msdoogie

My husband and I are looking to trade in our minivan for a 2002 LS430 UL that we have found at the local Mercedes Benz dealer. It has right under 99K miles on it and per the car fax it's a one owner, no accidents and has been serviced at the Lexus dealer. The inside looks in mint condition. The exterior paint has a few scuffs but nothing that would bug us. Is the mileage too high on this car? It's almost 9 years old. I think some of the mileage is due to driving 2 hours away and 2 hrs back for each service at the Lexus dealer. I don't know yet if it's had the 60k or 90k service. They are asking $16860.00 for it. If it hasn't had the 60 or 90 service should they lower the price?

caddyowner

Welcome! I would avoid an older UL because the air suspension is likely to require expensive repairs or replacement with a coiled system. Unless you are determined to get the back seat goodies, I would look for a less-optioned car. I would also look for a car that has had the 90K service performed as that is about $1500+ at the Lexus dealer.

Good luck in your search.

Playdrv4me

I paid 17.5k for my 2004 Premium package car with 97k miles and a meticulous maintenance history. It was a completely local car to boot, and had just had the pricey 90k maintenance done. I think that price is good, but I would try to get to the mid-15s if at all possible. You certainly aren't going wrong even at full pop on that car.

Things change if the car has not had its 90k service. It is overdue for a timing belt if it has not been done (you will know if the timing belt was handled by a Lexus dealer because there will be a small sticker on the engine cover saying the date and mileage at which it was performed). I would definitely not pay the full asking price if this service has not been completed.

Go to https://secure.drivers.lexus.com and register a new account. Then add that LS430 VIN to your driver profile and on the left-hand menu you will see "Service History". You can then view every dealership service done to the car up to the most recent. Optimally, the car should have had everything up to and including the 90k service done by now, at 5k mile intervals.

msdoogie

Thank you for everyone's advice. I called the Lexus dealership that had done all the services and they confirmed it had the 90K maintenance performed. The car has around 9K miles put on it since then (22 months ago). And thank you Playdrv4me for giving that website. I registered and pulled up all the service records for it. It's had 5,000 mile services done faithfully and even several miles before it hit the 5,000 mile mark. We're going to look at it today so I'll let everyone know if we get it!

mewhee

Hi MsDoogie -

You might also consider using the paint scuffs as a bargaining chip. Their paint guy can most likely get it done quite a bit less than what you can find on the open market. In other words, offer something like 15k as is or 15.5 w/ paint fixed as an example.

You've obviously done your research (as exemplified by the questions you asked) so you know that of any car on the road to buy w/ 100k miles on the clock, an LS430 is about as good a bet as there is out there - period!

Good luck in your prospective purchase -

Will and the Fur Crew
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chance favors the prepared mind.
- Pasteur

CarGuy89

On your test drive (I don't know if this is too late or not), make sure the engine is smooth at all times. The first time I drove my LS, I had to check the dash just to make sure I had turned the engine on (it's really that smooth). Also, make sure the trans shifts smoothly and the ride is up to par. If it is riding a bit choppy/rough the air suspension is likely worn out which is big $$ to fix. Good luck, if the car looks good on paper, it probably is good in real life. Also, check the bottoms door/undercarriage for rust.

Lastly, go around the car, open up the doors, hood and trunk and see if they have vin stickers on them. If they do then it means the panels are original and that the car has never been in a major accident. Good luck!