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I have a crazy idea, as some members may know i was looking as buying a 3rd get GS300 not long ago. But i was going to be putting us in more debt to fund it and after a week of talking about it the wife found out she about losing her job and said that she would like us to be debt free (not including the house). So my plans are all changed and i have now embraced this idea. We have done extremely well with what we have cleared this year and this last month alone. Anyhow my idea is this, i currently have a VW passat TDI which is financed, I owe about £2K in payments over the next 18 months and the car is worth around £3k. Sell the car, clear the finance, use what is left to buy another car i may add a little out of my saving to get a car. I don't want to sh*t box fiesta or anything like that. So i had a look at some of the car i have always wanted but could afford at the time. One of these being a LS400 hence why i posting this here i have always had a soft spot on these cars and if they are well looked after they seem to go on for ever. Or the other is a Mercedes E class 320CDI W210 (i almost brought one but decided to buy as new a i could afford on repayment hence the passat). I plan to all my own servicing, repairs to cut the costs down as much as possible. What are people opinions on buying a LS400 for less than £2k?

Was out with a few friends , they have a few nice cars too.

I want your friends :)

Bring back the death penalty.

Thanks John, I am glad that you don't think i am crazy... most of the ones i have been looked at seem to be estates E220 CDI, what is not a bad thing as i could do with the space. I would prefer a E320CDI if i can find one. Finding one with no or very little rust is the hard part, i remember trying to find a clean one last time. I found one i liked with a bubble or starting to show, but apart from that it was mechanically sound, then i found my passat.

That would of been me. Nice to be spotted

I find pick-ups very appealing - but why? They are impractical for most people except farmers and builders. The luggage gets wet in our climate and stuff can easily be stolen from the back if left. BUT ........ I still would love one - especially if it was a Lexus.

Theres not much difference in terms of suspension but you'll feel it more on certain roads than others. For example, a road with expansion joints, you should be able to notice a subtle stiffness in Sport compared to Normal

AVS works in any setting , if you have it, but you also chan choice SPORT+ besides usual SPORT mode giving 2 times sport command rotating clockwise the mode knob, and the steering wheel and dampers get stiffer, In SPORT modes (both ) the throttle is more responsive , you can see the different response curve on screen.

Brake callipers (sliding pins) might be seized, take it for a run and check the temperatures of the wheels to see if one or more is very hot. Check for creaks and body roll when cornering, some of the suspension rubbers might be worn with age. Otherwise just check the standard things and make sure the warning lights come on and go out with the ignition, if they never come on the bulbs might have been taken out to hide an issue.

I dont know why the price difference, I am not naive enough to think the full valet was free so you need to build that into the equation. Mike.

That says it all!