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Thank you all and here are the results! So, took a 4 hour drive to see the car. Met the owner, very nice, and found the care to be exceptionally clean for a 2001. Color is interesting and changes depending on the sunlight.
The shift lever is definitely stiff when cold, warm, standing still or driving. Clutch itself is nice and light and is almost as good as the new one in my 1997. I'm pretty sure the clutch itself is fine.
I inspected the linkage at the back of the gearbox and all looks OK. When I peeked under the shift boot I found an el cheapo short shift kit installed. I'll investigate further later. Maybe some broken or mis-aligned bits in there so that is where I will start.
The car has 90,000 kms and I have service records for all service since 23,000 kms. Each oil service was done every 3,000 kms. It also had a recent AOS installed. This is the second owner. No IMS problems (...reported, we will see if anything can be found in the filter when I do a service).
Good points
Recent top (soft window)
Sport Seats that look like new
Service records
Some of the negatives:
Smells like a smoker's car
Electronic Key does not work for locks, front or rear trunk
Front trunk switch/solenoid works intermittently (rear ok)
Battery is weak, probably needs replacing
Awful textured grey plastic trim that is scratched up and peeling but not sticky
Craptastic radio
Minor cosmetic things, but can be lived with
Front brakes are at their limit, I already have the parts and it's an easy swap
Now price, the car was about $5,300 plus some mandatory expenses here in Japan (recycle fee $200, inspection fee/registration $500 which is refundable) and these are always added to the price of the car so $5,300 becomes $6,000 essentially. He waived both fees so $5,300 out the door.
So I bought it and just got back from the 4 hour return trip. With the exception of the shifter it is extremely tight and responsive and very peppy with plenty of torque. I guess my 2.5 is just tired and worn out but they are both great, and both very different.
So back around to the crappy short throw shifter. I'm considering buying a stock used one on ebay or something if I can't get it adjusted. What do you think?
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