Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Car)

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Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Car)

Postby 82Lebaronconv » Fri Sep 30, 2011 2:46 am

I found this 1984 Lebaron T&C Convertible for sale on craigslist (Knoxville, TN). I have been corresponding by e-mail with the owner and think it looks promising. Would like feedback from fellow club members as to what I should bid. Shipping costs to my home in CT could be $700-$800, so it might not be doable unless I can get him down on his asking price. What do you think? Also, do we have anyone in the Knoxville, TN area who would be willing to check the car out for me? Thanks.

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/2565930638.html
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby nszotovich » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:37 am

The price seems good for a Turbo woody. The photos are of poor quality so you don't see detail, but with that mileage in a rare woody it looks like a good deal. But what is the condition of the leather and has the timing belt been changed etc. Its hard when your not there.
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby MyDodgeDip » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:37 am

It's a pig in a poke unless someone with a clue can go look it over. I'd stick to trying to find one locally, the shipping costs and not being able to look it over yourself make it hard to get long distance cars.
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby 82Lebaronconv » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:35 pm

MyDodgeDip: Thanks for the advice. I agree that it is very risky buying a car long distance, but I'm not having too much luck finding good cars locally. I corresponded with the owner of the T&C and he seemed very honest. He sent additional photos. There is some cracking in the leather seats, particularly on the driver's side and on the center armrest, and there are a few paint issues. The rear bumper will have to be completely refinished and the center rub strip replaced as it is badly scuffed. But the top looks nearly new in the photos and he did tell me that he just replaced the entire cylinder head a few months ago and has driven the car very little since. Also, the air conditioning system was rebuilt with a new compressor. I made him an offer of $2,000 which he has rejected, and in his last e-mail to me, he indicated that he was thinking of keeping the car, so it might not even be available any longer.

I've also been reconsidering the white 1985 Mark Cross that I looked at in your area a few weeks ago (at the Summit, NJ dealership). My concerns about this car were the high price ($4,500) and that the advertised mileage of 25K might not be legitimate, considering how dirty the engine compartment looked. I thought that the digital odometer on these cars only went to 100K, so a car with 25K might actually have 125K. But I recently saw another '85 Mark Cross on the internet that was advertised as having something like 150K and the digital odometer reading did show the 150K. So maybe, I was wrong about this car and should give it a second look. The leather interior had absolutely no sign of any cracking or wear - it really looked brand new, and the undercarriage was very clean as well. I was wondering if you could give it a look and give me your honest opinion as you live in the area. The ad for the car was still on Cars.com as of yesterday, so I'm pretty sure it is still there. Let me know if you could do this - it would really be appreciated. I've gotten burned by too many collector car purchases in the past, mostly because I've made snap decisions to buy if I really liked something about the car and I've often looked past obvious problems. Plus, I'll admit, I'm a really lousy negotiator when it comes to settling on a price. I'm trying to avoid all that with my next purchase. Thanks again if you can help.
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:55 pm

I have to agree that it is very risky buying long distance - especially from a private seller. In general, I do not trust the mileage on cars with digital odometers. I think they can be reset if someone knows what they are doing. A real low mileage car is usually evident by the condition (unless its been abused or kept outside (no garage) - in which case you probably don't want it.) The Hershey car show/flea market and car corral is coming up this week (Wed-Sat). There are usually a few K car convertibles for sale at that event each year. You might want to check it out if you can make it. If you are looking to buy a car you should really go on a weekday.
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby nszotovich » Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:22 pm

Most likely the mileage is accurate. They do have some tamper protection which will crash the whole cluster's motherboard if you try to reset it (by federal edict). If you have that much skill, your making millions already and can tap into more lucrative walls. If the seats are cracked. the price reflects that, The fake wood should be in the best condition because it is hard to find and expensive too replace. If you get enough high quality photos you can get a good idea if the car is pampered or abused. Even from 2500 miles away. It is always a risk, but what good things in life aren't.
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:24 pm

What happens if you swap an instrument cluster including a digital odometer from another car?

See the comments in this article regarding digital odometers.
http://www.carfax.com/car_buying/odometer.cfx
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby nszotovich » Tue Oct 04, 2011 7:13 am

You get mileage from the donor car. which is most of the time higher. Sometimes not. That is the car restoration game. But you can also buy a lemon in a brand new car. You go with your gut feelings and hope your number's not up.
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Re: Need Advice Regarding Prospective K Car purchase (New Ca

Postby MyDodgeDip » Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:50 am

I don't even look at mileage. I've seen good 200K mile cars, I've seen bad 20K mile cars. Judge the car for what it is, not for the numbers on the dash.

I'm going to see if I can put my eyes on the one local to me and see what it's all about.
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