What to look for on Forfour Brabus

[RCR10]

I'm toying with a Forfour Brabus and was wondering what to look for when test driving and viewing cars. I have heard all negative things except they are fast. I believe there must be some other pros to these cars lol

[problemchild1976]

Re: What to look for on Forfour Brabus

Stangly there aren't many negatives at all

Who says that?? Reliable as anything.

Clutching at straws you would look for leaking rear shocks, noisy wheel bearings........Erm......stiff gear stick. REALLY struggling now. Erm. Wheels will not be straight on any car. Corrosion is v common and use as a negotiation tool @ £80 a wheel for recon as diamond polished and lacquered and not just painted.

Manifold can develop a hairline crack in some cases so have a listen/smell under the bonnet for escaping exhaust gasses. (New part is £200 - from Mitsubishi)

Make sure you get one with the sound pack (7 speakers with sub under passenger seat) but this may have been standard and I am forgetting as its a bit early.

Anyway, I know of a few for sale. Ranging from one with 90k miles and sat nav on it that is about to be part ex for £2500 so he's takin offers to a rare bronze coloured one on eBay (supposedly a factory special order) that has low miles and is up for about £3700

Good luck

JJ

[ZorroReturns]

Re: What to look for on Forfour Brabus

known failure on Brabus 44

Radio
Seat base to lose foam
Exhaust Manifold
Rears suspension struts (no weight on them)

If you going to buy make sure it has been documented the servicing:
6,250 oil/filter change
12,500 service
18,750 oil/filter change
25,000 service
and so on.......................

Cambelt should be changed around age/mileage

If the servicing is not good, walka way it has been run on a budget.... with owners watching the miles countdown clock and not reading the owners hanbook or brabus stick on the inside of drivers door with specific instructions.

[problemchild1976]

Re: What to look for on Forfour Brabus

Radio isn't a failure by the cd can get stuck but I only know a few cases.

Not hear anything about seat foam though.

Servicing - yes - important for any 2nd hand car buy but the interim one can be missed as its not listed in the service book, only on the door pillar.

HOWEVER, mine has never had the interim oil change as I don't cover the mileage. So it's not necessary for every owner.

JJ

[ZorroReturns]

Re: What to look for on Forfour Brabus

Radio isn't a failure by the cd can get stuck but I only know a few cases.

Not hear anything about seat foam though.

Servicing - yes - important for any 2nd hand car buy but the interim one can be missed as its not listed in the service book, only on the door pillar.

HOWEVER, mine has never had the interim oil change as I don't cover the mileage. So it's not necessary for every owner.

JJ

JJ, Radio issue is the CD's getting stuck - Smart replace as the loader is faulty
Foam underseat,I know of 3 forfours which have had this fate, tell tale signs are bits of foam under the seats
Servicing - my service book listed Brabus info which advised service at 12,500miles... the B pillar is the only clue of the interim service and any Brabus not with this carried out lost its 4 year warranty... so worth searching these knowing its a looked after car.

I know the service book was also very specific on the cambelt change- most owners ignore it - i wouldnt!

[problemchild1976]

Re: What to look for on Forfour Brabus

I know what you are saying re servicing but my car is now on 40k miles. And it's over 6years old. Under 7k miles a year average and I'm doing about 3k a year now.

It's never had interim and had some warranty work.

A car that has had to have the interim service would now be on 70-80k miles and there are lower ones out there for very little more than a higher mileage one.

Thanks for the tip on the seat foams - will keep an eye on that.

Cam belt is a very contentious one. Miles or age? And if age, how long has the car been sat before registered and how long has the belt been sat on the parts shelf before that

JJ

[CrazyG]

Re: What to look for on Forfour Brabus

known failure on Brabus 44
Radio
Seat base to lose foam
Exhaust Manifold
Rears suspension struts (no weight on them)

Cambelt should be changed around age/mileage

Radio/CD jamming 'in' is an issue with the Radio5 more than any of the others, though as most peops now want satNav and Bluetooth etc I'd advise whipping it out anyway and replacing it with an aftermarket double DIN unit. Ok, so if you had steering wheel controls you would loose the control for the head unit (as no one makes a compatible adapter for it), but hey no big deal.
Seat base foam issue ? Hmm..as Problemchild says...not heard of that from anyone on forfour.co.uk ? Weird. Ok, will take that onboard.
Exhaust manifold is something we're hearing about, and once again, as Problemchild said....replace with Mitsi CZT as it's the same but cheaper.
Rear shocks leaking. Had heard of that, but no one moaning or complaining overly on ForFour.co.uk about that. No more expensive than any other rear shocks to replace.
Mind you...you say no load on them ! The weight of the rear seats is phenominal ! Simple way to save fuel and get more go is to remove them !
Finally...the cambelt. Change time is mileage related. 60k replace. But if you don't do much mileage I'd reduce that to around 40K....for peace of mind.
And wheel bearings...fronts....expensive as is whole hub assembly. But again, depends on mileage and usage. If constantly on bad roads then expect it/them to go sooner.

[Mitchturbo FFO Timelord]

Re: What to look for on Forfour Brabus

My old 1.3 auto passion forfour had seat base foam issue on its passenger side. Would loose a little bit of foam occasionally over time in flakes. I never found it an issue though as I just Hooverd it up but just saying it does exist due to my experience. Lol its not like anyone died from a bit of flaky foam loss though hahaha XD

Since owning my brabus, had no issues of said in the above posts so far (except cambelt does need doing soon - skint atm/too expensive)