Looked at a 99VX at a Dealer

[Jonnie]

Went 150 miles to look at a 99 Ironman at a dealer that is closed on Sunday (saw the add last nite), at least I was not swarmed by sales people and could give it a good look.

They are asking 16K and it has 23K miles.

The paint is perfect (hood insert looks faded), the clading looks faded and streaked. Some nut job sprayed black paint or undercoating in each wheel well and under the gas tank, some got in the edging of the clading. If you look quick it looks clean, but if you look longer you pick up on what was done. Dunno if the dealer did this, but the interior was nice, but did not look dealer cleaned as the steering wheel had some grub on it. The rear head rests and front mats are MIA.

There is a moon roof, which is either good or bad depending on rust and leaking.

I do not care for the Ironman badging.

I thought the under carriage would look cleaner, but 3 years on the road.

Trying to decide if I should pursue this one.

I put pics in my album area.

Jonathan

[Moncha]

Not sure how well this person took care of this little baby. The cladding should clean up if you scrub it then put on a coat of protectant. That would help with the scratches also.
It needs new tires.
YOU need to go through it with a fine toothed comb to make sure for yourself that you want to but it. Try and find a mechanic in the area and take it there for the mechanicals. It looks dirty and pretty uncared for, I would be wary unless they (the Mechanic) gives you the go. Of course, I'm kind of anal so opinions may differ.

[Joe_Black]

Hopefully you wrote the VIN down or can get it from the dealer so you can run a CarFax on it. That way you can see where it's been and how many hands it's been through. I wouldn't sweat the undercoating, most are easy to scrape a bit off to see what's underneath. Plus most modern vehicles aren't going look bad underneath unless terribly abused.

The nice thing about the Iron Man is that they're white, which is a big plus here in Florida. De-badging is a no-brainer and there perhaps a few here on the board that may trade inserts with you.

Definitely get the CarFax and find out where the moonroof was installed and if it's a reputable installer.

Good luck!

[Jonnie]

I got the vin and ran it on the free carfax link and it came up clean, sold in july of 2000.

I was wondering if it was worth arguing with a dealer about getting the head rests (if they are missing) and replacing the tires- they definately had UV damage and cracking besides the wear.

I do not know how I would figure out who put the moonroof in?

The other thing I noticed is the paint is pealing on the plate at the base of the windshield in one spot.

Of course, there is the whole issue of buying from dealer or private.

But I had to go look!

Jonathan

[Joe_Black]

The peeling paint on the windshield cowling isn't uncommon. When I went to Chicago to get my Dragon it had the same problem including some rust! Now consider this is a brand new vehicle with less than 10 miles on it. This piece is only a thin stamping but I ended up taking the other Dragon they had since I was driving back to FL.

As for the moonroof, if you think this may be "the one" go ahead and spring the $20 or so for the full CarFax. You get a bunch more info and can probably track down the owner who put it in. Plus it's nice to chit-chat with them to get a feel for how they treated and maintained the vehicle.

As for the tires, you may be able to get the tire manufacturer to warranty them if they're deteriotating already. Especially with so little mileage.

[Heraclid]

Hey Jonnie,

Can't see everything in pics of course, but my main thing is the cladding (so far as I can tell from what I've seen). I hate to say it because I know you want one pretty bad, but I don't want you to end up with a lot of problems either. The cladding doesn't look so good up close, and I'm not sure it can be satisfactorily reconditioned at this point (though maybe so). You can normally get rid of streaks but the fading seems fairly severe. How's the dash look (as this was apparently not garage-kept)? The seats? Anything else rubber or plastic look degraded? If you're at all into it and are willing to put the money into it, you could LineX or even paint the cladding as many others have, in which case you could look past the current condition of it and see its potential. Even though my cladding is in pretty good shape, I am seriously considering the LineX option myself to virtually eliminate having to worry about scratches and still be able to preserve the stock look very closely if you wish. Downside is it runs about $500 I think, so it's a judgment call.

[Jonnie]

Yep, just waiting for you guys to talk some sense into me.

It seems like Carmax would be better. There is CarMax VX over on the west coast (FL), I could drive over there again....what's 4 hrs.

Jonathan

[Heraclid]

Hey, it's completely understandable. :-) I didn't comparison shop at all - one showed up on a lot nearby and I got all excited and jumped on it. Well, actually, it sat there a week before I broke down and went in for a closer look, but still... now mine is in very good condition for the miles, but it has a few little things that need dealing with. I probably could have gotten one with windows that work better and an aftermarket CD changer. It has minor scratching on the front cladding too. But I'm very happy with it anyway. I also didn't know about this forum until after I got it and figured my chances of getting another one were worse than if I had known about this resource. I was lucky I guess... don't jump in with both feet like I did and take that chance. Be careful and thorough and it'll pay off. You're doing good - you've made a few long trips to see some and still resisted the urge to not come back empty-handed.

P.S.- I loved my sunroof in my last car but most of the time I had it it didn't work and couldn't be used for fear of it not closing again. Then parts came loose and rattled around in the headliner. Had problems with the glass seating right too. Eventually it began to leak bigtime. Hey, I love 'em to death when they're working, but wouldn't have another one, particularly on a collectible vehicle like the VX that I plan to keep for a while.