Ello all good to meet yer... Now HELP! lol (please)

[sanct]

Hi all
New member as you've probably guessed.
First off.. Nice website
Compliments to the chef (s)

I have been toying with the idea of buying something silly quick for about a year now. Have fallen in love with the Legnum VR4, (good cover story to the Mrs its a quick practical estate) I really need some input as to what I should be looking for in order to get a good one? Reasonable price? The do's and dont's.... What to run in fear from etc etc etc...

Any help navigating my way through purchasing a good example of a VR4 would be most appreciated..

Thanks inadvance.

P's Have already read the buyers guide and found useful
:)

[Axeboy]

Best bet would be to buy from here, usually quite a few on the for sale thread.

Then its a known machine thats most likely been cared for.

[bradc]

You need to service them fairly regularly, and they will chew through a lot of petrol if you drive them hard. The only other problem is that the auto gearboxes seem to fail fairly regularly.

A reasonable price over there can range from 3000-9000 depending on age, specs, and mileage. You're always encouraged to post up some of the cars you are looking at buying so we can always have a look and recommend it :)

[Axeboy]

The tiptronic box may tend to fail more often than the manual, however i wouldnt say it was fairly regularly :) .. its just the biggest fear for most owners.

Price wise, you be looking at £4000+ for a 96 one here (£5000 is a realistic starting price).... you may be very very lucky and get one cheaper, but it will have high miles or similar.

Bargains have been seen.

[Kieran]

Yeah. They start at about £3K, and for that you'll get the famed Mitsubishi reliability, but you'll be high on miles and don't expect a great service history either.

My VR-4 was just over £3.5K and has 105,000 miles on it. It's got a lot of things that aren't exactly in their first flush of youth, but it's been very reliable. The only blot on it's copybook is a failed alternator.

High miles aren't a problem provided it's had some degree of care. Things to watch are the 'Tip boxes - these suffer from torque converter seals failing. A £10 job, but the 'box needs to come out to do it! They are often filled with pants-o-matic fluid by ill-imformed (or cheap) owners, which can also cause trouble.

Patchy service history isn't brilliant, but they do tolerate some neglect. Buy on condition, state of fluids and such. If the engine taps, it could just be lash adjuster rattle, which is relatively harmless, but that in itself points to either worn adjusters or that it needs an oil change.

[SGHOM]

but they do tolerate some neglect. .

:inquisiti /help /Grrr /Grrr you talking 'bout me ?? /help /help

[Nick Mann]

Shout where you are. There is a good chance someone local will show you theirs. (?!)

Also keep an eye on the events thread. There will be loads of us at Japfest this year - it looks like we will have 30 cars on our club stand. If theres one thing we can do forever its enthuse about VR4's!

[WildCards]

Welcome Sanct, Good choice on car matey.

Had mine a couple of months now and am well chuffed with it. If you can stomach the fuel, you'll have a grin on your face everytime you get in it.

[sanct]

Cheers for all your responses guys. Very useful... The temptation is growing. Reckoned on spending circa £5000. How does the fuel consumption fare when driven red mist free? Oh yea another prob I've heard that can cost a lot is an iffy LSD. What the best way of spotting this on a test drive? New to this posting thing so probably have posted in the wrong place may start a new thread. I'm South West London btw. Thanks again :)

[WildCards]

I think you're talking about the AYC, which can cost in excess of £2000 if you're unlucky. Basically, when you strt the car make sure all the lights on the instruenmt cluster come on, then go out. If they stay on you have a problem, if they don't come on at all you have a problem and if you get a little red AYC light on constant you have a problem.
When driving the car give it a little stick round corners and you should see green lights illuminating in stages inbetween the speedo and rev counter, if you don't you have a problem.

Hope this helps

[sanct]

Cheers Wildcards sorry it was the yaw I was talking about. It helps that I'm not having to listen out for a particular clunk.

nice one.
:)

[WildCards]

You're best bet is to get one from here, you know it'll be a minter then, you may have to wait a little for £5K, but there does seem to be a steady flow of Legits for sale most weeks for all different prices.

[detonate]

and if you get a little red AYC light on constant you have a problem.



awww crap, I just thought that meant it was "on" /pan

Good thing I got a mechanical warranty, /me calls up the dealer to whinge.

[WildCards]

awww crap, I just thought that meant it was "on" /pan

Good thing I got a mechanical warranty, /me calls up the dealer to whinge.

No all you should see is a white AYC logo in the centre of the instrument cluster and some little green lights coming on when you're driving properly :evilgrin:

[detonate]

:(

Booked in at the Mitsi Dealer in New Market to have a look at it tomorrow.

Guess I probably shouldn't have put nearly 2000kms on the clock with bust AYC. /pan

Surely the fracking mitsi dealer should've spotted that BEFORE selling it to me.

[BraindG]

could just be your ayc switch.. £120 - the light would not always come on right away, sometimes it would wait for the first tightish bend you take...

the article is in my sig.

[bradc]

detonate - you should get it covered under warranty by mitsi, even if you didn't buy it from the same dealership you still bought it from the mitsi network. Say hello to Jim down there from me, he might be nice to you :)

[detonate]

oh yeah definately, that and I got the 3year mechanical and electrical warranty

:D

[detonate]

Faulty steering sensor apparently, $200ish for the actually sensor, plus an extra $100ish to have it installed.


<3 Warranty

/me ticks up $300 to the "claim as much as I possibly can inside my 3 year warranty" tally :D

/pan

[jayjay99]

I'm South West London btw. Thanks again :)

I'm also in South West London, if you're anywhere near richmond feel free to swing by and have a butchers at mine if you wish. Oh, and welcome to the club.

[sanct]

Cheers jayjay99
Just down the road from you mate in Sheen
Small world...
Bet the Legnum turns some heads in the one way system!
Too many uninteresting pocket rockets in our neck of the woods.

[jayjay99]

Cheers jayjay99
Just down the road from you mate in Sheen
Small world...
Bet the Legnum turns some heads in the one way system!
Too many uninteresting pocket rockets in our neck of the woods.


Well, yes, but I rarely go through there, too slow for my liking! :happy: Ah you aren't far at all I'm literally inbetween sheen and richmond by the sainsburys superstore. Again, anytime you feel like a butchers, feel free to ask.

[sanct]

Cheers mate much appreciated.
It would be good check out a Leggy close up whilst I'm not having to verbally see off some overly eager sales person.
Shout you a beer
Top regards
:)