Newby in South Carolina

The car wasn't ready today. Now aiming for pickup next Wednesday. The waiting is the hardest part.

Nice Tom Petty signoff

Welcome ! I lived in Greenville for a time and ran the Red Lobster there,,,, small world. Looks like you went right to the top in getting a 90's car huh? Let us know how the pick up went and send some pics.
We will be here!

The wait is over! I got a surprise call late yesterday afternoon telling me the car was ready. Got a ride from a buddy (in a Cayman S!) over to Greenville and arrived just in time to pick it up. What a great ride home! The engine runs strong and sounds incredible.

The car does have a few little electrical issues I'll have to tackle over time.

The left front tire pressure monitor isn't working, so I get a low tire pressure message with every start-up and a constant warning light. I'm going to check the forums this weekend to see if there's a way to disable the system rather than spending $500 plus to replace the faulty sensor.

The AC cools well but the fan is all or nothing, only working on high. Apparently the resistor is shot and costs about $400. Hoping I can find a work around. The rear AC is fine, so that helps.

The passenger side power window was acting possessed last night, occasionally going halfway down for no reason and then not responding to the switch until I turned the car off and back on again. No problems with it today, so there must be a loose connection in there somewhere.

I can't get either hatchback release to work by either pulling (as the owners manual instructs in writing) or pushing (as the picture in the owners manual shows) the buttons on the floor outside either front seat. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

The original Blaupunkt works well for radio and cassette. Haven't tried the CD changer yet. Some of the speakers sound like they're blown, but overall it sounds reasonably good for 24 years old.

All of these issues seem very minor. I'm thrilled with my purchase. I'll try to find some time tomorrow to take a few pictures, although the pictures on the registry from the seller's Hemings ad are pretty good (1991 U.S. #220).

The rear hatch release seems to be a quirky little guy. My hatch latch (what I'm calling the part on the hatch door) is cracked so it doesn't line up as nicely as it should, and the plastic catch in it is well worn. I bought a replacement from a guy on another forum, but he repeatedly forgot to send it to me, so that money is just gone. New ones are $400+ last I checked, not doing that for my car just yet. I did buy from Roger the parts to rebuild both the top and bottom, and simply replacing the rubber insert in the bottom has made my hatch work a lot better. Before, it wouldn't stay latched more than a few minutes, now it is completely secure, a little too snug to auto release.

My motor mechanism all works, but because of the alignment issues, I still have to open it with the key. The motor didn't work until I unplugged both of its wires and cleaned it all. So, all of that to say, I feel your pain on the hatch. If you haven't already, peel back the carpet on the back hatch wall and clean the connections on your motor to see what that gets you. In my 88, you pull up on the switch a little to engage the mechanism. I think my driver side switch is seized and the passenger side is the one that actually works for me.

Thanks for the help, Derrick. I didn't even know that the hatch release mechanism was motorized, so I was pulling up on the switches as if it were some sort of mechanical mechanism. Now I'm certain that there's an issue because I don't here any type of motor mechanism at work. The previous owner had replaced the plastic catch, so at least it opens and closes well with the key. I'm happy to leave it at that for now but will peel back the carpet and clean the connections at some point.

It took me a few days to find the time to get to the county tax office and the DMV, so I just got the plates on today and was able to drive around town without fear of being stopped for that.

I'll put up more pictures later, but I attached a quick pic I shot with my phone from the driveway.