Grand National or not.....need help

[corsair231]

I don't think it would be unusual to have some chips in the paint of a 27 year old car with 32k miles? Everyones idea of mint is different. Maybe it's the nicest one he's ever seen?
If it's the one I saw on the auction site I would have been fooled too. It looks really nice in the pics, doesn't look like a clone.

I can't speculate on the rust issues and other items you brought up but I have seen chips in rock guard and clear coats appear white. I guess it would depend on how thick or thin it was applied and how it was chipped (maybe the angle it was hit at?) They would basically disappear when the car was washed but after a while they would start showing up white again. Not saying that you shouldn't have walked away but if the car was a clone/repaint then there should have been other indicators such as the SPID label and other places where a normal repaint would not cover the factory colors.
Not trying to discourage you but these cars were put together on an assembly line by people who did not have to depend on producing quality work to keep their jobs so very few of them were museum quality from the get go and if you find one that is, it is usually because someone didn't drive it at all or either someone restored it to better than factory standards. Either way if you want a museum quality car you're going to pay a museum price.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

If I buy another GN down to he road, it will be from this site. I should've looked here first, but at that time I wasn't that active on here. I bought mine off eBay as well. After purchasing it, I found many issues. Nothing too major, but still a lot of work. Things that were never pointed out at first. I spent a lot of money since. It's been fun, but it would've been nice to buy from someone reputable & straight-up! Could've eliminated much of the work I've done this far. However, I'm grateful for the people here that have helped me & the people close to where I live. So its still been a great have everyone help.

 

[achilliz]

Ya i would agree that all cars age differently. Just hard to buy into the fact that the low miles would have so many aged issues. I truly believe this was not what was advertised. Clearly the bondo mud work was coming through the paint, he tells me if was "NEVER REPAINTED". Under all past oweners...

You could see the sand marks in the mud coming through prominent rust areas of these gbodys.... Chips I could understand, It was one on side and splattered all the way up to the mirror of the car.

Truck you could tell was emoved and replaced along with a reproduction rear bumper as it was the same company I bought a monte carlo ss nose from I knew the company,,,,lolol

 

[achilliz]

I can't speculate on the rust issues and other items you brought up but I have seen chips in rock guard and clear coats appear white. I guess it would depend on how thick or thin it was applied and how it was chipped (maybe the angle it was hit at?) They would basically disappear when the car was washed but after a while they would start showing up white again. Not saying that you shouldn't have walked away but if the car was a clone/repaint then there should have been other indicators such as the SPID label and other places where a normal repaint would not cover the factory colors.
Not trying to discourage you but these cars were put together on an assembly line by people who did not have to depend on producing quality work to keep their jobs so very few of them were museum quality from the get go and if you find one that is, it is usually because someone didn't drive it at all or either someone restored it to better than factory standards. Either way if you want a museum quality car you're going to pay a museum price.

Ya great point,

would you be concerned about a GN thats under 30k miles having rust on all the underparts and all the grease joints look like a oozing mess meaning the rubber isnt holding the grease or it looks like its been driven over 30k.

I ask because this would be the 4th one that I have found that it really looked like 100+ rather than low mileage....?


Thoughts....?

 

[corsair231]

Yep I would be concerned about mileage and it would be a major pricing issue but remember rubber doesn't just deteriorate from mileage but can also fail from age and these cars are notorious for oil leaks so a lower mileage car can be pretty nasty. A lot of times a car that just sits can go down hill faster than one being routinely driven to include rusting faster or in places where a well maintained driver might not. These cars are old enough and some of them have been passed around plenty enough for some of the back grounds to get mixed up. With the odometers only reading to 99k it is entirely possible the present owner may not really know how many miles the car has on it. The best way to verify is with research or documentation. I've seen many high mileage cars that were spotless either because they were maintained to high standards or they were restored to those standards.

Ask yourself what are you really wanting out of these cars. Are you wanting an investment or a museum piece then expect a lot of effort to find such a car and a price to go along with it. Are there deals that come along? Sure they are and if this is what you want then maybe you will get lucky and find one but chances are unless the owner is going through some sort of misfortune an A1 car is just not going to be given away.

If you are wanting a driver then you should already be counting on replacing the wear items such as the ball joints, shocks, etc. Or for the kind of money you are talking about (or much less) you could get a higher mileage one that has been gone through and brought beck to like new condition.

If you want the occasional driver, occasional show car, and occasional bragging totem then maybe you should consider loosening your standards some and realize mileage may not be as important as proper upkeep and proper repair. A car that has been in an accident and repaired correctly can be just as valuable. Especially if you are looking at this car as a keeper. In fact maybe you should consider a Turbo T. Everybody knows the GN gets all the press but bottom line is they are the same car with different trim and for 1987 they made 3X's the number of GN's as they did Turbo T''s so the T is much rarer. In fact someone made the statement that 10 out of 12 GN's they saw were clones. That makes absolutely no sense. 3 out of every 4 turbo cars they made in 87 were GN's. With the unknowing not willing to settle for less than a GN there are some great deals to be had on some T's but to take a T and clone it into a GN would cost about as much as you would make in the difference. Cloning a non-turbo car to a turbo car should be easy enough to spot. What made these cars special was the drive train and as long as a turbo is what the car was born with you can't go wrong with either as long as you are an educated and careful buyer.

 

[GNRick]

Sellers can't leave negative feed back on buyers anymore. I found this out when I tried selling a GN on ebay and the buyer backed out for a BS excuse about her sick kid. Turned out my daughter knew this girl and knew she didn't have kids.