Buying a Diablo
Discussion
Going to look at a Diablo on Saturday, it is a very early example- 1991- and I wondered if anyone has any advice on what to physically look out on the car and any external or when driving signs of wear or unreliability that could be indicators of big bills to come in the future.I'll get a specialist to have a look if I decide to buy but it would be great if anyone could give me pointers as to common faults that I should look out for.
Cheers! HTF.
Cheers! HTF.
Is it the red early car on Auto Trader?
A friend went to see it and walked away, because (in his words) it is a shed.
Needs a total respray, retrim and it has an oil leak.
It is the original Lambo UK road test car.
Carlo at Top Gear Cars has a very nice red one for about £47k that has Brembo brakes and 18 inch wheels. That is meant to be a good one.
Good luck whatever you get.
Pictures required!
A friend went to see it and walked away, because (in his words) it is a shed.
Needs a total respray, retrim and it has an oil leak.
It is the original Lambo UK road test car.
Carlo at Top Gear Cars has a very nice red one for about £47k that has Brembo brakes and 18 inch wheels. That is meant to be a good one.
Good luck whatever you get.
Pictures required!
Quentin
As it's an early Diablo, it's almost certainly a well known car - especially in your neck of the woods!
You may notice the various postings from the very evil doctor fish who is, I am happy to confirm, actually incredibly evil - and owns a Diablo of similar vintage to the one you are going to see.
Please let us all know where you are going to see this car, who has it for sale, who the previous owner(s) are etc, etc...
You can send me a pm via PistonHeads, I'm a little embroiled in trying to help my Dad who's just had another stroke which has just about done for his cognitive and now-understanding abilities and getting LCUK's magazine to the printers and, ooo yes, trying to make a living as well but feel free to get in touch if you want to...
Actually - dear fellow PH'ers - especially LCUK people - give this chap a hand if you can!!
As it's an early Diablo, it's almost certainly a well known car - especially in your neck of the woods!
You may notice the various postings from the very evil doctor fish who is, I am happy to confirm, actually incredibly evil - and owns a Diablo of similar vintage to the one you are going to see.
Please let us all know where you are going to see this car, who has it for sale, who the previous owner(s) are etc, etc...
You can send me a pm via PistonHeads, I'm a little embroiled in trying to help my Dad who's just had another stroke which has just about done for his cognitive and now-understanding abilities and getting LCUK's magazine to the printers and, ooo yes, trying to make a living as well but feel free to get in touch if you want to...
Actually - dear fellow PH'ers - especially LCUK people - give this chap a hand if you can!!
XXVIII said:
the very evil doctor fish who is, I am happy to confirm, actually incredibly evil
I can confirm this also, he's incredibly evil, has a leather chair, a white cat and lives in a hollowed out semi-detached volcano.Good luck with the car. It will either have blisters on the paintwork, or have been resprayed before, so don't be put off by either, as it's inevitable in an ally car that age.
Heard similar stories about the original lamborghini show car on autotrader.
It is the red one on Autotrader, I wasn't expecting a minter but htought it may be a good project. Seems that it may not be worth it after all. I had been warned by the seller that it needs a respray but thought that if it was mechanically sound then the respray would have it looking mint and I may be a little ahead cash wise than I would have been paying a bit more from a dealer.
As a matter of interest was the shedness in the cosmetic presentation or in the whole car? Don't like the sound of an oil leak. I've just had a look at the Top Gear one which looks nice but seems a lot more money. Would I be naive in thinking that I could not get the other motor up to scratch for less than the £12K difference?
As a matter of interest was the shedness in the cosmetic presentation or in the whole car? Don't like the sound of an oil leak. I've just had a look at the Top Gear one which looks nice but seems a lot more money. Would I be naive in thinking that I could not get the other motor up to scratch for less than the £12K difference?
Hi there...
I chose between the red one at Carlos and teh one I eventually bought... It's a very nice car. I'm no mechanic but if Carlo says its sound then it is!
The red one on Autotrader...
The only thing that worries me is the oil leak!
Paint - meh - It's fixable - Get it done by a GOOD paint place and it needn't cost you 'Lambo money' Eg Sinclaire's in Romford do Lotus cars mainly but I've seen their work and it's excellent - yo'd be looking at more like £6k there.
I went through the exact same thing with the Lotus guys who all expected to pay over the odds - yet the job is no different than on any other car. A *good* paint guy is a good paint guy no matter who made the panels he's spraying!
Interior - Likewise - I've seen teh work of a Coachwork polace in Birmingham who did a friend's car and it was *su-perb* All came in at less than £2k yet no corners cut and the leather wasn't sh|te either!
What DOES worry me is that oil leak! Get that checked out by a mechanic as Lambo innards ARE b|oody expensive! lol
I chose between the red one at Carlos and teh one I eventually bought... It's a very nice car. I'm no mechanic but if Carlo says its sound then it is!
The red one on Autotrader...
The only thing that worries me is the oil leak!
Paint - meh - It's fixable - Get it done by a GOOD paint place and it needn't cost you 'Lambo money' Eg Sinclaire's in Romford do Lotus cars mainly but I've seen their work and it's excellent - yo'd be looking at more like £6k there.
I went through the exact same thing with the Lotus guys who all expected to pay over the odds - yet the job is no different than on any other car. A *good* paint guy is a good paint guy no matter who made the panels he's spraying!
Interior - Likewise - I've seen teh work of a Coachwork polace in Birmingham who did a friend's car and it was *su-perb* All came in at less than £2k yet no corners cut and the leather wasn't sh|te either!
What DOES worry me is that oil leak! Get that checked out by a mechanic as Lambo innards ARE b|oody expensive! lol
will smith said:
save yourself the grief, buy one from carlo, always has a good selection and i would not buy a lambo from anyone else!!!!
its a long way but well worth the trip
nice settee's as well!!!!
...even if they are Ferrari settees... its a long way but well worth the trip
nice settee's as well!!!!
... 
for the record, I haven't actually driven that particular Diablo, although I often wish I had... It is a car that I've certainly seen being used in a proper manner and very firmly indeed on many occasions. Carlo likes to keep his customers as happy as possible and the cars he sells to them as close as he can - you wouldn't be planning on taking any car you might buy from him to say, erm, Remoteville-on-Sea, near Farstate Lostlandshire would you??
Safest for me to say that when buying a Lamborghini, a person needs to take a cold and hard a look at as many cars as possible - any car you see can be made to look great and if you are already set on buying one somehow it will be all too easy to be trapped by one of the thankfully rare bad cars or sadly not that rare iffy dealers... (no names and no pack drill - this is PistonHeads!)
Either way, by far the best recommendations come from those who have been there, done that. If people like the service and the cars they get, they say so, usually here... and on the other hand, you can gauge some cars and some dealers by a certain 'lack' of positive comments in many cases! Lots and lots of those people who have done the deed, one way or another and bought a Lamborghini older or newer, (evil doctors or pinko-Diablo Roadster drivers - or not!!) are here on PistonHeads and are also Members of Lamborghini Club UK.
So, at the risk of jumping the gun but as we all seem to say these days: WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE!
ps and yes, in m'yum-bull o'peenyon, a Diablo for less than £40k is a Diablo with a pending £10-£15k stack o' bills awaiting payment...
ps and yes, in m'yum-bull o'peenyon, a Diablo for less than £40k is a Diablo with a pending £10-£15k stack o' bills awaiting payment...
[/quote]
10k to 15 is probably conservative dont you think david!
its easy to save 5k on the purchase of a diablo and regret it later, buy from carlo and you will be safe in the knowledge that it will be a good car and he will provide you with exceptional after sales service,
XXVIII said:
ps and yes, in m'yum-bull o'peenyon, a Diablo for less than £40k is a Diablo with a pending £10-£15k stack o' bills awaiting payment...
This is rather what I feared, given what you've all said I'd be a mug not to give Carlo a call, I will do that, I'm also impressed by the positive comments about the red diablo he had, Top Gear is a chuffing long way from London but I suppose it's worth a long drive to save £10K worth of repair bills!!Does anyone know the white Diablo sold at Benz Bavarian? Seems like a tidy motor from the description but had covered nearly 40K miles so I'm a bit wary.
A pal of mine who had a Diablo said that his had a front suspension modification to avoid dirt getting in and I shold look out for cars that have had similar- is this essential? And if it hasn't been done is it a very costly job?
Thanks for the advice and encouragement everyone, the first thing I'll do after getting the motor and going for a long drive will be to send off a LCUK membership app!
Hello again.You don't actually need to own a Lambo (yet!) to join LCUK.I was in a similar situation and found joining LCUK invaluable.Very friendly people also.You could always attend the "Auto Italia" Italian car day at Gaydon Sunday 14 TH September and meet the owners and their cars and interrogate them to your heart's content.Cheers,Huw.
The white one? IS that the one with the horrendous Red, White and Green interior (subjective, yes, I know) It also has Football Italia plastered all over it - all that cr@p will need taking off imo! If they're just stickers then it's not problem but if it's sprayed on then you're looking at an extremely costly 'repair' :P
It has come down form £60k already and is bevoming increasingly 'realistically' priced considering the 'design-vandalism' done to it by a p.o!
There was as *stunning* looking silver car knocking about but that's taking you up to £60k
At the 'beginner' end of the market - be in NO hurry to buy - it's VERY easy to make a mistake you really can't afford to make.
As for Top Gear Cars... slEasyJet! Takes and hour from Luton definitely the way to do it. I flew there and back in an evening. (BA Out of Heathrow, back to Gatwick! Rock and Roll!)
It has come down form £60k already and is bevoming increasingly 'realistically' priced considering the 'design-vandalism' done to it by a p.o!
There was as *stunning* looking silver car knocking about but that's taking you up to £60k
At the 'beginner' end of the market - be in NO hurry to buy - it's VERY easy to make a mistake you really can't afford to make.
As for Top Gear Cars... slEasyJet! Takes and hour from Luton definitely the way to do it. I flew there and back in an evening. (BA Out of Heathrow, back to Gatwick! Rock and Roll!)
hunt_the_fox said:
XXVIII said:
ps and yes, in m'yum-bull o'peenyon, a Diablo for less than £40k is a Diablo with a pending £10-£15k stack o' bills awaiting payment...
This is rather what I feared, given what you've all said I'd be a mug not to give Carlo a call, I will do that, I'm also impressed by the positive comments about the red diablo he had, Top Gear is a chuffing long way from London but I suppose it's worth a long drive to save £10K worth of repair bills!!Does anyone know the white Diablo sold at Benz Bavarian? Seems like a tidy motor from the description but had covered nearly 40K miles so I'm a bit wary.
A pal of mine who had a Diablo said that his had a front suspension modification to avoid dirt getting in and I shold look out for cars that have had similar- is this essential? And if it hasn't been done is it a very costly job?
Thanks for the advice and encouragement everyone, the first thing I'll do after getting the motor and going for a long drive will be to send off a LCUK membership app!
Carlo's a top bloke and really knows his stuff, pretty sure I'll be buying my next motor from him early next year once I decide between a 355 Spider (gorgeous future classic) 360 (so much car for your money at current prices) and a Diablo (head says Fezza, heart says Lambo!)
I'll vouch for Carlo, even if you do get problems with one of his cars he is very grown up about it! One more piece of advice, buy the blue Countach instead of the Diablo, then when you've made a profit in a few years time you will thank me........also it is a very nice example!
And it's got a bigger wing!
And it's got a bigger wing!
Edited by Redwing on Friday 29th August 11:43
hunt_the_fox said:
Would I be naive in thinking that I could not get the other motor up to scratch for less than the £12K difference?
Extremely.Always consider the seller's perspective. If there were easy gains to increase the selling price, the seller would have done it already, even on a credit card if needed. Repairs always cost more (if done properly) than the increase in value. Some things are worth taking on yourself where your own labour is free compared to expert help. Engine work is normally excluded from such equautions. Good paintwork also. Parts are never cheap. Sounds almost like there is no such thing as a free lunch.........
Easy life = Buy the best you can afford. full stop.
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