes but only minor things of tread on tires etc which all weren't present on the next mot.should i be worried about the squeeky clutch?edit: didnt ask about the recall as they mos def wouldnt know Edited March 19, 2011 by myRie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jase Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Steering sounds like bump steerMy cat d had this problem! All that was out was the tracking (by a mile - 30mm toe out)It took me an age to find the problem (new suspension all new bushes)I even thought the steering rack was fubard!Could be anything just be careful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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