Buying used FR-S, hoodliner and alignment question
 

Currently was looking at a used FR-S, and it looks good, but this caught my eye. Any ideas what would cause the degradation to happen?

See post 24 (http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...7&postcount=24) for question on alignment.

Thanks gang, excited to join the club!

pic doesn't show

fixed; thanks!

Could be heat. Overspray or something got it wet. Could be a bunch of stuff.

Probably fluids. Possibly heat.

Does the car have any engine mods?

Battery? Cooling system? Brake reservoir? Replacement anodized engine bits? Flashy new coolant hoses? Etc...

Evidence of a pressure washer or steam cleaning of the engine?

Current state it's bone stock, and from what my newbie visual inspection can tell, doesn't look like it has had any mods done to it. Anything that would suggest something otherwise?

Misaligned bolts/marks where bolts go. Non stock clamps. Clean parts where everything else is weathered. Scrape, cuts, marks on the motor covers and surrounding parts.

What do you think was done to it? can you PM me a markup of the engine bay where you see concerns?

Are you saying you see that in those pics? (I don't. Pic's too small to say.) Or are you saying OP should look for that to see if something was done to it?

I suspect you meant the latter, but you ought to clarify.

OK, that makes much more sense (but hope Tcoat can clarify) since the photo pic is crappy; sorry, i didn't take that one.

I bought my 2013 BRZ used. It has similar marks, but they are much smaller and not as many. No known mods except some aftermarket tubes for the intake. Engine cools faster than my friend's stock AT BRZ 2014.

Edit: Or more likely my engine doesn't heat as quickly as my friend's engine.

which marks are we talking about? the hoodliner ones? (back to the original topic)

No no no no!
I am say those are things to look for in response to his "how can you tell if modded" question. Just forgot to quote him.

thanks buddy!

Yes, the top smooth fabric is "ripped off" and the fibers are shown beneath.

Looks like someone hit it with a pressure washer to me.

Doesn't sound unreasonable if they're giving the engine bay a rinse, thanks! (Would give thanks but can't see a button)

Could be bodily fluids.

Button will show up bottom right after you have made 10 posts.

ok thanks! 1 more to go..

I wouldn't worry about it.

You might check around the engine (where the pad would rest) to see if you see any escaped fluids.

Maybe, the crickets got out of the HPFP and chewed on it.

If it really bugs you, and you buy the car .... it wouldn't cost much to replace it.


humfrz

I agree with Roddy. Seen it done before on other cars.

Also got the alignment report back and it shows left caster is 5.6 deg and right caster is 6.0 deg. There was some kind of $700 repair done on the bumper in that corner, i suspect it also whacked the suspension slightly?

Anything to be concerned about? Everything else like camber and toe are in spec. Is this something that can be fixed by replacing the damaged components (lca, etc.) ? I can push the dealer to fix this which makes the most sense.

Trying to make a final decision on this car.

I wouldn't think that $700 in damage to the bumper would be enough damage to cause alignment issues. Sounds more like a simple repaint (at dealer costs).
Is the car lowered at all?

Isn't lowered, wouldn't be able to say if it was lowered before without looking at the mounts again, bit it didn't appear so.

What I meant was that a previous claim was a $700 cosmetic repair. Perhaps that accident was a curb that also grazed the bumper but the suspension damage was left undetected.

Would explain it if one side was off but since both are so close it would seem deliberate. Sorry can't help more as I am not a suspension guy.

The left is off .4 deg from the right side which is fairly significant to my understanding.

THERE IS A HOOD LINER??? My car doesn't have that.

Cancelled the deal, they wouldn't agree that the suspension was off. Hunting again.

:party0030:Did you confirm that the .4 is actually an issue? I am not positive but I don't think it is.
Still better to cancel the deal if you are not 100% comfortable since it would bug the hell out of you even if ok.
More good deals will come up I am sure.

Websites on the issue stated differences of .5deg should be fixed as it'll be noticeably pulling, and so I don't want to have part of the suspension bent. Lots of other cars avail so no loss.

Just as a last follow up, here's a couple threads on the caster issue:
http://my.is/forums/f87/should-i-fix...gnment-340182/
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...0192605AApTrnE

hope this will help someone else down the road!