Buying a Lexus IS200 with 1 month MOT

[spazab]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Lexus scene, previously owned a BMW 125i E82, which was perfect, but I ended up selling to clear a loan. I'm now in the market for a cheaper car (£2000 all in inc. insurance/tax) that will reliably get me from A-B for the next year as my other half and I move into a house. Unfortunately for her, I get bored of cars easily, but the IS200 seems to be a relatively good compromise.

I have seen an IS200 Sport on Gumtree for £1,400, FSH at the correct intervals and 103K miles on the clock.

Cambelt was changed at 68k, oil service with microfilter and sparkplugs at 90K.

All sounds promising.... The problem is, it's been 11 months since the last MOT, and it's done 20k miles. It had new brake disks and pads at this stage, and there doesn't seem to be any reports of corrosion.

I've asked for a new MOT, but the "story" is that the owner is the vendors sister, she's had it for 2 years but she's bought something newer and left him to sell the car. He works 7-5:30 and is not insured to get the car to an MOT centre.

I have asked to view the car with price to be negotiated. Is this too much of a financial risk for an IS200 of this age, is there anything I could look for when viewing this evening?

Any help would be appreciated, SpazaB

[PhilipK]

Given that a car with a full MoT would be much easier to sell (and at a higher price) than one with only a month's MoT left, and also that the ad is on Gumtree, you would need to be very brave and/or very lucky to even thing about buying it.

Were there any advisories on the last MoT? If so, they may have turned into full-scale MoT failures by now, especially if it has done 20k miles since then. You can check this at the government web site

[The-Acre]

I agree, I think you'd be bonkers to by a car with only a month left.  No Lexus is "cheap" to repair due to the cost of parts.  You could find yourself owning a money pit!

[spazab]

22 minutes ago, PhilipK said:

Given that a car with a full MoT would be much easier to sell (and at a higher price) than one with only a month's MoT left, and also that the ad is on Gumtree, you would need to be very brave and/or very lucky to even thing about buying it.

Were there any advisories on the last MoT? If so, they may have turned into full-scale MoT failures by now, especially if it has done 20k miles since then. You can check this at the government web site

There was 1 advisory on the MOT of front tyre inner edge wear...

Ad can be seen here: https://www.gumtree.com/p/lexus/lexus-is200-sport-2001-fsh-/1247758297

[NemesisUK]

I'd say that car has been a taxi. Driver's seat really worn and the rear seats are far more worn that the relatively pristine front passenger seat.

Walk away ... 

[PhilipK]

It's a dealer pretending to be a private seller (so that he can dodge his responsibilities under the law). Just Google his mobile number and see how many car ads it has been associated with. 07521280209

Don't walk away from this car - run away!

[spazab]

19 minutes ago, PhilipK said:

It's a dealer pretending to be a private seller (so that he can dodge his responsibilities under the law). Just Google his mobile number and see how many car ads it has been associated with. 07521280209

Don't walk away from this car - run away!

Well, b***ocks...

Didn't even think about googling the number, thought it would have been a "protected number" or some such. 

I appreciate the heads-up, I'm still really interested in buying an IS200 and I don't want this to put me off.

If anyone knows any good cars coming up for sale in the next month or so around the Oxfordshire area, let me know 

[Dinho]

Check Auto Trader or facebook iS200 selling groups, there are always loads for sale on there