Which coupe to choose?

I am looking at a coupe turbo tomorrow a 1998 one. Do they suffer from rust usually and if so where should I look? Ideally i would like a six speeder, but they all seem to have rusty wheel arches etc, are they worth the extra pain? thanks Will

Buyer's guide

Thanks for your reply, but unless i am being thick, there is not that mention of the rust issues that occurs to some or all of the newer cars?

They were galvanised so rust shouldn't generally be a problem in theory unless there's been some accident damage. That said the age of them means the usual places are always susceptable as on most cars - wheel arches etc. included. Sometimes hard to spot given that the cars are so low it's hard to get a good view unless on a ramp, but a look at under the engine bay area should give you a good idea. Look around the side badges where the seals go and leak into the bodywork. Any signs of bubbling isn't good in this area as means corroding from inside out. But generally there are still sound cars out there.

Its worth taking a look at the arms in front of the front wheels, the one on the drivers side, which sits behind the oil cooler is more accessible. They are usually rusty, but if they are really bad its a strong clue. A good look around the pininfarina badges is also a good idea, as cyborg says. You might lift the spare wheel and look round the boot seams and the back of the wheel well, too.

6 speed is nice, but I wouldn't reject a car for not having it.

What's wrong with your attitude? The buyer's guide says the following:

"Rust:

Generally the Coupe is very good in this department as the body was galvanised. However there are some areas to check:-
Rear lights
Under bonnet scuttle panel
Sills (rare but stone chip protection may have worn away so leaving this area vulnerable)
Exhaust tailpipe. This rust and the chrome surround falls off."

Good luck with the hunt.

It does not differentiate between the newer cars and the older 20v ones. It just seems that the two 2000 ones i have looked at, have had poor rear arches and was wondering if this is more common on the new ones, and not the old ones. I am sorry, if you thought i was being rude, and certainly did not mean to be rude towards you.

There is some belief that rust manifests itself more in the later cars. I know my old 98 Sprinty had less rust than my current 2000 Electric Blue Plus.. however the Plus has done an extra 30000 miles..

Just confirm any car you are looking at is clean. If it has a 6 speed box, that is a definate bonus (call it a plus..)

You haven't been rude. A general buyers guide cannot cover all queries, you seem to have identified a specific concern.

the side skirts on later cars can cause rust, be sure to look behind/under the skirts if possible.

as for deannn_20vt, he is the one with the poor attitude. might be something to do with him driving a mini through the week lol.

the 16's seem to have a more robust gauge of steel as opposed to the the 20's/end-of-line models.
The affected areas (spare wheel well is a classic as is pininfarina badge panel) are a good pointer, however over-riding factor is the manner in which the car has been looked after throughout its life.
Your call (but always remove rose-tinted specs prior to buyng).

I am looking at the red one that is advertised on Ebay tomorrow, so will be paying close attention to the bodywork etc. thanks for all your inputs
WIll

Good luck, Will.

Don't do what I always end up doing and buy with your heart.. however if it's a good 'un, don't let it go on the assumption something better will come along!

Mini.......

The red one had squeaky rear brakes but otherwise in pretty good condition, but only two months tax and mot. The green one had a fairly rust engine bay, but had a 12months mot and six months tax. the green one is £500 more. both will need servicing soon and probably a cambelt, although the green one has had it changed twice already.

Both histories were good. what should i do?

Buy them both?

Just buy the one you like the most, both need work anyway so think long term

Yeah, that definitely has something to do with my attitude. How come you know so much about me?

willtqs, sorry fella I wasn't aware there's any difference between the earlier and the later models re rust. That's why I sent you back to the buyer's guide which seems to be out of date.

My attitude is rockin and rollin today as I drove my Coupe 20vT here in Canada and it was a phenomenal drive! and a gorgeous sunny day here today and 9 degrees Celcius!

Always nice to find a rust free car but as long as it drives as a Coupe should, you will not care about a little rust here and there.... so fun to drive.

Does anyone in the UK import cars from Japan?...you are sure to find a low mileage no rust car there...I got mine from Japan with only 59,000kms on her and she looks factory new in and out and underneath.



Paul in Canada

I know someone who does this. Mainly Lancia Integrales and Porsches, but I'm sure he'd find someone a decent Coupe if the money was right

How much would it cost to convert a coupe from left to RHD I wonder??

would it matter? Japanese cars are right hand drive i think

Yep theyy certainly are. If i didnt love my coupes as much as i do id probably be jdm honda'd right up!

Only later model Coupes are RHD in Japan. Ive never seen a RHD 16V.

Ive seen about 6-7 Coupes imported to NZ by a couple of friends. Some very good some not so good. 2 low mileage 20V motors dropped their guts soon after importing them. They all seem to be low mileage.

I think the OP has raised an interesting issue.

Some years ago at an east anglian meet some of us were discussing the bodywork of the fiat Coupés. It had been noticed by several of us that later cars did seem to be suffering more with corrosion han earlier cars. Back then it was noted that some later (Post 1999) cars already had bubling arches. Seems odd but Perhaps Fiat sourced the steel for the later models from another supplier?

All the Green Coupés eventually seem to develop issues with their paint lacquer. Mine has started now too with a misty / milky roof

I'll second Barmy's point,

Ive had 4 coupes

98 5speed Steel grey with no rust anywhere 78k
99 6speed Electric blue no rust anwhere 72k
99 6speed Inky with no rust anywhere 123k
Ive now got a 01 Moonie Plus with solid like new rear arches but bubbling fronts??? 68k

Seems to be a trend

Not true, Galvanizing is only effective if the metal it was placed on initially was sound.
Also its only guaranteed to for 10 years not for life.Rust has now become an issue on these cars but that said i have seen 05-06 plate cars with serious rust related MOT failures.With that in mind they are ageing well.

Also, not all areas of the car were galvanised. I remember seeing a diagrame of what areas were, perhaps in the workshop manual?

Oh and to secong JBT's comment. We have loads of galvanised cable trunking at work, all now some 20 years old. In some areas where it has been in near constant moisture it has rotten completely! Odly there are sometimes occasions where we find a section has turned to dust but right next to it is a section that looks like new

The other factor is that the panel pressing tooling isn't designed for long term use and wears out, resulting in thinner and thinner panels being produced as the tooling wears out. As well as thinner steel, distortion starts to occur in some panels, for example the bonnets.

How would the panel pressing tooling dictate the thickness of the steel?