lexluger69

so you might have seen my thread on a is250 i was looking at that fell through. i decided to take your guys advice and look for a is350. i just found what looks like a sweet deal for one at a dealership the state next to mine

$16k
2006 is350
54xxx miles
one owner

i checked out the car fax and says the car does have an open recall which I'm hoping i could just bring it to lexus for them to address it after i get the car. other than that, the carfax looks clean but I'm going to double check the lexus service records from the lexus drivers site. i set up an appointment to check it out this weekend since it looks clean and stuff

my only concern: the car looks like its from a new york owner and i know with hurricane sandy a few years ago there has to be a lot of flood damaged cars out there. the car is being sold by a BMW dealership and not some used car dealership so i'm hoping they wouldn't sell me a flood damaged car. I'm hoping that someone just simply traded in one luxury car for another. I'm coming from a WRX that was in an accident and an absolute nightmare that spent more time getting fixed then driven so I'm a little but paranoid about this kind of stuff


other than that, its looking good that i may drive away with this car. thoughts? suggestions? comments? help?

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

If there is major flood damage, it should be noted in Carfax and the likes. You mentioned it has no such problem, didn't you? If the car has flood issue, you can detect that in the interior carpet floor and underneath the car with visual inspection. Also, test drive the car, pay attention to all the clunking noises if any and how smooth idle and the transmission shifting.

The price you get there is very attractive and the miles is very low comparing to many other 06 IS350. One owner is a good thing. Check drivers.lexus.com for its maintenance record.

If this very same car is in CA, it will be sold very quickly.

lexluger69

I definitely will check all those things, I appreciate it.

A couple things stuck out to me when I just checked the service record:

About 6k miles before it was sold this came up, looks like it was the last thing done on the car

REPLACE CAMSHAFT TIMING GEAR ON IS - CUST.REQUEST DLG CAMPAIGN PERFORMED - PERFORM SSC DLG - 48629 PERFORMED SSC DLG

and then what looks like some minor things

2007 with 14k
NON WARRANTABLE OPERATION CODE - CUST STAES UPON ACCELERATION HE HEARS A BUZZING NOISE COMING FROM THE RIGHT FRONT - PERFORMED ROAD TEST, COULDN'T DUPLICATE CUSTOMER'S CONCERN AT THIS TIME. BUZZING SOUND MAY COME FROM HIGH PRESSURE FUEL INJECTOR. ANOTHER ROADTEST WAS DONE WITH ANOTHER TECH. BOTH TECH AGREED NOISE IS NORMAL.

2008 with 23k
FRONT/REAR BODY - WHEN STARTING THE CAR AFTER A COLD NIGHT OR NOT USING THE CAR, HE HEARS A RATTLE - CUST. STATES - FROM THE FRONT - ENGINE AREA, OR UNDER THE CAR - WHEN 1ST STARTED, AND AT IDLE - SEE ANDY, IF NEEDED - TECHNICIAN STATES - VERIFIED NOISE, TISB EG019 - 07 APPLIES. TECH. STATES - ORDERED REQUIRED PARTS FOR REPAIR.

2008 few miles later
OTHER INSPECTION - PLEASE INSTALL AIR SURGE GASKET C/S ENGINE MAKES NOISE /RATTLE AT START UP - PERFORMED TSIB EG019 - 07 CONFIRM PROPER OPERATION AT THIS TIME

2008 with 25k
OTHER INSPECTION - UNDER CAR COVER ORDERED - UNDER BODY COVER WAS HIT AND DAMAGED - INSTALLED NEW VEHICLE UNDER BODY COVER SEE HISTORY INV 363802

it looks like there's been a bunch of recall work done and then it looks like the rotors were replaced a couple times due to them warping.

now I'm by no means car savvy at all so i'm not sure if all this is some major damage. the camshaft thing doesn't really sound good though. any help?

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

These sound like typical concerns the first owner have and results seem to be either no issue or being fixed. It also seems like the first owner takes care of the car quite well as you can tell all the services were done at the Lexus dealership. The IS350 is very reliable car. It did go through a lot of recalls.

Rotors are wear and tear items and as long as you use a good rotors, that shouldn't be a problem.

This car looks fine to me. I have a 2006 IS350 almost at 100k miles. I have tracked it heavily too and no major problem whatsoever.

Your test drive, and in person inspection is your best bet now. The price is quite right.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Let us know how everything turns out.

lexluger69

Awesome, my minds a little more at ease now so I'll be checking it out on Saturday so we'll see how it goes!

Thank you for being so helpful

Knarf916

Wow, good find, nice price. I'm looking for one myself. Good luck.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

Price sounds good. Not many miles for an 06' too. Most of those things are concerns that others have had. The camshaft rattle is one. I wouldn't worry too much. Rotors are sold by the dealer to increase the price of a brake job sometimes.