curiosul

After two big cars (96 TL 3.2 and a 99 maxima) I swore to never buy anything bigger than a civic ... (part my subjectivism, part lemon cars, part dislike for big soft cars).
But I got older (and wiser ??? ) and now I just want a soft/silent ride and I got stuck on a 97-99 LS.
I looked around on Craigslist and other sites and i noticed two things:

1: they are rare
2: they are overpriced (everyone is asking waaaaay more than kbb)

1: is not a problem, I can wait but

2: is this a real (market dictated) price for an LS? (an example would be a guy (private seller) asking 9500 when kbb says 7500)

My question isn't if it's worth it (that remains to be decided for each car) but if that's REALLY the market value (above kbb)

In my experience, very few cars sell for more than kbb (civic hatchbacks being an example)

Any other advice about buying one will be highly appreciated and thanks in advance!

7schulz

Look hard and buy fast with cash.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-upgrades.html
Craigslist by state search tool
http://www.themccumbers.com/States.htm
Nothing is worth what most people want out of it, if its on-line more then a week, show up with cash and go low. Do lots of background work on the vehicle. Point out every week spot, flaw or missing paper work. Be willing to walk away from many, I walked away from at least 5 b.c the deal wasn’t perfect.

valex

A fella in Denver was selling his 1998 LS 185K miles for $5000. I think it was a smoking deal(asuming everything was maintained like he claimed).
These cars are getting inexpensive, look for a 1998-2000 if you can afford one. My 99 LS is probably worth around $9000, but to me it`s worth more and I am not selling it, because I am very happy with it and I will be losing money if I sell it.

curiosul

Thanks for the info/advice. I'll keep looking (while trying to be patient).

P.S. For Craigslist search, I use this one:

http://www.crazedlist.org/

93ls40082

hi.. first thing.. never agree to pay more than kbb. you can get used lexus for a good price. jus have to keep looking. as long as the car is maintained well you can trust kbb. but then with lexus you can always pull up the service records if the seller claims that he "took good care" ( till 100k miles the dealers take care of the service). you jus have to register with the lexus website and use the vin no to pull the records.

7schulz

Found another
http://www.searchtempest.com/

99LSBrad

1st post here.

I bought a 99 today with 177k miles for $4500. Black with tan interior. No sunroof no nav. He was asking $5k originally.

I bought from 2nd owner. 1st owner was an older gentleman in Boca who leased and did reg service at the dealer. 2nd owner gave me all service records. 2nd timing belt and water pump done at 136k. Mobil 1 and premium gas always. He is an insurance agent who regularly drives from Pompano Beach, to Naples, and Orlando.

Issues: CD changer quit working long ago. I have a Sirius Stiletto and an IPOD which I will run with a cassette adapter so that really doesn't matter to me.

Small dent on rear passenger pillar.

Paint coming off of lower front grille. (2nd owner hit a piece of tire on highway last year. Had it fixed and paint is chipping. Body shop has agreed to re-paint.)

I feel like I got a great deal, but you never know. I'm a little nervous buying such a high mileage car. We'll see.

disclaimer: I owned a 2002 ES (black garnet pearl) which I traded for an 2007 ES (black) lease, which will end in a couple of months. Wanted an LS and an end to car payments.

Spacepig

A '99 w/o a sunroof must be pretty rare. I've only seen a few LS's without the s/r, and they were much earlier cars. Elderly friend of the family bought one of the first LS's in the fall of '89; that car had no sunroof and cloth upholstery (and 22,000 miles on it when he quit driving a couple of years ago; unfortunately sold to a relative instead of to me).

Thermactor

iTrader: (1)

Congratulations on a sweet deal. I hate sunroofs, so you definitely scored.

99LSBrad

Update:

AC wasn't blowing as cold as it should so I took it to a friend that has done work for me before. The guy is a whiz mechanic that charges a fraction of everyone else. After almost 2 small cans of 134 and about 4 ounces of oil, it's now freezing. He wasn't able to find a major leak with his detector. Overall he thinks there is nothing serious to worry about with the ac, though he did notice the front needle valve appeared almost brand new.

His general impression of the car: a pretty sweet deal for the money. He was impressed with timing belt history, and maintenance record. He's got 5 regular clients with LS's. All of them are happy. :-)

Pics upcoming once I get it detailed this weekend.

99LSBrad

The weird thing is, I didn't even notice the lack of a sunroof until late in the deal. I never used them on my two previous cars. I did think it odd once I noticed it wasn't there. Not an issue though.

99LSBrad

Okay, a little late, but here come the pics. Didn't get it detailed, but cleaned up considerably.

99LSBrad

99LSBrad

99LSBrad