Bye bye LS430 !!!

[Edus Amedda]

I have had my LPG 2004 LS430 for 8 years, - it's been amazing, i've loved every mile i've done and never stopped appreciating it.   I've now, I believe, wrote the car off from something silly... it was losing coolant and I drove it for too long (long story), however, it's probably cooked the head gasket in the opinion of a local mechanic.  

What on earth to replace it with?  Really I'd like another, if I can find one... or?

And what to do with my written off car?

And what to tell the insurance company?  My head is spinning to be honest, - absolutely gutted!

[lex - eleven]

Get another one and put the old one on eBay. It's not worth keeping for parts as they don't often go wrong do they. If you're that way minded remove the lpg system and have it fitted to your new one. 

[Edus Amedda]

I've just had a look around - hardly any for sale?

Or replace the engine with a salvaged one?  Is that even viable?

[Malc1]

Is it really not repairable ? Second opinion from someone who might know ? And possible repair costs …… to compare with buying a good 2nd hand one from a Breaker somewhere …….. ? 

OR buy yourself another whole car and swap over the lpg as said ? 

How much would you spend £££££ …… what’s your real budget 🤔

Malc 

[Edus Amedda]

To be honest, with so much going on in life that I am juggling with, I would like to spend as little as possible.  I have some savings, but with mortgage and other stuff, I don't want to spend loads of money on a car, however, I would be prepared to spend £2,000'ish to get my LS back on the road.  It has some slight front end damage also, - done 175k, - so if I saw a nice one, pref with LPG, I would be tempted to buy another LS430.  Mine is silver but I have always preferred the flint grey!

The mechanic said that even if I get the head gaskets replaced, I might find further problems later on down the line, as the engine got very very hot - temp gauge off the scale.

[Bezzer]

41 minutes ago, Edus Amedda said:

 

And what to tell the insurance company?  My head is spinning to be honest, - absolutely gutted!

Forget about the insurance, you've got a broken down car, not involved in any accident or claim incident.  Write off classifications are only put on vehicle records by Insurance involvement which makes it irrelevant in your case.

[Edus Amedda]

I was wondering whether to cancel the insurance for the moment, - it could be a few weeks until I am mobile again, as I have so much going on at the moment.

 

I guess the risk of replacing the engine with a salvaged one is that you really dont know what you're buying until you've paid a fortune to have it fitted