I test drove a 92 RS T Top today. L03 + drivetrain seems extremely solid. Drives and handles great. There are some body concerns however. Unfortunately I do not have any pics, but I will try to explain the best I possibly can. The front right portion of the car is smashed up. I'll break down the damage for you and explain it in best detail I can. Please bear with me.

The fender panel is smashed in from the front and will need to be replaced.

The front bumper is cracked down the middle of the passenger side headlight and will also need to be replaced.

The passenger side headlight assembly also seems slightly tweaked, they just dont look aligned right when compared to the driver side.

The hood is slightly off alignment. I am not sure if it just needs to be re-aligned or if it is tweaked and needs replacing, but you have to bang on the latch area to get it open and it rubs on the driver side windshield wiper when opened.

There are various areas of rust throughout the body, around the rear wheel wells and fenders, and also behind the front wheel wells coming up from behind the ground effects. It mostly appears to be surface rust, although the passenger side rear fender appears to be soft on the lip that is bent in toward the wheel well. I did NOT get a chance to look at the floor pan under the carpet, but will before I lay any money down.

One last area that concerned me. Underneath the rear bumper there is a piece of metal that stretches the width of the car. I do not know if this is part of the unibody, or if it is just a bolt on piece that holds the bumper on. Either way, this strip of metal has some major rust and a good portion of it has rusted through.

Other minor things: shifter plate is broken, driver side seat belt buckle broken (can I just replace it with one from the rear?) plastic dash is cracked down the middle along the top.



Assuming I can do MOST of the work myself (only exception being the paint), how much should this cost me? This appears to be the parts that will need replacing.

Front passenger side fender panel

Entire plastic front bumper

Front passenger headlight assembly

Hood (maybe, might just need aligning)

And lastly, what would a car with this damage, with a solid drivetrain be worth as a whole? The clock just turned 90,000 on my test drive.

Should I rescue and fix her up, or run?

 

That wouldn't happen to be a blue RS with the front bumper and fender white would it? If so that car has quite a history with me and my friends...

But anywho almost all of those parts you can get from pick n pull. a couple hundred bucks. The piece in the rear.. the panhard rod you mean? If it's a problem you can get another from picknpull as well.

I probably would offer him a grand. Is it a stick or auto?

 

Naw, it was all factory teal. I went up to Vacaville to see it. Its a Wisconsin car, only been here 3 weeks.

Its an auto. I was thinking around 1.5-1.7 grand, which is still well below blue book and frankly, worth that much to me. Right now I need a dependable daily driver, and I could tell right away that this drivetrain is solid. When we first fired it up it had been sitting for a few days. Engine was stone cold, it took a little bit to get her going but once she fired up not a bit of smoke came out that tail pipe and that engine really purred. Drove nice and tight too. Brand new tires, full tune up, all fluids/plugs/filters. A clean car, but could surely use a good home and some TLC.

As far as the rusted out piece in back, i'm really not sure what it is. It seemed to be a part of the body. It was only about 5 inches toward the front of the car from the rear bumper. Seemed like a long piece of sheet metal slanted down toward the front slightly. It was really rusted. If you could find me a pic of underneath the rear of a 3rd gen I could show you. I'll look for one.

Will the seatbelt buckle from the rear work on the drivers side? Will body panels and front bumper from any thirdgen bolt up? Or just 91-92? Ground effects I knwo are different, but they are undamaged I just need the metal body panels.

 

with that kind of body damage i d go for about 1200 to 1000 no more than that sorry i bought mine fo 1500 and thats a solid car look around youll find a good one out there www.cardomain.com/ride/2151423 heres mine

 

Yeah, you guys are right the more I think about it. If I cant get him down close to a grand i'll walk, I know I can do better.

 

You live in California and you're going to buy a car from the rust belt? Are you high?

If it was an Iroc convertible, maybe. It's a teal RS, drop it like it's hot. The piece that's rusted is the rear bumper impact bar, which is common up here in the rust belt. If that piece is rusted through, look at the floors, the pinchwelds at the bottom of the doors & under the hatch and the front strut towers. I'll bet you'll find more rust.

Run away screaming and find a nice clean California car.

 

Yes

Dont you worry, its not the only car i'm looking at....just one of many cars that I always have in my "queue" of cars to check out and I was inquiring about the body issues. I'm not quite ready to "drop it like its hot" but if I cant work out a good deal I will.

 

damn man shoulda called me over

There are a few good thirds around for sale right now. Including that one RS with the white front (we cut the old front end off with hedge clippers some years ago LOL). There's also a sick 91/92 L98 car (red) out in martinez. Would have to talk to the guy but he never moves it. Would probably sell it.

Anyway, good luck and if that piece is rusted stay away. That's bad. Didn't realize you were talking about the whole bumper support. Most likely the entire undercarriage is suffering some rust.