Hi all,

I am considering buying a W Reg (facelifted Series 1) Coupe off a friend for about £800. It's in relatively good condition but has 117000 miles on the clock. It's the 1.6 model, has leather interior, an aftermarket alarm, air filter and speaker system.

It has a dent to the rear quarter panel though and I reckon needs a service and a ruddy good clean, I'd be happy to throw a bit of money at it provided I have a decent car at the end of it. IMO it's a headturner and he rants and raves about driving it, considering I have a one litre Corsa at the moment I like to thing the only way is up.

One of the key things that is putting me off the car though is the gearchange. It's really really loose. Stirring a spoon in a bowl of soup would probably be more precise than this. It's also very wide [the gears are physically quite far apart] is this the norm? Is it a serious problem and what can I do to fix it? To me manual driving is one of the more pleasurable aspects of driving so I'd enjoy a close, tight 'box.

What do you fellas think and what about 800 as a price?

Thanks guys.

hello.right well they are all really loose tbh compared to alot its like stirring a pot of yoghurt.however there is no way i can tell if its "too loose" from here.provided it selects gears ok it should be ok.hyundais have quite wide spaced gears,and good condition cars still have quite floppy gears.800 sounds very reasonable to me

Thanks for the replies gentlemen.

So long as there aren't problems with it, then the gearbox is useable. I'll definitely be investing time and effort into tightening it up though.