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Went to see first option for a new car today...

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Old 06-11-2002, 04:27 PM
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Went to see first option for a new car today...

So I drove to NH to see this VE today. The car is in no way near the condition mine was in. This car will need some work to get it the way I want it. There were a couple of things that bothered me.

1- rear passenger window regulator- I just cant seem to escape this damn problem!
2- there is a dent on the rear passenger wheel well.
3- WHY ARE THERE GXE TAILS ON THIS CAR?
4- The Sunroof has a crack in it, but I will make him fix it.
5- The front bumper is cracked on the passenger side.
6- This car has Fuzzy seats! Im gonna miss mine...
7- The trunk is out of alignment.
8- Side moldings are completely faded.

The engine runs VERY smoothly, and he claims it has a new clutch which did seem to be quite smooth. Unfortunately, I dont know many VE's so I dont know what they are supposed to sound like, but it sounds like at least one of the injectors is kinda loud. But it doesnt resemble the VTC sound that I have heard described on here. When you rev the engine, you dont hear any ticking, but one cylinder sounds kinda loud, but it might just be me. Who knows...The exhaust seems new with an aluminized front pipe that looks to be 2" press bent. But its not stock. the muffler does not have tips, but it seems stock. The wheels are not yet corroded.

If I do purchase this car, The first thing I will do to it will be to give it a new paint job similar to the paint that I had on my VG. I may decide on a blue tint though. Next, I will clean it up as you all know I can. Let me know if this car is worth my time and effort. I seemed skeptical when I went to see it, so he gave me a price of $3200. Is it worth the restoration? let me know.

I have pics to post soon.
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:30 PM
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#7...

did the owner mention if the car was ever in a wreck? on 3rd gens...the trunk is always a good place to see if the car has ever been wrecked...9 times out of 10 the trunk shifts...
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:35 PM
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Here are the pictures...

http://community.webshots.com/album/40481051EEcfNi
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:44 PM
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Re: Went to see first option for a new car today...

Originally posted by DaBoxSE

I have pics to post soon.
Looks like trash.. I wouldn't get it. Don't jump on just any VE. Take your time, it may take months to find the right one.
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:45 PM
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Wrong tails + bad trunk alignment = previous accident. Better do a carfax and a good look under the car. The car is an automatic also I see. That rust under the door doesn't exactly excite me either.
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:47 PM
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Re: Here are the pictures...

#3 and #7 seem and the new exhaust to make me think they're directly related to easy other. More than likely the car was in an accident. Rear ended.
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:49 PM
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Originally posted by Jeff92se
The car is an automatic also I see.
I see a manual
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:52 PM
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Originally posted by Jeff92se
The car is an automatic also I see.
what are you looking at?
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Old 06-11-2002, 04:53 PM
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Oops, I didn't see the power valve at first. I didn't click the interior pics.

Originally posted by Sudesh


I see a manual
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Old 06-11-2002, 05:39 PM
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Ack...

Boy I'm glad I have tweed interior.

I'm sorry but cloth = yucky

I wouldnt waste my time on that, you can find better I'm sure.
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Old 06-11-2002, 05:46 PM
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max in an accident?

It's pretty hard to find one of these that hasn't been in some sort of accident. For that, it's hard to find any nice used car that hasn't been in an accident. Ten years ago, not many people leased cars (compared to today), they just bought them and drove them until something happened that caused them to become disenchanted with the car.

After an accident, a car is NEVER right again, and most people are driven nuts by those little things like a rattling ash tray or compressed door gasket.

I wouldn't let the fact that a car's been repaired hold you back on it, especially if you're going to have it refinished professionally. I'm not saying that this max is one that you should jump on, but weigh all things first, especially in light of the fact that they're getting hard to find.

I had my 91 SE refinished very inexpensively by some losers near my work, and it took over 5 years for any blemishes to show themselves again. If you get a good job done, you'll be that much better off.

Just my input.

-Seth
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Old 06-11-2002, 06:02 PM
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If this one was the right one, youd know its the right one.

Id pass. Its been wrecked and youll never forgive yourself for buying a car with interior you hate. Remember, your always in the INSIDE of the car...you better like it.
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Old 06-11-2002, 06:06 PM
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Keep lookin
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Old 06-11-2002, 07:13 PM
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I agree with jim90gxe. You'd be looking at an aweful lot of work to get this thing back to anywhere near the condition of how you had your car and what you're used to. Too many "iffy" problems with this one. I'd probably be real anxious to get back in the saddle too, but give this some time. You'll be glad you did. I wouldn't go for this one.
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Old 06-11-2002, 07:55 PM
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yea i agree

keep lookn around for all the problems that car has he should be asking alot less
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Old 06-11-2002, 08:22 PM
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I would pass. Getting a wrecked car isnt that bad if you get it cheap enough and the wreck didn't damage the frame but I wouldnt pay too much for a car I know was wrecked and I think he wants too much for this car.

Are you gonna try and buy the car back from the insurance? It might be worth it if you can get it cheap enough---because your trans, suspension parts, interior and anything else that wasnt messed up in the accident could be used on another car that you might get heck a spare motor and trans is worth at least $500

I would keep looking right now though. Good luck.
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Old 06-11-2002, 08:49 PM
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a little something else i noticed, whats up with those dinky exhaust tips?...being that it may have been in an accident thats prob why. But as far as the interior dilemma is concerned, it all looks in decent condition for its age. At least you have the option of swapping seats if you dont like the gray cloth. If i want to get picky id say the floor rug is disgusting (to me at least) id kill if mine ever got that way
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Old 06-11-2002, 08:50 PM
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Re: Went to see first option for a new car today...

Don't let yourself be rushed and DO NOT SETTLE!! There isn't a week that goes by that I wish I had waited for a VE 5spd. Granted, you have found that. But if you have lingering doubts about it, (like I did), then wait. That is your subconscious putting on the brakes.

VE 5spds may be getting hard to find, but there are still plenty of them.
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Old 06-11-2002, 10:55 PM
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Candidate #1...Rejected!

I am going to look at another VE 5spd tomorrow. This car is definitely not good enough for my money. The interior of this car wasn't terrible. In fact, it was the best part of the car (in person) but Im deciding against this one...All of your suggestions and comment are well taken into consideration and have helped me decide.

Tomorrow I'm going to take a look at a Black 93 SE 5spd. This one is kinda iffy too because its for sale with 17" Konig rims, lowered and an intake. All of this added stuff worries me to think that it may have been beaten on. It has 120k on it (so the ad says) and when I spoke to the guy over the phone about it, he said that it was in great condition with the exception of a dent on the rear pillar behind the rear door. I will investigate tomorrow and post what I learn about that one. I hope tomorrow's max wont be as much as a disappointment as this one was.
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Old 06-11-2002, 11:28 PM
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Re: yea i agree

i wouldnt bother... the rust in the door sill is common and bad news... you'll never be able to get rid of it for good
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Old 06-13-2002, 10:11 AM
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Candidate #2

On Saturday Im going to look at a 1993 SE 5spd with 80k on it for an asking price of $5995. Its Champaigne with black cloth interior. This one is one owner and is "supposed" to be in mint condition. I hope this one works out, but Im only going to have $2300 to work with on it, so I'll need to take a loan for it.
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Old 06-13-2002, 10:59 AM
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Re: Candidate #2

Originally posted by DaBoxSE
On Saturday Im going to look at a 1993 SE 5spd with 80k on it for an asking price of $5995. Its Champaigne with black cloth interior. This one is one owner and is "supposed" to be in mint condition. I hope this one works out, but Im only going to have $2300 to work with on it, so I'll need to take a loan for it.
Hey, check out the list of VE's I generated for ya in the Maxima for Sale section. Some of them looked pretty promising.
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Old 06-13-2002, 04:19 PM
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theres more around..take your time!!!
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Old 06-13-2002, 04:34 PM
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Im still shopping around. I saw an ad for a nice one but its in Manchester which is like an hour and a half from me and I have no way in getting there
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Old 06-13-2002, 07:25 PM
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I live 15 minutes from Manchester, I live in Nashua...where in Manchester is it at...I might be able to look for you on my journies around!
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Old 06-13-2002, 07:45 PM
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im sure you've tried this already... but www.autotrader.com is a good site for locating cars
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Old 06-14-2002, 06:03 AM
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Jeff, Autotrader.com is a really good site, I briefly browsed through it yesterday, but I will again more thoroughly today and make a few phone calls.

The first car I saw was in Nashua and I have a friend that lives up there. I didnt realize that Manchester was that close to Nashua. The car is at Hollywood Motors, and I am going to call him for directions today.
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Old 06-14-2002, 11:27 AM
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I would not buy that car.

I just picked up a 92SE auto (yeah, yeah) with 60K that has a PERFECT body and interior. It has baaaad VTC's, and 3 bad window regulators.

I paid $4300, which I though was fair.
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Old 06-14-2002, 08:28 PM
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alright DaBox, if your friend aint available I'll travel up wit u if you need someone...
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Old 06-15-2002, 12:47 AM
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That car looks very iffy most definately..
where are the fog lights, whats up with the tails, why would they be swapped unless it was hit? I see this ALL the time around NY and if not for what i learned here about 3rd gens I would never know myself lol.. Although it has low miles and is priced low, it's definately not in the best of shape, and that is why it is probably priced accordingly.. Look around Clark, you'll run into more.... btw.. there is a black 5 speed VE on ebay right now in Florida
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Old 06-15-2002, 08:06 PM
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Made a decision today.

I decided to get another ad magazine today and I searched through about 300 pages of it to find something close to what I was looking for. I came across a car similar to the one in this post. I took the 45 minute trip out to this one and got a chance to check it out and test drive it.

Its a Grey 1993 SE 5spd loaded. Again, its got fuzzy seats Oh well, I'll deal. EVERYTHING WORKS!! and works well too. All regulators work, antenna, clock and the rest of the little things. The first thing I noticed about this car was that it was clean. The body had no dents or scratches, but the only problem was that the spoiler popped up on one side. I inspected the car for any noticeable collision damage/repair and found nothing, not even rust. The VE motor was excellent, it ran beautifully and needed a little cleaning (nothing I couldnt do in a day) It had its factory fogs(and still worked) I took it out for a spin and the clutch felt good and it ran very nicely. HOLY VE POWER!! This thing MOVED! It has 116k on it which I was very comfortable about.

This car was broken into at one point and had the bose stereo stolen, but the guy selling it put a bose HU in it and replaced the ignition because it was broken. It needs brakes, a muffler and i need to fix the spoiler. Other than that, the car is fine. Needless to say, I put my deposit down on it. I will pick it up this week and I will have my mechanic check it out also.

After negotiating the price down $500 for the muffler and brake issues, We closed the deal for this car at $2,200. I can now say Im on my way to the VE world!

Pics later this week.
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Old 06-15-2002, 08:10 PM
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congrats man. Hopefully you will be able to at least get your wheels off the other car. It looks likes things are working out for ya.
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Old 06-15-2002, 08:26 PM
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Re: Made a decision today.

Originally posted by DaBoxSE
I decided to get another ad magazine today and I searched through about 300 pages of it to find something close to what I was looking for. I came across a car similar to the one in this post. I took the 45 minute trip out to this one and got a chance to check it out and test drive it.

Its a Grey 1993 SE 5spd loaded. Again, its got fuzzy seats Oh well, I'll deal. EVERYTHING WORKS!! and works well too. All regulators work, antenna, clock and the rest of the little things. The first thing I noticed about this car was that it was clean. The body had no dents or scratches, but the only problem was that the spoiler popped up on one side. I inspected the car for any noticeable collision damage/repair and found nothing, not even rust. The VE motor was excellent, it ran beautifully and needed a little cleaning (nothing I couldnt do in a day) It had its factory fogs(and still worked) I took it out for a spin and the clutch felt good and it ran very nicely. HOLY VE POWER!! This thing MOVED! It has 116k on it which I was very comfortable about.

This car was broken into at one point and had the bose stereo stolen, but the guy selling it put a bose HU in it and replaced the ignition because it was broken. It needs brakes, a muffler and i need to fix the spoiler. Other than that, the car is fine. Needless to say, I put my deposit down on it. I will pick it up this week and I will have my mechanic check it out also.

After negotiating the price down $500 for the muffler and brake issues, We closed the deal for this car at $2,200. I can now say Im on my way to the VE world!

Pics later this week.
Wow that is a great price. Good luck to you.
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Old 06-15-2002, 08:55 PM
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$2200's a steal, plus you'll probably be able to salvage the 2K2 muffler off your other one. Glad its working out for you, and I can't wait to see pics.
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Old 06-15-2002, 09:08 PM
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Re: Made a decision today.

congrats bud. cant wait to see what it'll look like after you get done with it.

Originally posted by DaBoxSE
I decided to get another ad magazine today and I searched through about 300 pages of it to find something close to what I was looking for. I came across a car similar to the one in this post. I took the 45 minute trip out to this one and got a chance to check it out and test drive it.

Its a Grey 1993 SE 5spd loaded. Again, its got fuzzy seats Oh well, I'll deal. EVERYTHING WORKS!! and works well too. All regulators work, antenna, clock and the rest of the little things. The first thing I noticed about this car was that it was clean. The body had no dents or scratches, but the only problem was that the spoiler popped up on one side. I inspected the car for any noticeable collision damage/repair and found nothing, not even rust. The VE motor was excellent, it ran beautifully and needed a little cleaning (nothing I couldnt do in a day) It had its factory fogs(and still worked) I took it out for a spin and the clutch felt good and it ran very nicely. HOLY VE POWER!! This thing MOVED! It has 116k on it which I was very comfortable about.

This car was broken into at one point and had the bose stereo stolen, but the guy selling it put a bose HU in it and replaced the ignition because it was broken. It needs brakes, a muffler and i need to fix the spoiler. Other than that, the car is fine. Needless to say, I put my deposit down on it. I will pick it up this week and I will have my mechanic check it out also.

After negotiating the price down $500 for the muffler and brake issues, We closed the deal for this car at $2,200. I can now say Im on my way to the VE world!

Pics later this week.
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Old 06-15-2002, 09:18 PM
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Re: Made a decision today.

Originally posted by DaBoxSE
I decided to get another ad magazine today and I searched through about 300 pages of it to find something close to what I was looking for. I came across a car similar to the one in this post. I took the 45 minute trip out to this one and got a chance to check it out and test drive it.

Its a Grey 1993 SE 5spd loaded. Again, its got fuzzy seats Oh well, I'll deal. EVERYTHING WORKS!! and works well too. All regulators work, antenna, clock and the rest of the little things. The first thing I noticed about this car was that it was clean. The body had no dents or scratches, but the only problem was that the spoiler popped up on one side. I inspected the car for any noticeable collision damage/repair and found nothing, not even rust. The VE motor was excellent, it ran beautifully and needed a little cleaning (nothing I couldnt do in a day) It had its factory fogs(and still worked) I took it out for a spin and the clutch felt good and it ran very nicely. HOLY VE POWER!! This thing MOVED! It has 116k on it which I was very comfortable about.

This car was broken into at one point and had the bose stereo stolen, but the guy selling it put a bose HU in it and replaced the ignition because it was broken. It needs brakes, a muffler and i need to fix the spoiler. Other than that, the car is fine. Needless to say, I put my deposit down on it. I will pick it up this week and I will have my mechanic check it out also.

After negotiating the price down $500 for the muffler and brake issues, We closed the deal for this car at $2,200. I can now say Im on my way to the VE world!

Pics later this week.



AWESOME!!! Congrats

the fuzzy seats aren't too bad.. lol
That is a freaking awesome price... how the hell do you find these deals?
I need to hire you to find me the car i want

congrats, can't wait to see pics..
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Old 06-15-2002, 10:50 PM
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VG 4 LYF!
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Old 06-16-2002, 04:44 AM
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good luck man!
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Old 06-16-2002, 07:51 AM
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Re: Made a decision today.

Originally posted by DaBoxSE
I decided to get another ad magazine today and I searched through about 300 pages of it to find something close to what I was looking for. I came across a car similar to the one in this post. I took the 45 minute trip out to this one and got a chance to check it out and test drive it.

Its a Grey 1993 SE 5spd loaded. Again, its got fuzzy seats Oh well, I'll deal. EVERYTHING WORKS!! and works well too. All regulators work, antenna, clock and the rest of the little things. The first thing I noticed about this car was that it was clean. The body had no dents or scratches, but the only problem was that the spoiler popped up on one side. I inspected the car for any noticeable collision damage/repair and found nothing, not even rust. The VE motor was excellent, it ran beautifully and needed a little cleaning (nothing I couldnt do in a day) It had its factory fogs(and still worked) I took it out for a spin and the clutch felt good and it ran very nicely. HOLY VE POWER!! This thing MOVED! It has 116k on it which I was very comfortable about.

This car was broken into at one point and had the bose stereo stolen, but the guy selling it put a bose HU in it and replaced the ignition because it was broken. It needs brakes, a muffler and i need to fix the spoiler. Other than that, the car is fine. Needless to say, I put my deposit down on it. I will pick it up this week and I will have my mechanic check it out also.

After negotiating the price down $500 for the muffler and brake issues, We closed the deal for this car at $2,200. I can now say Im on my way to the VE world!

Pics later this week.
nice deal and nice car. Congratulations!
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Old 06-16-2002, 02:28 PM
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i must say as well that clarks new VE is in GREAT shape other than the spoiler problem and the brakes that need a little work...but i drove him to look at it and i test drove it as well...GREAT ride and bodys in awesome shape...and as clark said, we were able to salvage almost ALL his mods today EXCEPT for the Y-pipe, which we just couldnt get to budge unfortunately , so keep it up clark..you know im here to help ya work on the new ride
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