kosturos10

Hello all,

I have read the hours worth of posts on the 2007 ES 350 and am a little nervous. A friend of mine owns a dealership and is giving me a pretty good deal on my trade in (a 540i) as well as a wholesale price (22k) on a 2007 ES 350 with just over 50k miles on it. She allowed me to drive the car all weekend and I have looked for all the "problem areas" I found in the posts I read. So far, no "diesel noise on cold start," no transmission flare (no matter how hard I try), no AC problems, no oil leaks at all, no nothing. This car is in pristine condition and has been serviced at the local dealership regularly. I like it SO MUCH more than my BMW. Nonetheless, I am concerned about the transmission issues. The build date is 11/07. Does anyone have any suggestions? I guess the real question is, can the tranny problem pop up suddenly this late in the car's life? I have never owned a Lexus before but am told the power-train is covered for 6 years/70k miles...Is that true? Should I spring for the extended if I get it? The only other cars I'm considering after much searching is are the Infiniti M35 or Acura TL. Thanks in advance for any advice...

Diogenes

Is this a CPO from a Lexus dealer?

Diogenes

Check the Lexus site for warranty details...
http://www.lexus.com/models/SC/warranty/index.html

kosturos10

No, it's not a CPO. It's from a private "higher end" dealership.

MadMax96

Curious to know what options are on that car? I just picked up an 07 w/ the Premium Plus package which includes Nav. and it had like 36k miles - got it for 23k. Mine needs an exterior detail pretty bad due to some scratches here and there in the clear, but other than that it's pretty clean. My build date was 1/07.

Unless you're talking about the UL package on the car - I personally think that price is only ok.

You sure about the build date? Generally if it was built that late in 2007 it'd be considered a 2008 model I'm pretty sure. 2007 models were built from like mid 2006 calendar year to mid 2007 calendar year (about 6/06-5/07). Someone else should be able to confirm this.

kosturos10

Sorry...Build date is 11/06, not 07. Car has every option except the premium sound and panorama roof. Nav, backup camera, etc. It's also in pristine shape inside, outside and in the engine compartment. Was yours a CPO? Any fears about the tranny?

Dave Mac

FWIW I had a 11/06 build 07 ES350 for three years with no transmission or other problems. I kind of recall that the transmission problem reports were winding down about that time.

Dave Mac

MadMax96

Mine isn't a CPO but I'm still under the factory warranty until next April or until I hit 50k. The car had a clean Carfax (1 owner, no accidents, decent service history) so I went with it.

I think the ones you have to be more concerned with are ones that are the first couple months of production. I think for the most part later models have been pretty solid. I personally would be comfortable with a car built in 11/06.

See if you can have the service dept. look up any TSB's that were done on the car (if they even keep records of that kinda stuff).

If the car seems good and you're happy w/ the deal I say go for it and don't look back. Everyone knows as soon as you find "the one" you'll always see something better/cheaper after the fact.

Also - if the person who owns the dealer is a friend of yours, it's probably safe to say they feel confident it's a solid vehicle. The worst thing to do is to sell a friend a problem car.

zhivuyatut

Powertrain is covered to 72mo/70kmi, no worries here.
I doubt many people took their ES350 over 70k yet, so it is hard to say how the tranny would fare. It is Toyota quality, you know, you can read that both ways. Well designed and quality built automatic tranny should easily last 150kmi.

For anyone approaching 70k I would recommend to get their engine mounts checked by independent mechanic. Those are covered under powertrain warranty, easily inspected, and may show signs of wear long before failure. Engine mounts may fail without easily noticeable symptoms and when one fails it will trigger a domino effect, putting too much stress on others. Modern liquid-filled mounts are quite pricey themselves and the labor to get to them magnifies the cost of repair.

rikkus256

It's hard to believe $22k for a non-CPO 07 with 50k miles is a "wholesale" price. There are a bunch of CPOs with similar mileages in my area (socal) advertising publicly at $22k. Unless yours is much better equipped.

For me I would definitely go for CPO is the price difference is minimal.

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

I think you are getting a pretty good deal, it all depends on the market of the area, and to be honest, the es350 is still the most reliable luxury car you can buy, so i wouldn't worry to much, especially if it has been maintained

garsarno

Go for the Lexus brand Platinum extended warranty if it is still available. It will be peace of mind.

AD&AD

In my personal experience, and judging accordingly - I wouldn't even dream of not getting the platinum protection on this model... or seriously, and more succinctly put: I wouldn't even consider a purchase of this model in the first place. Why go in the bullseye direction of a known problem-car in the first place?? We've had all kinds of issues running in the thousands of dollars before (on the house) and right after warranty (on us) with our ES 350. Transmission, prematurely gone south alternator (over a grand), axles, malfunctioning heater out ($2+K), squeeks, rattles and a load of BS in general - it's just gone on and on. All things considered, including poor dealer handling of issues AND the car, starting the very first week of ownership (!) I'm not likely a repeat buyer but you can never say never, I guess. Just cringing when I think of the tranny though and it's continuing flare issues and hoping and praying it won't go out a second time before selling and switching brand. If it does happen, I'm so screwed as we coulda' bought or leased a more premium car for no more dollars when you amortize it all out. First time tranny disaster was around 450 miles BTW. So, other than that, wonderful comfortable and quiet car that does what it's supposed to do in between the massive wallet-grabs