I have long admired the L405 and decided to take the plunge on a private seller used (and maybe abused) 2013 Causeway grey Autobiography this past Boxing Day. The price seemed reasonable and it had some obvious things that were off that did not bother me too much as I figured I could replace them easily enough, it is missing the engine cover, spare tire and wireless headphones for RE.
Mileage is 195,000km which is maybe slightly above average for an 11 year old vehicle but was not too alarming.
Cosmetically it was generally ok, one fairly big ding on front passenger fender (going to see if PDR can work) and a few minor scratches and chips all over. Interior is in nice shape but very strong smoke smell still lingers which I hope to sort out with an ozone machine.
Now for the not so good that maybe some of you can have some insights on.
Seller did not have service records as he said his independent mechanic shop (that he owns as a partner) did work on it as needed and not charge to the business and that was a flag when he mentioned it, but I overlooked it as it drove alright for the short test drives I took it on.
After deciding on it and exchanging the funds, the day I went to pick it up there was a park brake fault warning, he put it up on hoist and a mechanic found a wiring issue with the sensor which they fixed and light went away.
After I drove off it went well but then the next few days things turned out poorly.
The temperature started dropping to -15C and the windows would not defrost no matter how high the fan setting was or changing the temperature or flow controls. I chalked it up to possible residual moisture from steam cleaning the carpets but after leaving windows open to hopefully help dry out moisture there was little improvement in defrost. I went to change cabin filter and notice the flap goes up when recirculating button is depressed but does not come back down when button is off. I moved manually back down to what appears to be the fresh air position. Is that the correct assumption for the flap to be down as the fresh air position, or is it other way around?
I have read a few posts suggesting the L405 defrost ability is inherently lacking, so maybe that is the issue.
The charging system fault warning came on and that seemed to coincide with strange traction issues as if the wheels were driving independently and pulling the vehicle from one side to the other. I had not noticed this before. Could electronic gremlins due to charge system faults cause something like that? Maybe it just needs an alignment? But it did not exhibit this behaviour previously and did not hit the wheels against anything that might cause an alignment issue. It is perplexing.
When I go around corners the suspension seems excessively soft and there is lots of body roll, I was not expecting sports car handling in any way but it is extreme in my view. Is there anything obvious in the suspension that would cause this roll?
That is a lot to belch out in my first and I apologize. I am a little stressed out about things so early in my time with the RR and if anyone can provide some thoughts around my issues it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hello,

I cannot speak to the specifics of the problems you are faced with other than to say that a badly aligned vehicle can display some very odd handling characteristics. An alignment is cheap and often tells you little more about how the vehicle has been kept. Fingers crossed it may improve the driving experience.

Good luck.

Jon

Check the battery or just replace. These cars get angry with an old battery.