It pains me write this post, but it may be time for me to sell my daily driver. A car of German origin has captured my attention, and if it is available after the holidays, I will purchase it. This would necessitate the sale of this car.
I purchased the car with about 145,000 mile on it about a year ago, it now sits at about 175,000. I believe I am the third owner. Mechanically the car is solid, the transmission was professionally rebuilt by the previous owner around 115,000 miles if my memory is correct, I do have paperwork. It has had 30,000 mile fluid and filter changes since the rebuild. I installed a brass throttle valve cable bushing shortly after purchasing the car. At the time of purchase, the tires were pretty bald, so I purchased 4 new tires, and 4 new snow tires. The snow tires are currently mounted on a decent set of turbines. The car has had a recent full tune-up, plugs, wires, cap, and air filter. The upper intake gasket, and valve cover gaskets have been replaced under my ownership. I have flushed the coolant, and preemptively changed the thermostat. I also flushed the brake fluid and changed the differential oil. The battery is also less than a year old. Both drive belts are new, as is the tensioner pulley on the AC Belt. The front brake rotors are less than a year old. As far as any other maintenance goes, I have replaced the turn signal stack, and headlight switch. The car has an aftermarket tach, and coolant temp guage. Both work, but the light in the temp gauge has died. The car has an aftermarket radio, 4 good speakers, 2 of which are Rockford Fosgate, and a 10" subwoofer in the truck. The system was tuned for clarity and response, not huge bass, so it will sound good with any music that you listen to. The car has an airlift system for the real coils, they are manually inflatable, and fix the sag when you load the trunk up with stuff.
Overall the body of the car is pretty decent considering the age, the paint is nice, and shines up well. There is fairly minimal rust, the bottoms of the door would be the worst spot, no holes though. The frame has surface rust in patches, but is overall in great shape. The rear passenger door has a dent, you do have to look for it, and the rear quarter was backed into, and there is some rippling there, I attached a close up picture of that spot. The windshield was replaced by the previous owner so it is not heavily pitted.
It does leak a little oil, and burns a little. I usually put two quarts in before each change at 5000. I do use full synthetic, usually mobile one. It does not leak any coolant, nor trans fluid. The car drives well, and the suspension feels good to me, although I have to admit that this is the only panther car I have driven. The motor idles very smoothly, is quiet, and is plenty responsive, which is all you can ask of a LOPO I guess. The transmission shift well. It gives me 15 mpg in town, 18 mpg going 75, and over 20 if I drive 55-60.
As far as mechanical faults go, the two rear windows do not go up or down, but I can hear the motors working. The engine does have a tap on cold starts, not sure if it is a lifter or the "LOPO knock", but it goes away after about 1-2 seconds, and tends to be more apparent if I use an oil filter other than the Motor craft FL1-A. It has not gotten any worse since I've owned the car. The car had a stripped drain plug when I purchased it, so I put one of these in, https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-65109. To my surprise it has not leaked from the drain plug since I installed it.
I'm pretty anal about maintenance, and this car is honestly the most reliable I have ever owned, I play with old bmw's so that's to be expected. It has not given me any real trouble, and it was excellent my on my two hour round trip commute. I would be happy to see it go to a new owner, but I would feel too bad about keeping it either. I'm happy to answer any questions. Not really sure what its worth, so make an offer if you are interested.
I purchased the car with about 145,000 mile on it about a year ago, it now sits at about 175,000. I believe I am the third owner. Mechanically the car is solid, the transmission was professionally rebuilt by the previous owner around 115,000 miles if my memory is correct, I do have paperwork. It has had 30,000 mile fluid and filter changes since the rebuild. I installed a brass throttle valve cable bushing shortly after purchasing the car. At the time of purchase, the tires were pretty bald, so I purchased 4 new tires, and 4 new snow tires. The snow tires are currently mounted on a decent set of turbines. The car has had a recent full tune-up, plugs, wires, cap, and air filter. The upper intake gasket, and valve cover gaskets have been replaced under my ownership. I have flushed the coolant, and preemptively changed the thermostat. I also flushed the brake fluid and changed the differential oil. The battery is also less than a year old. Both drive belts are new, as is the tensioner pulley on the AC Belt. The front brake rotors are less than a year old. As far as any other maintenance goes, I have replaced the turn signal stack, and headlight switch. The car has an aftermarket tach, and coolant temp guage. Both work, but the light in the temp gauge has died. The car has an aftermarket radio, 4 good speakers, 2 of which are Rockford Fosgate, and a 10" subwoofer in the truck. The system was tuned for clarity and response, not huge bass, so it will sound good with any music that you listen to. The car has an airlift system for the real coils, they are manually inflatable, and fix the sag when you load the trunk up with stuff.
Overall the body of the car is pretty decent considering the age, the paint is nice, and shines up well. There is fairly minimal rust, the bottoms of the door would be the worst spot, no holes though. The frame has surface rust in patches, but is overall in great shape. The rear passenger door has a dent, you do have to look for it, and the rear quarter was backed into, and there is some rippling there, I attached a close up picture of that spot. The windshield was replaced by the previous owner so it is not heavily pitted.
It does leak a little oil, and burns a little. I usually put two quarts in before each change at 5000. I do use full synthetic, usually mobile one. It does not leak any coolant, nor trans fluid. The car drives well, and the suspension feels good to me, although I have to admit that this is the only panther car I have driven. The motor idles very smoothly, is quiet, and is plenty responsive, which is all you can ask of a LOPO I guess. The transmission shift well. It gives me 15 mpg in town, 18 mpg going 75, and over 20 if I drive 55-60.
As far as mechanical faults go, the two rear windows do not go up or down, but I can hear the motors working. The engine does have a tap on cold starts, not sure if it is a lifter or the "LOPO knock", but it goes away after about 1-2 seconds, and tends to be more apparent if I use an oil filter other than the Motor craft FL1-A. It has not gotten any worse since I've owned the car. The car had a stripped drain plug when I purchased it, so I put one of these in, https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-65109. To my surprise it has not leaked from the drain plug since I installed it.
I'm pretty anal about maintenance, and this car is honestly the most reliable I have ever owned, I play with old bmw's so that's to be expected. It has not given me any real trouble, and it was excellent my on my two hour round trip commute. I would be happy to see it go to a new owner, but I would feel too bad about keeping it either. I'm happy to answer any questions. Not really sure what its worth, so make an offer if you are interested.
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