Buying a 182 at distance?

[Z4MCSL]

I am looking at 182s (as per other recent posts that have convinced me) and half of the best ones seem to be bloody miles away.

Is this the sort of car that can be easily assessed through receipts and history and then a once over when you view it or should I expect to have to view a few.

From what I have picked up so far I am guessing I need:

1. Good general history
2. Recent Timing Belt Dephaser etc with proof
3. Gearbox tight no crunching etc
4. Ideally a stainless steel exhaust upgrade
5. Clean headlight lenses

Anything else?

And if all the above is positive it would justify a 3 hour trip to view a car and then buy it if it doesnt fall apart?

Any general advice/links to buying guides would be MASSIVELY appreciated.

[Dinoboy]

I drove a few before I bought my 172 Cup and I'd say it's definitely a car you have to drive before you buy. A couple I looked at were fab on paper, loads of history/big bills etc but felt rattly and old to drive. As soon as I drove my one I knew it was the one to buy, it had higher miles than any of the others but felt like a 2 year old car. It just felt 'right'.

[Fonzey]

Generally there are plenty around, so try to set up a circuit of viewings in a day.

We bought our first 182 doing exactly that, just picked 3 or 4 out of the classifieds and went to go see them all.

After owning two, and driving in a fair few more - I honestly think there are "fast ones" and "slow ones", and I think much of this is down to the quality of the job (if done at all) coming belts/dephaser time.

My first one was a slow one, but it ran "fine", no obvious issues. When I drove the second one, it was also a slow one (so I didn't know much different) but after we had its belts done and a bunch of other stuff - it absolutely came to life and it's now certainly a quick un'

Best you can do is drive as many as possible in one day, then just pick the one which makes sense.