Can I ask Aspire questions here?

[Infinitrium]

Howdy. I've been looking for a cheap, small fuel efficient car, and after finding that I can't fit in a Geo Metro comfortably, I continued looking. Today I happened to spot a 94 Aspire SE for 800 OBO. Left front fender is dented, right rear fender has one small rust bubble but other than that the body appears to be fine, but the red paint is faded. The floor has been undercoated and appears to be solid with no rust holes. The car's owner wasn't home when I was looking at the car but it was unlocked so I poked around in it a bit. It has just a tiny bit over 200,000 kms on the odometer. No AC, and it's an automatic. It looks like someone has put a custom dash face on it (stay with me here), the background on the gauges is blue with white lettering. I think it looks pretty sharp like that. The only thing is, the registration and safety inspection expired last year so I can only assume it's been sitting more or less unused since then. If I can get ahold of the owner tonight, I'll go take a look at it tomorrow. Are there any problem areas I should pay attention to? If the car turns out to be ok, then I'll offer the owner $600 and see if he'll take it. That's all I got on me right now. Even if I do buy it tomorrow I won't be able to get it in my own name for a week or so, I just sold my 88 Celica to my stepfather and he's out in Alberta working at the oil sands projects and he won't be sending the money for the car for a week or so. I'm posting 2 pictures I took of the Aspire with my cheap digital camera so you people here can comment on it. What kind of fuel mileage can I expect to get from this car? Do you think it is worth buying? BTW, that's my old man in the first picture.

[nonamekid]

BUY IT!!! That gauge cluster is actually factory. The spoiler is factory for the SE, kind of rare I think. Those seats are not standard aspire seats but SE seats. I believe also that the aspire SE bumper is different than the standard aspire bumper. Check out the following page. It will tell you what sets the SE apart from the standard aspire.

http://www.festivamotorsport.com/projectcars/aspire/aspire3-2-01.html

[FB71]

ditto! BUY IT! I've never seen one in orange... Canada color or repaint?

as above, instruments, seats, wing, and front bumper are SE only items!

I ordered an SE in 94, but it came in a standard w/ upgrade interior...

[Infinitrium]

Judging by the rear bumper, it's supposed to be red. The paint is faded bad in some places, that and my cheapo digital camera doesn't capture color all that good.

[Guest]

Yeah I'd get it.. SE's are getting hard to find in decent shape.. With some TLC that could be a very nice ride..

[Gro Harlem]

omg dood that paint would buff out and look fine if you took the time to apply a 3-step process to it.

I bought a 93 323 with that same exact red and it looked just like that. All that crap buffed out and looks awesome now (sold the car to a buddy of mine).

BUY IT! The SE's are rare and if that one runs, fuggit, buy it!

although you might be disappointed at the crappy ass automatic. Its only a 3-speed and with that heavy aspire & 1.3 liter it will be pretty slow & won't get impressive fuel economy. But for a project, it looks like a great find

[Infinitrium]

Hit a bit if a snag today. I drove by the car this afternoon and someone was home so I stopped in. Talked for a bit to the person selling the car then I got the keys from her. I started it up, and it runs really nice. Idles smooth and no hint of any engine noise. Some donut gasket on the exhaust manifold is bad, the car is loud. Here's the snag. This woman says she promised to sell the car to some guy who's coming by Tuesday around noon. I asked her, if I gave her the same amount of cash tomorrow as this other guy would I be able to buy it tomorrow and she said no, that it wouldn't be fair to this other guy who she promise to sell the car to, blah blah.. So it looks like I may not get this car after all. I can only hope that on Tuesday this guy doesn't show up or can't get the money or some other horrible catastrophe happens that he isn't able to buy the car, because the woman told me if he doesn't buy the car Tuesday afternoon then the first person with $650 gets it. You better believe I'll be calling 2 PM Tuesday afternoon to see if it's still there. I just have a feeling that it won't, however. What a shame...

[Safety Guy]

Well good luck Infinitrium!

That would be a nice buy there. I think I've only seen one SE around Columbus, OH in the past few years. At least with the spoiler (it also had alloys, so I think it was a '95).

It's good that she sticks to her word. If the original buyer doesn't show, hold her to it!

As for the automatic, one of our members, Yvan, has one hooked up to a 200 some hp custom turboed BP!

Karl

[Infinitrium]

More problems.. The other guy who was going to buy the Aspire was supposed to come by this person's house by this afternoon, and he didn't show up. Oh, but he had a reason. He's supposed to be buying the car for parts and he's trying to find a towing company to move the car. Pffft, it's not that hard, there's at least 6 towing companies in the phone book. I think this other guy is jerking the Aspire's owner around, and in the process jerking ME around at the same time! :evil: So now I have to call again tomorrow afternoon to see if the car is still there. Argh...goddamn runaround.

[Infinitrium]

UPDATE: the car is bought and paid for! I went up this morning and gave the woman the money for the car. This other guy who wanted the car was supposed to call the woman last night and he didn't. He did call less than an hour before I arrived and the woman told him too bad, you had your chance. Woohoo! Now I gotta wait a while to get the cash to get this car on the road. I figure it'll cost about $250. Anyway, can I ask a favor of someone who has a Carfax account? I'd like to run the VIN through Carfax just to see if it hasn't been in any accidents or anything like that.

[FB71]

Congrats! You've got a rare piece! Looking forward to see what you can do with it!