Hey everyone. I'm looking to get into the third gen scene with an IROC. I've wanted one since I was like 4 years old and I can finally afford what I want (I'm 25 now). I've been a car guy forever, and drive a modded Subaru Legacy GT right now.

I want an '88 5 speed hardtop, and I found one I'm pretty interested in. But it's too far away to go check out, so I'm hoping you can help me out by looking at the pics and letting me know what you think. My biggest concern here is rust, since I can fix just about anything else myself.

Anyway, the car is in Maine, so a life in salt is concerning, but I don't see any rust in the pics I've received. Please let me know if you see anything worth noting, or if there are other pics I should ask for.

Thanks so much for helping a prospective third gen enthusiast!

EDIT: Got a little over excited on this I think. Not buying this one, but looking at a couple others still. Thanks for looking.

 

More pics...

 

Bump in hopes for some input.

The car looks pretty dirty but I don't mind that. I'm leaning towards going for it, but if someone sees any warning signs, please let me know.

 

Ok... Here is what I see.

1. It's been painted. Purple was not a factory color. Unless it's maroon and a bad picture.

2. The front tires look mismatched to the rears. Rears look correct, fronts look to short of a side wall.

3. You won't see rust until it's really bad. Areas that rust bad: -floor pan -rear subframe -wheel wells -under the ground effects -bottoms of doors -battery tray.

Id look local. Something you can put your hands on before buying.

 

Looks decent from the pics, but more than once i've driven 2+ hours to see a car that looked great in pictures but turned out to garbage in person. I agree with jrhaus, try to find something local and if the price is abnormally low there is probably a reason

 

I'm going to 3rd there advice find something local. The fact that its been repainted would scare me unless I could inspect it in person. Take your time and find what you want. The better the car you buy the less money your going to put into it!