I have a tall order and I will not give you much information. I am a fellow 5th genner [ducking] and have the chance of purchasing a 3rd gen. Now here is how non-specific I can get. It gray on the outside, gray on the inside. Period.

I don't know if its manual or auto, year or miles. Sooooooo, if you guys can give me some info on what to look/look out for that would be great. I will check it out later today to get a little more specific on the information. It is selling for 4750 though....

Thanks in advance.

Jon

 

they have detailed info on what to look out for and whatnot. Stickeys are you friend here is a good site it will compare the two engines avalible and outline the diferances between GXEs and SEs

 

Thanks, but I kinda do know the differences....what I was more looking for is what fails often, and at what mileage. Give me a bit more credit that that. I am more curious about the reliability, rather than performance as I already have a 5th gen SE. Thanks though

The car BTW is a automatic, has 119,459 miles and is a 92se thoughts and opinions?

 

92 SE - VE30DE

Some may tell you that the automatic tranny is the drawback. They're not the strongest trannys out there, so look for any slipping, etc. FYI, my 92 SE is automatic, 130k original tranny and still going strong. Also, listen for failing VTC's...

 

vg's have exaust studs that go bad, quite pricey drom the dealer, nm missed the 92 se part

 

I'm pretty sure the exhaust studs on both VEs and VGs go bad They're either a PITA to do it yourself, or expensive to fix.

Other things to look for:
-VTC ticking (as mentioned) usually for seconds to a min. after startup.
-power windows that don't work/move (failed regulators)
-power locks that do strange things/resist you (no, they're not possessed!) The "door lock timer" fails sometimes. Simple to re-solder.
-Bose stereo on the fritz.

That's just about all the biggies I can remember right now. Other than these, it's a pretty reliable car. Just check for normal age-related problems too. Good luck!

 

That was more what I was looking for. I will be driving and "inspecting" tomorrow....thanks for the input!

 

Just keep your eye on the tranny!! Make sure you start it up when it's cold and not warm at all.

 

Definitley check the tranny. The automatic transmissions suck on these cars, they improved the transmission in 1992 I believe but look for a 5 speed. I bought mine about 2 months ago, test drove it, the tranny seemed to be doing funny things and I knew it would be the weakpoint. 2 months later after adding Slick 50 honey(never use it) and doing anything possible to cure the problem it has declined rapidly the past few weeks and first and second gears are pretty much gone, so I'm changing to tranny myself this christmas. Timing belts on VG's need to be replaced every 60,000 miles, you don't want to be stuck with a car that is 30,000 overdue for a t-belt. Window regulators go out. The VTC's already mentioned on VE's. Manifold studs on all engines snap. Then just the normal stuff like the struts, cv boots, normal car stuff. I'm changing all the struts once I get it running again. The Bose system is great when it is working but the amps are problamatic. If I had my pick I'd get a 92-94(preferably 94 because I think the VTC problem was fixed) with a 5 speed. They're great cars and are very reliable once you get the kinks worked out,that's why I bought one if you can find one that has already had the necessary work that'd be great. Good luck on finding your perfect third gen and let us know what you get!

 

definitely, watch out for the trans...i had to get a part replaced on mine around 100k and it is definitely not the same as it once was. a couple of friends i know have the same prob, so it's common. with the amount of miles that car has, make sure you find out what's been going on with the transmission, cause if it hasn't had anything happen bad yet (depending on how much they push the car) it's a good chance something will happen soon. but that's just my opinion with what i've gone through. also, i've had to replace 3 out of 4 of my window motors because the windows stopped working, which i also heard is common. and they weren't cheap for me to replace.