elwesso

Great forum here, I've spent the better part of the day reading up on a GS300 I'm considering.

The short story is my uncle has a '98 GS300, black on black, 116k miles. Really nice car, runs fantastic, newish Michelin tires, and very well maintained. However, he's got a few issues with the car... Interior is really nice, exterior has some scratches on the bumpers but overall it's very clean. It's lived it's whole life in NC and CA so it's never seen salt.

The major issue is an oil leak coming from under the timing cover, after being inspected by his mechanic... At about 86k he had the timing belt replaced at the dealer, and according to the invoice they replaced the belt, water pump, and the cam seals. He also had the valve cover gasket replaced sometime around then as well, at the dealer. Based on my reading, if it's coming from under timing cover about the only thing it can be is the VC gaskets, cam seals, or the VVTi pulley. It would seem unlikely that it's the VC gaskets or cam seals, so perhaps it's just the VVTi O-ring? Sounds like that can be fixed with a new O-Ring or some people use RTV, or maybe just replace the O-Ring?

So, it would seem to me that once I fix that I'd probably be replacing the timing belt too?

There's a couple other issues with the car, the seat belts don't retract, the steering wheel makes a nasty squealing sound when you put the key in the ignition, and there's a ticking sound from behind the vents. The seat belts sound like a pretty common and easy issue, the steering wheel gears sound like they need to be greased, and the ticking sound is a servo motor?

I could probably buy the car for about $3k as-is. Do you think I could make a profit if I fixed all those issues and resold the car? Seems like these cars are selling for $5-$7k at that mileage.

chicov8

$7k for 1998 gs300? i think that my 2002 gs430 (125k miles) is worth around $7500-8000

raytseng

no, i don't think you can make a profit in fixing up this car.

Buyers will not value the money you are investing into the car at the same amount.

I would go for it only if you can get some utility by using the car yourself for awhile, before reselling.

elwesso

What do you think is a reasonable asking price for this car? $5k?

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

its definitely not worth 7k.

98's (older 2nd gens) are barely going for 4-5k these days

chicov8

if you wana fix and keep it than its a good deal but to make a profit no
if its leaking very bad than its worth no more than $4k

DosyBoy

iTrader: (1)

Not worth it.......300's are a dime a dozen....

chicov8

check front suspension if nothing has been done since new (control arms very expensive)

SprtDesign

iTrader: (21)

You could sell it as-is for about $4500 max.