I Made A Big Mistake Buying On Ebay

[forswami]

:chairshot: I purchased a 93 ls 400 with 82000 miles for $4200, the car was in florida, me in California, I just got the delivery, first time i took it out the whole speedometer clister went dark, could not see anything, still it is black, does anybody where i I can get a cluster, I still looking for kinks, SO BEWARE WHEN BUYING ON EBAY. MY 90ls 400 has 290k on and runs better than the 93, I was a taught a lesson, Great Forum.

chet

[TexasLexus94]

There's a lot of Smarty Pants who buy Lexus's at E Bay. I think they're nuts. Please go to the Search space at the bottom of the page, type in EBay, find the "To EBay or not to EBay" topic. Read all the threads.

Then I guess you contact all the genius's for advice. Sorry you got screwed. I've had little luck on EBay, so I'd never buy a high priced item there. Be sure to check out my comments.

[dpeck]

:chairshot: I purchased a 93 ls 400 with 82000 miles for $4200, the car was in florida, me in California, I just got the delivery, first time i took it out the whole speedometer clister went dark, could not see anything, still it is black, does anybody where i I can get a cluster, I still looking for kinks, SO BEWARE WHEN BUYING ON EBAY. MY 90ls 400 has 290k on and runs better than the 93, I was a taught a lesson, Great Forum.

chet

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That is a common problem with lexus in cold weather during the summer months it will work fine there are locations on this website you can remove cluster and ship to san francisco or canada and have repaired for about 175.00 they replace some faulty capacitors or live with it and come may it will work fine mine does the same thing as the car warms up it iluminates agian i havent had it fixed yet my email is dpecks@surewest.net if you need further help locating the information. search for dash lightd in the forum there is plenty of information on this problem but nothing to be concerned with

[SKperformance]

Who is in Canada who fixes them ?

[92Lex]

:chairshot: I purchased a 93 ls 400 with 82000 miles for $4200, the car was in florida, me in California, I just got the delivery, first time i took it out the whole speedometer clister went dark, could not see anything, still it is black, does anybody where i I can get a cluster, I still looking for kinks, SO BEWARE WHEN BUYING ON EBAY. MY 90ls 400 has 290k on and runs better than the 93, I was a taught a lesson, Great Forum.

chet

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How bad does it run? A 93 w/ 82k for $4200 isn't bad...I looked it up on Kelley's Blue Book and even in fair condition it would be worth $7200. Just look at it as the seller adjusted the price to compensate for the cost of repairs.

I'd say it to myself just to make myself feel better...hah.

[1991LS400]

I believe E-Bay has some sort of return policy. I'm not quite sure, read up on it.

Hope your LS works out if you can't return it. They're good cars.

Good luck.

[wandawoods]

:chairshot: I purchased a 93 ls 400 with 82000 miles for $4200, the car was in florida, me in California, I just got the delivery, first time i took it out the whole speedometer clister went dark, could not see anything, still it is black, does anybody where i I can get a cluster, I still looking for kinks, SO BEWARE WHEN BUYING ON EBAY. MY 90ls 400 has 290k on and runs better than the 93, I was a taught a lesson, Great Forum.

chet

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there is $1 fix if you are handy:

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&hl=fuel++gauge

and there are $175 fix on eBay if you are not comfortable doing urself.

other than dark instrument, what's wrong with the car? maybe a major tune-up will make it runs a lot better.....did you ask for maintenance records before purchase? when it hits 90K, there are lots of major maintenance works need to be done ahead of you.

you know, I bought 3 lex from eBay, and they were rather nice to great when I took delivery. the most troublesome one was the 98 ES3 I bought locally....go figure!

[silvermate]

well thats a heck of a deal for 4,200, for a 93 with only 80k on her

just take it one step at a time, does the powertrain run smooth and strong?

there are always gonna be minor failures, and the intrument cluster is one of them, just get it fixed, it won't cost you that much......if there aren't any more severe problems with the car that you can tell, i would keep it, i mean thats a heck of a good deal on a LS, your not gonna find one any where close to that cheap anywhere else.

if not, and you want to get rid of the car..... they do have the lemon law, and that applies to ebay as well, just get with the seller and work it out with him.

just my 2 cents

good luck

[lexus400]

Just to clarify... is this to repair (in this case a fuel gauge) the gauge itself

OR the backlighting for needles/display ? Those are two different issues correct ?

Bob

[wandawoods]

Just to clarify... is this to repair (in this case a fuel gauge) the gauge itself

OR the backlighting for needles/display ? Those are two different issues correct ?

Bob

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if you took out the 2 circuit boards behind cluster, a defective C212 (16v/10uf) is the cause of dark instrument panel lighting, and C142/C147 are related to abnormal reading of fuel gauge. each capacitor shouldn't cost you more than $1, the rest is just your own time and patience.

[jvcn]

i'm sorry for your difficulty but sounds like you still got a decent deal. When I bought off Ebay, I purposely assumed that I'd have to spend up to $1500 or so to cover unanticipated problems. So far I have had no major difficulties (knock on wood) from my purchase. Ebay is a great place to get lots of things including cars. The risks are just different from buying in person.

You get more choice but have less info going into the deal so that has to be factored in. One should only get something if the price is much less than locally. Even a defective 93 LS with only 83,000 miles would be at least $6000-$7000, probably even >$9K if in flawless condition, around here. So you weren't taken, despite your disappointment.

I'm sure that once you get your fixes sorted out, that you'll have a great ride.

Me, I've been enjoying tooling around in the 95 LS I got a couple of weeks ago.

Hoping these posts help you feel better about everything.

[90LS400Lexus]

That does seem like a good price for a 93', with 184K. I paid $3995 for my 90 LS and it had 224K. I recently sold it with 235K for $3000.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. That seems strange- I think that typically- those clusters last a little longer than that, but it really depends upon climate I think. My 90 with 235K still had a perfect cluster (original), but the speedometer needle illumination had just went out.

I have learned my lesson from buying on E-Bay. Some are honest, but some are not. If you can actually find one locally, drive it first to get the "real" condition of the car. I made sort of a mistake only a couple of months ago. I purchased a very local (20 miles away) 1969 Caprice, using "buy it now". I have been looking for one of these rare cars for a while and was amazed when I found one locally. I saw it on E-Bay late one evening. The next morning I thought I had better use the "buy it now" feature, or I would lose it. I had to work that day, so I could not drive it first before I bid on it. The next day, I sent my father down to pay for it and drive it home. He said it drove like a new car- smooth engine, smooth transmission, super ride, excellent brakes, etc. Being a 35 year old car (all original) it needed restoration, which I knew about. When my dad got it home, he noticed a engine knock at idle. The exhaust was a little loud, so it was not heard when he picked it up. When we tightened some exhaust bolts, the car quietened down, but the knock was much more noticable. When my father went to pick the car up- the seller said "if he is not happy with it, let me know and I will give him his money back". When we contacted him and told him about the engine noise- he said to try a new water pump- it was loose, but that was not the problem. We re-contacted and told him it still had the knock and he more less said "oh well, its your problem".

and said we really should not expect a refund. Oh well. Learned my lesson as well. I have sold three cars on E-Bay- HONESTLY and have had satisfied buyers with all. I sold a 91 Accord, 85 Caprice Estate and my 93 Camry thru E-Bay. Buyer for the Accord was from South Carolina, Camry buyer was local and Caprice buyer was from Ohio.

Anyway- turns out that we think it is a rod knock (possibly from previous owner over-revving the engine), and now we are in the process of total engine rebuild- which now I am OK with, that way I will know the car will have a "good as new" engine, then I can start restoration on the body and interior.

Word of advice- some peoples idea of "good" may not be another persons idea of "good". Check it out, or have someone check it out for you- then bid.

Good luck.

[doublesharp]

In the last 3 years I've bought 7 cars on ebay and haven't been burned yet. Deal with people with lots of feedback and get on the phone and talk to them. Keep your bs detector turned on high and if it sounds goofy or too good to be true back off. I look for ads with many detailed pictures. You've got to have broadband. Dial up won't get the pictures near quick enough. Use the ebay vin check, $15 for 10 checks. it's about as good as carfax for vehicle history. Carfax has a consumer deal of unlimited searches in a 30 day period for about $20 but you can only use that once every 6 months. I find something I like and put it in my watched file. I'll bid my max or a little less. If it doesn't sell, contact the seller and ask for best price, then negotiate. If you come to terms, seller relists it with a buy it now and you buy it. It's all about feedback and being able to judge personalities. I've bought a 2000 gs 400, a 96 ls 400, a 2000 q45 anniversary touring, an 01 q45, a 2000 isuzu Trooper limited, an 01 acura cls and a 94 gmc yukon 2 door as well as a 373v ranger bassboat. Keep your guard up but if you've got a bit of gambler or hustler in you, ebay is a valuable source due to the large and ever changing inventory. Just my 2 cents.