Pre-Purchase Checklist

[ali3404994]

Right, my first post here and hopefully of many. I've done a brief search of the site already before posting this so apologies if I've missed what I'm asking for. Basically, I'm not far off potentially buying a 1990 1.4 gl 340 and I was wondering if their are any characteristic problems to look for on 340s, more so than other cars of the same age. Obviously cars this old will have their standard niggles but I've not managed to find any particular things to look out for on 340s (bar being ragged about sideways)
Please go easy on me, I'm new here
Thanks in advance for any help

[Ride_on]

Not much that I can think of, they certainly last better than most cars of their age;

broken/cracked driver door handles
Driveshaft sensitive to poor re-assembly and rubber engine/gearbox mounts.
Front suspension struts, rusted spring cups
1.4s don't do big milage in my limited experience, if the engine is suffering and >130k miles it will need a rebuild/replacement.
Leaky diff (minor problem unless its severe)

All fixable of course, rust is the only real enemy, and incorrect maintenance/repairs.

[ali3404994]

Thank you for the reply. It's somewhat reassuring knowing that they're not too prone to anything really dramatic. The example I'm looking at has a claimed 61k miles on it so hopefully things will be in order. With any luck I'll be posting here with good news a week on Saturday. Fingers crossed...

[classicswede]

Rust is the big problem. The worst place to repair is the rear spring hanger, if the chassis has rusted out there it can be an expensive and complex repair.
The front strut spring seat is a co
mm on problem but the repair part is available.

There are some mechanical parts that are nla such as strut tops but gradualy these parts are being re manufactured so the spares situation is improving

[bogbasic]

Mine's on 217 k miles after 3 clutches and a new cylinder head gasket. If you look after them they go on forever but most owners ended up wishing they... (as the old adage goes). The 1.4 is a light engine so the front suspension stands a better chance. I would look out for heavy steering and difficulty getting second gear.... but don't be surprised if you find both - they are not terminal problems which can be lived-with or even put right.... it'll stop the missus driving it.

[samburgess]

check the rear jacking points ive had 2 go there

[SteveP]

Rust.

Wouldn't worry about the rest!

[smchris]

Just rust, in my expierience! my old one had lots of little niggles (because its old) but it would always get me to work and started better than my mums corsa or my dads jag on a freezing winter morning (I've always suspected this is because of the manual choke) I gotta be honest, I want my 1.4 back now after all the problems I've had with my Valver!! lol

[Chris_C]

I gotta be honest, I want my 1.4 back now after all the problems I've had with my Valver!! lol

If I had a penny for each time I've thought this... I could buy a proper rally car