krava

I have a 06 lexus GS 300 AWD I bought it in 2009 with 38K miles on it. I bought an extended warranty and at 98,000 miles and they replaced the cams and gave me new shocks. At 140,000 miles (September 2013) I got the lexus rebuild for the engine and put in everything else that I could in the engine while it was out. The only problem I ever had with the car was around 138,000 miles I had a rear differential leak and got that fixed by lexus. The car is at 180,000 miles and has no issues that I know of right now. (there is a small issue when it rains and I go through a lot of water I get the check engine light on for a day or so and goes away but every few rains that happens, and only in the rain so probably an exposed wire). I have $5,000 worth of exterior upgrades done to the car and I don't think I can sell the car for anywhere around what I would want for it. I don't know how much longer the car has to drive before the engine goes out again if it goes out. Maybe the piston fix, fixes it but I think the design of the car if flawed and nothing will fix it. In my mind I think I should get another car, put this car up and have it as a spare car driving it around town or on long trips or something to safe the life of it until it eventually goes out. The main question is will this thing go out again or not? the first time took from 06-2013 but does it go by the years or by the miles?

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

All car parts deteriorate with years and miles, even when just sitting in a garage for a while, seals can leak. I would drive the car daily and then sell it when you don't like it anymore to cut my losses. Have you looked into parting the mods of the car out first?

We just have to accept that these cars have depreciated significantly.

jbuffett

With as many miles as you have on the car already, it will never be worth much to anyone anymore. If you can get $8-10K for it, is that worth having the cash in your pocket? That's your call.

These are not unique or even niche vehicles, so I'm not sure if they'd warrant the "garage queen" treatment like what you're talking about. Especially yours with the miles that it has on it already. This car with only 20-25K miles on it in pristine condition is still not that valuable, because these are not really collectible cars.

Drive it until it dies, then evaluate the cost of the repair against replacing the car. Keep doing that until the car costs more than it's worth, then replace it.

gr8fulRed

here is what I would do in that situation...

first, determine a reasonable actual cash value of the car as it is NOW. (go get a "buy bid" from a used car dealer or go to NADA.com to book it out, etc) Take that amount (say $7000) and subtract that from what you would be spending IF you were to go buy another car to replace it. (say $18,000). If you would have to be financing that difference (18,000 - $7000) of $11,000 say...at 36 months at 5% or so...you'd have @ a $327/mth payment.

I would continue to drive the car (at 180k miles it will be difficult to find many buyers and dealers will NOT give you close to it's real value) BUT I would start saving the $327 or so per month. That way...you're continuing to drive the car and gets all the real use out of it, but you're building up a cash reserve to be able to put down on the next car when the current one finally craps the bed. Or, of course, you can use the savings to just fix the problem and keep on driving it. At some point though...it's just not economically justifiable to keep putting money into a worthless car. I have a 2003 Honda Accord V6 with 300k miles on it that I still use for my daily work vehicle (i'm in outside sales and drive about 25k for work per year). It's not really "worth" much according to a book...but I've done maintenance and have all history and know it's reliable. Instead of jumping into a car payment (I don't do payments)...i've always paid MYSELF a monthly car payment and then just fix issues as they come up or just pay cash for the next car.

If you're saving say...$350/mth and can get 2 more years out of your car...that's $8400 plus a little interest that you'll have to throw towards your next one. You may find that you can accumulate more cash by fixing "smaller repairs" as you go, rather than bailing on the car and biting off a larger newer car loan. That's my take.

Oh, as for "keeping it for a spare"....hell no. At least if you're not financially pretty well off. To keep as a spare would mean 1) more expense to keep it insured (along with the new car you get) 2) possible expense, but certainly more pain in the butt to store/keep the vehicle somewhere with it not being in your way 3) the value of it would continue to fall, regardless of how much use it got 4) cars that sit with very little use...still have problems because fluids aren't circulating, etc So...my decisions would be in the following order...

1) keep it and drive it, meanwhile building a savings earmarked for repairs and replacement of vehicle
2) Sell it now and get what money out of it that I could (to do this would require sale to individual)
3) keep as a spare

krava

The car will be hard to sell. #1 has a $2,200 insurance claim dent on the right side (to me it is small 2" dent but I got a claim and never got it fixed. #2 my uncle fat butt has damaged the seat and took a chunk out of the seat with his belt cutting into the seat in the middle and his fat butt hitting the door and the door facing where the seat belt is has tons of damage and needs a new seat belt container thing.The front has a ton of rock chips done to it and paint peeling off the front bumper and some paint peeling off the sides of the car. It is just very annoying knowing that this thing is going to mess up on me one day and I have no idea how long that could be, it might be 3 years from now but every day I go out, is this the day it is going to start messing up? My idea was to buy a car. I looked really hard at a 2014 acura RLX 1,600 miles on it with a tech package for $39K certified, it is in Alabama right now but after looking up the TMV price I am only saving a little on it and it isn't that Great of a deal. I have $85K saved up, but I do need a house one day so I might have to keep this thing until it starts burning oil and then either sell it or use it as a highway car then. I don't want to get all those rock chips on my car from driving on the freeway on long trips like I do all the time. I have great patience and might wait until the 2016GS F is 3 years old and then go ****** one up and keep that thing for 10 years. I think I Did pretty good, I paid $26,500 for a 3 year old car and put 150,000 miles on it so far and only $700 worth of repair. I can't justify leasing a car for 3 years and throwing away $30K and only getting 30K miles. IF I didn't do all the mods to it I would probably keep it as a spare but even though my car has issues. I have washed it and it looks very shiny and glossy and that red jumps off and the wheels are shiny and looks really nice (atleast at night it did in the parking lot) and it NO ONE around has anything like it, which is another bonus. I don't want someone else having what I have. There is not one modded 3gs anywhere in the city that I have seen atleast here and like I said the car I have now has 0 problems. Well that is a lie, someone at Toyota broke my ac so now I can only get outside air coming in and I can't do inside air only and I am stuck with that. Also since I got the car if I don't turn on the ac or the defrost the car fogs up for some reason since air always has been going through the top of the vent at the window the day I got it. And of course there is that Autocheck saying frame damage reported at auction which makes my car always want to go to the right and is pretty rough on my tires and I will buy certified from now on.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Uhh yeah maybe you should wait for the 2016 for sure and trade it in for lower taxes on the deal, or as your daily driver.

krava

my cheap *** don't want to pay $60K for a car. I am good in the 40's. I can' see buying a car and losing $10K the first year or even more. I am not done thinking about it but I am thinking about a 2014 acura RLX Tech with navigation package certified with 1,222 miles on it for $39K Everywhere I look I can't find a good price on a 2014 GS350. I need the levinson sound and also blindspot and prefer the inside to be black. I really don't like the wheels on the RLX at all. There is a bad *** looking GS here that I really like but they want too much I think. It is white F sport package I believe, it has 2 tone Leather seats red/black and also black wheels. They say it is some kind of special edition. Any Idea there?

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

The crafted line GS? In my opinion, its a gimmick.

I think you should drive this car until it fails, that way you can save your money and have patience for a great deal. A used 4GS will still run you in the "low" 40's, i believe, even then, its the 1st model year without power trunk and mirrors.

With the damage you mentioned for your 2006 GS, you should expect to get around 10k. My 2007 GSAWD with 10k in mods won't even get me near 20k. Like I mentioned before, these cars aren't worth nearly what we paid for it 4 or 5 years ago. I've got about 55k in my car... and expecting to be negative 40k by the time i sell it.

krava

I have massive patience. That is definitely an option to keep driving it until I get the Oil burning thing again then time to get one that is the time that I HAVE to get one when that starts happening. But if I do that, I will get a new car and start putting miles on it like crazy like I did this. I will run though 100,000 miles in 3 years or less and really devalue the new car. Another option would be keep this car as a spare. Drive the car twice a week or anytime I have to make that 500+ mile round trip drive to Dallas and back and rack up miles and all those paint chips from the cars infront of me. Save the new one and drive it just a few miles each Day or 4-5 days a week and not too far each time.
Are you saying that I need to wait until the ones that have power locks etc come down in price like which verison is that the 2015's? I know one thing if I wait and wait and those new 2016 GSF's come down in the 40's used and I still don't have one I am going to grab one of those for sure.

Asav

iTrader: (2)

I would just drive it until its done. you put 5k in mods to it that you cant get back in full or put on another vehicle you would like to drive. I would just save that new/new-used car note money until your current GS is done, then part it out for what you can and buy another car. If you part it out right now, and sell it you already admitted you would take a big loss. Why do that and have the car payment to deal with? That car is retailing for less than 11-12k with much less miles, no damage and no accidents. Its worth more to you than anyone else. That said, I don't believe in storing cars unless there is some sentimental value, truly serious luxury, or prohibitive due to MPG. you bought it to drive it and be seen in it while you feel good about driving it so keep making yourself happy until it runs out.