SC430 Newbie about to purchase a 2006 with 116k that has a salvage title
07-03-15, 11:43 AM
#16
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
I did read the contract. Went through it pretty slowly, and denied the extended warranty, and also there was an option to pay $750 extra so I have the ability to break the contract within 48 hours but I didnt want that.
I put $2800 down, and was already approved well before I went in there to go ahead and pick up the car. I was looking at it over the period of a week. When I came in to get it, we were taking care of the contract and everything looked good, and the seller said it looked fine.
I have time and money put into the Lexus, and my Honda is being fixed this coming week. If I have to give them the car back, then I will not be able to get to work and I will lose my job.
Bottom line, I am able to pay for the car. I haggled the price down to $9500. The financing was approved at $313 a month payment, but my payment dropped to $280 after working with them.
My job knows whats going on with my car issues, and now that I finally got a replacement, they will go ahead and talk to the dealer and finance company. The executive I talked to said she will provide whatever proof they need that I have been working there the whole time. The pay stubs I gave them should have been enough, but the dealer wanted stubs that showed my money made to date, so my job decided to build a chart showing that, and will write them a letter. One of the bosses told me if its not enough, she will try to give whatever else they needed.
Its crazy that we did not even get to the first payment yet.. If we were at this point, I would have sent it in already. The finance company has a packet coming to me in the mail, and they will be requesting the first payment immediately, but its actually due on 7/30
If all else fails, I will take them to court, I work at a large law firm as well and I have help in MANY areas.
During the transaction and paperwork at the dealer, the guy had to leave the room a couple times to talk to his boss, and when he came back, the deal got better and better in return for me allowing the included 3 month warranty to drop, even though it had it listed in the ad. I knew in my gut I would not need it as long as the frame is fine, and power train is good, which I already have driven it a few hundred miles.
It sounds to me like the seller/dealer is regretting he sold to me, since he got another buyer that will pay the whole amount. I would have paid the whole amount, but my Accord Transmission is costing $3k, and I got hit with other bills at the same time but I needed a car. The minimum down payment at this dealer is $1500, so I am well over that.
Bottom line, if the dealer ****ed up its on them. I waited for the car for a week while they took their time prepping it. I hope this does not turn into a legal battle, because Ill turn around and sue the dealer for the entire amount I will be out of the money, including parts for the Lexus, and time I spent.
I put $2800 down, and was already approved well before I went in there to go ahead and pick up the car. I was looking at it over the period of a week. When I came in to get it, we were taking care of the contract and everything looked good, and the seller said it looked fine.
I have time and money put into the Lexus, and my Honda is being fixed this coming week. If I have to give them the car back, then I will not be able to get to work and I will lose my job.
Bottom line, I am able to pay for the car. I haggled the price down to $9500. The financing was approved at $313 a month payment, but my payment dropped to $280 after working with them.
My job knows whats going on with my car issues, and now that I finally got a replacement, they will go ahead and talk to the dealer and finance company. The executive I talked to said she will provide whatever proof they need that I have been working there the whole time. The pay stubs I gave them should have been enough, but the dealer wanted stubs that showed my money made to date, so my job decided to build a chart showing that, and will write them a letter. One of the bosses told me if its not enough, she will try to give whatever else they needed.
Its crazy that we did not even get to the first payment yet.. If we were at this point, I would have sent it in already. The finance company has a packet coming to me in the mail, and they will be requesting the first payment immediately, but its actually due on 7/30
If all else fails, I will take them to court, I work at a large law firm as well and I have help in MANY areas.
During the transaction and paperwork at the dealer, the guy had to leave the room a couple times to talk to his boss, and when he came back, the deal got better and better in return for me allowing the included 3 month warranty to drop, even though it had it listed in the ad. I knew in my gut I would not need it as long as the frame is fine, and power train is good, which I already have driven it a few hundred miles.
It sounds to me like the seller/dealer is regretting he sold to me, since he got another buyer that will pay the whole amount. I would have paid the whole amount, but my Accord Transmission is costing $3k, and I got hit with other bills at the same time but I needed a car. The minimum down payment at this dealer is $1500, so I am well over that.
Bottom line, if the dealer ****ed up its on them. I waited for the car for a week while they took their time prepping it. I hope this does not turn into a legal battle, because Ill turn around and sue the dealer for the entire amount I will be out of the money, including parts for the Lexus, and time I spent.
Last edited by SC430fun; 07-03-15 at 11:59 AM.
07-03-15, 11:56 AM
#17
Yikes! What a headache. Sounds really shady on their part. Sorry to hear about your woes, especially since it sounds like you truly want this car and they are putting up roadblock after roadblock to get you to back out. Good luck, though. Hope it works out in your favor.
07-03-15, 01:05 PM
#18
Lead Lap
I used to work in a dealership and I can tell you that it's very common to let the customer take possession of the vehicle BEFORE the approval of finance since they wanted to make sure customers don't change their minds(regret) after the purchase.
If the finance didn't go through they will ask for the car back and refund your down payment, but they will try to get the deal approved best they can.
If the finance didn't go through they will ask for the car back and refund your down payment, but they will try to get the deal approved best they can.
I hope things work out well for you SC430fun. It sounds like you were able to get some good concessions out of them and it sounds like your employer is doing you a real solid to boot.
07-03-15, 01:09 PM
#19
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
The wheel wells and bottom plastic motor covers on the new SC I have, are trashed. They were hanging loose and they were supposed to fix with everything else. Well I took the car, and immdiately had to run on an errand that was about 130 miles round trip. By the time I got to the destination, I could hear the flapping and grinding plastic rubbing against the passenger front tire, and on the ground.
I took some string and tied it up temporarily, but will be looking for new wheel well covers, and bottom engine covers.I took the car to work the next day, and since I filled up the car the night I took it, its getting about 21mpg combined, and I drove it very hard the night I got it, and then going to work is almost 40 miles up and then back, and thats in tons of famous LA traffic. My Honda with 50k miles doesnt do much better, and is only about 160 hp. Im picking up my Honda now, since I had to leave it at the dealer temporarily since I had no one with me when I got the Lexus. Ill put up pics later today, and new pics sunday when I go all out detailing the car inside and out!
07-03-15, 04:18 PM
#20
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
Here are pics I took of the car when I got off work just yesterday...
The headlight washers work fine, but the passenger side one is a little crooked in its housing so it makes the cover above it a little off. Ill have to take care of some other things on the car as well like the horn obviously, and the left HID bulb is out
The headlight washers work fine, but the passenger side one is a little crooked in its housing so it makes the cover above it a little off. Ill have to take care of some other things on the car as well like the horn obviously, and the left HID bulb is out
Last edited by SC430fun; 07-03-15 at 04:32 PM.
07-04-15, 02:47 AM
#21
Lexus Test Driver
Looking really good and I hope this all works out for you...
I may have missed it earlier but are you keeping two cars? If you can afford it, that may be a good idea...especially if one of them requires maintenance.
Happy Independence Day!
I may have missed it earlier but are you keeping two cars? If you can afford it, that may be a good idea...especially if one of them requires maintenance.
Happy Independence Day!
07-04-15, 08:49 AM
#22
Driver School Candidate
I had the same problem with the horn and buttons on the steering wheel not working on the 05 I bought. The Lexus dealer wants about $700 to fix it. I haven't done it yet, but I think I will bite the bullet. Altogether, my SC needed about $4k of repairs, which I am addressing one item at a time.
I can relate to the throttle response you mentioned. It's just not the same when the gas pedal is attached to a computer. Performance is not what I was used to, either. But, I view that as a good thing. I don't like it, but at my age, I can't handle more.
I can relate to the throttle response you mentioned. It's just not the same when the gas pedal is attached to a computer. Performance is not what I was used to, either. But, I view that as a good thing. I don't like it, but at my age, I can't handle more.
07-05-15, 10:58 PM
#23
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
I had the same problem with the horn and buttons on the steering wheel not working on the 05 I bought. The Lexus dealer wants about $700 to fix it. I haven't done it yet, but I think I will bite the bullet. Altogether, my SC needed about $4k of repairs, which I am addressing one item at a time.
I can relate to the throttle response you mentioned. It's just not the same when the gas pedal is attached to a computer. Performance is not what I was used to, either. But, I view that as a good thing. I don't like it, but at my age, I can't handle more.
I can relate to the throttle response you mentioned. It's just not the same when the gas pedal is attached to a computer. Performance is not what I was used to, either. But, I view that as a good thing. I don't like it, but at my age, I can't handle more.
I totally agree with you! The car does move decently when you push the gas hard enough, but I am absolutely in love with the trans in this car. It shifts so smooth, yet so fast. When you move the shifter from park to drive, its immediate - same thing with reverse. I have been playing around with it today, and the trans does feel like it pays attention to your driving, and if you are driving spirited, the trans will hold it in gear longer even as you are slowing down. This happens even more so when you move into performance mode.
The throttle is still something I have not quite gotten used to yet. My Lincoln is uber-sensitive, and acts the same all the way to 7200 RPM. Once you get past the dead zone, the throttle improves on the SC430, but still feels almost "disconnected" in a way, but that must be the lack of throttle cable.
This lack of horn is driving me crazy - I also noticed that the reverse lights in the lower part of the rear bumper, the license plate lights, and the side marker lights do not light up. The driver side HID light is on its way out, and I have to turn off and back on the headlights every few mins to get it to fire back up, but after being on for a while it tends to stay on. All of those I am addressing this week. There was a nasty smell coming out the vents for a while, but now that is gone thankfully!
In any event, I am going to deal with the seller this week, and get together some paperwork from my job that backs up the pay stubs I have provided them, and hopefully everything else goes smoothly. I really like this car, and have many ideas for it.
07-17-15, 12:08 AM
#24
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
Its confirmed guys, the car is mine!!
I already started working on it the other day, slowly replacing bits and pieces that were missing under the car. The wheel wells were missing screws and push pins, but unfortunately the fronts along with the bottom engine cover is trashed and I will need to find replacements.
The headlights wont stay on at first - the driver side turns off after 5 mins (sometimes it happens to passenger side).. I turn them off and back on, and same thing but a little longer. After spending time monkeying around with them, usually they will stay on (as they heat up) and I don't have to keep toggling the headlight switch. I noticed that they flicker as well. Those ugly parking lights that stay on during the day also flicker slightly. I was planning on pulling the headlight fixtures, and pulling them apart using a heat gun to restore them from the inside out even though they are not that bad. I am new to HID lights in general; does this sound like a ballast to you guys with the flickering and bulbs that dont want to stay on at first? I plan to swap out those yellowish lights if possible, for something with a different color (purplish/blue) which I would like mixed in with my stock low/high beams.
Fixed the reverse lights.. Still need to do the license plate lights, and the front and rear side marker lights (mounted on both bumpers),
I am not going to chance it, and I will be getting a timing belt kit (with water pump and pulleys) to do asap. Is there any brand in particular I should stick with? I noticed there are lots of AC Delco parts for this car.
Also, I noticed some popping when I slightly turn the wheel, and put it in reverse., but its very slight, I was looking at suspension components, with the intention of rebuilding the front and rear ends with aftermarket bushings, and a Megan coil over kit. Ill try to put this off as long as I possibly can, since I would like to only take apart the suspension once.
I heard an SC430 (and many SC400 models) in the past with some gnarly sounding exhaust systems, and I am really wanting to get one of those with a cold air intake asap, and was really liking the look of the magnaflow catback system although it is more expensive. I have no idea what exhaust I heard on this SC430, but I am sure it was one of the systems that is for sale online, and it was kind of loud when it revved up. What do you guys think will be better between the Megan and Magnaflow? Does anybody here have the Magnaflow system?
I want to be able to take this car anywhere and not think twice about it. Its already kind of like that, but these things I mention are in the back of my head constantly. I am driving the car every day so far, and have already been through almost 4 tanks of gas, averaging anywhere from 17mpg in LA traffic (with jumping on the throttle at times as well), to 24mpg when I am moving and not burying the gas pedal down. Not too bad considering the car has roughly (almost) 300hp and weighs almost 3900 pounds!
I already started working on it the other day, slowly replacing bits and pieces that were missing under the car. The wheel wells were missing screws and push pins, but unfortunately the fronts along with the bottom engine cover is trashed and I will need to find replacements.
The headlights wont stay on at first - the driver side turns off after 5 mins (sometimes it happens to passenger side).. I turn them off and back on, and same thing but a little longer. After spending time monkeying around with them, usually they will stay on (as they heat up) and I don't have to keep toggling the headlight switch. I noticed that they flicker as well. Those ugly parking lights that stay on during the day also flicker slightly. I was planning on pulling the headlight fixtures, and pulling them apart using a heat gun to restore them from the inside out even though they are not that bad. I am new to HID lights in general; does this sound like a ballast to you guys with the flickering and bulbs that dont want to stay on at first? I plan to swap out those yellowish lights if possible, for something with a different color (purplish/blue) which I would like mixed in with my stock low/high beams.
Fixed the reverse lights.. Still need to do the license plate lights, and the front and rear side marker lights (mounted on both bumpers),
I am not going to chance it, and I will be getting a timing belt kit (with water pump and pulleys) to do asap. Is there any brand in particular I should stick with? I noticed there are lots of AC Delco parts for this car.
Also, I noticed some popping when I slightly turn the wheel, and put it in reverse., but its very slight, I was looking at suspension components, with the intention of rebuilding the front and rear ends with aftermarket bushings, and a Megan coil over kit. Ill try to put this off as long as I possibly can, since I would like to only take apart the suspension once.
I heard an SC430 (and many SC400 models) in the past with some gnarly sounding exhaust systems, and I am really wanting to get one of those with a cold air intake asap, and was really liking the look of the magnaflow catback system although it is more expensive. I have no idea what exhaust I heard on this SC430, but I am sure it was one of the systems that is for sale online, and it was kind of loud when it revved up. What do you guys think will be better between the Megan and Magnaflow? Does anybody here have the Magnaflow system?
I want to be able to take this car anywhere and not think twice about it. Its already kind of like that, but these things I mention are in the back of my head constantly. I am driving the car every day so far, and have already been through almost 4 tanks of gas, averaging anywhere from 17mpg in LA traffic (with jumping on the throttle at times as well), to 24mpg when I am moving and not burying the gas pedal down. Not too bad considering the car has roughly (almost) 300hp and weighs almost 3900 pounds!
07-17-15, 11:29 AM
#25
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
^Good stuff my man
, I hope all the electrical gremlins are easy to fix. Flood car? Anyways...
*Timing belt- go for the oem complete kit with parts made in Japan, Ac delco is Gm crap.
*Popping sound probably the large bushing in the front lower control arm gone bad.
*Magnaflow exhaust it my fav upgrade, this is my thread ...https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...uy-custom.html
Also did a quick one on the timing belt but you should check youtube out for that.
Sway bar, most people do the back one but I think they are doing it wrong..https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...uy-custom.html
Hope you like the car, I LOVE mine.
, I hope all the electrical gremlins are easy to fix. Flood car? Anyways...*Timing belt- go for the oem complete kit with parts made in Japan, Ac delco is Gm crap.
*Popping sound probably the large bushing in the front lower control arm gone bad.
*Magnaflow exhaust it my fav upgrade, this is my thread ...https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...uy-custom.html
Also did a quick one on the timing belt but you should check youtube out for that.
Sway bar, most people do the back one but I think they are doing it wrong..https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...uy-custom.html
Hope you like the car, I LOVE mine.
I originally thought about getting only the magnaflow or Megan muffler and then havong the remainder of it made. I had a custom magnaflow system on my Tbird, and it was damn near the point where it was able to make the dead, although that car was a beast and I don't expect it to be that loud on the SC430. The mufflers I was using were almost identical to borlas Iwas looking at. I would enjoy it though if it was a little more on the louder side, and combined with a CAI I believe it would sound very exotic actually.
What kind of mufflers are being used in the Megan and Magnaflow models? Are they straight through or chambered? I have heard SC430's in the past that almost sounded like there were glass packs installed.
Tbe electrical demons on this car seem to be pretty minor since the damage on this car was caused by an accident or two, and the idiots who did the bodywork had broken a couple of wires and connectors, and they also forgot to just plug certain things back in. There is no water damage on this car thankfully, or I never would have bought it. I looked the car over very well and found no frame damage as well. I figured I would slowly start getting the body work straight on the car to where everything is
Normal or as close to it as possible . In the future I will sand the car down and paint the car blue, but for now it looks good for the time being.
07-17-15, 06:18 PM
#26
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
It was actually an accident.. my phone was trippin out when I posted that earlier.. Im going to remove the extras now.
Actually, at this point I am keeping the car for sure so I'm in with y'all now!! Ill start posting in the regular area with fresh posts, if I don't find what I need via search.
Actually, at this point I am keeping the car for sure so I'm in with y'all now!! Ill start posting in the regular area with fresh posts, if I don't find what I need via search.
06-28-17, 03:02 PM
#27
Driver School Candidate
The SC 430 you mentioned seems to have a myriad of problems. There is a 4-part blog series on salvage title cars that takes you through some of the problems the purchaser experienced. I will post a link and you can follow the series if you think it will help you. Good luck either way. http://wilson-id.com/salvage-title-cars/#more-2632
06-30-17, 12:16 PM
#28
The SC 430 you mentioned seems to have a myriad of problems. There is a 4-part blog series on salvage title cars that takes you through some of the problems the purchaser experienced. I will post a link and you can follow the series if you think it will help you. Good luck either way. http://wilson-id.com/salvage-title-cars/#more-2632
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