Hey guys,
I’ve been looking for GS4 for sometime and now its time to get one. I have few of them in my mind and I came across this black/black 02 GS430 for $20,800 with nav, hids 35k miles on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1 however, this has salvage title it was a theft recovery. According to the seller everything is good working condition except for the steering wheel is missing a button.
Do you guys think this something that I should look into?

 

Firstly the Hood lines are not symmetrical, so it's not just a theft recovery



one of the radiator brace screws is missing, the vin # tag on the passanger side is also missing or painted over,



The rims of course are not for a gs430 but they may have just been stolen, lastly a salvage title is not actual mileage so you may as well disregard the mileage on the car because they can change it to anything once the apply for a reconditinoed title. Lastly you may not be able to find a bank to finance a salvage title car.

Good luck and be careful.

 

Thank you for pointing those out, I too looked at the hood before and it doesn't seem fit right.

 

It's not only the hood, look at all lights they're not symmetrically lined with the bumper either.

 

This is never a good idea you are asking to be dooped. They can lie as much as they want and prey on unsuspecting people. Stay away you never know as Braheem poimted out luckyily with just one warning sign and this is because of the pic which they would have thought no one noticed. Vin number isn't that a sign of real bad stuff. Who knows what the underbody looks like. If your gonna get a damaged car at least should be in your area so you can check it out as much as you want, and the seller.

 

They always say its a theft recovery DON'T BELIEVE THEM. Trust me I work in the car business.
Don't buy a salvage car period......................................

 

Do Not Buy That Car.........................stay Away

 

don't read further, just don't get it......

 

dont buy it

if the front bumper was put on correctly it would solve the problem of it not fitting right

easy fix

 

I would PM CL member Aliga, he is very familiar with salavaged and repariables. I can say this, it is not always a simple, buy salvage, save 15k, drive happy forever fairytale. Parts for these vehicles can be very expensive.

PM Gazi and get his input.

Good luck

 

CARFAX says this vehicle was abandoned, was rebuilt, then was stolen. So it is a theft recovery, but has more history than the seller is willing to divulge.

 

This is definately a sign of a front collision. Stay Away from this vehicle. not only will the uneven lines bother you, but it could be a sign of something more sinster like an eneven frame. That could cause instability when driving. Saving a few thousand is not worth life!

G

 

and it's not like i am going to trust car fax a lot too

 

I have the biggest problem with what I circled in red.

The areas in blue I have seen many inconsistancies in our cars from right to left... not sure if I have ever seen a GS where these gaps are perfect on both sides, just real close. I know mine are a little off and I doubt my car has ever seen any front end damage or at least none that we can determine looking at other indicators.

How about everyone else, are the 2 gaps from the bumper in the blue areas the same? Looking at others I always notice a little difference... typical with plastic bumpers... at least in Florida heat I figured... is this easy to fix/adjust in the bumper?

 

sounds like there's much more to the story....

at least we know what SC 5 stars look like on a GS