Engine conversion??? Advice needed....

Gillian72

Hi everyone! I wasn't sure where to post this question? I had posted it in the "Modified Cars" section, but I thought this might be a better place for it. I wonder can someone please advise me about a car?

My Boyfriend and I are hoping to buy a second hand car. We've had many cars in the past, they have all been second hand. So far (touch wood) we have been very lucky with the cars we've bought. We are always quite cautious when buying.

I Boyfriends job consists of a LOT of driving. His car engine needs to be strong enough to drive for around 7 hours non stop each night (he drives approx 130 miles each night) this is why he needs a good strong engine.

We rang up about a car to-day. The car is exactly what we are looking for. Its a Toyota Picnic, diesel, automatic. The year is 1998 and it "looks" amazing.

BUT there is one thing that is really putting us off......

When I rang the owner to arrange a viewing he told me something strange about the car. He says that the car has the original 2 liter diesel engine (which is fine by us) BUT he says that the previous owner did some sort of work on the engine to lower the emissions. So, now even though the car is a 2 liter engine it is now considered a 1.4 liter engine. He says that even the log book has the car registered as a 1.4 diesel engine. He says this makes the car tax much cheaper.

Now I would be thrilled with cheaper tax, but what has the previous owner done to the car? Does anyone know? Has anyone heard of this kind of thing before?

Our worry is that the engine may not be powerful enough for the actual car because it is a large people carrier style car, so its a heavy car. Also, my Boyfriend drives constantly in work so he needs a car with a strong engine.

I think I'll walk away from this car because something doesn't feel right about it. The current owner says that it is he original engine (we can check serial number etc.) But I've never heard of a car been changed like this before? Is it dodgy?

Any and all advice would be very much appreciated. Thank-you!

colm_mcm

What's happened here is the previous owner lied to the tax office and said they put a 1.4 engine in there.
Dodgy as hell. Run away.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-picnic-taxed-as1-4-diesel/5228058

colm_mcm

This skoda octavia was sold as 1.4 Even though that model never came in 1.4

Same seller

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-sold/skoda-octavia-1-4/5251896

Quazzie

colm_mcm wrote: »

This skoda octavia was sold as 1.4 Even though that model never came in 1.4

Same seller

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-sold/skoda-octavia-1-4/5251896

Yes they did. It was the most popular choice.

MuppetCheck

Quazzie wrote: »

Yes they did. It was the most popular choice.

Not the pre facelift.

bazz26

Quazzie wrote: »

Yes they did. It was the most popular choice.

Only from 2001.

OP, that sounds dodgy as hell, run away as fast as you can.

dh0011

if in doubt dont buy

Quazzie

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Not the pre facelift.

The pre facelift was avaliable in a 1.4 8v which was a skoda engine as oposed to the 1.4 16v which was a vag engine and came post facelift.

MuppetCheck

Quazzie wrote: »

The pre facelift was avaliable in a 1.4 8v which was a skoda engine as oposed to the 1.4 16v which was a vag engine and came post facelift.

In Ireland? Thought the base engine was a 75bhp 1.6 at launch in the basic model? That's certainly what my uncles old 98 classic had.

The Pontiac

Motorcheck.ie has that Skoda as a 1.6.

1999 Skoda Octavia GLX 1.6

BODY TYPE 5 Door Hatchback
FUEL TYPE Petrol
COLOUR Silver
TRANSMISSION Manual

So something dodgy going on with that seller.

George Dalton

Quazzie wrote: »

The pre facelift was avaliable in a 1.4 8v which was a skoda engine as oposed to the 1.4 16v which was a vag engine and came post facelift.

Was never sold in Ireland or the UK though I don't think?

MuppetCheck

It was (in mark 1 and 2) available as a police special in parts of eastern Europe.

colm_mcm

My original point was that the prefacelift Octavia was sold with a minimum 1.6 engine in this country.

Maybe I should have been more specific, the point is the seller is obviously a muppet.


Original engine in those toyota Ipsums was 2.2 on any one I've seen

Quazzie

George Dalton wrote: »

Was never sold in Ireland or the UK though I don't think?

I remember working on one back in the day. Wasnt a left hooker either. Might have been a swimmer though but if it wasnt sold in the uk then that doesn't make sense either.

Also the fabia 1.0 came in two types also. It used the same filter add the vag 2.3 v5.

Gillian72

Yes, Colm Mc M, you are totally spot-on! The first car you posted was the exact one. (This one: http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-picnic-taxed-as1-4-diesel/5228058 )

Fair play to you Colm for spotting that the seller sold another car with the same thing! Thank-you so so much for pointing that out to me. There is something strange going on with that car.......

Phew! I'm so glad that I posted on this forum now, I really appreciate the advice.

The seller told me that the previous owner made these changes to the car, but what are the chances that he happened to own two cars that had the same "thing?" Eh? I don't think so.

I love Toyota Picnics, I'm looking at them all the time. We wrote off our beloved Toyota Estima two weeks ago, we are completely heartbroken over it. We loved that car, it looked a bit like the Scooby-Doo van. Anyway, I've been keeping my eye out for Estimas and Picnics. The first thing that I found odd about that Picnic was that fact that it was a Diesel Automatic. That is exactly what we are looking for, but any other Picnic that I've come across in Ireland has a 2 liter Petrol engine, not diesel. I even said to the seller that I'd never come across a "Diesel" Toyota Picnic before and he said "yes they are very rare."

I think people on this thread are right. Its best to walk away. I didn't like the sound of it, but I just thought I'd ask to see if this was regular thing that people did to cars coz I'd never heard of such a thing before. I guess if it was a simple procedure to have done to a car then everyone would do it to save on car tax.

Thank-you so much to everyone who gave me advice. Its crazy to think that the seller sold another car like this!!! I'm shocked! Now that does sound well dodgy!

colm_mcm

Searching for a toyota Lucida will show some cars you may have missed

http://cars.donedeal.ie/find/cars/for-sale/Ireland/Toyota%20Lucida?filter%28max_engine%29=Max+Litres&filter%28max_mileage%29=Max+KM&filter%28max_price%29=Max+Price&filter%28max_year%29=Max+Year&filter%28min_engine%29=Min+Litres&filter%28min_mileage%29=Min+KM&filter%28min_price%29=Min+Price&filter%28min_year%29=Min+Year&source=all

Gillian72

Thanx for the link Colm! Do you see the first Estima, the one for €1800 in Galway? That looks EXACTLY like the car that we wrote off two weeks ago. When I saw that car in Galway I was gonna jump on it. I rang the woman, I was so excited! I WANTED THAT CAR! But, it had been sold....... The seller can't figure out how to take the ad down. I was gutted......

The Second Estima is lovely as well, but €2100 is a bit to pricy for us. But we are trying to scrape an extra €300 together. I think I'll ring the seller in the morning to see if its still available. It looks and sounds like a good car. I hate when sellers leave cars up after they have been sold, I hate seeing what I've just missed.

The Toyota Estima's are bullet proof. They just keep driving and driving. Once you look after them and keep them well serviced they'll keep on driving and driving.

Thank-you for all the help Colm, I really do appreciate it. I am still shocked that the seller of the Toyota Picnic sold another car with the same story only two days ago! Unreal!

He told me he was a private seller selling his own car. (Yeah right!) I only spoke to the owner on the phone, but if I had gone to view the car then I was going to bring my boyfriend and my Son with me. They both know a lot about cars. I wonder what story the seller would have told them about the fact that its a 2 liter car registered as a 1.4?! The seller had told me that the previous owner had something done to reduce the emissions and that is why it is now registered as a 1.4. Now, I know nothing about cars, but that even sounded dodgy to me!

Thanks Colm, the fact that the same guy had sold a dodgy car only two days ago was the final straw for me. So you have saved me from getting a dodgy car. I'm so glad that I posted on this forum now!

I think I'll try get another Eistima. Normally a car is just a car to me, but there was something about that Eistima that I loved.

unkel

Jaysis Colm you're on the ball tonight

Frankie Lee

The seller is thick enough to post a picture of the engine, madness.

keithsfleet

Well played Colm.

Gillian72

Yep, Colm just saved me a load of cash! That Picnic "looks" so nice and clean and so shiny! Part of me was still tempted to go out and have a look. But after the info that Colm came up with i'm gonna run a mile.

I'm gonna wait for the perfect Estima to come along! I can't believe that woman in Galway still has the ad up for her Estima, I rang her last week and it was gone. It looks and sounded like a great car. I bet she is still getting loads of phone calls.

Thanks again Colm. I'll deffo post on here and ask advice before I buy any car!

Gillian72

Hi Guys! I just wanted to come back onto this thread to thank everyone for their advice, especially Colm who really saved me from buying a very dodgy sounding car.

So, we bought a car today! And we are well chuffed! We had been looking for a people carrier, but my Boyfriend fell in love with this car when he saw it. He is the driver so he had the final say.

The car looks black in the photo, but its actually a sparkly aubergine colour! (kind'a really dark sparkly wine colour) I fell in love with the colour straight away. The car is Mint as my Son would say. Its in immaculate condition! So we are happy campers!

Thanks everyone who advise me against the last car. My heart really wanted that Toyota Picnic sooooo much!!! but my head was saying no! Then Colm showed me that the guy selling it had sold another car with a similar story just a few days before hand. That proved the seller was lying to me when he said that the engine had been "converted" by the previous owner....(or whatever his crazy engine story was) so I ran a mile!

Thanx Colm!

Here is what we got!!!! (I'm SO excited!!!)

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-accord-auto-se-1-8i-leather-nct-0/5247245

dh0011

well wear

mickdw

Seller got the old 'trade sale' and 'sold as seen' in early. Hope the OP hasnt walked into more trouble.

Gillian72

mickdw wrote: »

Seller got the old 'trade sale' and 'sold as seen' in early. Hope the OP hasnt walked into more trouble.

The car has a new NTC and we gave to a good check and test drive, so it seems like a good car. We gave him a deposit, we're collecting the car in the morning.

What exactly does "trade sale" mean?