krava

Things are getting pretty serious here and I am looking for buying advice, different from what I posted before. Have any of you compromised before? (I am not referring to the people that have a lot of money to throw at whatever they want and don't care what it cost to get what they want exactly.) For instance, Right now there is a car here 2013 Lexus GS 350 with 6K miles on it Liquid platinum/Flaxen. It has the luxury package and blind spot monitoring, Park assist, Rear spoiler and preferred package. They want $38,900 non certified. I really want a car that has mark Levinson in it really bad though. I have tried the stereo and it doesn't sound much better then my 3gs now. The miles on the car is what has me interested in it. I don't have to have the radio but it would be nice to have especially keeping the car that long. Have any of you compromised before, picking something that you know is good over something you want? I also don't like the silver color nor the interior color of that car.

There is a car that is really nice also, 2013 Nebula Grey/Grey AWD with 24K miles or so. It has everything that is important. Luxury package, Mark Levingson, Blind Spot monitor etc (those are the 3 packages I really need. They want $37,500 CPO (talked them down on the phone). I don't really have to have AWD. I have it now, and hopefully no problems with the engine in this. I am leaning more toward this one then anything else since the RLX I wanted got sold out from under me.
Another question I have is, are deals like the above deal around all the time? I find it harder and harder to find ones with Mark Levingson in them and they say they are rare. What is pushing me to pick something up now (instead of 2-3 months from now when my primary car now gets sold) is what happens if there aren't any deals? I haven't been looking for long but are deals like this around all the time or not?

The final question I have is, is it better to go to a dealer then a private seller? I believe a private seller is hard to deal with because #1 what if they stole the car? (I bought a stolen car from a person on ebay once that had a car dealership so to say). #2 Who knows what is wrong with it? I see a F sport on ebay right now. The guy is saying MUST SELL NOW! I call the guy up and first text msg was which car? WTF is that? If you are a person and you have a car to sell and you need to sell it fast you don't ask what car you just have that 1 thing. I think buying from a dealership that specializes in that car is the best to do. The last 2 cars I have bought have been wrecks. 1 wreck was from Musgsntat Lexus or whatever in ST Louis, MO. The other in a specialized European place like NXPRESS or Dallas Motor Cars. I damn near dead set in buying a CPO from lexus themselves.

I have to appolgize for a few msg but I am trying to learn all I can as fast as I can. I don't want to buy a car and then tomorrow it is worth 10K less then what I paid for it. I want it to retain some kind of value. I know they don't appreciate in value but they don't need to drop like a brick.

I am trying to do paragraphs but It won't indent I guess spaces aren't working on this.

kerplunk38

Please take your time in buying your car. There is not a shortage of low mileage GS's now and there will not be a shortage later. There will always be someone wanting to sell you a car.

Do not put yourself into a situation like this where you need to rush into a car because you are worried there won't be a deal later. It just is not true. In fact now is when I'd expect to START seeing a lot of 2013's with very low mileage appearing as the leases are ending. This will continue for some time. Then the 2014's will start showing up, as well. You have nothing to worry about.

There is no right or wrong answer to your questions. You just need to decide what you want in the car and what you are willing to pay.

The GS is a solid vehicle. Is it the right vehicle for you? I don't know. You need to decide that for yourself.

shurik74

iTrader: (5)

best way to do homework...

1. check nadaguides.com (assuming you know what options you want), KBB is not accurate lately anymore
2. check craigslist.com for what owners selling for (your area)
3. check VIN history via Autocheck and CarFax (both) + Google
4. ask dealer if you want exact packages installed by factory (via facebook or email to internet sales person)
5. have mechanic or someone who knows cars check it out before you buy it

As kerplunk38 said above, if you take your time, you can find exactly what you want

SW17LS

If the Nebula Grey car has everything you want and you like the colors, then I would buy that. The CPO warranty is nice, and 24k miles is nothing...its only required two oil changes and one was free...so at least you know that was done.

6k miles is a nice low mileage one. but when you get into your ownership, 6k miles vs 24k miles isn't a big deal, and if you really want the ML audio and the Nebula one is in good shape, I'd buy it. Its $1k cheaper, has about $1,500 in additional options, and has the CPO warranty which is about a $2k value.

In perfect world I would want ML too, but I have the standard audio and I think the sound is very good.

sarcoptic

Personally I would take the one with 6K miles. I would make sure the car looks good and has the original factory tires (don't remember what those are). If the tires have been changed something is odd. CPO isn't really gaining you anything in this case. Sure you would have warranty through 100K miles but it is still only 3 years. The first one has 46K miles left for 3 years. Unless you drive a ton your not going to hit that either.

However if you are dead set on ML then purchase the one you want. In the end only you are happy. Finally 6K miles in 2 years tells me the car was treated like the garage queen it deserves or the owner was really old and never drove it

SW17LS

Not really. When was the one with 6k miles manufactured? The warranty is 5 years from the inservice date or 50,000 miles. The 2013 GS began being delivered in February of 2012. It could already be over 3 years old.

The CPO warranty is 3 years from the CPO purchase or 100k total vehicle miles.

krava

I am not sure when it was manufactured I have to look. The car looks in great shape but the inside to me looks bad (black stuff on the top of the car. The dealer said it wasn't smoke because he can smell it but I don't know what was up with all the black marks on the top in the head liner. If you want to know where it is, it is at holmes European in Shreveport, LA It is a Mercedes dealership. I don't believe I will be buying a car for awhile. My family doesn't want me to sell my cousin my car (he is in bad dept and also needs to get his family from overseas over here). My car drives fine looks fine and I don't really actually "need it". I want the damn thing yes but I don't "need it". I need to have up to 50K disposable cash to buy computers with and that will eat into some of that if I put money down on a car, so it can wait. I have to stop spending so much money out eating. $30-$50 a day out eating is a complete waste and I have got to stop that some how.

bclexus

Production Date for that car (VIN# JTHBE1BL7D5012502) was: June, 2012

dseag2

Agreed, and if you don't get the ML you will always wonder what you missed. FYI, the ML system in the GS is fantastic! I miss it every day in my S5.

rllx4gs

I agree with kerplunk38 and shurik74. Listen to them.

coach1

Good advice here. IMO....Certified with an established dealership is important(warranty is almost better than new)....and I would work through the internet/on-line department. It is a good tool, time saving, and you can play on multiple dealerships. Once you find what you are looking for, you also want to see and drive it in person.

SW17LS

I personally don't think it being CPO is that big a value. Typically the cars are 2-3k more at least. For what? A warranty? You can buy an extended warranty thats even better for $2k, and that warranty would be transferrable unlike the CPO warranty. The dealer doing a "140 point inspection?" thats BS. Any mechanic can look at it for you and tell you its condition. I've seen plenty of people on here buy CPO cars that have been in accidents, etc.

When shopping for a used car, the specific car is more important than whether its CPO or not.

BrazLex

SW13GS, I could not agree more with your point from the financial stand point.

Let me add my doubts as I am far from familiar with this:

Are there great low mileage non - CPO cars? If they are so great wouldn't they be labeled CPO almost by default?

In this specific case a 6K mile non CPO car doesn't raise suspicion? (accident or something else?)

This is key for me because buying a 3 year old car would save the biggest part of depreciation, thus allowing us either buying for less or buying more. (a LS instead of a loaded GS, for instance)
As a side note: While we use to say that the 3 year period "shaves" depreciation what I see in the dealer offerings is not exactly that. The CPOs sound expensive.

SW17LS

You see very new cars all the time sold by Lexus dealers that aren't CPO. The reasons are as follows:

1. Certifying a car costs the dealer money, so they don't certify them to maximize their bottom line, and hold the line on listing price. You can have any non-certified car certified if you want to pay the money.

2. When the cars are very new or very low mileage, the CPO warranty has little value, because its 3 years from CPO purchase or 100k total vehicle miles. If you have a car that is say, 2 years old, it already has 3 years remaining on the factory warranty, and with only 6k miles, it has 44,000 miles remaining. Most people won't drive more than 45k miles in 3 years.

I would not worry about a low mileage car not being certified at a Lexus dealer.

BrazLex

Many thanks. This helps a lot!