Leaking Steering Fluid

[sumac22]

Newbie here.

I finally found a 1991 Supra Turbo for sale (around $3600) with 171,000 miles and went to check it out this past weekend. The dealer told me before my visit that the car has no issues. However, he had no repair/parts receipts and supposedly the engine was re-built by Toyota a few years back. When I finally did check it, I found the following issues:

-Steering fluid leaking fast when you trun the steering wheel left and right all the way
-All tires needed replacing
-Power antenna not going all the way down
-Hood strut not working
-Fog lights was not turning on (could've been the bulbs or fuse...didn't check)
-Some minor cosmetic issues with the interior (i.e. broken armrest)

The engine pulled strong from the test drive I did. I tried asking him to lift the car on the car lift at his shop to see what was causing the power steering fluid leak issues, but he wouldn't do it. Also, he would not re-negoiate the price. My guess is that the issue may have been the power steering pump or maybe the gear housing.

My questions are:

1) From your experience, what do you think is the problem: the pump or the gear housing?
2) With all those issues and at that mileage, is $3600 a good deal?
3) If I buy an automatic 1991 Supra Turbo at $2000 - 2500 and I converted it to a manual (probably doing the work myself), would it be cheaper than this car?

Thanks for any opinions and advice.

 

[ryanday]

Might be power steering lines, i know i just had to replace mine when i purchased my supra, was like a $40.00 fix.

Is there any rust? i might try and talk him down to $3,500 that way you can fix the few prolblems for about 3,600. most of those problems are very minor issues. Assuming no rust it is a good deal. not great, but good

And no an auto -> manual conversion would be much more work and not worht the extra money considering you probably wont get a 91 auto for much less, if at all and in good condition. and parts are expensive.

 

[mkIIIman089]

I would say probably power steering line, I know from maintenance records my car has had the same one replaced twice in its life.

If its worth it or not really depends. I would say judging by what I have seen in the past from dealerships... no. Generally they are selling complete junkers for WAY more then they are worth. It just depends on the overall condition.

 

[sumac22]

Thanks fellas for your feedback. I was guessing its probably something with the power steering lines but without raising the car up, its impossible to crawl under there when you're almost 6 feet tall.

As I wrote, I backed out of the deal since before I went to inspect the car, the guy told me the car has no problems. Yet the first thing he tells me when I got there was the hood strut are bad. He also forgot to mention that he had to fill the power steering fluid from time to time.

Its definitely a nice car aside from those issues with a strong engine. No rust on the car and does not look like its been in any accident based on my visual inspection and Carfax report.

 

[1988SupraDreams]

Used car salesman can be like that