So I picked this up recently.
Not my picture, I'd forgotten my camera and it's been in a dark workshop since. I'll get better ones shortly. Now I imagine all the Australians will be like "Ha ha ha! I see a million of these every day! Also Kylie Minogue!" but they're pretty rare here nowadays, especially prefacelift ones. I haven't seen a 3-door for a long time (except the 4x4 Turbo). I'd say I see a BF 323 maybe once a month, generally it'll be a facelift 5-door. I think the 3-door was quite a poor seller here (bar the sports models), I suspect the 5-door was better value or something.
Anyway, I was attracted to this one by the unusually low mileage (55K miles) and the fact that it had one owner from 1985-2010 or so, can't remember the date. Just a good feeling about it, nice provenance and originality, still has the original dealer plates and window sticker. The MOT (inspection) had lapsed, but it hadn't been in for a test, though the last guy said it needed a pair of tyres, so I thought I'd take a shot at it.
So I got it back via recovery truck (the penalties for illegal tread depth are unusually harsh so I didn't want to risk driving it) and got my mechanic to have a look at it. I bought blind, so it was actually several days before I saw it and I was pleasantly surprised - pretty mint condition bar some old boy rust prevention fixes. The interior is immaculate too, but generally these old boy cars tend to be nice inside.
Even the most basic BF interior looks quite nice, even with it being an LX it gets a digital clock. The stereo is a Goodmans one where you can pull it out as an anti-theft measure, but seeing as it's only me who plays cassettes nowadays I doubt I'll bother. It's aftermarket, but it might have been fitted by the dealer - these older Japanese cars often had things like that done at a dealer level.
With it being nicer than I hoped, I thought I might as well get on with it. A couple of tyres were fitted and then it went straight for an MOT (mainly due to a misunderstanding with my Baltic mechanic). To my surprise, it only needed a wheel bearing to receive a pass. Lovely!
So technically I can buy a tax disc and start driving it now, but I've left it with the mechanic for the cambelt to be replaced (it's not due for another 5K in mileage, but it's 27 years old), general service, etc. Then I can drive it for a bit in the interim before I drop it in for the blemishes to be sorted out and repainted, should look absolutely mint then. Looking forward to giving it a thorough valeting too, because I find the whole experience oddly therapeutic.
