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        General >> Problems >> Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
        
(Message started by: Magnusf on Apr 15^th, 2006, 8:13am)

Title: Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
Post by Magnusf on Apr 15^th, 2006, 8:13am

Hello there!

New forum member from Sweden! :)

I'm no Scorpio owner yet, but I'm going to have a look at a 1996 24v Ghia Estate tomorrow and I have some questions.

First I wonder, does all 24v Scorpios have rear viscous Limited Slip Differential, like the mk3 Granada has on 24v's and some Ghias? Or is it replaced with the electronic "anti-slip" system?

Secondly, the car I'm looking at has surprisingly low milage compared to many Scorpios other I've seen for sale. It was originally sold in Germany and was imported to Sweden in 2002 and has only had one swedish owner. Local Ford dealer told me there is unfortunately no really sure way of verifying the milage, as can be done on newer cars. What is you experts view on this?

Finally, I've printed out the pdf-document concerning buying Scorpio, and asked the friendly ford dealer for even more advice (they pointed out the importance of checking everything electrical, as they thought electronics failture was the primary weakness of those cars). Anyhthing else before I go?

Regards

/ Magnus

Title: Re: Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
Post by jonnycab on Apr 15^th, 2006, 11:44am

A tale-tale sign of a 'clocked' car is the condition of the drivers seat, steering wheel & pedals. If they look particularly worn then this is a sure sign of a high-miler.

Title: Re: Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
Post by tintin on Apr 15^th, 2006, 12:46pm

from personal experience, give it a good run and let it sit running in gear. if i have i would have spotted that it a) sprung a leak in prolonged traffic
b) gearbox was not up to scratch.

not sure electics are that big an issue, but mine all worked when i bought it (fingers crossed)

lots of info on checking the gearbox (quickly into gear, smooth changes etc) i would say dont buy if not happy with g/box. the above has cost me £600 since i bought it 3 months ago !!

lastly, make sure you get ALL the keys, i got 1 black key, 1 fob, and now worried if they stop working, as i dont have the red key. i havent even looked for the wheels locknut key......and it needs a new tyre

from my understanding it is almost impossible to "clock" the car, there are posts about this in the last month or so.

on the plus side, i couldnt buy the smile the cossie puts on my face

Title: Re: Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
Post by Geoff_W on Apr 15^th, 2006, 1:02pm

Magnus,

I hope you find you have a good example, I share the comments of the others, these cars can be a little surprising and in good condition are hard to confirm mileage. In addition to the Wheel, and pedals, have a close look at the front bumper and bonnet for evidence of stone chipping, sometimes a useful clue.

With regard to your limited slip diff question, to a great degree the traction control system were fitted does the trick. On the electrical front, I guess as long as you check all systems operate as you would expect and that you have a battery cover and fuse box covers all seem to seat properly you will have done the best that you can. Tin tin makes a good point about keys, but at some point in 96 or 97 the red key was no longer needed. The Ford dealer should be able to give you a fair amount of information about the vehicle that you are looking at if you have a VIN number, in fact there are members on the site who can give similar information if you message them privately.

Hope this helps.

Geoff

Title: Re: Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
Post by sector-9 on Apr 15^th, 2006, 8:59pm

Some Scorpios had LSD fitted, but I think these were only to order so very few will. As another poster says, traction control has largely done away with the need for LSD. Having said that, I don't think Ford changed the diffs between the earlier Granada and the Scorpio so if you can find a donor with an LSD of the same ratio...

Darren

Title: Re: Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
Post by Magnusf on Apr 17^th, 2006, 4:01pm

Thanks for all advice!

It's a deal! I used the pdf buying guide and found the car to be in resonable condition for it's age. It drove well, autobox was ultra smooth, interior vgc. Every single button worked! Unfortunately the paintjob on the tailgate wasn't perfect (respray) and also the rear arches had been resprayed at some point (but much nicer finished). Overall, the paint was dull and will need a very good polish job. That, and the fact that the exhaust was a bit rusty resulted in me giving him a pretty low offer, much less than he asked for in the ad. After some thinking for both of us we today agreed to meet halfway, pretty much exactly the kind of money I was expecting to pay.

So, ok it's certainly no "minter" ,but then again I believe it's a fair car for the money. I will take it to my local ford dealer for a regular service and some extra checkup. Might be able to pick it up next weekend as it's two hours drive away from here and I won't have time workdays.

/ Magnus

Title: Re: Buying advice, rear LSD and actual milage
Post by mr._floppy on Apr 17^th, 2006, 5:17pm

Seeing the prospective car start up from cold is always a good idea ( lots of blue smoke is a real no-no ) as well as judging the autobox's condition by timing how long it takes to engage gear after putting the selector in D ( 1- 4 seconds: OK, longer than 4 seconds: could mean trouble ).

The colour of the AT fluid should be reddy-brown and not black.