Possibly buying a 92 LSL, opinions?

Crazy_pilot · #1 03-31-2007, 02:15 PM

Hey guys, I found a local SVX for sale at a used car lot. It's a 92 Ebony LSL, 175,000 KM's (108K miles). The sticker price is $4,200US, but the guy said I could probably get it for $2,600.

The good: ABSOLUTELY no damage. No parking lot mark-ups, no dents...Nice interior, drivers seat shows almost no wear. New tires. Low-ish mileage. My favorite colour.

The not so good: Rust. Fenders, doors, and rear wheel wells, along the belt line. Hood doesn't latch closed. Hood stripping falling off. Droopy drivers visor. White center caps. Badly chipped/faded spoiler. Slight burnt oil smell after driving. Sunroof needs a push.

Also, during the drive (a very short drive) the car had trouble maintaining idle. The gas was showing absolutely empty (like a couple needle widths below E), so maybe that was the reason. If I sat still the idle would drop until I tapped the gas to bring it back up. It also showed a bit of hesitation in acceleration. Hopefully he'll have gas in it next time and I can confirm the reason for that.

I'll go visit again on Monday and take a whole bunch of pictures/look over the car really well.

So what do you guys think? Worth the $2600? I'm going to try talking him down more, for the rust mostly, and anything else I can find.

I finally understand some of the thing people here talk about

budbaer · #2 03-31-2007, 02:33 PM

I think you should talk him down a bit. Is there any history on the tranny? That is a problem area and the burnt oil smell could it be burnt tranny fluid? I think you should have it checked out by an independent mechanic to see why it won't idle right. No door dings sounds good, mine has plenty if you want, I could loan you some a few, but rust is a big bummer. Do yourself a favor and don't assume anything with SVXi, what you think should be cheap can be costly. If you decide against the car you are looking at, there are a few for sale on this site. The nice thing about buying from a member here is you have someone to let you know the history of the car. Good luck and I hope you join our family of SVX owners.

It's Just Eric · #3 03-31-2007, 02:56 PM

The hesitating idle and whatnot could be caused by the throttle position sensor. Might also ask if they guy runs premium gas and not regular, but thats a shot in the dark.
If it runs and drives nice, its well worth the 24 or 2500 you can get it for. Id take a good good look at the condition of things under the car and under the hood. Rust on the body panels might look bad, but its otherwise harmless. Rusty nuts and bolts, on the otherhand, are a major pain in the ass. Just something to keep in mind before buying

lhopp77 · #4 04-01-2007, 08:26 AM

Value is a moving target. To me, it would not be worth anything over $2000. As soon as you mention showing rust, the the price bottom drops out. And of course that is a lot of miles on a car---not bad for ours, but most cars.

Lee

Crazy_pilot · #5 04-01-2007, 08:58 AM

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to go see it again tomorrow and do some real thorough digging. I was in a bit of a rush yesterday.

Door and fender rust doesn't concern me too much, I can put new doors/fenders on it, but the rear quarters are a little trickier to repair. As well as whatever's under the car. Damn Canadian winters and huge amounts of salt....

If all that's wrong with it is cosmetic issues and the mechanics are all sound I'll probably go for it, but the wonky idle has me a bit concerned.

If this doesn't work it's back to my original plan, make a one or two day trip to the States and bring one home, but I'd rather find one here and not have to pay for a plane ticket/deal with the import work.

svxxx26 · #6 04-01-2007, 09:17 AM

Keep in mind that the issues that don't concern you much right now, when you are excited about the possibility of getting a SVX, will loom much larger in the months after you get it - plus they will all add to the final real-world price.
Good luck