THANKS: Ebay RX300 Update

[II kings 9:20]

"Boast not about tomorrow for you know not what a day may bring forth" Prov. 27:1

Thanks to all those who voiced an opinion on ship vs drive to get the ebay RX 300.
I took off Friday at about 7:15 pm from the Columbus, OH airport Alamo. I reserved a Cavalier at $119 one way including taxes. I also did the prepaid gas for $2.00/gal for $26. I would drop off the car without having to fill the tank. The guy getting the car said "I'll put you in a Grand Prix". Very nice, leather, fully loaded, great ride. Also, I got 18 gallons of gas for $26 but gave up about 6mpg. Still a good deal. I drove until 11pm, 227 miles to Crawfordsville, IN. The beautiful new Comfort Suites was booked up (IU vs Ohio State were in Indy for the Big 10 Tourney, Go Bucks!). I had the pleasure of staying in the Ramada Limited, right next to the skanky roadside nude dancing place , (they did have very good Buffalo wings ,no of course I did'nt go). I slept with "Mike" on my nightstand. (see below). I did'nt carry "Jim", not kosher to carry loaded firearms across state lines.

Back on the road at 0620, drove 300 miles to DeWitt, IA. I avoided the 55 grams of fat 850 calorie Hardees 1/3 lb Angus Thickburger for the entire trip .
Arrive at Thiel Motors 10:20, car initially looked good, non smoker, good leather, etc. I did note the tail pipe was rather black but not oily and did not smoke, seemingly no sludge problem, well noted on 99-01 RX 300s and other Toyotas. Here is a link, Toyata did the right thing unlike Chrysler.

Drove the car and the brakes were shot, the suspension was as loose as a 15year old Buick. Relatively easy fixes, but the shocker was THE ODOMETER SHOWED 4,000 MILES MORE THAN ADVERTISED. They had some lame excuse about cars being used as demos etc. I told them that is NY to LA and back to Phoenix. The deal is off, and I rolled out of there.

On the way back I quickly called Alamo and informed them I would not be dropping off the GP at the Moline, IL airport, no problem, they refunded my Mastercard $75 since I was returning to the point of pick up. (what a stand up company). They also said I could return it as late as 9pm without an extra charge . I filled the tank and rolled across Illinois and Indiana pretty quickly. I got to Richmond, IN, since I was averaging 28mpg I put 3.6 gallons of gas in to get me to Alamo Columbus on with with minimal fuel remaining in the tank. I ronically I returned the car just 15 min shy of 24 hours, 7pm. The comfort of the GP really came in handy, 1060 miles in 24 hours. I had to pee like a race horse and had to quickly find a john in the airport, finally, ahhhhhhh, I had to throw away my belt because the buckle hit the urinal . While waiting on my brother-inlaw to pick me up I had a grilled salmon sub from O,Charlies, perhaps because I was starving, it was really spectacular.

Needless to say this is the last long distance car purchase for me. Thanks to all for thier opinions, it helped me decide and it avoided a big disappointment. No big deal on the wasted 24hrs, I felt young again driving all those miles without a getting tired. I also have never driven in that part of Illinois and had never driven to Iowa before. (Making lemonade out of a lemon). The 4K really was not the issue, had I known I may have bid less, it speaks more to the integrety and honesty of Thiel Motors which is what really broke the deal. DO NOT BUY FROM THIEL MOTORS. Here is another opinion.

[srt8danno]

Wow that is a lot of information Kings! The imagery is incredible- especially about the belt buckle. Sorry the deal didn’t work out for you – but it sounds like you had a heck of a nice road trip at least. My hometown isn’t far from Richmond, IN. Glad you made it back in one piece.

[Rambit]

Too bad it didn't work out, but I'da kept the belt. What's a little urine anyway especially if it's your own. Urine itself is sterile.

Rambit

[ChuckG]

What!? You didn't check-out the dancing girls? What are we going to do with you kings.

The good news is that you had a fun drive. I'm sure you know in business, not everything happens the way you hope it should. And besides, it sounds like you have sludge concerns about Toyotas anyway.

[Riddler]

You should have brought Jim & let him express his frustration on the car a few times...

[GoofyTimL]

Sorry to hear of your disappointing trip. We were going to check out an RX8 in Indy the weekend we went to KC for a wedding, but then we decided to order the Heritage Edition instead. Saved us the stop, and making a decision "on the spot." Good luck in finding something else to take the place of the RX300.

[Northern Rider]

What a disappontment!

In spite of that, I believe you did the right thing by turning around and driving back home.

And - we all got to read a very entertaining story.

[artichoke]

Sorry this didn't work out. Too bad he gets off with so little inconvenience; he just relists it, says something about how the last buyer didn't have funds or something, and sells it again ... but let me take the opportunity for a sales pitch.

If you're looking for an SUV I would recommend used Benz ML's, especially the V8's which were built from 1999 onward. The V6's have had more problems, especially with harmonic balancers.

I have a 2001 ML430 myself and while there have been various little problems, the guts of the car are built to last a very long time. And it has the same V8 that they put in the S class. They have had enough bad press that they are cheap, and the bad press really was overdone. I just think the press wanted to force Benz to give up the true truck frame (it was a category killer and making it hard for everyone else) and go to a unibody crossover which they did in 2005.

The older ML's have unexpected nice features like a very tight turning circle (up until 2001; in 2002 they made it bigger for some reason). It is a Benz and feels the same at 100mph as at 60mph. They are ultra-safe in winter conditions.

PS in case it isn't completely obvious, the sales pitch is not for my car, I am not selling it.

[ktek01]

Originally Posted by II kings 9:20

I did note the tail pipe was rather black but not oily and did not smoke, seemingly no sludge problem, well noted on 99-01 RX 300s and other Toyotas. Here is a link, Toyata did the right thing unlike Chrysler.

Reversed the policy, a little at first, more later but only after national media attention, and the dealers getting all over them. Some of the people who fought Toyota for over a year on this issue with undriveable brand new cars would certainly not be handing them any do the right thing awards.

[II kings 9:20]

Originally Posted by ktek01

Reversed the policy, a little at first, more later but only after national media attention, and the dealers getting all over them. Some of the people who fought Toyota for over a year on this issue with undriveable brand new cars would certainly not be handing them any do the right thing awards.

Ko-Rect, they did the right thing kicking and screaming. Chryco still won't admit a problem with the 2.7 and has left owner's holding the bag.