Thinking of buying an S12/ Gazelle

[DrKenneth_Noisewater]

tl;dr:


I'm stingy and wandering if a rego'd gazelle with a couple problems is worth $1500


 


Hello all, I'm a new user on these forums, but have known about them for a month or so. Basically I'm looking at selling my current car and getting something cooler. The initial intention was to get a rego'd s13 rolling shell and but an my brothers sr20de that is currently collecting dust. I was then persuaded against wasting time with an n/a, as well as the fact that I probably don't have enough knowledge to do the swap myself.


 


I then caught wind of a Gazelle for sale, it's rego'd, manual, has minimal rust, most of the engine has recently been replaced, it's the SGL, so it's got all the bits and pieces. I liked it,  however there were a few things that put me off.


 


1. Hole in the exhaust, it's quite loud, but an easy fix


2. It ran rough while cold (like almost stalling) but fine when warm


3. It had vibrations up high in 1st and 2nd 


4. It was missing a couple interior pieces, nothing major, but these cars are obviously not easy to find parts for


5. One of the lights didn't got up or down


6. It has a power steering leak


 


Again... nothing major, but all those problems listed (except number 2), I wasn't aware of, and despite me telling him that, he still will not negotiate price.


 


Which is why I'm swinging in the balance... Because it is only $1500, I don't have money to go spend 3-4k on it like some people on here do, however if  I had to spend a few hundred fixing the above problems myself, that is fine.


 


Also it's an '83, so from what I understand, drum rear brakes and live axel, Thoughts on this, is it that bad?

[shamus11]

I'd say now days S12s and NA S13s are pretty close in terms of cost and condition. I've had 4 S13s and 2 S12s. Either car can be picked up for $1500 but will probably need work. Personally as a daily I'd have an S13. I'd say they are nearly easier to get parts for, nicer gearbox, 4 wheel disk brakes, viscous LSDs are good enough for the road and cheap. live axle LSDs for the gazelle are nearly impossible to get and about $1000. If you want to go turbo the silvias have factory turbos so engineering isn't as difficult. Aftermarket is huge for S13.


Pros for the gazelle are rarity and classic 80s looks if you like that sort of thing. Mechanically the gazelles are simple, I'd put more emphasis on the body. If it's nice and straight and rust free you can fix the mechanical side of things but if it's a bit shabby I wouldn't pay $1500 for it.