Buy In Haste.......

[Markh6656]

I am looking for some advice in terms of the SC430. I have been a Lexus LS owner since 1996, starting with a LS400 then moving on to a new LS430 in 2004 and kept that until it was worthless, according to our local dealer. Then I bought a LS460 and kept that until a LS600 came up that was in my price reach. I am now trying to keep my mileage below the 10K a year mark so decided to buy something to run around in during the summer and what better than an SC430 in my favourire colour of Bronze.

I have always wanted one of these but could not really put up an argument with the wife whilst our daughter still lived at home. Well now she is moving out so I found one and bought it. There is where the problem starts. The car is absolutely stunning, bronze with beige interior and maple wood. It isvery clean with just a few age related scratches and the odd paint bubble, which I have seen on other cars that I have looked at. On the way home from picking it up from a private sale (Ebay) the engine management light came on as well as the VSC light. This did not cause me any immediate concern because that had happened to me on the LS430 and it was normally an exhaust management valve and as I was going to get the timing belt changed any way (132000 miles) it was not a problem.

I took the car to a local specialist in Newport and within half an hour he had called me and told me that the work was not worth doing because of the state of the car underneath. The condition of the car underneath was the total opposite of what it was on top and he felt that he did not want to start taking off the exhaust to weld it because it and anything else that was connected to it was terminally rusty. The MOT (September) said some underbody corrosion but this looked like it had been parked in the North Sea. I know that I have done the most of my money but does anyone have any ideas as what to do with this fabulous looking car.

[john leeds]

Hi sorry about your car ,but it can be saved ,you need a garage you can trust to wire brush the rust off and then apply an underbody sealer to stop any further damage ,the exhaust can be replaced with a stainless one at a reasonable price ,people I know will do both these jobs for around 500 ,but I'm guessing based on work that I've had done on mine.

You may find you need a couple of components but you may not ,even so you have already invested in the car so you have to finish it .john

[Markh6656]

Thanks for that John and I thought my garage would say the same but he reckons that the suspension, steering and brake parts could be more than I paid for the car in the first place. But I may ask you later for the details of your guy in Leeds.

[steve2006]

It looks like it's lived it's life on the coast or been parked in a field but it appears to be mostly cosmetic not structural so will probably respond to treatment.

There are specialist companies that will remove all the flakey rust and then treat it to prevent further problems.

I did enquire some time ago about having mine done and was quoted around £450.00.

As John mentions go for a catback stainless steel custom exhaust for around £350.00 and you should end up with a reasonable car matching the top side.

[Markh6656]

Thanks Steve, I am feeling a lot less depressed now than I did before I posted this initially. If you have any names or numbers I would very much appreciate it.

[NEILJ]

Mark

I was gob smacked at the pictures especially when you look at the car interior and bodywork and how good they are. The first thing I did was get on the floor in my garage and have a look at mine.

Like the other chaps have replied the only options are get it fixed or sell it on either way it costs. The one thing I would consider though is if your garage says it will not pass an MOT in the state it is in then I would question the garage that did pass it and get on to the necessary authority, I thought dodgy mots were a thing of the past as the places I go to don't miss a trick.

I hope you come to the right decision anyway and you are not on your own when it comes to buying cars I am not the worlds best I had missed a few things when buying mine that I have had to fix.

They are a rather nice and under rated car though so refined people just love or hate the shape. Good luck and hope you get it fixed.

Neilj

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Hi...

Wow the difference between above and underneath is amazing.

For me this wouldn't be a problem, especially if it was my toy/project car and not my daily. In fact that looks like fun to me

I'd start by cleaning everything up, either getting a company to do it as Steve suggests or I'd do it myself. Then you can start to see what parts are actually rotten. Then replace the parts over time. I normally change most of the suspension and brakes when I get a new (to me) car anyway but I can see how this can be a problem if you don't like working on cars and you're used to dealers/garages doing everything. I'm sure a garage/dealer will cost... A lot!!

All the best and tell us what you decide to do with the car :)

[BarneyTT]

Hi Mark, sorry to hear of your problems. One thing occurs to me is if you bought it through eBay and the car doesn't match the sellers description, if indeed it was described as excellent or similar, you can get your money refunded. It would be reasonable to assume that you cannot check a cars underside fully on collection so as long as a short time has elapsed since buying you would have good case I would have thought. Not sure though if by "private" you bought it outside of eBay?

Whatever you decide I wish you all the best.

[alphacat]

Another Jewish Racing Gold example.... The VSC light and the Engine Check Light on together is often indicating one of the O2 sensors.. I believe the SC430 has 4, 2 before and 2 after on each bank. I have had two go. Over the last 2 years it was the heater coil in each.

The underside of your car does look bad but most of the pictures show components that will clean up if you can find someone to do them. I don't believe its not worth cleaning up you just need to do a bit of research and get some quotes. Rust is often not as bad as it looks.

[fred81]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=131132281602&alt=web

Is it this one? If so, the seller stated the car was in first class condition throughout. Open a case with eBay and see what they say.

[Markh6656]

Yes the car is the one but I bought it from a guy in Pontypool South Wales who told me that he had taken it in part exchange on a house he had just sold. this is the link

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261452179618?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I have a rule that says you can always tell when you are being lied to and it is normally when the lips are moving, but in this case I believed the guy.

[Markh6656]

I have a fitter coming to see me this morning to service some of the machines we have here so I am going to get him to have a look, he is also a MOT tester. We took it out for a ride yesterday evening with the roof down and it was surprisingly good despite knowing the state of underneath.

[Markh6656]

I decided to have a MOT carried out and unsurprisingly it failed, my normally positive fitter told me that he thought it would take him about 80 hrs work to put it right. So I have decided that at my time of life I would rather spend the 80 hrs relaxing or doing something with the wife. So the car will be put up for sale as a project at half the price that I paid for it, it has a MOT certificate until September but would advise that the car be transported to its next owner. If anyone may be interested let me know,

[steve2006]

Sorry to hear that bad news, what specifically has it failed on, I assume excess corrosion is the main contender?

[Markh6656]

The MOT guy has said that the main things are consumables like the brakes but that there is so much rust that in order to repair or change the parts there has to be some repair work to the body work. The suspension is fine surprisingly but he thinks that everything that comes off will be twice the normal time of doing the job. Also there is a bit of welding that will need to be done.

[alphacat]

Doesn't sound excessive to me. The cars is still worth around £4500 if it gets an MOT and so the work you mention would be worth doing. I cant see that work taking 80 hours it seems a very long time for cleaning up the underneath replacing brake components and doing some welding. Get a second opinion. But if you can sell it on without an MOT for half the price you paid I suppose you will be rid of the problem. Thing is without the MOT all you can sell it for is scrap unless you find someone in the know who thinks they can make money from it. Good Luck.