mikedozz

Hey guys, I was just wondering how many of the lex owners, especially the GS owners, keep there car the whole duration until the body style changes. Those of you that got your car in late 2005 when the 3 gen was introduced, will you keep your GS until the next style comes out in maybe 4 years. Just curious because I know the previous track record of the GS may mean we will see this style for a 7 year period. Thanks in advance.

EXP_Cougar

I will most likely keep mine that long if not longer - love the car and have no issues with it.

bobbyt01nc

well, I look at mileage 1st to determine when i would be getting a new car. I had my 2000 GS400 for over 6 years with about 140K on it before I sold it...granted the GEN 3 temptation killed me and I gave in and glad I did. It took my 3 years to pay off the other car and took me 6 months to have my new one paid off.. With that said and only having 18.5K miles, I plan on keeping this car until well over 100K and based on historical performance don't expect any major problems. by then i'm sure a new style will be out by 2012 and then I'll be tempted again

mikedozz

Bobby, when you keep those cars that long, do you sell them or trade them in, if you sell them yourself, does it take a long time for you to unload the car or does the GS sell pretty quickly, and if a trade, do the dealers rape you because of the high mileage. Just trying to figure out if I am going to continue leasing or finance a pre-owned 3rd gen GS. Can't afford the lease on it. thanks

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

Hoping that I'll keep it that long. I really like my 3GS and there's nothing else I'd get brand new for the same price range.

ajcsanders

I may keep the same body style but I don't know if I'd keep the same car...I'm already thinking of upgrading to a 460 and my 2nd 3GS isn't even a year old...maybe I should buy a new car spray to help me hold onto this one a little longer...

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

I keep my cars until I need something different, not just because the body style changes.

D2-AUTOSPORT

Same here, I dont really "keep up with the Joneses" of body changes. That being said there is thing I wont ever do again and thats buy a car that has already been redesigned when the current version is a HIT

I got my 1GS in 2001, and the 2GS had set the entire automotive world on fire, so when I got my car I had to keep hearing "Thats nice, why you aint get that new 400?". I hated that so much. Meanwhile if you buy a 2GS right now, its not that bad, because the 3GS did not set the world on its ear the way the 2GS did (remember we are talking 300hp V8, HID, Navigation, back in late 1997!!)

I keep my cars about 1-2 years on average, so once I get bored I change, new body or not.

bobbyt01nc

well, i've done both. Ideally you sell it private party b/c the dealer with high mileage cars will basically give you what the wholesale auctions are going for in that area. For my gs400 I sold, that was the longest i have ever owned a car..b/c it was awesome and well maintained. Since it was paid for, I really had the 3Gen itch back in Feb so in talking to my local dealer they intially in conversation offered me about 8-9K for trade in...problem was they didn't have preowned gs430 2006. regardless that would have been stealing from me and for that I would have kept it and got a new extended jeep for a fun vehicle to go along with my old lexus. anyway, i put my gs400 on craigslist to test the waters and sold it within a week sight unseen by the buyer.. he faxed me a certified check for the car the next day after we agreed. For a 7 year old car with 135,000 miles I got almost 16K back out of it...understand too it had the 2006 gs430 rims with new tires, SRT intake and a alpine/jl audio sub in it so it had a few extras. but for that, it was a done deal and then threw that money into my new one so for me it was no brainer esp. buying an 06 gs430 with 7K on it.
check out www.leasetrader.com for other options on leasing...its about people trying to get out of their lease and you can get some great buys...my brother told me about it..good luck

scottmyers

I rarely keep a vehicle more than two to three years. So my 07 will be gone before the new body style is here.

mikedozz

Thanks Bobby, thats is crazy that the car sold within a week, I tried to sell my friends 2001 Tahoe on chrome 24's and gave up after 2 months, we were asking $14K for an 01 with 85k miles on it. I guess Lexus really does hold its value. Also, I guess craigs list is becoming big, i always thought autotrader was the number 1 site, but it looks like alot of people that I know including yourself use Craig's list to sell cars. Is that only out of CA? I have been checking swapalease and leasetrader for some low payment 3rd GS's with a low buyout price, some of them are really high payments like in the 7's, so in that case i would finance pre-owned. I am looking to find a 06 GS430, on autotrader, most of them are going for 38-40, hopefully once the GS460 comes out the price will drop to around 32-34, my current pontiac lease is up in 6 months so I am looking forward to seeing the price of that car drop or even an 07 GS350 but I doubt it will be that low by time march.

AlexusAnja

I have an RX (first year) and I still have it and haven't thought about upgrading yet. I will add a GS next year, but not to replace my RX. I've missed the whole 2nd gen RX because I just didn't like the style. If the 2009/2010 RX comes out and it's a killer, we might exchange for it then. I tend to keep my cars forever unless there's a newer and better (performance, style, etc.) vehicle to replace it. Doesn't even have to be the same model.

bobbyt01nc

Mike, I was lucky and would think my situation would be the exception and not the norm. I asked for a high price b/c I wouldn't have gotten rid of it just to get rid of it. I really was just testing the waters...so much that after talking to my future buyer after 24 hrs he wanted my car. It caught me off guard and asked him if he could wait 7-10 days to give me a chance to look for a new car b/c I wasn't overly prepared to do so. He even told me to keep it as long as I need to but don't sell it to anyone else. It really was a sellers dream sale that I was grateful of...of course it only took me 24 hrs to find my car and another 72 hrs to have it shipped to my house. I also talked to the buyer after 3 months and he flat out said it was the best car he has ever owned and really loved it...
I did post my car on autotrader with no luck but found my new one on autotrader when i did a 300 mile search and it pulled up atlanta cars....called and had mine shipped down to fla. without seeing it...NOW that was trust in a vehicle but again I was lucky and it was perfect..(bought it from a MB dealer in Atl)
I would suggest at this point that you just look for an '07 GS350...there are a few things I wish i had that they do...including the latest NAV generation. you should be able to get good deals on these too as more become available...there really are not that many gs 430's out there. also the shark fin allows built in xm radio.

mikedozz

Hey Bobby, thanks for the advice, I have been searching autotrader as well and have seen 4 black Gs's (the color I want) all out of Atlanta, I have no idea why. We'll see when the time comes, I have always liked the V8, even if the V6 is a little faster, but when March comes and I could find a good deal on a GS350 for around $33, I would probably take it. Was it expensive to ship the car? Did u just search the internet for a car shipping company? Was there any guarantee by the dealer that the car would look the same as it was in the pics or any things like that, just curious because here in New Jersey, it seems like all the GS's are so expensive still. I wouldn't mind shipping a car from out of state, I have seen tons of them out west too. thanks again.

Gojirra99

Not 3GS owner, but looks like I will keep the SC at least until a new generation comes out ...