1982 400i Auto Chassis ? on CL

Pleasant conversation; he has the car listed at $38500 but "will not take less than $35,000"...

He believes that not only his this 400 the nicest but that he has all documentation going way back and he told me how he acquired the car which I will not bore you with the story.

My question to this group of 400 owners that I asked him; the car is coming up on 100K miles; what if any maintenance is due at 100K on a 400; he did not know but said maybe a refresh of hoses,gaskets etc.

A buddy of mine said regardless of how nice this car may be I should not buy this car at $35K since it will hit 100k miles soon and drop in value some more; do any of you agree that this is too high a price for the mileage and what if any maintenance will add to the price shortly after it hits 100K as I would intend to drive this car often, thanks, Doc

 

There has been some discussion of cam chain and guide wear after 60k miles. Any indication of any of that type of work being done?

 

These v12 engines are extremely strong. So long as maintenance has been done correctly then I would not worry about the 100 k. In fact I would worry more about buying a car with low mileage !! Especially knowing that some clocking is definately going on !!

Jerry

 

he has plenty of records but I guess I was more wanting to see if the board thought for the money one should be getting a lower mileage car; albeit we ALL tend to agree that a high mileage WELL MAINTAINED car is better than a lo mileage garage queen.

Moroever the other question is will a 100K 400 bring $35K, that was my question ,the extra few bucks for a really nice car does not concern me but the selling market may say something else down the road.....doc

 

Well in the UK a 5 speed manual 400i with 90000+ miles in excellent condition was sold for approx £32000 = $50000 this year , so mileage isn't the be all and end all as Jeremy pointed out

 

Doc, a Ferrari V12 automatic that is approaching 100K miles and with a bottom line asking price of $35K had better have meticulous, by the book maintenance records going back to Day 1 as well as a recent new timing chain and a spotless engine interior, including valves, rings and bearings.

A thorough engine rebuild on one of these cars can easily approach $30K so if there are no records showing a top end rebuild, timing chain and maybe rings, along with test results (compression and leakdown) to match, I would negotiate hard. While the bottom end of a well maintained 400i engine should last well over 100K miles, I would think that a top end rebuild will be due very soon if not done already.

There are a lot of autos out there, no need to overpay for a pretty one. $38K is all the money and more for a 400i auto in the U.S.

Just MHO.

 

I wonder if we should adopt a new term that is more accurate. To me, a garage queen is maintained, polished and rarely driven. Most of these 400/412's are garage Biddys; waxed and garaged but never getting the service they really need.
These are old expensive cars so they should come with a pile of records. However , if the service records are for adjustments, tuning and typical wear items you can expect many thousands needed for brake rotors, suspension bushings, bearings, etc etc.

 

If I go forward I will be having a PPI AND getting records! doc

 

I think the asking price is a little bit high, yet, the car looks very well maintained.
I'm in the market for one; either red or light color with manual transmission would be my choice.

 

The color mentioned indicates a re-spray and the park lights are later ones. I'd be interested to know if crash history on this one.
Little info and lousy pictures in that ad don't justify the price. Could be worth it but not from here.

 

Hi,
I hope the supporting documentation provides you with the reassurance that this is the "real deal". The color combo is very nice. It has it's tools, new tires, manuals, California BAR/
Import documentation paperwork, and a clean legal title. Things most frequently gone missing.
In the repair orders there should be one engine out service to cover the timing chain issue and valves, guides, and bearings. With all of this information included with the car, the PPI should cover any use damage. As to the price, if this Black/ Saddle 400iA is the car you have been looking for, the 100,000 mile "barrier" seems contrived. It is only an issue when the documentation of the total miles driven is ambiguous.
I wish it was mine.

 

So I kind of agree that 100k miles is an arbitrary level. Much more important are maintenance and use of the car.
Having said that, over that level the worry level about a major rebuild increases and the car becomes much less marketable (at least in the UK) - do you really want that?

 

I am not following your comments? doc