petaloutha

Thanks for the confidence boost. Knock on wood (fake in the Benz) it has been a pretty good ride, but the time has come to count my blessings and move on. The LS is a Canadian car (though spent winters in Florida) - so 160000kms.

My heart says yes, though the last time I bought that way, it cost me. Have spent many hours searching here and elsewhere online and read many threads on timing belt, waterpump, catalytic converter, trunk lid struts, etc. I understand that reliability is second to none, and pretty positive about the opportunity... but I'm still leery of potential problems in any 10 year old vehicle. History looks clean and did not spend much time in snow. Would like to give my mechanic a 'short list' of big ticket items to check out before I drop ten grand on the table. Any help is appreciated.