gurble

So i briefly looked at the buying guide sticky to get a sense of what you can expect from buying a used IS250.

I'm really looking for opinions as to whether this is a good deal or not.

Car specs :
06 IS250 AWD Premium package with navigation.
Exterior Color White - not sure the exact color name but it's very white.
Interior Color: black
Heated and ventilated seats - I guess this is part of the package.

Condition:
Exterior: 8.5/10 - No rock chips or anything on the front bumper. i found one on the hood. Paint shines like new still. Bumpers have no scrapes or missing paint . body has no dings. panel and bumper fit is excellent. Headlights are still clear.

Interior: 8/10 - the back seats are pristine. The front seats do have signs of wear but look better than most cars of this age. The leather is soft. you can tell it's been conditioned over the years.

Mileage - 117k. The guy let me test drive the car for 30 minutes. It drives excellent. Steering is tight and suspension is on point. The dash only rattles when over very rough road.

History: just got about a 9 page printout from the Lexus owners website of the services history. Same dealership and same one owner since day one.

Issues: Okay so there is some bad to this. The car has the dreaded "external system is not connect message" i can navigate the lcd menus but that error comes up when i go into the GPS mode.

Price: I negotiated the guy down to 10,500. Do you guys think this is a fair deal? I'm suppose to pay and pick up the car on Wednesday so i still have time to chicken out.

I'm sort of biased at this point because i just love this car. I just want to be sure i'm not steeping into a crazy expensive repair.

gurble

I'm also an experienced DIY'er. I've done the entire sound system on my Acura RSX. However that's a pretty easy car to work on. I guess take this into account for potential repair cost. Thanks for your opinions in advance. I'm looking forward to becoming a regular on this forum.

darkdream

That is around as cheap as it gets for a clean title ones with similar mileage. 10.5k is not much so there shouldn't be too much to worry about. If worse case you need a new lcd unit you can get a similar one off ebay or something for $600-$800.

gurble

I knew this deal was too good. Well i just confirmed from the dealer records. The navi needs replacement

the entry goes:

107762 FOUND THAT NAVIGATION ECU NEEDS TO BE REPLACED SWAPPED WITH KNOWN GOOD PART AND NAVIGATION WORKED AS DESIGNED

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Wow, it seems like you have done the researches. Make sure to asks for any prior accident and check carfax for clean title. Other than that, this is a GOOD deal. I say DEAL!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Ask $9k with the NAV issue, or $10,500 with it fixed.

Honestly it sounds like only the NAV disk reader needs to be swapped out for a good, working one. A good, used one on ebay can be had for a few hundred dollars + a new NAV disk for $100.

gurble

So i've gone over the history with a fine tooth comb.

More issues detected.

Dealer reported:

Display, navigation
Navigation, ECU
Shaft, Drive Axle (Rear) - needs replacing
Battery - weak, needs replacing
Spark plugs - They recommended be changed.

Next to all of these entries it says "customer declined".

I can do all the labor for all the entries above except the rear drive axle. I know this component is a regular wear item because i've replaced them in past vehicles. I cant find anything aftermarket or rebuilt units for this vehicle. How can a regular wear item be so expensive this is nuts.

I cant thank club lexus enough, you guys are saving me. i don't want to walk out of situation where the issues are known and go for another car that looks nice but i have no clue what hidden gremlins it has.

jst17

He obviously declined them b/c he is trying to get rid of the car. Drive shaft i goes mostly b/c of the high mileage, I mean you are buying a lexus after all. Although, I do feel that even at over 100k miles the drive shaft should not be going.

Good luck with your car hunt.

gurble

i'm at the point almost where it makes more economic sense to just lease a new one. at least if this is the maintenance outlook.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

Just to give you my 0.2 cents. I had an 06' RWD. The car was great and I did have a fix for the common IS250 "carbon build up." You can do a search in that item. Most of the maintenance is easy if you're a DIYer. Air filter, cabin filter, motor oil, oil filter, brake fluid, radiator fluid (100K), spark plugs (60K according to the manual), brakes, and tires. If you go to Sewell Lexus website you can get a discount once you register your CL user name in oem parts. Good luck with your decision.
Heres a link to a navi unit. http://m.ebay.com/itm/191441369756?nav=SEARCH

gurble

Thanks for all the help guys. so i decided not to go with that car. The guy was just too shady.


I took my cheap *** to a local dealer who had a lexus trade-in. I ended up getting an 08 lexus IS250 white pearl exterior. Black interior. The car has 77,000 miles on it. I think it was as fair of a deal i was going to get from a dealer. The service was great and they gave me a 60 day warranty. The car runs like new so i do not foresee any issues but it's nice to have because you never know.

This has extra features that the previous one didn't have
satellite radio - with the little shark fin thingy on top
Spoiler lip
Gun metal emblems
Headlights(upgraded)- When you 1st start the car they actually look up and down. i know not all cars came with these style headlights from what i read.

Paid 15k.

I'll do an official member intro later and post pics. Look forward to being an active member of this forum.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Congrats man for even a better car

Your mod bug begins already huh Make sure your watch your bank balance. Mine never went up once I bought the IS250 and IS350 lol because I keep spending more and more and more and more and more and more and it never ends...

MikeZero

Holy crap. Never get deals like that here in California.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

That is why I bought my IS350 all the way from IL and ship the car to CA about 1 year ago. I don't know why CA tends to sell the IS more expensive than many other states. Of course, there is occasionally great deals but they are gone super fast as well. I have been hunting the IS350 for like 3 months before I started to look elsewhere and bammm got a crazy deal lol.

darkdream

Well for cars that aren't sport cars, they are likely driven in snow. Salt + metal = rust. When I was looking for S2000. In a dealer lot, I saw what I thought was a low mileage clean S2000. I look at its under carriage and it looked like it came out of the ocean.