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#16
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Don't forget to stop for a Primanti Bros sandwich!
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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions) '08 Chevy Tahoe '93 Ducati 900 SS '79 Kawasaki KZ 650 '86 Kawasaki KX 250 '88 Kawasaki KDX200 '71 Hodaka Ace 100 '72 Triumph T100R |
#17
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I got back home 7:00 last night, driving about 600 miles after replacing the tires in Pittsbugh on Wednesday night. The car performed flawlessly otherwise and based upon preliminary calculations delivered between 28 and 29 MPG on average.
The "delivery" of the car was a bit of a mixed bag. Though, in all the car is at least as nice as I had expected it to be, just different than described. Basically the seller, who is the original owner's son (who is himself 50-60 years old so his dad must be in his 80s) told me the car was completely rust free, had never been driven in bad weather and was all original, never had any body work or paint done to it. He also said the car's accessories all worked fine except the tach which was intermittent and he said that although the A/C worked it seemed a little "weak" to him. OK, the truth is the car was repainted, not original. Seller seemed dumfounded by this and at first claimed it could not be true. I showed him the proof being masking lines in the door jambs and small areas of overspray. OK, he claimed his father must have had it done and not told him about it. The second non truth was the rust free claim. Fortunately the only rust I could find so far is two spots behind each of the front wheels at the bottoms of the fenders. One side is worse that the other...one is just bubbling and one has some visible rust coming through. Both are about the size of an average finger nail, maybe 1/2" square. When I pointed them out to him he basically didn't deny having known about them and told me if I wanted out of the deal that was fine with him...no I didn't want out, I only wished he was honest about it when I first asked...had it been worse I probably would have flown back to NH empty handed. I hate it when you ask someone a straightforward question and they answer it in a straightforward manner and it turns out to be false. The repaint, by the was was an A1 job, so had he told me about it I probably would have felt better than thinking I was buying a car with 28 year old paint still on it. The exterior of the car is a 9.5-9.8 with the biggest flaws being the little rust spots and some very minor scratches. The chrome is perfect all around, even the wiper arms are beautiful and those usually rust. Mechanically I could find little fault. The tach was indeed out, there were two burned out headlights, the "seat belt warning" light would occaisionally flash and the A/C and heater blower was not functioning...of course I didn't find out about the last item until after I drove off. When we got to Richard's mechanic's shop we put the car on the lift. It was pretty good underneath...no real evidence of rust though the underbody had been resprayed with some coating that made it hard to tell without poking around more. The jack points looked solid though they may have been restored. I can attest to the fact that the right front jack point is solid as I had to resort to using it when the right front tire blew 30 miles into my trip Anyhow, we found the ACC fuse blown and thanks to Richard we replaced it and one other blown fuse for the aux fan, and low and behold the blower started working again! I dodged a bullet there. Not only did the blower work but the A/C came on nice and cool, and I used it on the way home when temps climbed into the high 70's...it works fine! I also found the lights in the right end of the cluster were out (tach and clock light) so I suspect a bad ground could be causing that and the issue with the seat belt warning light too as it seems to be triggered ever time and other warning light in the cluster comes on (turn signals, high beams, brake light all trigger it). The tach issue could be from that or the classic tach amp problem...either is easily fixed. Oh, and also, the cruise control does not work. The interior of the car is about a 9.8 on a 10 scale. The only faults I have found so far are a slightly soggy rear seat bottom cushion and some minor hairline cracks in the wood surrounding the ACC control. The other woodwork and interior panels are basically showroom new as is the carpet, headliner and dash. Truly a museum inside. So now I have a punchlist of items. Cluster, headlights, cruise, small stuff really. The car drove flawlessly all the way home. It was a pleasure to drive and now I just have to straighten out a few odds and ends and it will be in near showroom condition both cosmetically and mechanically before too long!
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Marty D. 2013 C300 4Matic 1984 BMW 733i 2013 Lincoln MKz |
#18
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Well, Marty, basically none of them tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Taken in aggregate, with 9.5 paint on the exterior, and a 9.5 interior, you've got yourself quite a good deal at that price. 27 year old paint, with associated door dings, would be no better than 7 on the exterior..........no matter what the seller claims. If you garage it, the new paint will last indefinitely. The SDL was repainted without any comment prior to sale. It's no better than an 8. |
#19
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I'm not complaining...the car is really very nice...and I will garage it. It's just funny what some people will disclose and others won't.
Whenever I do sell a car I always tell everything about it...good and bad. Sometimes it costs the sale, but 90% of the time mine sell to the first people who see them because they can see by not sugarcoating it they are buying from someone both honest and knowledgable.
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Marty D. 2013 C300 4Matic 1984 BMW 733i 2013 Lincoln MKz Last edited by nhdoc; 10-19-2007 at 12:22 PM. |
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