I saw a lovely low mileage Zed at the weekend that would be my dream replacement to my current mega milage old timer. She looks great from the exterior and interior. A decent test drive showed that the engine and gearbox are silky smooth with plenty of turbo boost and no vacuum leaks. Then I opened the bonnet which showed some issues that give me a number of misgivingings about her.
i) Both wings, front bumper, air filter panel and the frame to which the bonnet is attached have paint showing that indicates they have been replaced my parts from another Zed.
ii) One of the original welds has been replaced by a very poor quality weld as you face the front of the car, this is the weld that is just to the left of the VIN plate.
iii) Both wings are only attached by the two centre bolts. With each wing the bolts nearest the windscreen could have been fitted but the holes nearest the headlamps did not seem to line up properly. Visually from the exterior the wings did seem to line up perfectly with the rest of the body work.
iv) Numerous missing bolts, etc under the bonnet. eg radiator held in place at the top with wire rather than the roper brackets
v) Hard work getting the bonnet to close
I feel that she has been in some kind of front end crash and then fixed up on the cheap.
I suppose my question is. What other problems could be lurking. Should I walk away or if the price is right is she worth a punt if the above problems are rectified.
I saw a lovely low mileage Zed at the weekend that would be my dream replacement to my current mega milage old timer. She looks great from the exterior and interior. A decent test drive showed that the engine and gearbox are silky smooth with plenty of turbo boost and no vacuum leaks. Then I opened the bonnet which showed some issues that give me a number of misgivingings about her.
i) Both wings, front bumper, air filter panel and the frame to which the bonnet is attached have paint showing that indicates they have been replaced my parts from another Zed.
ii) One of the original welds has been replaced by a very poor quality weld as you face the front of the car, this is the weld that is just to the left of the VIN plate.
iii) Both wings are only attached by the two centre bolts. With each wing the bolts nearest the windscreen could have been fitted but the holes nearest the headlamps did not seem to line up properly. Visually from the exterior the wings did seem to line up perfectly with the rest of the body work.
iv) Numerous missing bolts, etc under the bonnet. eg radiator held in place at the top with wire rather than the roper brackets
v) Hard work getting the bonnet to close
I feel that she has been in some kind of front end crash and then fixed up on the cheap.
I suppose my question is. What other problems could be lurking. Should I walk away or if the price is right is she worth a punt if the above problems are rectified.