anyone close to canterbury that could view a car for me

[ste42]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lexus-LS400-/262251126178?hash=item3d0f629da2:g:I9sAAOSw5dNWnN1p

ive spoke to the guy and provisionally agreed a price but its over 250 mile away just wondered if anyone could inspect it before i give him a deposit regards steve ,ps fuel cost s and a few beers to anyone that can help

[Bluesman]

Someone has already been too look at this one recently I think. Its last MOT had a long list of advisories that would need close inspection, it has also sat around for at least the last year and before that it hasn't done much and if kept on grass once again it will need careful and close inspection of the underneath. My advice would be to leave this one alone. What were you thinking of paying? Mike.

[ste42]

1100 mike he says its in excellent condition ,but one mans excellent is not anothers

[Scribe]

Yes, this car was mentioned recently in another thread.  Mike's right, but surely £1100 is a good price?  That's banger money really, and anything at that price is going to need something doing.  I'm just aware that 400s are rare these days, and so buyers can't afford to be so choosy.  There again, this one could be a money pit.  

Steve, you're right too - 'excellent condition' could mean anything.  A surprising number of cars are described as 'mint'...  These are some of my favourite ads (not Lexus):

'I have only bought this car a couple weeks ago for my girlfriend to learn to drive and can't get on with gears so she is now up for sale going very cheap.'

'Stolen and recovered in 2007 with engine and gearbox missing, never been used since.' (What a surprise.)

[JIM PIKE]

As Scribe said, it's banger money and  £1100 sounds to be reasonable looking at the pictures.

A couple of things I noticed.

The passenger temp display is playing up by the looks of it.

What's the seat belt buckle in the drivers socket,? unless it was driven by an expectant mum?

Other than that it's corrosion on the underside that needs looking for, but you can expect some it is 16 years old

[Bluesman]

Banger money is £500. I agree you will always have to spend money on these cars but unless things like the cam belt being done it doesn't take long before a couple of hundreds run into a couple of thousands. Check its MOT history if you haven't already done so. Mike

[steve2006]

Description is vague to say the least, is there any service history?

From the previous MOTs looks like someone didn't check their tyres very often for wear or punctures a sign of neglect, also seems to have been fitted with the cheap chinese upper control arms with dust covers splitting between tests.

Bodywork looks pretty good though and the wheels look refurbed, interior is another matter looks like a carpet out job to get that clean.

For the offered money it doesn't look bad, 2000 model year too.

Sorry Steve this one is too far for me to travel to.

[Malc]

............strange, the gear knob looks extraordinarily worn for the miles and also, the seat buckle is in the slot possibly because when there's a driver in the car and it's chasing around the paddock doing wheelies the driver doesn't want to feel restricted or maybe, just maybe, there's a fault on the dash showing about seatbelt stuff

is the aerial stuck up too ?

The car looks to be in a paddock around Shepway area ( see the bins ) and that could be Folkestone or maybe Ashford areas...... admittedly on the way from Canterbury

Why not just get the seller to have a fresh MOT on the car .........  from the Lexus/Toyota garage in Canterbury possibly, or at least the one they would use  ..........  you could phone them to find out which it is and suggest the appropriate MOT testing place I guess !!

Good luck with it  .........  I would offer to view but I think it's at least an hour from me each way and with the car the standing in the paddock, isn't something I would feel comfortable commenting on, seized brakes, rust etc                       and I don't know my Mk4s either at all, never having had one

If I was buying it I would send my indy along from Margate to inspect it for me ...  and of course have to pay for his time etc

.................. sorry I can't be of more help

 

Malc

 

 

 

[runsgrateasanut]

Having more than half a tank full of petrol is a good sign given that most being sold are on empty.

As an aside as regards Seatbelt clips, its one of my irritations that on the 93 model I spend at least a minute trying to find the Seat Belt clip with a winter coat on. Its far too short a stalk and absolutely no point in the illumination of it as I can't see it even if I crank my head over to the centre.  A longer stalk is preferable to the gimmick light. Mustn't lead on to the Seats being too small as I know Members generally like them.  The advantage of the S Class being wider body, wider seats  and IMO more comfortable, I miss.

 

[Titch LS]

The S class must be a one off then. All the Merc seats I've ever sat in were harder than German bread.