Advice before purchasing heavily modified 86

[nextcar]

My vote: "crack pipe"

[computeruser]

I wouldn't touch a modded car on a bet, with the only exception being if I was getting it from a friend whose workmanship and driving behavior I knew I could trust. Even then, I wouldn't pay over new stock vehicle money for a four year old car that has been beat on. That is a shitty sucker bet that I'd not take.

[rkaywhodat]

No way, avoid it that price is ridiculous.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[86geek]

Originally Posted by Insane

Pretty much because he's pumped 30k into it, and it's now got the kind of performance I could never afford to give a 2017 86. Engineering here to make sure the turbo is all legal is about 5k by itself :/

Nonetheless that's a bad investment plus you mentioned you can't afford to mod a 2017 86. Hope you can afford to maintain & fix the car with those mods. The guy selling the car won't ever make back the $$$ he used to mod the car. Walk away & buy a new 2017 86 & save up to mod the car.

[Esseff]

OP MUST be a teenager.
Seriously, SERIOUSLY, foolish!!

[mrg666]

I wouldn't even touch that car. But since you are asking, it seems to me this is what you would do to a stock car. Then, why not just buy that one? If you buy that car, you will save time, money, and most of all, a stock twin from your abuse.

[Brayden_23]

Originally Posted by Insane

Hi guys,

New member here. I'm looking at purchasing an 86/BRZ in Australia and am looking for some advice about a potential car I've seen for sale.*

Its a highly modified 2013 86 GT, with 76,000 km.

The owner has dropped a lot of coin on the car, which is why it appeals to me over purchasing a stock 2nd hand or new one. The asking price is about $3,000 more than a stock 2017 86 GT.

The car will be my daily driver, but I love the looks of it and the fact that it has lots of extra power, I just really don't want to "buy someone else's headache" and get stuck with continued repair bills for one thing or another breaking for the life of my ownership.

The performance mods that may be of concern to me are roughly as follows:

- DTM wheels
- hancook RS3 tyres
- light weight p2 red pulley kit upgrade.
- raceseng oil cap/cover kit
- raceseng oil plate*
- BC blue adjustable coil overs
- zentronic e85 eflex converter
- zentronoc e85 interior display guage.
-upgraded mishimotor radiator
- extra heavy duty stage 2 race clutch
- blouch turbo kit
- adjustable sway bars and tail arms.
- full invidia N1 exhaust.
- perrin overpipe
- cat delete pipe comes with car not installed.
-catch can
- fuel pump
- 900cc injectors
- full Engineer certificate

Some red flags for me that I would like reassurance about..

- "So i have snapped in total of 2 axels, they snap when the car is under load and you hit a pump, one wheel lifts and touches the ground and all pressure goes to the axel, being very powerful causes it to snap. In saying that, ive only ever snapped axels when the car was very low, ive now had it raised to 140mm (over legal height) so that issue does not happen again) I have not had any issues since then and i don't expect to as the weight distribution is so much better than having camber. ". My research has indicated this is correct and that raising the ride height nearer to stock prevents axles snapping in most situations.

Snapping axles is typical on slammed cars. Having it raised back to a normal height should fix this issue. Not to say a boosted 86 with grippy tires won't still snap axles, but you are way less likely.

- Turbo.* " With my tune these kits are rated for over 300kw, i did not dare go past 280kw i left mine for street use at 255kw atw so its at a very very safe tune while still being very quick, there is alot of room to go faster but i would reccomend doing the internals first because after 270kw kts a risky game. It is tuned for reliability, and something that won't harm the gear box. Alot of guys push for more power however its pointless. Its not worth ruining the internals for the sake of another 30+kw atw. In short, i wasnt a idiot, i had the tuner have it tuned for reliability and where no harm can be done to the engine from trying to push out too much. "

The feedback on how much boost these engines can handle varies greatly from one source to the next. Through all of my reading, it seems the 300hp mark seems to be right around where risk increases greatly. That being said, someone could run 400hp on a well-tuned motor and be fine, while someone could run 250hp and not have a very good tune and break something. Like I said before, way too much variability for a straight answer like this. Assume the risk if you are going to buy a car with an engine that was not boosted from the factory.

I've seen SC kits etc that advertise about 190kw at the wheels as being safe for the engine, is 255kw really safe for these engines or is it just waiting to grenade? I would potentially be fine with lowering boost if necessary to provide reliability.

- The car has a front tow hook fitted, although the owner insists the car has never been tracked. Is this something people do for aesthetics or is it generally only functional and indicates that the car has been tracked heavily?

Front tow hooks are commonly added for aesthetic purposes. Rear ones too.

- The owner said "The timing belt snapped twice recently due to smooth pulleys so I had those replaced recently with brand new ones that cost about $800 installed. If there have been any issues they have been fixed right away by PVS tuning as those guys are the best tuners in the Sydney area for the 86/BRZ. "

This would make me uncomfortable. Without going into the whole argument of aftermarket pullies to begin with, overall it sounds like the reliability of the car has been compromised which would steer me far away from purchasing.

This is a big flag for me potentially, is this a common occurrence with boosted engines? When the timing belt snaps, is there potential for it to damage engine internals? Slightly bent rods etc that are going to get worse? Is the fix for the belt snapping to replace the pulleys?

Thank you all so much in advance, I love the 86 and I love the way this one looks (I didn't list all the aesthetic mods) I just really don't want to purchase a lemon, and frankly I don't have enough money to be constantly replacing bits and pieces of the car as they break, over about $1500/year.* The odd problem from wear is fine though, just not whole assemblies.

Thanks
Insane

Overall, I would say keep searching. 1) the price is way too high. If the seller came down to actual market value of the car, then it might warrant looking into it further. 2) did you bring the car to a mechanic to check it out? Kind of sounds like the owner was searching for more power but took shortcuts here and there. I would be interested to see if there are any other signs of wear or early indicators. 3) if those issues were all the ones the owner was willing to talk about, assume there were probably more items. Many private party sellers will give you some tidbits like this to make you feel like they are being honest and open, but there might be more that they aren't saying. 4) building off point made earlier, overall this build sounds like it was done half-assed and not like someone was building the car for reliable power. Almost safe to assume somebody who rushed boost into a car definitely tried utilizing it. Whether it actually was tracked or used for making highway pulls, I would not make the assumption that this car has been babied.

Lots of generalizations and assumptions in the above, but all things you need to think about before making this sort of purchase. While in the short-term this may sound cool to buy a car that already has mods on you would do yourself, better to start new and know exactly how the car was treated and ensure all mods are installed correctly. There's a reason people don't want to buy modified cars...there's just no knowing so many factors that detracts a ton from the overall value.

Good luck OP.

[Insane]

Originally Posted by Esseff

OP MUST be a teenager.
Seriously, SERIOUSLY, foolish!!

About 30 actually!

I just can't afford to waste $30k into a car, but I'd love the performance of a modified car. If I had $65k I'd probably buy a second hand Porsche

[Insane]

Originally Posted by Brayden_23

Overall, I would say keep searching. 1) the price is way too high. If the seller came down to actual market value of the car, then it might warrant looking into it further. 2) did you bring the car to a mechanic to check it out? Kind of sounds like the owner was searching for more power but took shortcuts here and there. I would be interested to see if there are any other signs of wear or early indicators. 3) if those issues were all the ones the owner was willing to talk about, assume there were probably more items. Many private party sellers will give you some tidbits like this to make you feel like they are being honest and open, but there might be more that they aren't saying. 4) building off point made earlier, overall this build sounds like it was done half-assed and not like someone was building the car for reliable power. Almost safe to assume somebody who rushed boost into a car definitely tried utilizing it. Whether it actually was tracked or used for making highway pulls, I would not make the assumption that this car has been babied.

Lots of generalizations and assumptions in the above, but all things you need to think about before making this sort of purchase. While in the short-term this may sound cool to buy a car that already has mods on you would do yourself, better to start new and know exactly how the car was treated and ensure all mods are installed correctly. There's a reason people don't want to buy modified cars...there's just no knowing so many factors that detracts a ton from the overall value.

Good luck OP.

Thank you very much for the useful info.

[NLS8520]

My advice would be to by the nicest and newest car you can afford. I would not buy a heavily modified car unless you personally knew the owner and he was fastidious. I would buy a new 2017 in a heartbeat over this car, you will enjoy it much more than having a headache with someones problem, and then build the new car to your liking in time.

[Insane]

Originally Posted by NLS8520

My advice would be to by the nicest and newest car you can afford. I would not buy a heavily modified car unless you personally knew the owner and he was fastidious. I would buy a new 2017 in a heartbeat over this car, you will enjoy it much more than having a headache with someones problem, and then build the new car to your liking in time.

Thanks for the thoughts.

Unfortunately I could never justify dropping 10k + 5k in engineering certification to give this car forced induction, which is what pretty much every review I have seen of a forced induction 86/BRZ has said it needs/deserves.

Does this mean I should just not get an 86/BRZ?

I would get the car fully mechanically inspected.

Ergh :/

[Byza]

If you're going to buy a modded car, just buy one you can afford to repair. A whole 2 minutes of searching and I found a similarly modded 2012 BRZ for 22k. There's 15k for repairs!

[Insane]

Originally Posted by Byza

If you're going to buy a modded car, just buy one you can afford to repair. A whole 2 minutes of searching and I found a similarly modded 2012 BRZ for 22k. There's 15k for repairs!

Link?

[why?]

yea the person you are talking to needs to realize his mods do not add value to the car. Heck they sound like they detract tons of value. If you can get the car for a 1/4 of his insane asking price then go for it, otherwise steer well clear, as it sounds like a time bomb.