Need advice

[mazo]

Hi everyone, its my first post here then i woudl like to say Hi

Guys i need advice... 

I absolutly in love with this car since i first saw it, finally after so many years i'm able to afford it, unfortunately my budget is about 10k, I found one cat N, guy said rear bumper was damage and profesionally repair, on a pictures car looks decent, has a service history and 78k on a clock... pirce is 10k, when I check last MOT, has a advisory on "Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement both side front (5.3.4 (a)" and next one comming this May... 

How much it woudl be to sort out pin? more less of course? And The most important qestion what to look at when I gonna see this car? (i red loads about the water pump) 

I will really apriciate any advice...

Thanks

[Linas.P]

Hi and welcome,

First, before buying a car, I would highly advise to test drive IS300h, just go to your local Lexus dealership pretending to be interested in their car. This will help you see if you like the driving experience. I was excited about the launch of the Lexus IS in 2013 and was literally drooling looking at it, but after test driving it, I was disappointed. I also spent time in the RC 300h and 200t, which are similar to the IS mk3, but likewise I didn’t enjoy the driving experience. So, make sure to test drive before spending your money. I was lucky to have an extensive test drive without sales staff around and discovered both positives and negatives, but don’t just buy a car based on its looks - make sure it’s the right fit for you.

Secondly, when buying a Lexus (more than other makes), it’s important to check the service history, as well not just rely on stamps, check what was done in the invoices. On Lexus FLSH is really worth having and paying extra for. A well-maintained Lexus can easily reach 200k miles, but if not maintained, there may be expensive issues to fix, nothing is cheap on Lexus. It’s hard to estimate the cost of fixing your particular issue without taking the car to a workshop. The description you provided is cryptic - it could be a lower or upper bush, or the arm itself that needs replacing. It could also be suspension damage from an accident. Taking it to Lexus could cost at least £600 with labour, and that is assuming nothing is wrong with the arm itself. If you go the aftermarket route and replace the bush yourself or get a used arm from a breaker’s yard, you could do it for half that. However, it’s unusual for only one bush to be worn out, especially at only 78k miles. My old IS250 had over 200k miles and still had all original bushings (sure different car, but bushing will be the same between mk3 and mk2).

Finally, it’s hard to say if £10,000 is a good price for the car without knowing more details. What trim is it - F-Sport, Premier, Luxury, or SE? What options does it have - at least Premium Audio or ML, or just a 6-speaker poverty line radio? What year is it? Sure - if it’s a 2018 F-Sport with 78k miles, then the price is great. But if it’s a 2013 Luxury, you may be overpaying, before even considering that it’s a Cat-N car and needs suspension fixing. I would be cautious about buying a Cat-N car and would want to see pictures of the accident and repair (buy car history check, sometimes they have pictures from auction). I would also insist that the seller gets an MOT done. So, do more research on the model and trims to see if £10,000 is a good price for a car with unknown history and previous accident damage. I personally much rather get 120k miles F-Sport for £10,000 with service history and that wasn't crashed (plenty choice of that), then get lower miles write-off without history.

Good luck with you purchase!

[IS300FSPORT]

MOT Advisory last year may not necessarily be an issue or get picked up on the next MOT. Its upto the tester to decide how much play there is in a pin/bush. Advisories can go on for years without causing an issue. If anything it gives you room to negotiate play with £500 cant see it costing that much for a lower control arm. Its not specific.

Example diagram below is there play in the upper/lower control arm?

10k is cheap but its cheap for a reason, does it have a service history that reflects the mileage on the MOT history.

A pin or worn bush is the least of your worries if there are other hidden issues, with tracking, electrical issues, tyres, offset paintwork, etc.

Dont fall for a clean washed car with abit of tyre shine 10k is a fair bit of money to gamble away. Quiz the seller do they have pictures or a report of the damage? There is a modern trend with the Copart specials damaged accident repaired vehicles random people buy a car to repair cheaply to sell on for a quick profit nothing wrong with that but if its been in a rear end collision does it drive straight? as its rear wheel drive the Battery & drivetrain are at the back of the car. Misaligned boot that lets water in to the boot goodbye high voltage Battery. 

Not to mention the resale value!

It maybe a good example dont let me put you off but dont buy it with your eyes shut!

 

 

[Linas.P]

13 minutes ago, IS300FSPORT said:

There is a modern trend with the Copart specials damaged accident repaired vehicles random people buy a car to repair cheaply to sell on for a quick profit

Yeah - I have seen plenty of those... and the thing is Copart sale prices and fees does not allow for proper repair. I was interested myself to buy few cars thinking maybe I can fix them for myself, but cost simply does not add-up... and it is all because of aggressive resellers and aggressive buyers from abroad (UK cars are cheap in comparison and many are snapped-up just for parts). I can often see the cars being sold on copart for £15k, when same car not crashed is like £17k... where is the margin for repair and profit? So they literally just throw the car into cheapest paint-shop (perhaps they have one themselves) and they just do cosmetics and off to sale! I would argue 90% of repairs are like that. So unless there are pictures before and after, and the damage is minor to begin with I would always go by assumption it is poor job.

[mazo]

Omg verry thank You for answer, haveing a test drive before its ideal and i might do that if, i was thinking about that. Thanks for advice with suspension, after that i think i will not even consider this one and try to find one without any category because if I go deep in expensive, this car insted off driveing its gonna be on my driveway all the time.

Models what i'm looking at is SE from 2014... Unfortunately f-sports with similar milage woudl be around 12-14k... 

Test drive defo woudl be done before buying. Thanks once agian

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, mazo said:

Models what i'm looking at is SE from 2014... Unfortunately f-sports with similar milage woudl be around 12-14k... 

Note that SE is very poorly equipped by default (it is pretty much lowest possible trim, there was one rare unmarked "trim" below it), unless somebody paid for expensive optional equipment which is unlikely and even then SE didn't even have most of the options. F-Sport would be more expensive, because by default it has thousands worth of extra equipment and I would say it is worth it just for LFA dials if nothing else. The way trims go are - "no trim">SE>Sport>Luxury>Advance>Executive>F-Sport>Premier>F-Sport+Takumi (FL)>Takumi (FL). Original brochure can be seen here: http://www.johnsonscarsmarketing.co.uk/brochures/Lexus_IS_e-brochure.pdf

As mentioned - going for low mileage Lexus is kind of counter-intuitive, instead you should be looking for well maintained one. As well note - it is 10 years old car, so it should be expected to have at least ~100k miles. If it has less miles, then it just means car likely spend more time on short journeys in the city and that is likely worse. I would always buy car with high-miles which done longer journeys and motorway, rather than lower miles city car. Simply said when comparing wear and tear on the car between motorway and the city, the city mileage probably causes 3 times more wear on everything in the car. I am not even joking car which spent 120k miles on motorway would have similar signs of wear as 40k miles car in the city. In short - mileage is just a number, it is good yardstick to estimate the condition of the car, but it is just a starting point. So yes 78k miles F-Sport would be £12-14k, but I still rather have one with 120k for £10k, than lower mileage SE for the same money.

Finally, if we compare between say 78k and 120k, there isn't much difference - it is not like 78k is particularly low miles car anyway. Sure if it would be 20k miles then there is difference as 20k would feel for all intended purposes like new car, but by the time it is 78k or 120k, or 160k - it is just used car. As long as it has service history to cover the the miles it has done there isn't really a major difference.

[mazo]

Once agian really thanks for You'r time for answers and advice its help a lot, thanks once again 🤗 

[Bluemarlin]

Personally I'd avoid a Cat N car, unless it was ridiculously cheap, and on a 10 grand car I can't see how it would be written off if it was only rear bumper damage. So it's probably a good thing that you're giving this one a miss.

For future reference it's worth getiing a history report. Vcheck will provide a full report, including any write off history and, as far as I'm aware, are the only ones that include photos of the damage before repair, so you can see the extent of it for yourself. It's also worth getting a pre purchase inspection from somewhere like the AA. I used Clickmechanic when I bought mine, who were about £150 and seemed pretty thorough.

Other than model specific stuff, other things to check are a look around the sills, wheel arches and underside for any signs of excessive corrosion. Also have a feel of the carpets for damp, and check the boot area for any signs of leaks. Excessive rust  and water ingress are things you don't want to be dealing with.

Service receipts will show you if things like timing belt, spark plugs, transmission oil, where applicable were done to  schedule, so have a search online for the service schedule and  print it off so you know what to check when looking.

Good luck.

[Notamech]

As others here have suggested. Dont buy a written off vehicle. Two things you need to consider are that your insurance costs will probably be a bit higher plus you will have trouble when you go to sell it. 10k is a big amount already. Hold on a bit longer and buy a better car for 2-3k more. It will be better in the long run. You should be able to get a 2014 ~80-90k run luxury / executive spec for around 12k with full service history, especially if buying privately. Given the price difference it doesn't make financial sense to buy a cat N or cat s for 10k. If it was 6-7k or something thats a different story.

[mazo]

Thanks once again, definetly i will take those advice's to my hart, i know i supose to be more hmmm... responsible woudl be good word... but honestly saying my vision its little bit blinded by beeing in absolut love with beauty of this car... 

Cheers once again guys. 

[Linas.P]

5 hours ago, Bluemarlin said:

Vcheck will provide a full report, including any write off history and, as far as I'm aware, are the only ones that include photos of the damage before repair

Most of the checks nowadays provides pictures of the "damage", it depends whenever it went trough the auction or if the car was sold privately. If it gone to the auction, then you will get auction pictures, but if it was say bought back by owner, fixed and then sold, then you won't get pictures. Sadly insurance companies are not compelled to release them, so all of available pictures are always skimmed from public domain e.g. auctions like copart. 

4 hours ago, Notamech said:

Two things you need to consider are that your insurance costs will probably be a bit higher plus you will have trouble when you go to sell it. 

Usually category does not increase the insurance price, could even reduce it - that is because for insurance it is not considered higher risk. However, as a rule of thumb insurance consider Cat-N as 20% and Cat-S as 40% value reduction, so if you ever get into accident and your car get's written-off the insurance will deduct that from pay out e.g. in this case insurance may consider car worthy a £6,800, but if one were to claim they would only pay £5,440. Basically what I am saying - you get into problems when you come to claim.

Likewise for selling, here you are mostly correct - it is not so much an issue to sell Cat-N, as much as people will automatically expect at least 20% discount, and with stigma attached to it the discount ends-up being closer 40%. So it becomes almost irrelevant what damage was done to car, nor how it was repaired, it always going to cost less. Now sure - sell it cheaply enough and somebody will buy it, but as result it just means previous write-offs are always harder to sell and always sells for less money in the end.

As such I myself consider £10,000 to be too much for Cat-N just on the face of it. Some can argue I am cheapskate, but it being SE, with some suspension issues and soon ending MOT I would pay no more than £6,000... at that price the saving would be large enough to make it worth the trouble in the future. But for £10,000... one can buy car which was not crashed... so why buy crashed one? 

[mazo]

Hi guys, just little update, I bought bad boy yesterday i found a decent model 2013 Luxury 90k FLSH in my budget, i`m blady super happy about this car!!!!

Thanks once again for advices and help!!!!