Thinking of a Liberty GT.... opinions/experiences?

[calais]

G'Day All,

I have posted a similar thread on an Australian Liberty forum, but the online traffic just isnt as fast as AFF.

Seriously thinking of a late gen 4 Liberty GT....... Not long ago I posted about either a Golf GTI or a WRX, I cant get the idea of the WRX out of my head, but my finances won't stretch that far anymore, and I want something that goes as well as the WRX did, but far more comfortable at the same time........ enter the Liberty GT. (Not the current shape one... they aren't so pretty to look at IMHO)

Almost all of my previous cars have been European(Fiat Punto Sport JTD and a Skoda Octavia vRS Turbo), and to be honest they were great cars, but getting long in the tooth by the time I unloaded them at around 100,000km. I had always immaculately maintained them though.

So far I am smitten with what the Liberty GT has to offer, and am in the hunt for a good one. But sadly I have been to see six of them so far, and six of them have been rooted. They have all so far been an equal mix of sedans and wagons, auto and manual. But they have all shown signs of careless maintenance (ie uneven tyrewear, engine rattles, scratched/deeply worn leather, incomplete service history, and in one case a cracked rear lower wishbone that the bloke tried to blame on me! (I hadent even driven the car, needless to say I thanked him for his time and walked away...). Just in general I felt as though the cars condition just didnt match the kilometers. I figure if my own car looked better with double the km's, I'm not expecting too much or am I?

I'd prefer a Wagon, Manual, sub 70,000km, FSH and not treated like a theme park ride (definately hard to find)

Im definately thinking carefully about this one even though it is a fair bit older;

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d...&cr=1&__N=1246

And this one, a sister car to the wagon above;

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d...&cr=4&__N=1246

But really, the one I am pretty keen to get to check out is this one here, would it be worth the extra coin over say the 2.0 litre autos above? (I am thinking yes, but I am uneducated to be honest)

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d...cr=19&__N=1246

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated, but in the meantime im going to keep looking, eventually one will arrive on the scene with the right mix........

Cheers.