Almost a liberty owner! Need advice

[Mav954]

Hey all,

Bit of an introduction my name is Brady I live in Hervey Bay,qld. Always been into road bikes and spend my time riding them and selling them at work. My fiancée is due for a new car and she loves wagons so a long time liberty lover we went on the search, we found an MY06 3.0R Spec B with 108,000km in brisbane for only $14,999 drive away, only thing other than standard is what looks to be a blitzen grill, it all seemed too good to be true until they said they 'can't find the logbooks'... I've chucked a deposit on it until I can get down there and check it out, and I spoke to our mechanic today and he said the 100,000km service is just under $1000 to be done so ill try work that into the price, but would you steer clear not knowing the previous 108,000km worth of servicing? I don't know whether the logbook is shocking and they don't want to provide it or if its genuinely missing... Either way I love the car and the price is right but just a little nervous and needing some guidance from people that own and drive them daily!

Thanks guys look forward to working my way around the forum, whether its this liberty or not we will have one soon!

Cheers, Brady

[alessandro132]

Hey all,

Bit of an introduction my name is Brady I live in Hervey Bay,qld. Always been into road bikes and spend my time riding them and selling them at work. My fiancée is due for a new car and she loves wagons so a long time liberty lover we went on the search, we found an MY06 3.0R Spec B with 108,000km in brisbane for only $14,999 drive away, only thing other than standard is what looks to be a blitzen grill, it all seemed too good to be true until they said they 'can't find the logbooks'... I've chucked a deposit on it until I can get down there and check it out, and I spoke to our mechanic today and he said the 100,000km service is just under $1000 to be done so ill try work that into the price, but would you steer clear not knowing the previous 108,000km worth of servicing? I don't know whether the logbook is shocking and they don't want to provide it or if its genuinely missing... Either way I love the car and the price is right but just a little nervous and needing some guidance from people that own and drive them daily!

Thanks guys look forward to working my way around the forum, whether its this liberty or not we will have one soon!

Cheers, Brady

Welcome Brady!

It almost sounds too good to be true! My first concern would be the missing logbooks. Without them it's impossible to tell if the car was serviced on time and not skimped on in this area at all. Potentially the worst thing that could turn around to bite you would be excessive oil use which could point towards the expensive end of replacement engine components (i.e. new short block = $$$) if oil wasn't changed frequently. Ideally you'd be flushing oil every 5000 kms for good measure with these engines. In terms of the 100K service, luckily the H6 is a timing chain-driven engine, which means you're not going to have to replace this nor worry about it snapping and munching pistons and valves!

If you can get a mechanic to look over the car they can look for all the basic stuff (oil leaks, cv boots, worn suspension bushes (OEM lower control arm bushes are particularly prone to wear)). Things that won't show up on a test drive/inspection will be excessive oil consumption or centre diff binding if the car is a manual. For the latter, you really need to be driving for a good half hour then practice some slow car-park style manoeuvring at full steering lock. If you get this loud clunking noise and the car is difficult to drive at this speed then your centre diff will be worn and will need to be replaced (also not cheap! ).

Are you buying from a dealer? If so, make sure you read the contract over very carefully, particularly regarding warranties. This will be especially important for things like excessive oil consumption/diff issues which won't really show up until you've probably signed away and bought the car.

In any case, I hope I haven't deterred you in any case as these cars are really great fun and an absolute joy to drive All I'm saying is do your due diligence and you can avoid financial heartache and enjoy stress-free motoring!

[Mav954]

Thanks mate! Don't worry about putting me off I think that's what I needed to hear haha, it is located at a large used car dealership in brisbane, will certainly be scouring over their warranty policies etc, it is the 6spd manual model also. At the price I'm thinking it may be worth the risk, although I know all too well how quickly these problems can escalade in dollars and stress lol. I'll be doing oil and filters myself so you'd recommend every 5000km? Really hoping it all goes ahead ill keep you posted, got the day off Tuesday to drive down and suss it out, thanks again!

[alessandro132]

Ah so it is a manual then. Add clutch to your checklist (any noises depressing the pedal, and bad shuddering when slipping the clutch out, and if it's slipping at all - best to test this in the higher gears and on an incline if possible).

Regular oil changes as well as proper warming up of the car are key to long engine life (i.e. don't give it the beans until you've been driving it for at least 15 minutes to give enough time for both the coolant AND the oil to be at operating temperature).

Good luck!

[Natty]

Which dealership mate? If its near enough to me, ill go have a quick scout for ya.. Just a general squiz to see the basics

[Mav954]

Hey natty it's in kippa ring/Redcliffe at 'all car wholesale', it had a scuff on the front bar which they are having resprayed and a dint in the bonnet they will have repaired to the best they can, certainly know how to spot a bad clutch due to previous circumstances haha, guess with that much traction it'll take its toll, thanks for your help guys

[Natty]

Cool.. If I've got time ill go for a run and check it out.. Might "have to" go for a game of golf at redcliffe haha

[Mav954]

Haha I like this place already, thanks mate I don't want to put anyone out! Will keep you all posted on the progress,was going to post a link for the car but they have taken it off their site

[Mav954]

[Mav954]

Ok so apparently putting a $500 deposit down to hold it for a few days to get down there doesn't work as it was sold Saturday.. Lots more to the story but let's hold up there haha, if anyone knows of a manual wagon in silver or white, must be 3.0R-B and or GT with 150,000km or under please let me know, will travel for the right car and have a budget of $17000ish

[RJ_]

Ok so apparently putting a $500 deposit down to hold it for a few days to get down there doesn't work as it was sold Saturday.. Lots more to the story but let's hold up there haha, if anyone knows of a manual wagon in silver or white, must be 3.0R-B and or GT with 150,000km or under please let me know, will travel for the right car and have a budget of $17000ish

How about a sedan?

[Mav954]

Sorry mate definitely gotta be a wagon

[RJ_]

Sorry mate definitely gotta be a wagon

Fair enough.

Hope you get a good one.

[bradr]

G'day Brady,

I would have thought that, legally, they should be honouring the deposit - have you considered complaining to the Consumer Affairs people over there just to teach these guys a lesson?

I wonder, too, if the car was so cheap because the log books were lost when the car became submerged in the floods a couple of years back?

Hope you have better luck with the next one.

cheers,

bj

[Kody.B]

This exactly^

I was all set to purchase a 3.0R-B when I did a VIN check and found it to be a flood vehicle.
What a nightmare - apparently the owner didn't appreciate too well a 16 year old lecturing him on responsibility for trying to sell a flood car as a "one owner, no accident" vehicle.

Make sure if you're buying anything from Brisbane to do a VIN check, as well as lift up the carpet in the back and check around the spare (silicone gets mouldy in flood vehicles).

Also, an RACQ check is worth its weight in gold. I told everyone I was looking at that I would like an inspection, but any little things found wouldn't effect , my decision.
If anyone got affronted, I thanked them for their time and walked away. I saw two 3L wagons a month or so ago at Salters at Marooka (bit of a drive from Hervey Bay unfortunately) but all of their cars have an RACQ check done. It's worth a look on their website.