library1

Hi all,
I am a newbie here.We have been doing shopping, research, shopping, more research, test driving and decided that for our second car that an es350 should fit the bill. I fell in love with the ride on a 2007, and rode a 2010. We would like a CPO car..with a backup camera preferably...do you recommend going with a newer year such as 2011 with low miles or a 2010 with more miles..... Also some threads are suggesting that their tires need replacing around 30,000. My brother said he bought a lexus es350 in 08 at a non lexus dealer then brought the extended warranty. Can that be done? I am not sure if I want to go that route...Also, if you are buying a CPO from a lexus dealer, should you still take it to an independent mechanic to get it checked out (I have read some reports about Carfax not being reliable)....I guess the "more research" we do the more confused I get...

Any advice would be great!

Library1

garsarno

I would hunt for a 2011 and get the extended warranty. As you have read, repairs can be costly when the warranty goes out. Plus, lots of refinements over the 2007.

library1

We ruled out the 2007, 2008 after reading the threads on here...but it was my first experience with driving a lexus..but I was impressed!.Library 2007

mattds

I went with a 2009 with lower km's on it for a good price. still have some of the power train warranty on it and had a preferable colour combination (white with dark interiour) Stay away from the 07-08. I also realized that I ended up with a 'basic' car with the nav option alone i think. (this includes a slightly upgraded audio and back up camera and cooled seats). I don't even have HID's, but those can be added.

I noticed i save about 5% over models that had similar km's and year, and i don't miss anything.

(i did test a car with the glass roof and ML audio - it was quite nice lol, but they were hard to find)

RickC5

I agree, buy the latest year ES you can find that you can afford. Chances are you will have some of the original factory warranty left. That time/miles will allow you to determine if you feel you really NEED to purchase an extended warranty. You can get a good deal on an extended warranty right up to the time that the factory warranty expires.

Our '08 still had 1 year and about 10K miles left on the factory warranty when we bought it. After driving it for that year, I decided to NOT get the extended warranty, as we had no problems whatsoever. Still haven't had any problems. The ES has been remarkably problem-free. OTOH, extended warranties make some folks feel better--your choice.

Poqman

I test drove an '09 and '10 model. The difference I found was the '10 model had a USB jack to play an iPod through the radio AUX input while the '09 only had a 3.5mm jack. Also, the '10 model had chrome trim along the bottom of the doors. I finally bought the '09 with a CPO warranty. I don't regret my decision, the '09 has a comfortable and quite ride. As a bonus, I recently got 32 mpg on a trip from VA to SC. Good luck on your hunt.