I am looking at a 1999 35th Anniversary Limited Edition this weekend. I have owned two of these in the past and understand that the LE package is appearance only features.
In speaking to the original owner who seems to be forthright in his description and history of the car I only have a couple of concerns. I was able to verify the service history, Carfax, and AutoCheck none of which shows anything the owner did not tell me about.
Concern #1 is that he mentioned some water collection after rain. Seems the water collects in the lower corners at the rear at a seam. A search of the internet shows this to be a common problem. The internet mentions a few band-aid fixes that would appear to be temporary.
Concern #2 is that there is no service history showing that the intake manifold was ever replaced. I guess I view the intake manifold as a ticking time bomb that will go off as Murphy's Law would time it to be the most impractical time.
Calling around it looks that a new convertible top installed would cost $1,300 plus or minus a few dollars. Yes, I could try the temporary fix solutions, but in all honesty the factory OEM top is now 20 year old vinyl. I'm not sure if I would have the patience or ability to attempt doing a replacement top install myself which would save approx. $800-$900.
The intake manifold would be another $1,300 turn key installed. Or roughly $500 and a sore back if I crawled under hood and did a DIY job.
Figure in another $500 for new tires OTD.
Question, The original asking price was near $13K. I feel very comfortable that I can get it at $9,000-$9,500. which isn't a bad price for a 1999 nice clean low mile convertible one owner LE. But, after calculating in the cost of a new top, tires and intake I think it crosses the line of value.
I would appreciate any impute that you care to share and ask for honesty in doing so.
In speaking to the original owner who seems to be forthright in his description and history of the car I only have a couple of concerns. I was able to verify the service history, Carfax, and AutoCheck none of which shows anything the owner did not tell me about.
Concern #1 is that he mentioned some water collection after rain. Seems the water collects in the lower corners at the rear at a seam. A search of the internet shows this to be a common problem. The internet mentions a few band-aid fixes that would appear to be temporary.
Concern #2 is that there is no service history showing that the intake manifold was ever replaced. I guess I view the intake manifold as a ticking time bomb that will go off as Murphy's Law would time it to be the most impractical time.
Calling around it looks that a new convertible top installed would cost $1,300 plus or minus a few dollars. Yes, I could try the temporary fix solutions, but in all honesty the factory OEM top is now 20 year old vinyl. I'm not sure if I would have the patience or ability to attempt doing a replacement top install myself which would save approx. $800-$900.
The intake manifold would be another $1,300 turn key installed. Or roughly $500 and a sore back if I crawled under hood and did a DIY job.
Figure in another $500 for new tires OTD.
Question, The original asking price was near $13K. I feel very comfortable that I can get it at $9,000-$9,500. which isn't a bad price for a 1999 nice clean low mile convertible one owner LE. But, after calculating in the cost of a new top, tires and intake I think it crosses the line of value.
I would appreciate any impute that you care to share and ask for honesty in doing so.