definitely gutless with the 12V 1.3L engine, better off finding one with the DOHC 16V 1.5L engine. $4800 is quite expensive for what is a 14 year old car with minimal safety features. That money could get you something in the early 2000's.
andrea13,
Mar 20, 12:30pm
lol hopefully the engine mountain is ok in the one i am looking at. sounds like a pretty heavy job. are they a bad engine/trans! anything will seem gutless as this is a replacement for a cooked falcon :-(, but it is time for a cheaper runabout. when should the cambelt have been done and stuff like that!
andrea13,
Mar 20, 12:32pm
thats not the one I am looking at, but is the same specs, 90km and under 4k, totally mint
phillip.weston,
Mar 20, 1:03pm
1.3 and 1.5 are the Orion family engine, the bare block has been around since the 1978 Mk1 Mirage, a pretty hardy engine but can tend to get smokey with higher kms due to soft piston rings/hard bores combo and leaky valve stem seals.
1.6 and 1.8 are the newer 4G9x family engine, a much more modern engine which is smoother and doesn't tend to get smokey with higher kms. Only one real common fault with those engines is the head gasket around the high pressure oil gallery going to the head can leak, which results in a massive oil leak between the block and the head always usually trickling out over the gearbox bellhousing. That said I would still take the 1.6/1.8 over the 1.5. If it were me, I would find a MIVEC model - still the same fuel economy as a regular 1.6 but is still a very fun engine to drive once the revs climb higher and higher.
phillip.weston,
Mar 20, 1:05pm
The autos ideally need regular services to keep them in tip-top order, ie a fluid change every 2-3 years/40-50,000kms. They would definitely benefit from having an aftermarket large external transmission oil cooler fitted. If it's a tiptronic transmission, check for shuddering when the transmission engages the torque converter lock up clutch in top gears around 50-80km/h.
vtecintegra,
Mar 20, 1:17pm
Aren't some of the 1.5s a 4g9x too!
Edit: Or is that just the previous shape!
andrea13,
Mar 20, 2:01pm
this is a 4 speed auto, I should expect the trans to have been serviced at least once with another due! how about the cam belt!
budgel,
Mar 21, 7:06am
My wife had a v6 model, it went very well.
thejazzpianoma,
Mar 21, 8:39am
The tiptronic is a 4 speed auto but you can chose to shift it manually as well.
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