Hi All!

I just sold an '05 JCW for a house down payment, now I can get a HELOC and buy another, but I want to spend a lot less, so I've found the following:

2002 JCW, second owner, all packages including NAV, LSD unknown, 38k miles, 1500 miles from where I Live (I'll fly in and drive it home). Price: $17k - I think it's great, BUT here are the issues:
1. Engine light is on, owner has a business and seems like an honest guy, says he replaced the headers and entire exhaust system and pulled the catalytic converter and everything and so there's no Oxygen sensor, so check engine light stays on. One thing is for certain, it won't pass CA smog (might be moving to midwest though, otherwise may need to fix this, how much with used stock part bought on NAM?). However, could there be other issues? Can I take it to an auto-parts store to pull the computer codes? Will the engine run as well without it?

It also has these mods, but owner doesn't know much about them or have receipts and gave away or threw away all stock parts, has a hot-rodder friend/prof.mechanic do it, he says:
- Cold Air Induction (brand unknown)
- High energy ignition and plugs (brand unknown)
- Koni shocks
- Carbon Stabilizer bars, front and rear
- Super charger pulley and belt (apparently he went 15% instead of JCW stock)
- Short shift kit
- Straight Header with glass pack (brand unknown)
- Cylinder Head (maybe he means JCW?)
- Chip upgrade (supposedly beyond JCW)
- High Performance Camshaft
- Low dust brake pads and “Stage 2” caliper upgrade (supposedly fairly new)
- New Battery (why was this necessary?)

It will need new tires, other than that and the check engine light, should I go for it? Should I be worried? I have to fly out to take a look at it, so it could potentially be a huge waste of time and money but it's near my budget (would like to spend $15k or less, but that's really tough as you all know).

Thanks in advance for you help!
b8b

 

Where is the car located, it might be possible a fellow namer lives near by and can take a peak at it for ya?

 

b8b,
I also talked to him about his Mini and was very concerned about his lack of knowledge about the car. Even asking about the wheels got a vague answer of "I don't know the brand, I got from Tire Rack". When I probed about the head at first he said it was a JCW that he ported and polished then he changed to it was a new head from some other company but not sure which one. He says he has the JCW certificate but I am not sure why he would change from the JCW head and pulley if he was not sure what he was replacing it with. Overall the price is right but I to think this may be "You Get What You Pay For" deal. He also did not mention NAV when I talked to him which seems strange because it was such and expensive option.

 

Sounds a little 'dodgy' to me. It might be worth looking if it were close by, but you're talking a bit of investment just to look at it.
JCW, but then swapped out exhaust, head, ECU software and pulley??
Uh, that's not a JCW anymore.
If you're tight on cash, I'd be very wary of picking up a vehicle that could well cost some $$ to be driveable (in CA, anyway.)

 

I'd be concerned... if this will be your primary car, then forget it. If you are lookign for more of a weekend toy, then sorting through the CEL issues may make it worth it if you can get it cheap enough. $17K is waaaay too much. $15K is marginal if the rest of the car is perfect. I'd offer a few $K les than that.

IMNSHO, removing the cat and O2 sensors is one of the dumbest things you could do to these cars. Feeling so, I'd be very concerned about the installation quality of the rest of the mods. As these cars age and pass through a few owners, mods become more of a liability unless good documentation (parts used and who installed them) is maintained.

To fix the CEL, you will need to do one of two things. 1) Replace the header with one with a cat and reinstall the O2 sensors. 2) Replace the O2 sensors with devices that mimic the sensor signal (I know little of these... see above paragraph).

In most states that do not require a sniffer test will still fail a car ith it's CEL on. Additionally, they will often need to pass a "visual" emmisions inspection - basically they make sure all of the parts are there. A car without a cat would fail. Of course, if you "know" somebody, YMMV...

 

Jeremy1026 - Oklahoma City. I hope no one takes it out from under me though

As Browndo2 posted, I am concerned as well. If it were a guy in the UK, I'd say it was a scam. It would be great if a fellow NAM'er could take a look at it for me, I'd happily pay them for their time.

IanF - you really think $15k is not a great deal if it is a JCW? Hard to find just an MCS stock with no packages with 38k miles for $15k, don't you think?

 

But it's not a JCW. Apparently it used to be, but the JCW changes the SC, head, exhaust and ECU.
This car has since changed the SC, head, exhaust and ECU. So anything that once made it a JCW is no longer. It's just a highly modified '02 MCS, perhaps with a JCW badge.
Autotrader shows a dozen '02 MCS under 45K miles asking 17K or less.
Maybe it will be a good car, but it entails a bit of risk.

 

Great advice guys, not going to buy.

 

Bail!!!

 

Yeah, maybe for 10k.