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Rocking drivers seat, slow acceleration, old warranty

Dear Experts,

Today I was looking at a 1999 Lexus ES300 for sale. With 71000 miles on it, I'm told. Which is not a lot of miles per year.

I have a 1997 Camry XLE, which, except for the labels, is very much the same car. 3 liter V6, leather, etc.

1) The driver's seat would rock back and forth on the acceleration and deceleration. This was irritating, enough to notice. Like a rattle that won't go away. My Camry leather seats do not do the same thing.

Is this a known, common problem that can be fixed?

2) The other thing that I noticed is that the acceleration seemed slower on the Lexus, than on the Camry.

Is this normal? Could it be that they need to change the spark plugs?

3) They told me that I can go to Lexus and transfer the warranty to myself. That it is good til 100K miles.

Is this true? It's 2007, so the car is eight years old now. If so, what all does the warranty cover after all this time?

Thanks a lot

Reply to
condor_222
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It depends on what is rocking. Most likely, it can be fixed.

It is difficult to tell without driving the car, but it is possible that the car needs new spark plugs and an air filter.

The owners may be talking about an extended service contract.

Reply to
Ray O

My guess is that the car was used a lot in low milage stop and go driving. Wear like that is common on seats that have been used a lot. There is likely not an adjustement, but some loose parts could be replaced.

I would have a pre-purchase inspection performed by a mechanic familir with Toyota cars. You may have a plugged catalytic converter.

Likely an extended warranty. You might check to see if there is a time and milage limit.

You will need to check the warranty to determine the extent of coverage, deductible, etc. With some luck it will be from Toyota.

Reply to
John S.

Checking that the front seat mounting bolts are not loose every

20,000 miles is on the maintenance schedule for my Supra

I hate to say it but if reading a warranty or looking at something wiggling is to much effort then your test drive is pointless too.

Reply to
Danny G.

Thanks for all your replies.

I have more definitive news which quickly defines that I won't buy this.

Carfax says that the car was totalled, and then salvaged. Not only that, but the odometer is rolled back (or replaced with one with fewer miles.) One record says it has 96,010 miles. Then, the next record, 2 months later, it has only 46,010 miles.

I did see the odometer around 70 some thousand.

Which explains why the seller arrived in a brand new Infinity. He claimed he was going back to Armenia. And the new car was his girlfriend's. But then I caught up to him later, and saw him driving it, and woman in the passenger seat. The swine!

Who cares about the seat, when it has been totalled?

You can tell more about a car talking to the owner sometimes, than by looking at the car.

Reply to
condor_222

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