Gecko123

Hi

I'm new to the forum and I'm planning on purchasing an ES350. It would be a 2008 to 2009. 2010 would be out of my price range. Any tips hints on what to look for. What are the changes from year to year, etc.


Thanks!

mlacomb

My advice if you look at a 2008. Drive it dead cold. In other words, when you go to test drive and it's 40 or 50 degrees out, drive it fairly quickly after starting it. I didn't have the opportunity to; and I have the "knocking" sound in my engine while it's cold. Lexus states it's ok... and others on the forum here state that it isn't causing any damage, but I'd have much rather not bought one like this.

rx300mm

Are sure it's knocking sound ? When ES350 is cold, the drive is little noisey because of timing chain, once it's done few mins of drive it's smooth driving and quiet.

rx300mm

Your is a popular question and if you search this forum you get lotsof hits and advise on it.

jkeller

The 2009 are coming off their 3 year leases now. Look for one that is CPO. These cars have a lot technology, while very reliable, can cost plenty to fix. A good example is the water pump-2 grand because the engine needs to be pulled out What car design engineer thought that was a good idea?

AvsFan

I just bought a 2011 but I looked at a few 2009's. There seem to be quite a few on the market so you may be able to get one for less then you think.

As for standard equipment / options Google this "2009 Lexus ES-350 options". You should find a page that gives you solid information. I did this and found that the option packages were more confusing in 2009 than they are for the current model.

duckymcse

I just bought an 2009 ES350. Now, this sound scarry - 2K for water pump.
I'm curious when does water pump need ro be replace?

QUOTE=jkeller;7060010]The 2009 are coming off their 3 year leases now. Look for one that is CPO. These cars have a lot technology, while very reliable, can cost plenty to fix. A good example is the water pump-2 grand because the engine needs to be pulled out What car design engineer thought that was a good idea?[/QUOTE]

AvsFan

The water pump is not a maintenance part and will probably last for many years. But as with all mechanical parts it will eventually need repair. I owned my 1998 Buick Century for 14 years and it made it to year 12 before the water pump needed replacing. The CPO is nice to have just in case anything breaks down prematurely, but a 2009 model would still be covered under the basic 4 year warranty for approximately 6 to 24 more months depending on when the car was originally put into service.

dgraham

I would think that the water pump would be covered under the warranty - check with Lexus corp or at your local dealer even if you purchased privately - good luck!

billgUAB

Knowledge is power.
I suggest you learn about all the available options and packages here's a good link to get started: http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2009/...kages_options/
The Ultra Luxury package is a good one to look for (they have ten-spoke wheels) a lot of non-Lexus dealers don't know what they have and price all 350's the same.

carsgurus.com
When I was helping my wife look for a ES 350, she found cargurus.com which is an excellent car shopping tool as it pulls data from most dealerships and puts them into one database. The best part is that it performs its own statistics on each car and logs price changes and time on the lot. Knowing how long a dealer has had a car gives you a very good idea how anxious he is to sell it. I was able to locate a 2007 ES 350 with the Ultra Luxury package 89K in excellent condition for $16993. The dealer started it out in the mid 20’s and had three price reductions during the 100+ days he had it. Very useful information to have when negotiating.

Good luck!