S2 viewed to buy - am i a fool?

[MrBrightSi]

I went to view a very very nice s2 for sale thats on the classifieds, shown up to a very straight looking great undersealed none rusty s2. However, the throttle response was sluggish as hell, only way i can describe it was when my vacuum advance went on the spitifre and it just had no go.

Took for test drive and everything about it was great, usual british low to the road hand built noises which didnt worry me, however the brakes for a late 80's car were worse than my 1960's classics.

Upon returning from the test drive coolant gushed from the overflow pipe, the cabin did smell a little with the heater and blower on and there was quite a lot of white smoke still from the exhaust.

Question is, did i walk away from a genuinely good car, or something that had a fantastic owner wishing to sell that was on the verge of a bad problem?

I walked away and am happy i did so as im still too noobish to make a good decision without proper guidance and that just irked me a little bit too much.

[spongy]

Think you did the right thing sir.....you will know the right car when you see it.any overheating issues etc should have been mentioned in my view.keep looking one will come up

[MrBrightSi]

The seller looked honestly surprised, supposedly he had not used it much and had just filled it with coolant when it was low, i'd of said air lock or soemething coming to the surface, but he left the tvr s series bible in the back and i had a quick read, that scared me sufficiently.

[TurboTony]

It should not feel sluggish. Best to try a few if you can before buying.

Cheers
Tony

[mep12345]

Sluggish feeling could be the throttle plate (if of the J rather than straight slot variety) but this depends on "how sluggish", if the car is not used much and on original 240mm brakes they do tend to feel rather poor compared to the more modern ones, especially if the discs are allowed to get rusty and rust impregnates the pads at all. With regards to smoke from the exhaust - that is my problem at the moment; in this weather you may get it at first but if it is still there once warmed up fully then there may well be an issue so check carefully, I am chasing mine and still have no joy but mine won't even run properly at the mo.

For the water issue, if he had just filled it up then overflow from the expansion tank happens quite often, particularly if left to idle until the fan cuts and the engine is then cut when at a high temperature. The coolant system is not a great setup and overflowing does not mean overheating. Many things affect this like air ingress (very common), not properly bled (radiator top left hand side), overfilling (easily done as the expansion tank should be empty when cold and this doesn't "feel right" to people used to modern cars or even the radiator cap on the wrong place (swirl pot or expansion tank), but I'm not going to open up the last can of worms

Overall though the advice of OP is correct - drive several then you'll know if the sluggish feel and brakes is an issue or just "not what you are used to"

[The Big G]

The brakes can also feel very poor if the servo is worse for wear, ie rusty around the bottom which quite a lot are. Changing this is relatively easy and made a huge difference to mine when it was carried out.

[hioctanefueler]

I'm worried about the word 'underseal' that was used in the description of the S2 - as all owners know, chassis members can be easily masked to cover up future (and expensive) problems!. I'd go with the other guys and suggest that you see several and build up a picture (of the underside in particular) and you'll know the 'right' car when you see it. Inspite of having had an S3 for 5 years it still took me 12 months, and several disappointments, before finding the 'right' V8S - be patient!.

[phillpot]

If its the cheaper of the two currently in the PH classifieds I'd say it should be a pretty good car at that price and not have any of the issues you described, if its the dearer one it should be near "mint" (IMHO)


Keep looking