Buying a car that's been sitting around a while, tyres

K

knk

Member
Checking out an older car on Saturday, hoping to buy it and (hopefully) be able to drive it back on a permit. It's about a 70k drive.

Owner says the cars been sitting there 5 years, apparently still starts. Will have a mechanic check over it beforehand anyway.....
However....will I have any issues driving it home? I've heard issues with tyres cracking and developing flat spots when the cars been left sitting for a while. Will I make it 70kms?....because I'd rather not pay for a tow if I can avoid it.

Any insight would be great, even if there are other things I should be aware of with the car just sitting there for so long.

edit:

Or alternatively....I doubt it...but could my extreme powerhouse of a v6 ecotec pull it, might be worth hiring a trailer?
 
How heavy is the car? I have seen commodores pull cars before. Can you terst drive it close by around the block or through the yard?
 
Yeah should be able to drive up and down the street beforehand.

Can't find weight on the ute but..
Kingswood Station Wagon: 3151lb (1429kg)
Kingswood Sedan: 2965lb (1345kg)

It's got the pissy v8 in it so maybe more if those weights are for the 6?

Only want to get it home anyway, will definitely replace the tyres once the cars ready for rego
 
Tow truck it its only 70k's

Pending on what car your getting I wouldnt tow it with a commodore if its oldschool its probably more weight then the commodore.
If its high speed 80 and up dont tow it.
If you havent towed with any type of trailer before dont make towing a 1 tonne + car and car trailer you first..


Sweet getting oldschool though!
 
check your tow bar, it will say towing weight braked and towing weight not braked. That will include the weight of the trailer. so if you get a trailer thats 1t and the car is 1.5t you will be hoping your car say 2.5t braked towing weight. Any trailer over 700kg must be braked. I think they say about 3t, cause i have seen them haul some rather large caravans
 
Either drive it home with ctp cover and a tow truck on hand if needed. or tow it is my thoughts.

Kingy!!
 
That's where my truck driving father comes in. Get him to tow it, I definitely don't have the confidence. Yeah the cars going to be around hte same weight as my commodore plus the weight of the trailer.(commodores 1.5t)

It's a HJ kingswood, this one sounds genuine but who knows. I've been screwed around something shocking looking for something oldschool. Went to look @ a 78 ZH fairlane the other day, got a whole talk up on how good the body was on hte phone and the vinyl roof being perfect still! Got there, theres bog cracking all over the car. The vinyl roof is rusting through the paint needs to be attacked with a wire brush AND there was no battery in it....why? If he'd at least told me about the issues I wouldn't have cared.
 
the bar can take up to 2.1tonne from memory. It's a heavy duty one.

How does CTP work on a vehicle with a driving permit?
 
yer classic how do you rate your car. Might be his 8 out of 10 but its my 3 out of 10!!

Talking about bog both rear 1/4s are full in the chevy about 1 cm in some spots. did a test patch and grinded until I hit metal. I should of turned a blind eye!
 
knk said:
the bar can take up to 2.1tonne from memory. It's a heavy duty one.

How does CTP work on a vehicle with a driving permit?
Click to expand...


Guess you could just pay for the day? Or do 6 months. Up here you have something like 30 days to rego your car from day one of paying ctp.

No doubt its different down there
 
You or your mates got an MR or HR license, goto the Thrifty or equivalent and truck it home yourself, ive hired a 3T truck for a day for about $110

Or find someone with a car that has the same stud pattern as the car your picking up, borrow the wheels from it, drive it home, then give him his wheels back.
 
tow truck could work. Dad's got a MR license from memory. The smaller of the two.

Might not be worth the trouble though. Anyway, the car is unregistered so I think I will have trouble getting insurance on it even just for the day. I know justcar wont insure me not sure who else. Seems easier to just get it towed doesn't it.
 
NICE AS said:
yer classic how do you rate your car. Might be his 8 out of 10 but its my 3 out of 10!!

Talking about bog both rear 1/4s are full in the chevy about 1 cm in some spots. did a test patch and grinded until I hit metal. I should of turned a blind eye!
Click to expand...

Yeah exactly, but its just them being shifty. If they honestly don't know then fair enough, but a missing battery? That shouldve been specified on the phone if he was going to tell me that it kicks over
 
when I ment ctp I ment the one when you go to the transport mob it get that usually comes when you pay for rego. Up here you have to have that ctp to take a non rego car to get rwc and so on.

But of course car insurance helps too.
 
ctp is actually included with the unregistered vehicle permit here. The insurance was just incase I crash. Low possibility I know but for that amount I might as well be covered.
 
day rego comes with ctp i think for that day.

towing would be easier, but about 2-300 bucks for 70km
 
while towing would be easier, it's more expensive and probably more of a hassle to organise to be there at the same time as the truck. I'll have to make two trips out there either way unless the guy will accept a bank transfer
 
you wont have to be there for the truck to pick it up, they will just go get it then bring it to you
 
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