Buying an Escort RS Cosworth.

There are many things one should check before buying an used Escort RS Cosworth. I will list the ones most easy to check and those most important here:

• Check the car for any signs of repaired crash damage. If you or a mechanic (which you should bring with you if you don't know everything about cars) find signs of such, either don't buy it or take it somewhere to find out exactly what has been repaired and the quality of the repair. Some bodywork damage is no problem if it has been repaired nicely, the problem is when the crash has affected the chassis. If you suspect so; take it to an alignment jigg and check the chassis for any damage or missalignment (or better, don't buy it).
  What you should do is to take off the front and rear bumpers to check for accident repair. The rear bumper is loosened by removing 4 nuts in the trunk and two screws on each rear wheelarch. The front bumper hasfour big bolts removed from underneath plus two a catches on each side in front of the front wheels.
• Get underneath the car and check for any signs of rust on the chassis and suspension. The exhaust might be rusty, but that will happen no matter what if one drives in the wet.
  Get inside the car a check for rust or moisture. Remove the spare wheel and carpet in the trunk and check underneath. Lift up the rear seat bottom half and check there too.
• Check the engine, gearbox and diffs for any signs of oil or water leaks both before and after you test drive it. This means that you have to remove the cover under the engine (4screws and 4bolts). If there are any leaks, find out where they come from and how much it will cost to fix them.
• While you are underneath the car check that all drive axle boots and other rubber boots on the suspension components are intact and not cracked or worn.
• Check the tires for uneven wear. This may come from out of alignment suspension components.
• Is the amount of engine oil, coolant, brake fluid and servo oil correct ? And; Is the engine oil of such a quality that it seems that it has been changed regularly?
• Inside the car look for worn down seats and pedals, which may mean that the car has a lot of miles on the clock. And; is the wear on the upholstery comparable to the miles the seller claims the car has done?
• Is there a service book with the car ? If so; Does it seem like it has been written by the same person, the same day. Or is it a real service book ? If you are in doubt, go to the workshop where the car should be serviced according to the service book and ask them if it really has been serviced there.
• Put it somewhere dark and check that all exterior lights are functioning. Then the interior lights, such as lights in speedometer, rev-counter, boost gauge etc. Lights in switches for fog-light, heated windscreen, fan, heater. Basically everything should have lights. Especially the light in the speedo and rev-counter should work as you will have to replace the entire speedometer or rev-counter if they don't. There are no bulbs, but a inrepairable glowing string.

When testdriving the car:

• Drive it at both high and low speeds checking for any shaking or softness. If there are any this may come from worn bushings or worn steering linkage components.
• Test the brakes both braking hard, and just barely slowing the car. Any shaking and you're in for new brakedics and pads.
• If the car pulls to one side or are excessively prone to follow cambers in the road this can be caused by out of alignment suspension components, worn dampers or bushings.
• Check for any strange sounds from the engine through the entire rev range, from 800 rpm to the red line. If there are any sounds that you can't identify take it to someone who can and let them figure out what's wrong.
• Check that the turbo boost pressure builds up and goes up to the redline on the boost gauge when flooring the throttle at 2500 rpm in 3rd gear or higher.
• When changing gear at high revs check that there isn't coming a lot of smoke from the car, this may be a soon-to-be-wasted turbo. It's very Expensive to buy a new one.
• The gearchange should go smooth an quiet. If the second or third gear is hard to engage this can mean that the syncro-rings are worn down. And this means that the gearbox must out to be overhauled: Expensive again.
• The clutch should have no slip under any circumstances, to test it: Drive at a little over 80 km/h (50 mph) in 5th. Disengage the clutch, rev the engine to about 2000 rpm above what it was doing and let go of the clutch. If the engine immediately drops back to the original rpm area, the clutch is probably good. If it comes back slowly and the car sounds like it has a slipping automatic transmission, you have the first signs of clutch slippage. This is hard on the drivetrain and clutch so another easier on the drivetrain approach is: Floor the throttle in fifth gear around 3500 rpm on dry concrete, preferably on an uphill. If it slips, it's done (if the car isn't tuned that is, the standard clutch can only handle 300 hp or so).

When finding things that are not as the seller has stated, or things he hasn't said anything about, start getting suspicious and check everything extra carefully.
All things that you'll have to fix requires a decrease in the price the seller first stated.

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