What are the odds?!

Linas.P · May 30

I found this story kind of funny... as some of you may know I am always for look out for coupe, RC200t wasn't it, but from time to time I look at IS250C, maybe even another RC200t or 300h if they come at the right price... RC200t was horrible car, but it made me £4,400 for me over single year of ownership. So I am looking out for good deals...

So the story - late last year I found somebody selling IS250C quite locally, for only £3300. I checked the history and everything looked fine, car looked good, 47,000 miles kind of low for the age, so it was not immediately apparent why the low price. Asked the seller about the car and they said they just want something more economical and cheaper to tax/insure (which is generic answer), no mention of any accidents, but as always I do checks before even wasting my time looking at the car in person. To surprise of nobody it came back as cat-N write-off. Seller was insistent there was nothing of sorts, but conveniently I use check that even provides the pictures of damage if the car ever gone trough auction. So when I sent the the images they were shocked (or pretended to be). Long story short - car was cheap for a reason, and despite minor damage and seemingly decent quality of repairs I don't really like cars that have records of being written-off, simply said - tainted. Nothing remarkable in the end.

Few days ago I found this car - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226164927478 and it is sort of perfect example of what I am looking for, low miles, fully loaded (every single option - ML/Sunroof), nice colour even if black interior is little bit boring. And I particularly like these semi-facelifted RCs, I don't like the full-facelift from 2019 (I just find new lights ugly, even if mirrors looks nicer), but these cars in between (~2018-2019) have all the tech upgrades - large screen, LSS+, electric tailgate etc. without the ugly outside changes. Anyhow - I immediately thought £16,495 is way low for 2019 car with only 23,000 miles on it, so started digging. Description does not mention anything about any damage, although if you pay attention, eBay (and all other decent sites) now include little marker at the side, it just says that there is advisory and car may be finance or may be written-off, so it advises to look further and order the check. Anyhow, I kind of missed it at first, but eventually ordered the full history check as I always do and car came back as Cat-N write-off... again - nothing surprising to anyone.

But here is the interesting part of the story... we were discussing the vehicle checks with my girlfriend and she asked if it is possible to see pictures of the damage... and for this car they were not available, however I said "I did a check on other car few months back and I can show you how the pictures would look if they were available"... so I went to find the previous check for IS250C, showed the pictures etc... but something caught my eye... it was the previous private registration plate of the IS250C... What are the ODDS!?!

So basically... somebody... probably named Kat goes around smashing two door Lexus'es and I keep finding them for sale for cheap on the internet, because my taste for the cars seems to match with this Kat! Had IS250C in 2019, smashed it, traded into RC300h in 2019, smashed it in 2022... and now seems to be in Merc E-Class E53 AMG coupe... I wonder when that turns about smashed... and odds are I will find it again, because I quite like 2-door E-Class as well and E53 are of particular interest as they come with new MB inline-six.

I am even starting to think, this may be some sort of scam - had IS250C for 5 years until it got smashed, then had RC300h for 4 years until it also got smashed... Insurance usually keeps records for 5 years and asks for previous accidents for only 3... so perhaps there is some sort of logic of having an accident every 3-5 years and somehow that makes money... not sure how that can work out as usually insurance pay out is always much lower than it should be... perhaps the person is just unlucky like that.

GMB · May 30

Maybe I don't like too many uncertainties or doubts but you would not see me for dust anywhere near those cars. One cannot be sure of anything but gut feeling counts for a lot. Buyer beware is the order of the day, at least for me it is😉.

Linas.P · May 30

Well, quite obviously written-off car being sold without explicitly stating it was written-off is immediate red flag. Hopefully, that is clear and that is why I always do checks before inspecting them in person. £5.99 for detailed car check is much cheaper than even cost of fuel to drive somewhere to inspect the car. So I always do that...

But what are the odds that same person crashed two cars on the same private plate and I happened to find both of them 6 months apart?!

GMB · May 31

12 hours ago, Linas.P said:

But what are the odds that same person crashed two cars on the same private plate and I happened to find both of them 6 months apart?!

The odds are probably a bit better than winning the lottery and a bit less than getting run over by a bus.☺️