Andoskyy

iTrader: (1)

My 2007 IS350 just hit 85,000 miles.

It has the 100k powertrain warranty because of the recall.

I know every situation is different, but trying to get an understanding of what others have done in similar situations.

I'll be done with my payments in November. My question is do I trade it in/sell it for a new vehicle or drive it into the ground? I can probably get $20k for it now...give or take a few thousand whether its a trade or private sale.

My fear is that if I take it to 150k+, is a car worth anything by then? Will I be able to do anything but trade it in at that point?

Essentially, you're trading in the resale value for a few years of no car payments, correct?

Not looking for an answer here...just some points for me to think about.

Thanks in advance!

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

The way I see it, if you have the means to buy another car and stable in your life, and ready for something new then sure. Otherwise, keep enjoying your ride

06isDriver

you nailed it on the head already. either sell it now and hop into more payments or save up the payments and it'll offset the resale drop.

nothing is free.

Kybball#1

iTrader: (20)

If its almost paid for, keep it...

user 6219723

iTrader: (1)

My experience is, once you get over 100k you take a pretty good hit on the value, so unless you're gonna drive it into the ground, might as well trade it now.

edgeucated

iTrader: (4)

If you have the money and want a new car then go ahead and trade/sell.

However, it makes no financial sense to sell the car. If you drive the car to about 150k, it'll still be worth 10k. So your losing $10,000 (assuming you can get 20k for your car right now, I don't really think so; I think your car is worth less than 20k).

During the 3-4 years it takes you to drive your car to 150k miles, you would have to be leasing a new car, and you'll pay more than 10k during those 3-4 years just to lease the new car.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

Man, seems like a lotta 2007ers are ready to sell their ride...

I just don't see the sense in buying a new car and selling it less than five years later. Combine that with the fact that I still love this car and have more plans for it, and I just don't see myself selling it anytime soon. I plan to, as you said, run this thing into the ground.

If you want my advice, I'd suggest you do the same. No need to be wasteful.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Everyone's financial situation is different, so it's your call. But I think the main thing the OP is trying to ask is :

1) Do I trade-in/sell now and maximize the remaining value of the car?
2) Do I drive it into the ground and take a potential hit when it finally comes time to get rid of it?

Well, potentially how much longer do you tink you'll drive the 350 after it is paid for? Would it make financial sense to instead take what would have been your monthly payment and use that money to pay off other debt? Or...take that monthly payment, invest it, and whenever down the road you finally get rid of it use it as a down-payment towards another vehicle?

Just a few options I could think of.

HERBos

iTrader: (6)

if you got the paper then why not...

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

This I think is the real dilemma here. From a financial perspective, what you have to weigh is the drop in resale value you'll have between now and when you sell the car, vs. what the sum of all the payments will be on a new car in that same time period.

So in a basic example, say your car is worth $20k today and you drive it for 4 more years and then it's worth $10k. That means you took a $10k drop in resale value to have your car for 4 years.

Now compare that to what you'd pay in car payments over those 4 years. If the sum of all the payments you'd make in 4 years on a new car is more than $10k, it would be better financially to keep the current car. If the sum of your payments is less than $10k, a new car might be financially attractive.

The numbers above are just made up, you'd have to determine your best guess estimates on them and go from there.

You seem to be taking the glass half empty view that if you continue driving your car, you'll lose resale value. The glass half full view of it is that you now own the car, and can drive it freely without payments for as long as you want or until it breaks down.

So yes, you'll lose resale value (same as you lose resale value every day you own a car), but you'll also not be making any payments, which is what you'd have to do if you bought a new car. It's up to you to decide whether you think you'll lose more resale value than the sum of the payments will be or vice-versa.

Personally, I'd be elated to finally have paid off my car and drive it payment-free. A Lexus at 85k miles is young. Like you said, you have the 100k powertrain warranty to protect you for another 15k miles, and truth be told if you check the "High Mileage 2IS" thread, people run into very few issues with their 2IS in general even outside the warranty period.

I really think you'll be able to drive this car for quite a few more years, up past 200k miles if you so choose. If you do drive it to 200k miles, of course you'll get lower resale value than if you sold it today, but you also will have banked all the money you'd otherwise have paid in payments on a new car and presumably earned some interest/return on that money.

Personally that's the way I'd go. I'm not one of those people who's enamored with needing a new car every 3-5 years. I make my car decisions based on financial considerations and personal circumstances (family, living in a city, etc).

The one caveat to the above is that if you think you might only keep the car another year or two and THEN sell it, I HIGHLY advise against that and encourage you to sell now instead. The reason is twofold: 1) You'll be able to transfer the 100k warranty and that will be a big selling point to potential buyers; if you keep the car another year or two you'll be closer to 100k and will lose that benefit. 2) The used car market is crazily hot right now, and you will not get a better price for your car in the foreseeable future than you will right now. Otherwise, if your two scenarios are 1) sell and get a new car now or 2) keep the car for a long time (longer than 2-3 years), I recommend option 2.

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

If there's nothing wrong with your car, you like it, and can see yourself taking it to 150k with a smile on your face and you don't think your gonna have any issues, keep the car. Your really close to paying it off anyways, after that you don't have to worry about a car payment. Then see for a few months how you like no having a car payment. Does it let you enjoy things you couldn't enjoy before? Got more modding money to make you love the car even more? etc. If you start feeling like you want something new, just trade it in before you hit 100k. You are probably not gonna get $20k for it right now, not at a dealer because they love to CPO trade ins and yours is beyond the 75k miles maximum already so they can't CPO it. You'd get more had the car had less miles. A Lot of people (including myself) have got really good offers for their low mileage IS's because Lexus dealers need CPO's right now. However, the used car market in general is just awesome right now, and you might want to take that into consideration if you want to sell it now rather than later.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Judging was the resale value drops in the IS300, I'd not expect the resale at 150k miles to be under $15k. Assuming a 350, with all the options, and NAV.

threevoIS

Sell it and buy a $2k car off craigslist and drive that for 6 months. Wait for the prices of used cars to drop trade in the turd you bought and ask for $2k and buy a newer used IS...

This will save you roughly $5k

anthrax144

If you bought a new car now, your drop in resale value of the new car is going to be considerably greater in the next 3 or 4 years of ownership than the 10k drop in your current vehicle (assuming similar value ~ $45k car new.)

Unless you NEED a new car (not happy with current car, need bigger car, maintenance issues, etc...) I'd say keep the car you have.

Andoskyy

iTrader: (1)

wow...thank you for all the replies...more than I expected.

Definitely gave me some good insight. I am happy with the vehicle and maintenance has been great so far. I was always leaning towards driving it into the ground...and these posts confirmed that.

I also just got a Tacoma for winter driving and toy hauling, so my Lexus will be seeing fewer miles now anyway...only helping my resale in 3+ more years.

Also looked up the KBB Trade in value of a 2005 IS300 with 170,000 miles and its getting about $7k. even at that...its a nice down payment towards a new one in the future...along with all the $$ I've saved with no payment.

Calvin, thanks for the thesis Did the math and the numbers just make sense

Thank you again...gave me plenty to think about and confirmed what I was leaning towards.