Availabilty of parts? (Paticularly headlights as I need these)
Try any of these....
http://www.completefto.com.au/FTO_showcontent.asp?hid=141
Are any parts available from dealers nationally?
Yes, but you need part numbers and will normally pay a packet for them. Northshore Mitsubishi in Sydney is the best one to call. There are a few of us with the parts DB. If you post up what you are after, one of us can look up the number for you.
Ease of service and basic service consumables?
If you have a trawl through this sire using the search, youll find plenty of info on this. Main one to be aware of is when the timing belt gets changed - this is likely to cost around $800. If the car has done around 100K, make sure this has already been done!.
Insurance
Again, do a search on the site, there have been a few threads dedicated to this topic. I use Shannons, but thats not necessarily the best one for you.
In general this car seems to have everything my partner and I are interested in we just seem to be getting pretty negative opinons from some people around us in regards to this car.
are the negative opinions relating specifically to this car or the FTO in general. If you can give us an idea of what they are, we can tell you whether you are likely to have anything to worry about or not
Its a 95 GPX with power everything crusie control sunroof 14000KM owner has receipt from dealer when he purchased about 2 years ago, some work was done on gear box which seems expensive 4k (owner still has receipts) overall it seems very clean and tidy just a little nervous given the negative feel others have given.
Youll only get positive ones on this forum. I guess none of us would be here if we didnt like the car. In my opinion, the FTO is an excellent car considering its price. It is not a rocketship (buy a skyline if you want this). but it handles exceptionally well and is actually reasonably economical considering its a sports car. Insurance wise its not the cheapest (grey imports never are). Parts arent too hard to find. Servicing can be a little dearer than usual. And great to look at. All in all, excellent value for money.
Make sure you choose wisely, like all cars, there are good ones and thrashed ones. There have been heaps of threads on what to look for when youre buying. Look for rust spots in roof for starters. Check out this tread for more
http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... pic&t=8085
My advice - if you like the car, pay a few dollars to get it checked by a reputable mechanic and get the seller to fix any problems found (or drop price accordingly).
