I had been tracking sgcarmart.com for almost a year to get the right car at a right price. It was between a 8/11 MX5 or CRX Del Sol (or even a Porsche). Finally, a chance to buy either car, which both were advertised at the same time in early Apr 2009!
The Internet is a very powerful tool. I managed to find BOTH the previous owners of BOTH cars - a 1993 MX5 and a 1993 CRX Del Sol! Called them to check on the condition and reasons for selling the cars to the current owners. No point asking the current owners as they may not tell you the truth. Interesting, both mentioned that their engines are very good and they had done quite a bit of work previously (more about this later). They sold the cars because they wanted to change ride. The previous owner of the MX5 had sold it only 6 months ago and the CRX Del Sol, 2 months ago!
Once I got hold of all the critical information, I called the current owners to view the cars. First off, the Del Sol owner. The viewing was done at Woodlands Industrial Park on 22 Apr 09. I was quite disappointed when I first saw the car as the body was not in very good condition. The interior was also quite bad as the leather seats were torn and tattered. I told the owner - Mr T, that I will think about it.
Next, I called the MX-5 owner but he was very sticky about his price. Decided not to pursue this car as the price was not right.
That very night, I called up the previous CRX Del Sol owner, Mr L, to check whether I should take over the car. Mentioned that the car body was not in good shape and he agreed. But he told me to get it based on the engine setup he has done. He mentioned he spent $11k to overhaul the engine just a year ago.
Mr L also told me that the car has mfactory oil cooler ($750), hondata ECU, tein suspension, new aircon compressor, new timing belt, new spark distributor, ngk spark plugs etc. In all, he spent around $40k on the ride! The bodykit was custom-made but Mr T "chui" the front bumper and fender after not clearing a hump properly. I told him that Mr T had replaced the front bumper but he suggested that I may want to consider custom-making the front bumper to the previous design.
After speaking to Mr L, I was very assured that the car engine is in superb condition (since Mr T had it only for 2 months). Another key consideration was something that Mr T told me when I was viewing the car. He said, "Between MX5 and CRX, I think you should get the CRX due to its uniqueness". After much thought, I kinda think better to get the CRX as it is no longer in production whereas MX5 is till today. I believe the value of CRX Del Sol will be priceless in time to come. Did I mention that this CRX Del Sol has an even rarer feature? It has an autoroof i.e. TRANSTOP! Before all the peugeot, renault, vw hardtop CC in this millenium (post 2000), the world already seen a hardtop convertible (abliet a targa one!). I will talk about the roof restoration later in my blog - not working now :( haha! anti-climax right?
Ok. Now to negotiate the right price and close the deal. After ding-donging through numerous sms-es, we finally closed the deal on 23 Apr. Another thing which was tremendouly funny! I realised that Mr T's family own a scrapyard and my wife told me better to check the car before taking over! Called Mr L to get his mechanic's friend workshop address. On 27 Apr, the deal was sealed at LTA after a car inspection in the morning. Renewed the COE for additional 10 years as well!
More to come on the restoration works required on the car...stay tuned....
Sunday, May 24, 2009
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