Is this a fair price for a 3rd gen, seems cheap to me?

[fsaroyster]

Evening folks,

I'm in the market for a Surf, it'll be my first, a few years back I had a mk2 Hilux pickup, followed by a mk3 pickup, great fun, just not enough seats for a family of 4

Anyway, I check the for sale section on here, autotrader, ebay, gumtree, preloved, pistonheads, daily and I see such a wide range when it comes to prices, are there any particular options, issues, etc to keep an eye out for that will mean one being more expensive than an other?

A 3rd Gen has just popped up on Gumtree (6 hours ago) and it looks really nice in the pics, at least to me, 90K, R-plate, £1400? Not sure if I can post a link, so I'll hold off on that.

It might just be something in the water, as I say I look daily, and just this Wednesday evening someone stuck a very tidy looking 3rd gen, pale silver/grey one, looked great, lots of toys, also I noticed it had the bonnet scoop, no mention of an intercooler in the add, price was £2450, I thought this guy probably doesn't know what he's got, I messaged him asking for pictures of the engine, stating I think its the rarer intercooler model, no reply, but within the hour he'd bumped the price to £3500, still fairly cheap compared to the couple of intercoolers I've seen crop up, come the morning it'd gone. Apologies if anyone on here got it and I potentially cost you a few quid, but lets hope the more likely story is a trader probably leapt on it and at least didn't get it for a rock bottom price only for us to see it this weekend for best part of £5000.

Anyway, I've got to sell both of my cars before I can start looking seriously, unless anyone out there has a surf they no longer want and would like either or preferably both a Mk2 Golf GTI 16v, and an Audi Coupe

Thanks guys

Rog

[BUSHWHACKER]

Post the link, we may be able to spot why it's so cheap.

[fsaroyster]

Again to try and make my point with the whole pricing issue, there's another 3rd gen, grey over silver, which I personally really like, second only to a black one admittedly its done 10k less miles than the one I've mentioned above, and its a manual which are clearly rarer, but are they better than an automatic? He's asking for £2300 no offers, both are located in London, but the grey one looks like the owner has dedicated his time to making it look like a bag of the brown stuff, clearly he washes the thing with paint stripper, almost every panel is suffering from flaky paint/clear-coat, dents in the rear bumper, bits of the wheel arch extensions missing, if you really want to see how bad the car is check ebay, he listed it there a few weeks back, so its now in the completed listings section and he's put a link to his Flickr account with loads more pics of the poor thing. But what's the story here, is it just that people really don't know what they're worth or am I more clueless than they are, probably me, I think I'm just annoyed that what look like really good deals are turning up and I haven't the funds until mine are gone

I'll get a beer an chill...

[fsaroyster]

Hopefully these work...

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...l200/109497836


The above caring owners more details photo collection :/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben281975/

Great looking 3rd gen for £1400

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...1997/109664909

[fsaroyster]

If nothing else Bushwhacker, you might educate me!

I just had a look of some pics of what I believe to be your black 3rd gen, that's what I'm aiming for But I quite like the idea of getting a standard one to start with and spending the time, and obviously the money in turning it into something personal, some of the American boys have done some cool stuff with their trucks as I'm sure you've seen.

[BUSHWHACKER]

I would go for the £1400 one, but only after giving it a good look-over.
No mention of tax or test though, and it hasn't got multi-mode 4wd.

Even if it needs a new cylinder head, it's still worth it for a R reg truck.

[fsaroyster]

Here's another example of what I personally feel is a nice clean looking example, bit different too as its a red 3rd gen, plus fully colour coded bumpers, which again I think is a nice touch, just wish I had the ###### money!!! I know when (if?) I manage to sell my cars months will go by before I see any like these nicer looking ones, admittedly I'm only window shopping at present, in the flesh they might be dogs, at least that's what I'll tell myself, plus it'll be winter before I know it and the prices will go up

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...nreg/109195655

[BUSHWHACKER]

Here's another example of what I personally feel is a nice clean looking example, bit different too as its a red 3rd gen, plus fully colour coded bumpers, which again I think is a nice touch, just wish I had the ###### money!!! I know when (if?) I manage to sell my cars months will go by before I see any like these nicer looking ones, admittedly I'm only window shopping at present, in the flesh they might be dogs, at least that's what I'll tell myself, plus it'll be winter before I know it and the prices will go up

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-m...nreg/109195655

That is a nice one.

This time of year is the time to buy though, as the prices rise when the snow comes.

[fsaroyster]

What's this multi-mode 4wd you speak of? I'm guessing it's a good thing to have, how can I tell if it's got it or not?

[fsaroyster]

I'm guessing this might answer my question(s)

http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/showthrea...ighlight=multi

[fsaroyster]

I have to admit I can't tell by looking at the pics of any of the 3rd gen surfs whether its a multi-mode 4wd or not, they could all be positioned forward or back as far as I can see

The only way I've read so far to really tell is to look at the modes on the top of the actual gear knob.

This I believe is what's know as multi-mode 4wd

H2+H4 L4L
N
H4L

This isn't

H
N
L4

But it's rare that a seller takes close enough pics to see this, so are there any other tell-tale signs?

[shokenore]

IMHO your choice should probably take into account;
Budget ;initial purchase price and running costs.
Mechanical ability ;will you be doing the spanner works if not read above.
Intended use; ie shopping cart, towing ,off road ,motorway?

How important is the ability to use 4wd on tarmac ?

There are plenty of well sorted older trucks out there (and a load of crap too).
There are bargains to be had and cash is a good persuader.

[Predictable Bob]

I think we can keep this one - he's worked out how to use the search !

[Growler]

I think we can keep this one - he's worked out how to use the search !

[BUSHWHACKER]

What's this multi-mode 4wd you speak of? I'm guessing it's a good thing to have, how can I tell if it's got it or not?

Look at the shorter transfer lever in the interior photos, if it's towards the dash then it'll have multi-mode. If it's pulled back towards the seats, it's the the basic version. Also there will be a 4WD icon between the tacho and speedo if it has multi-mode.

Multi-mode transfer cases have a centre diff which gives you the option to use 4WD (AWD) on the road, which can make the truck more stable in the wet especially when towing.