LE No949 For sale Autotrader 51,000 MILES £4,500

Never knew the later ones ended up as far out as V reg?

V65JGS

Very reasonable for a low miler LE

lol have been wondering myself if there were any v plate LE's must have been sitting in a dealers yard for a while.

£4,500 *ono* "All reasonable offers considered"

Even if it needs belts changing, pipes etc and you threw a grand or so at it with Powerfiat/Motormech, that would still be a reasonably priced well-sorted-out LE.

So long as SH means Service History and not

Some History
or
Sketchy History

Ad says it has recently had a cambelt

I reckon this has been priced based on book, and the seller doesn't know the true value.

Don't think it will be long before someone on here snaps it up!

Hi all. Just thought I should let you no the crack with LE 949.

After viewing the car today, the add should have been more like this.

Manual, 51000 miles, silver(scratched/dented/stonechiped)
usual LE refinements including, smokey turbo, ticking manafold, SH, recent cam belt change. I have all the keys,
Apart from the Red one. 2 month Tax and test, needs major servise, Reasonable offers considered. 4,500. ono

To be fair he did seem like a good bloke, but not to mention any of this over the phone is not on. I had a 250 mile round trip to learn this, but never mind my search for my first coupe goes on.

****** 98/99/00 LE/Plus, silver/gray Wanted. 4,000/5,000 worth******

Chopper,

Sorry to hear that you had no joy with this one. Seeing it was a very late LE, low mileage etc etc it seemed to good to be true at that price, bl**dy unfair you had to make a journey to find out!

Did you ask before specifically about bodywork/smoke/maniford/red key etc.?

Bad darts if you asked this and he never said.

There are still some sellers without the integrity and honesty to tell you as it is, even if you do ask.

Happened to me a few times, but the worst was several years ago when I looked at a Thema Turbo north of Bradford (having driven up from Essex). He wanted top price for the car and the exchange and mart advert read well.

Over the phone the Seller obviously didn't associate the question of "Does she have any oil leaks?" with the several pools of dirty oil under the car and seeping from every gasket and seal you could see etc.

Also the telephone question "When were the belts changed?" was answered with "Just over 2 years ago, about 7,000 miles ago" - Having got to Bradford, checking the service records indicated that was when at a service the servicing Dealer had typed up on the bill "RECOMMENDED that they should be changed but Customer declined", but he had no evidence that they had been done since and even said "Oh, maybe I didn't have them done then". Unreal!

Drove away, and never saw the bloke again - even though my parting comment was something along the lines of "See you next tuesday"

Hang in there mate, you'll find the right car!

Still, it doesn't sound like a bad deal for someone, if the interior is good that is worth £1k alone. Dents and chips can be sorted.

I talked to the guy for about 15 minutes on the phone, he did touch on the body work but thats it...

It was a real let down, hardly slept last night thinking about LE 949. After owning a mk2 golf gti for 3 years I realy needed one of these cars in my life, just not LE 949.

1000 to replace red key, 1000 to replace turbo, 1000 on major servise and m.o.t...maybe? 1000 on body work.
3,500 for the car. 7.500 british pounds, thats a real good deal for someone

Shame. It's a real bugger when you make up your mind to buy and car and then it's a let down and not what you expected - this did seem very cheap for a low mileage LE though

I was terrified that the dealer was going to sell my Merc before I managed to get there ... such relief when card handed over for the deposit!

I'm now grieving for the coop ... daft woman But I may well be back for a 3rd time Even considering V20 VTC for the Merc (handily my initials but would look lovely on a Plus )

£7500? lol, not quite.

Red key - NOT NEEDED. I say again, as someone that's been on here for four years, NOT NEEDED. Useful as a bartering tool for some money off. £0

Replace turbo - £600 absolute max, or buy a good second hand one for about £150 and £100 on fitting £250

Cambelt job (if needed) and major service £700, or about £250 if not.

Body work, again dependant but could be as little as £500.

So barter coop down to £4K, add about 1500 worse case scenario and you have a V plate LE for 5.5K. Not that bad!

£550 for full service and all belts at Powerfiat

http://www.powerfiat.co.uk/services.htm

No need for the key honestly - owned Fiats with red keys for 11 years, never once needed on any of the 6 cars!

I got him down to 3,500, is it worth a punt?

I'd bite his hand off.

what doss the red key actuly do? 600 for a turbo and fitting, that alot cheaper than i thought.

Red key's used to program the car I think, remove keys and so on. I just know that I've never heard of the lack of red key being an issue. I've never had a red key for mine, the battery has been removed from her for up to four months at a time and I've never been asked for it.
To recon a standard turbo costs about £300-500 and about £100-150 for fitting. Or you can buy a decent turbo from a breaker for about £150. Depends, as always, where you go. If the manifold is ticking, a welded one (like mine) costs about £130-150, plus you can sell your cracked one on afterwards.

The red key hibernates in your bottom drawer and keeps itself nice and comfortable.

to be honest, i would just prefer to spend this 5 grand on a properly sorted/loved LE. theres no point in buying a cheap LE when i can aford to buy a good one. its just finding that good one.

Yeah don't blame ya. But for somebody that knows coupe's this coop may well prove a bargain.

For £3500, its a steal.

Just noticed the additional ariel on top. Whats that for?

Seriously, come on.... £3,500 I'd take a punt at that!!

What's a bit of bodywork here and there, a clutch change and a few other bits and pieces.....

Buy it for £3,500 and throw a couple of thou at it. You'll be 100% guaranteed that the work has been done since you paid for it. You'll also be proud that you brought an LE on the cusp of "shed-ville" back to spleandour!

Better to do this than pay £5.5k to £6k for a "minter" where some random punter has done the work (I of course exclude the likes of reputable independants like Powerfiat, Motormech etc in that statement).

Take a punt... go on

£3500 seems like a good deal if the car is sound, dont get hung up on stone chips, scratches and dents as your very unlikely to find one without them (unless its been sprayed in the past).

a good dentman can take them out easily for about £50 a panel.

Take it to motormech or powerfiat if you can and get a health check on the car and then decide. As mentioned above the car is reasonable value at this price even if it has a couple of things that need sorting.

I would have to remove that dreadful ariel from the roof...

that is silly cheap... i am half tempted and i already have one!!!

I spoke with this bloke on Saturday, he did say that the were a few dings. I also specifically asked him about the manifold and he said it was fine, was going to go up this week sometime (250 mile round trip for me too). Might have second thoughts now.

Now thats a different matter!!!

Fully understand about you wanting one thats already sorted - especially having gone and viewed hoping for it to be OK - I'm sure I'd feel the same, but at £3.5k....gotta be tempting

Do you reckon its worth a cheeky "I've thought about it all day, got a few estimates for prices and can go to £3250....." phone call

The worst he can say is no

no The worst he can say is, 'I read the thread on fccuk'

Got to be bought at that price, I'm with Paul - already got one but not in that colour, shall we go haves Paul?

well thanks for everyones advice, after alot of thought I bought this car

It was a bit of a gamble but im glad I did. went to my locaL coupe specalised (JDM DINO) yesterday to get his verdict.

Turbo = strong and not smokin
manafold = silent
everything else = outstanding

The only thing he could find was a banged up under tray.

all in all the car is machanically sound

how much........£3,300.......Really.......£3,300

You missed a trick there - You should have haggled another £50 off for that tray damage...

Well done mate, really pleased for you - lets see some piccies when you get a chance!

Well done, bargain price.

Best colour Chopper!
The steel ones go a bit faster too...

Well done, That is an amazing price for a late reg low miles LE!!

Other LE owners will be sobbing onto their red leather..

**** SOBS INTO RED LEATHER *****

wow

Bargain! Lucky you. Sometimes gambles do pay off (never for me though!)

Well done !!! Now check the oil level

I have just been sitting in my car crying into my Non LE leather...Sounds a good deal well done...

oh and check the oil.

John

After been erroneously accused on this site a week or 2 ago of being elitist , I fear that if we LE owners are blubbing into our purpose designed, comfortable (yet sporty) red and black leather recaro seats, and now I see our other model leather brethren are similarly affected by this shockingly low price, then how the hell will the 'Clothers' react?!

Joking aside, its great when anyone gets a result like this - be it on a N/A, Turbo, LE or a Plus.

Well done again Choppa, now where are those piccies?

And as John rightly says... check that oil!

Congrats ChopperRead,

What a bargain! Y'see it pays to take a gamble once in a while

Best of luck with it.

£3,300!! (bang head on desk) £3,300!! (bang head on desk) £3,300!! (bang head on head),

pass out with concussion.

Well done Chopper

I reckon you can have a couple of depreciation free years there! Who said Coops were expensive to run

Remind me again, is it the front half or the back half of LE949 that had done 51k miles before the accident?

Jealous? Bitter? Twisted? Yeah, darned right!


Good luck with it




<mutley>gnashing frashing sashing bashing.......</mutley>

But it's got no red key...IT'S WORTHLESS.


...I'll take it off yer hands for a broke R plate 20VT and a gorgeous rodent.


Told you it was a steal

Oil checked

got the car booked into fiat on tusday for a service, the 76,000 mile service to be precise. seeing as the book has not been stamped in 20,000 miles, i thought better to get everything checked and sorted just to be on the safe side.

£600 and thats not including the belt, which should be fine as there is a bill from fiat from 9 months ago saying all the belts where changed.

gonna get the rear disc's and pads replaced at the same time as the brake pedals juddering a bit £250

not to sure what to do about the under tray though, take off and replace £200 or take off and dont replace or just leave it on. not realy sure a this point.

as for pics, ill get some up when we get some good weather a pot of waxs and some tyre slick

DO NOT TAKE TO FIAT

Use a specialist = save money = they know what they are doing

i live in cumbria the very north of england, all the fiat specialists are down south I think?

Chopper... worth the drive .. TRUST ME

And I used to work for Fiat !!!

Get to motomech, plus it's an excuse to drive your new toy for a few hours

I drove from Cumbria to motomech, it is worth it. Remember to take cash.

Get a tray from a breaker, dont buy a new one. Rear brakes should be far cheaper, have then done at motomech or buy from http://www.alternativeautos.co.uk/ and DIY.

DONT TAKE IT TO FIAT.

I hate to burst that bubble but I'd be amazed if it's the rears that are causing that, they don't do much of the braking in a coupé, trust me

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, DO NOT USE FIAT EVER......

All the money you have saved will be spent at the Fiat Dealership replacing parts that dont need replacing and generally making a massive hash of anything they do.

They *will* bend you over and give you a good sh*fting. You might well just hand over the keys to your house as well .

Now go and write

"I MUST NOT GO TO FIAT EVER OR I WILL BE RIDICULED ON FCCUK"

5000 times.

£600 quid can get you a full (proper) service and belt change at powerfiat or motormech plus a health check and some spare change.

Where do the Glasgow boys go if it's that far to Birmingham - must be closer

More likely to be warped front discs. As stan said, the rear brakes do next to nothing

DO NOT GO TO FIAT!

I made that mistake once......

Roger repaired their mistakes. (Like leaving the oil filter so loose that it was about to fall off. Like failing to notice on a FULL service that the back brakes needed sorting - it failed an MOT two weeks later. etc etc etc)

motormech cant say any more,best fiat specialist in the country i think.excellent work and resonably priced.always honest and straight with you aswell and even mod friendly

As above, get yourself down to Motormech or Powerfiat if you fancy a longer drive. A few hours travel is well worth the piece of mind you'll have!

fiat(county moters in carlisle)..Canseld, Moter-Mech...Booked

Smart move

Having said that, County are okay-ish for parts as long as you give you them the part numbers!


Oh, and Brown Brothers are good for parts too

It good to have a new member who listens to our advice, twice in one thread as well!!

Here are some pic's of the Beast.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/richiebritland/Picture016.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/richiebritland/Picture013.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/richiebritland/Picture008.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/richiebritland/Picture014.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/richiebritland/Picture009.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/richiebritland/Picture006.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/richiebritland/Picture012.jpg

Very nice mate

That looks extremely smart, even forgetting about the bargain price!

looks beautiful ! exactly how I want mine to look! im getting there.....

Looks great

have to say I'm just a tad jealous...

Looks stunning! Welcome to 'Le Club'

Glad you looked past the minor issues, well done LE's are the way to go