Donkas800N

Hello!

Here my family (me, my wife, and one year old baby) is having family talk for the next car purchase... Not any argument, we just want to make the best/wisest choice in buying a car.... Here I have a few choices in local sellers...

1. 97 LS400 with 80k miles at around 15k
Pros: Quality Quality Quality, Super-reliable. I have NO doubt about Lexus quality.
Cons : "maintenance cost", "still used car (Not 100% known history)".......
rear wheel drive... this is Michigan...

2. 98 Acura RL with 70~80k miles at around 14k
Pros: Front Wheel in Michigan, Super-reliable also... Good Engine...
Cons: "Also, still used car (Not 100% known history)" , Front Wheel, 6 cylinder, Acura is NOT 100% perfect in car making compared to Lexus (interior, exterior, this and that quality....) Still very reliable though...

3. 98 Infinit Q45 with 70~80k miles at around 12k
Pros : Very reliable also.
Cons : "Also, still used car (Not 100% known history)" and. it is just nissan^^;.... Actually, I do NOT have much experience with nissan.. I have a lot of experience with Toyota and Honda (in a every day driving life as well as in a professional working life)

4. Brand New Toyota Camry with 0~10miles at around 19k.
Pros : Very reliable, Very practical, MPG, Brand New, a lot lower maintenance cost...
Cons : Boring, No Fun....


My heart keeps asking me to go for option 1 but my head keeps pulling me to option 4 because that is the most practical approach....

Would you please help me? I wish I can have all 4 cars above.... My family needs a safe/practical car for my wife and baby....

Any thought, Any input will be highly appreciated... thank you....

RA40

iTrader: (6)

My thought would be to adjust your price equally and compare these same cars at the $20K mark and see what possibilities come your way. Of course on a forum like this we'll suggest a Lexus.

What do you want in a car?

nk1983

of course youare on clublexus so ls allthe way LOL>

in all seriousness theyare incredibly reliable and you probably will be happiest with it and most satisfied with that purchase as a driver. Also the difference between a camry and an LS is nite and day as im sure youre well aware. I dont blame you for considering the camry though. I think you should look around more for a LS with good maintenance history etc. that would be my choice. However I also wouldnt discount the camry just yet. As for the others, if you do go used, go Lexus.
Just my two cents

Donkas800N

Thank you all,

Here is a little bit of my situation/background considering LS400.

I have 94 Acura Legend and 97 Toyo 4Runner. My 94 Acura is getting too old with pretty high miledge (190k). When it hits >200k, I am considering removing that 94 Acura. Even though I am pretty confident that it will last way-more than >200k, I do NOT have much time to work on my Acura as I used to (wife, baby, and house....., my responsibility has kept growing growing growing.....) Moreover, I do NOT want my wife and baby ride on the >200k miles car without me... 4Runner also has >100k miles soon it will need major service...

Then, my budget was initially around 10k~13k range looking for Good history "fun/safe/reliable" used car. That is why I started looking in 98 Q45 (wanna try something different...) or 98 Acura RL (pretty much same car as what I have so known reliability). Then, suddenly, more candidates came into my attention causing some confusing (but happy..^^) dilema.

Another option 1 : I found one LS400 in local dealer (Non-Lexus dealer though..) in around 15k price range. Exterior looks good but not test-driven yet. Has been long deam, but never expected it came so closely so quickly.... (2k closely to my budget...^^;, Cons is I need to shell out whole 15k from my pocket without finance. Do NOT prefer finance for used car at all...)

Another option 2 : Local Toyota dealer offers 0% financing at invoice rate (corporate sale event.... I work in automotive field..). Thus, with 10k down-payment, I think I can easily finance with pretty affordable monthly rate, this is why I can stretch budget to 19k....^^;


<Questions>

Maybe, I should have asked questions in this way to help myself to make concrete decision....

1. Why do you consider LS400 better than Q45 and RL? I know I know the quality but I want your opinion, what technical aspect makes you to stick to LS400?
2. Is 15k good price range for 97 LS400 80k?
3. Assuming it was moderately maintained, what kind of maintenance fields/cost should I expect for 97 LS400?
4. According to Carfax, the LS 400 I am looking was originally leased car for first 3 years and then it was sold in auction, Thus, it is currrently waiting for 3rd owner.... Does this tell anything to your expertise?

Sorry for this long message,
I am already appreciated with your kindness reading down this email to this bottom.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

a 97 LS400 with 80K should be $12,500, or $13,000 tops.

lexus_geek

i've been going over the same situation in my head for the past month or so, and i finally gave in and bought the lexus. i had a MINI Cooper S but wanted to save money so I bought the lexus (that sounds bad :-). in any event, i think all you need to do is take all the cars for a spin...if you find a super nice ls400 i would jump on it. i lucked out and found one yesterday at a dealer, and paid 15,900. i probably could have haggled more, but...not my nature (unfortunately for me). it's a 97 ls400 coach edition w/ 113k miles. i wouldnt count out the camry but it's definitely not the same as the ls400, maybe if you were considering the es300 i would say get the camry.. i dont know too much about the other cars, except for what ive read, so i cant really comment on those.

-russ

Donkas800N

Dang!!!

The 97 LS400 with 80k is gone! The seller just informed me he closed transaction with other buyer because I did NOT give him a concrete answer yet. Man! I should have left at least a few of 100 bucks of downpayment. hmmm....

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I tasted "the closeness of my deam coming true" with 2k bucks distance. Meaning I am already pretty much spoiled tasting the beauty and elegance of LS400, I can NOT stop! I would like to start from the beginining again, the journey to find my LS400 again (whew~~)

Would you please advise me which model year (which feature) I should look for in LS400? My target price range again is 13k (~ maybe upto 15~18k)...

Thank you again.

jtparkes

Too bad, that seemed like a pretty good price for a '97 with reasonable miles.
I don't know what things are like where you are, but in the Southwest for $13K you're probably looking at a '95-'96 LS.

I was in the same boat as you (2 little kids) and got the LS. I will say its not a great car for hauling kids: too much trouble keeping the tan leather, carpet and wood panelling clean. In a Camry (with cloth seats) when they spill their tippy-cup, draw on the seats, throw up, you won't notice it very much and won't care. In the LS you'll be obsessing about the mess (like I do), vacuming, washing the door pannels, wondering how to get crayon off of leather, etc...

If you're worrying about the financial end, I don't see too much differenct between a used LS and new Camry. Suppose both will live 250,000 miles and then have a salvage value of $2,000.
New Camry will cost you $19,000 - $2,000 salvage = $17,000 divided by 250K miles, equals 6.8c per mile depreciation.
Used LS like the one you were looking at ($15K price, 80K miles)
Cost $15,000 less $2,000 = $13,000 divided by 170,000 miles life left equals 7.6 c per mile.

7.6c per mile depreciation cost for LS versus 6.8 c per mile for Camry. To me that's not much more for a dramatically better car.

Jeff

usermel

Toyota Camry! But its best you and your wife chose what you both think is best for your family. So take my opinion like a grain of salt.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

When possible, I would consider current safety standards for a car and or the best I can do within my budget. In terms of the LS, side impact air bags began on the '97. If I were comparing say the new Camry which may have a side curtain air bag, I'd consider that car.

Granted the Camry is common, it has proven to be a quality product. My next suggestion would be to consider an '00+ Avalon. Lots of comparable amenities to the Lexus cars and larger than the Camry.

4theboys

Hey Donka800N contact ACF he is selling a LS400. Has a thread titled end of an era.

Good luck on finding yourself a LS.

carguyay

I sincerely believe Camry with zero miles would be best for your wife and children. Maybe not you but for them . The lexus starts at 80,000 miles even though its gone, and the Camry has zero. Using the 250,000 mile theory the lexus gets there 80,000 miles sooner. which means you have to spend more money sooner then the Camry to replace. Repairs could wipe out your budget. Plus as mentioned the safety of the 2004. I now have had both and the Camry is wonderful . Get a good resale color. you can always get your lexus later.

usermel

This is what this site is all about man people who like cars helping one another. That is great advice you two gave i had not thought that deep about the choice. The miles point is solid and the point about the Avalon is great. I should have had this advice for myself when i changed from my gs. That is the car i got before i got in the LS im in now. I really like clublexus.

wolver1ne

Personally, since you're looking @ TWO (2) differant Toyota products...I would pursue the modt likely product...A Toyota. Have you checked out Matrix' Yet...? great trade in value, as all Toyota products.

Kansas

As one who has both a Camry and and an LS, I recommend considering a 2 or 3 year old Camry that has recently come off lease. For example you could easily buy a completely loaded 2002 XLE V6 with mileage around 20K for about the same or less than the price as a basic Camry 4-cylinder. Our Camry V6 is at least as fast and fun to drive as our first LS and we don't have to work about having extra wheels and snow tires like we do on our LS. Even its audio system is way better than in our first LS. And that many Camry controls (window switches, cruise, etc.) are nearly identical to the LS which makes it easy to alternate between cars. I can almost guarantee you that the maintenance and repair expense will be far less on a recent Camry than on the older cars you listed even if you drive the Camry to a very high mileage. You can put the savings into your one-year old's college fund. But heck, if I was 30 years younger and had a 1-year old, I'd be buying a used Sienna van.