judd986S

I have been reading the forum for the last few months as my wife is looking to get a 2007-2008 ES350 for her next car.

My wife drives about 50k per year and I think the ES would be perfect. She is a technology sales manager and from time to time needs to carry a large board that slides in the rear seat along with a good amount of luggage in the trunk. she drives 95% interstate and puts the cruise on 80 and just goes.
We would like a car that gets over 30mpg, comfortable to drive, and has plenty of creature comforts.

The last few years she has driven a BMW 745i Sport and before that a 540i Sport. The 5 went to over 200k and the 7 will be there in a month or so. We are getting 24mpg in the 7 and her tires lasted over 100k ! (she is very easy on the car)

The way I like to look at a car is the cost per mile driven (fuel, insurance, depreciation, maintence, etc.) not just cost per month.
By my estimates the lexus will cost us $200 less per month and the cost per mile will be approaching 24 cents per mile versus the BMW that has cost us ~.30 center per mile

I do all my own work on a car so I only pay for parts and will be sure to use and post more DIY articles on this site if we get a Lexus.

here is the 7 that is currently for sale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXe3W...&feature=email


I usually post on Rennlist and Bimmerfest if anyone else is on those boards.

zhivuyatut

Welcome to the board. Nice cars you've got, and amazingly clean garage.
I do not know how your wife would feel about switching to ES350 from BMW 745.
It's a big change both in ride and pride.
BMW Sport is probably quite stiff and its V-8 is more powerful than ES.
And obviously ES is a step down in luxury/prestige from 7 Series.
Otherwise ES350 is very sensible and under-appreciated car.
I chose it over 5 Series Bimmer and MB E350 without hesitation.

judd986S

Thanks for the response zhivuyatut !
She loves the ride of the 7 and it is smooth riding at 4400 pounds but she does not use the power very often. Because we have the sport package the seats are heated but not cooled like in the ES or regular 7 series. I think she is prepared to drive a smaller car with less power if it saves on wear items. the 19" tires were $1200 dollars last year!
I tried to get her into a LS but she likes the look of the ES better so I have no issues with that!
Also, as part of the trade I am looking to get a 996TT with tiptronic so she can drive the sports car too. My boxster is a manual and she does not care to learn how to drive it.

The garage is for parking cars only so I try to keep it clean. The work is done in the other garage (this one is not nearly as clean!)

miniz

First, good luck with the sale of the 745i because you will need it. You can barely give away an average 03 745i, let alone something with insanely super high nearly 200k miles. I have no doubt your cost per mile will be reduced drastically. The 03 7 series was an bangle butt electrical reliability nightmare on wheels. I would be shocked if it didn't give you lots of problems, however the highway mileage may have helped it break down less. She may have to get used to a car where all the electronics actually work and don't break if she gets a Lexus. Is she ready for that? I would advise you to get two cars for her, so she can split the mileage. 50k per year on one car is insane. The depreciation is just off the charts, driving tractor-trailer mileage on a regular sedan. 25k per year is a lot better.

LexBob2

Have you guys considered a CPO GS?

If you go ahead with an ES350, it's probably a good idea to make sure it wasn't a dealer loaner car, even if it's a CPO - You can imagine how those are driven and treated.

Good luck on your decision..

tardorange

Welcome to CL! Nice to see a fellow bimmer owner! My 2008 BMW 5 series has been more reliable then my 2007 Lexus ES350. If I had known this before I purchased the ES I would have gotten a 2008 BMW 3 series or a 2008 Mercedes C class.

If your wife liked the 7 series I would suggest checking out the 5 series. A 07 CPO 5 series with low miles can be had for a very good price and with the 6/100k warranty your covered.

judd986S

The BMW has been quite reliable, and we had a few electrical glitches pop up but I have BMW software loaded on a Laptop so I can read and erase codes.

Miniz, you cannot be serious about getting two cars and splitting the miles right?!
That would be a terrible idea because you would have fixed costs with each car and the lower the miles the more depreciation / mile it costs to drive. (Think about it this way, does a car lose more value being driven from 2k -22k or from 82k - 102k?)

We looked at a GS but the car actually has less storage space and due to the RWD it has a torque tube that runs down the center of the car and makes it hard to load the equipment in the rear seat. I love the look of the GS though!

judd986S

The car I am looking for is Gray with a black interior, Heated / Cooled Seats, and Nav.
2007-08 with ~50k miles. There seems to be a lot of lease trade in cars in that range at this point.

miniz

Yes, the two car idea is for real. I know of several high mileage drivers who do this buying new or nearly new car. It works great. Instead of hitting 200k miles on one car in 4 years, it takes 8. You can also alternate, keeping each car 3-4 years, then dumping it at the golden 87-88k mile mark to reclaim maximum resale value before 100k. This avoids having to buy two cars in one year and also avoids depreciating the car down to peanuts. Nobody wants to a buy a used car that travels 50k per year, or a 4 year old car with 200k+ miles. There is very little value left, even in the best cars at 200k miles. You need to factor in residual resale value. There is more to the equation then cost per mile. At this point, you should just keep the BMW because it isn't worth much anyway, and then get an ES, then start the alternation.

judd986S

The first owner of our 2003 745i paid 84k for the car then traded it in on a new 750 in 2007. Not sure what they got in trade but I paid ~28k for the car with 72k miles on it. It cost them at least 56 THOUSAND dollars to drive the car 72k miles. My wife drove from 72k - 196k so far and even if the current value was zero it cost us ~30k. (trade in offer was 11k on a Lexus ES 350 3 months ago when we started looking)

at 4 years old a car is worth 40-50% of it's MSRP with 50k miles. The plan is pick up an ES350 for ~20k drive it another 150k miles then sell it for ~4-6k when it is 7 years old. (10-15% MSRP)

Seriously, if you can show me the numbers of how my wife can have two 2010 ES350's instead of one 2007 model I will get them both.

FYI I plan on getting a loan for ~15k over three years so the car is paid off when our use is done and we are not upside down on the car at any point.

MadMax96

For someone who maintains their own cars (like I will do once out of warranty) I think the ES will be great. Many people scoff at how it's a tarted up Camry. Well we all know once you get beyond the drivetrain the cars are pretty different.

I see this as an advantage however - when it comes time to do brakes and stuff like that, it should be relatively inexpensive or at least pretty reasonable to do the job. Also if you get your parts locally, there's a good chance they'll be in stock since the Camry is such a popular vehicle.

For my previous car ('99 LS400) the prices could climb up there - especially since no other vehicles shared parts with it. Since local places had to special order the part, I'd end up just going other routes and ordering online to get a better discount since the local convenience wasn't there.

It sounds like since you know what you're doing and your wife is easy on the cars, ANY car you own will last a long time since it will be kept up meticulously.

Try and get yourself a 2008 if you can since the minor bugs seem to be worked out - or at the very least make sure the 2007 is from a later production run say 11/06 and newer.

Oh yeah - have her test drive an ES if she hasn't already done so. Might look good on paper, but if she doesn't like the way she feels in it (moving or even just sitting still) it might not be the "one."

Good luck (and welcome!)

judd986S

Thanks Mad Max! yes, she has driven one but only for 10 min. I would love to rent one for a few days but I do not know of a place that would do that. I have read on here to stay away from the early 07 cars.
What is the "transmission flair" everyone talks about? does it slip out of gear or something?

It would be great if it shared parts with the Camry. I am all for volume discount on parts!

I had a guy email me on Craiglsist who has 290k on his 07 ES with no major problems at all. That is great news.

tardorange

My vote remains with looking at 07-08 5 series. If you look at a 2007 525i or 530i both those cars get around 30MPG on the highway and the older 5 series is the same size as the current ES.

judd986S

I will give them a look but I think they are sitting ~5-8k higher in price than the Lexus. (with the options we would like)

jagbagri

I just sold my BMW '06 530i as it went out of warranty and BMWs are expensive to maintain out of warranty. I was looking at 2007-08 ES350 but after extensive research I did not want to take any chances and opted to say away from 2007 ES. I found a really good deal on a nearly new 2010 where the original owner took the biggest hit (price wise). it has only 9300 miles.
I'm very happy with it.
Good Luck in your search.