Newbie looking for advice

hey new here and i haven’t bought a GTO/3000GT yet and was looking to buy one early next year. i was looking to buy a UK mk1 (because pop up headlights) twin turbo 3000GT and was looking to buy one between about £2000-£4000 that needs work doing but still runs and was wondering if anyone could give me any tips on what to look out for like if particular parts are expensive or hard to find also if that is a realistic budget.
i was looking at insurance as well and have only looked on compare the market for now as im not quite ready to buy one yet im only 20 ive been quoted £1800 and was wondering if thats a good price or if could get it cheaper

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Check the buyers guide out at the top of the newbie section , hi and welcome to GTOUK by the way :+1::sunglasses:

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Don’t buy from ibrahim in London!

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Hi and welcome. You’ve done the right thing which is join here 1st and then start looking around. I would always recommend buying a car of an enthusiast or that’s had a lot of love/ time/ money spent on these cars. The amount of bad examples I seen before buying mine in the end was a joke. Biggest thing to look out for is rust and always make sure cambelt had been changed recently. Do not take anyone’s advice that it’s been done or there mechanic said it doesn’t need doing. This can save a lot of money and heart ache along the way. As @CDMH already said check buyers guide a’s all the most important information is there.

Ibby

Hi, good luck with the search. welcome to the club.
Enda

Hi @dale1
Welcome to GTOUK.

Hi and Welcome Dale
First thing to look at on any purchase is level of rust, in my opinion. Look up at the bodyshell under the rear drains where the aerial is, and the floor on the other side of the car. Look at the area under the rear plastic bumper cover, around the petrol tank and subframe and next the bodywork underneath where the rear seats are. Rear of the sills the jacking points and check out the seam area where the floor front and rear joins the bulkheads, these can expand look ok but when you examine closely be quite rusty.
Most cars you will find surface rust and can be cleaned treated etc but they can be very rough, the plastics can hide a lot and l have seen them really bad at times the cars are 20-30 years old!.
Mechanically you want do standard car checks like cooling, oil pressure (about mid guage at 2k revs when hot) they can have ticky lifters, not a big deal, check the car drives nice and pulls well, no undue noises. See if its had a big service, cambelt waterpump etc or if it needs done a good bargaining point. You maybe could check for oil in intake pipes, a sign of worn turbos.
Make sure the electrics work, aero ecs, and abs, no warning lights.
As said lots of stuff in here and you can find out just about everything you need to know for 20 quid.
Of the cars l would say that a 3000gt mk1 uk car has higher values across the range, 2-4 k probably will not get a great one unless you are lucky and will probably be quite rusty, a really top condition car l would put up to 10k. Mk1 3000gt,s are quite rare as well.
A mk1 gto has pop ups and if you can find a newish import rust may be better.
A non turbo gto will have lower value by some margin and you could get quite a good one for 4k, manuals better than autos l reckon. Insurance a bit lower as well
Good luck in your quest and hope you find a good project they are cracking cars and you can be part of a really good community.

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Welcome to the Club Dale :+1:

welcome to the club :slight_smile:

Thanks for the advice I’m not looking for a show car I know that in my budget it will be a bit rough around the edges and I want a uk 3000gt as it’s a lot cheaper on insurance and on the subject thanks for the advice I will shop around when I’m ready and get the right price and look forward to becoming part of the community

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Welcome aboard @dale1, a lot of knowledgeable people on here that will answer questions that arise, and there will be :grin:

Terry :sunglasses:

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I’m the same, my next one has gotta be a Mk1 3000GT. As Jerry said, the main thing to look for is rust, you can usually tell how bad it will be by the state of the fuel tank guard etc. If it has any mot advisories for corrosion I’d walk away as it will be even worse on the bits you can’t see.

I’d say most other stuff is repairable, gearboxes are getting hard to find now though, as are a few trim clips and the aero tray.

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