Merry Christmas all,
I purchased my 2010 GT-S MC shift back in July and had a thorough inspection carried out by Nuvola. It flagged up a number of things, mostly known issues, that needed dealing with and I was able to use that as a negotiation tool. Managed to get a fair chunk knocked off the price from the private seller. I particularly wanted this car as it was a LHD German import and both my wife and I are from the continent and thus prefer sitting on that side. All our UK registered cars are LHD.
The list of jobs was fairly big:
- New front wishbones top and bottom required
- New valve cover gaskets required
- New engine mounts required
- New coolant expansion tank required
- Corrosion on underside of subframe - clean up, treat and seal all underside of vehicle, replace chassis plates
- Nearside and off side rear suspension covers missing - fit replacements
- Mirror adjustments switch not working - replace
- Major service required.
- All 4 brake discs somewhat corroded and will need replacing at 'some point in the near future'
- Metallic clicking sound can be heard with drivers side window down under load at low speeds (likely to be hand brake caliper)
- Driver's door Chrome surround damaged - replace
- All seat adjustment levers missing - replace
- Boot lid handle not working
- Boot lid chrome trim loose
- Boot lid edge badly chipped
- Front bumper grilles slightly adrift
- Off side rear anti stone chip film pealing
- All alloys scuffed or chipped
- both doors have 'thumb dents' requires a smart repair or full bodyshop.
I promptly sent off the list to Aldous at AV Engineering and he asked that I brought the car down so they could get it up in the air and have a proper look at the various issues. I took the GTS down to AV the following week when I dropped off my 360 Modena for a cambelt service (you can follow that unfortunate story and engine rebuild on the Ferrari section of this forum)
AV were pretty busy during the summer season but because I could no longer take my 360 on a planned road trip, due to the engine rebuild requirements.. sigh.. AV very kindly fitted the GTS in for what was urgently required so I could use that car for my trip.
They carried out an interim oil service, replaced the coolant & coolant tank, replaced the brake fluid which had 3% water in it, replaced the auxiliary belts, fitted completely new front suspension including all wishbones and then new valve cover gaskets. The rest of the jobs would have to wait until the autumn, mainly because the engine mounts were on back order from the factory.
There were a number of other upgrades I also wanted to carry out so it gave me time to source the various items.
Here is the car after collecting it back in July:
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I didn't particularly like the gloss black alloys on a black car, it hides the lovely neptune design I think, so as a refurb was required anyway, I decided to change them to the OEM Grigio Mercury Metallic on the next stop at AV in the autumn and at the same time fit some spacers to fill out those arches and some braided brake hoses to be used when we eventually change the discs & pads.
Because of the badly chipped boot lip edge, rather than repaint it, AV suggested I might like to fit a carbon spoiler to it, if I could track one down.. slippery slope of course and before I knew it I had taken delivery of a fiber glass spoiler which I then had hydro dipped and laquered, the following week a pair of carbon side mirror covers turned up and a couple of days later some 22mm and 25 mm H&R spacers arrived.
A few weeks after that a man knocked on my door with something large in bubble wrap - it turned out to be an X-pipe from Marios at Autoshield..
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I also purchased the forum Carplay system from another forum member and had Paul from Prestige installs come round to fit it:
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Unfortunately that particular forum member neglected to tell me that the screen was cracked so Paul was not able to install it and I am currently waiting for him to source another screen we can fit in the new year.
To be continued..