I might have found a Terrano at last...

[clivvy]

so I might have found a Terrano at last. Seen it on eBay and thought.."nahhhhhh". 03 plate, 2.7TDi, £1500. Rang the guy today and asked about it, still for sale but the body work is a mess. OK, I knew that and could see it in the photos. Still suspicious, I asked what was wrong with it? Drives fantastic, just the body work and it smells of damp dog.

OK, so I sat at work and thought "flop this", got a few hours of work and went to see it 20 mile away. Got there, no Terrano. he had a second one and it was just sold, £1800, 1999 and the body work was mint - NO RUSTY ARCHES. Anyway, owner came out, said he still had the 03 plate but was broken down at his house. Said he had someone come look, but it wouldn't start so they bought the other (again, did look REALLY good).

I said I would have a look anyway, because he explained it was booked in for the starter checking as he was still able to bump start it. So we went to his house, his drive was on a ramp and that show he had managed to bump start it earlier. Anyhoo, had a look, sure enough the body work wasn't great, but was actually better than I expected. The worst part was the nearside rear door, big dent, missing trim and a scratch -probably from a concrete post looking at it. I checked the rear seat belt mounts - rock solid, checked the sills - surface rust, rock solid. Checked the front chassis mounts where the front cross member fits - rock solid.

got underneath it, not mint, but nothing major I could see. new shocks, new springs, new exhaust. Hand brake fine, gearbox fine, all looked good-no leaks evident. Had a look in the engine bay, inner arches good - no repairs. Engine bay not shining but no cover ups, looked good. Arches on both front wings, perfect as far as I could see, inside the same (around the wheels). Worst rust is back bumper area below the nearside light. Back bumper needs refitting a bit as far as I can see, but its solid. Front bumper same, needs taking off and putting back on, again rock solid as far as I could see on the front cross member.

INSIDE, good but full of dog hair and smells damp of wet dog. So I folded the rear seats forward, lifted up the carpet-solid, not wet, but the carpet needs drying or valeting. Seats need a massive valet. Interior trim needs a massive clean - but all good, no breakages that I could see, even the parcel shelf is there.

Wobbly gear nob, so that needs tightening, the front seat belt is frayed - seems obviously a dog has chewed it - dog hair all over front passenger seat. 4wd appeared to be ok but I couldn't test it properly, it engaged, but that's as much as I tried. Auto front hubs as well. So this might be the only major issue that arises - if the 4wd system is buggered in some way..

air con didn't appear to work, but we hardly tested it, the fans worked, heating worked so that's good enough. Dashboard seemed fine, didn't go wonky or anything while I was driving it. Engine went up to temp nice and steady, engine sounded sweet, up steep hills in Howarth no problem at all in third gear and putting foot down a bit didn't produce any discernible smoke that I could see. brakes worked good and car stopped straight.

no untoward noise, no creaks, no groans, engine sounded well, no gearbox whine, no clutch slippage, no clutch noise or vibration. Steering was straight, I dunno I could go on and on, to be honest I was really surprised. it wasn't what I expected. I haven't done an HPI check or anything like that, but I will do this weekend. MOT wise, its got 11 months, but no tax and I couldn't talk him down or to put tax on - if he has to change the starter then fair enough, for £1500 and such a good drive I don't care. MOT advisories were slight ferrous rust on the front brake pipes - I had a look, seemed ok to me, and the fornt seat belt slightly frayed - will replace it. All 5 tyres very good, alloys the ones that I like and again, very good.

May be that it all goes wrong when he calls Tuesday. May be I buy it then it falls in half on my way home, but based on the facts - how well it drove, it bump started fine, body work isn't that bad, structurally looks sound and so on I really couldn't say no, you just dont see 03 plates quite that cheap-it does still leave me a bit wary but the garage seemed sound, the guy seemed genuine and everything "felt" right and I am a very suspicious person, I was very comfortable. Could be he has genuinely priced it according to the damage around the car body work and if so, its a very honest car.

I am ridiculously excited, so now all I need to do is get insurance quotes, sort my finances out and wait.