dtydsa

In 2008, we bought a 2004 LS430 with 54,000 miles in better than excellent condition for $18,600+tax. It is currently my wife's car. I drive it occasionally.
My plan was to sell my Honda Accord with 190,000 miles and buy a used Hyundai Genesis V6. Instead, I locate a 2001 LS430 with 58,000 miles in excellent condition for $16,000 six weeks ago. Given the reliability of the LS430 (vs. Genesis), I knew I could not go wrong with the LS430. I paid $16,000+tax for it. Any 2009 Genesis would be over $22,000 for sure.

Both 2001 & 2004 LS430 are not UL but have sunroof, heated front and rear seats. In addition, the 2004 has parking sensors, read shade and cooled seats. Both are well kept and dealer serviced by their previous owners.

Live4brew

An '04 in '08 with only 54k for 18,600?? You, sir, are either a master negotiator or one lucky sob.

dtydsa

Hi Live4brew:

December 2008 was bad time for any new and used car dealer, we were not even looking for another car (we had two cars at that time). I saw it posted on a classified website and decided to take a look. We loved the cypress green/pearl exterior and tan interior. The used car dealer asked $18,990. We offered $18,000 and quickly settled for $18,600.

I told my wife that it was difficult to get the same deal for the 2001 silver LS430 because the market was different. However, given the condition of the car, low mileage and exceptional Carfax record on it (16 dealer services all for maintenances). I am O.K. with $16,000.

Live4brew

I guess that makes sense considering the crash around that time. I've been talking to this guy: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3011072573.html

For a week or so. He started at 21,900 and is down to 19,500 w/80k miles. Car seems in great condition, but I was really looking for one with Nav/Lev. After seeing what others have paid, it's hard to bite on it when you *might* get a better deal down the line.

fwiw, I really like the Cypress Pearl/tan as well. Great combo.

Davidq

damn wat a steal for that 2004

Jabberwock

Private sellers on Craigslist will decrease price week to week if they are not getting any serious lookers. Make him a fair offer - its priced pretty good at $19 k - I would not worry about trying to get an almost 8 year old obsolete DVD based NAV and stereo unit with cassette tape : )

dtydsa

Saw this in San Francisco Craigslist, it may be a good deal

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/3019686213.html

Live4brew

This is a hangup for me. I know that my phone has far better gps nav... but I really like the built in look of the lexus nav...

Jabberwock

Hey as long as you like it the inbuilt NAV and understand the pros and cons of the older inbuilt systems I say go for it.

There is really no right or wrong answer here. Comes down to personal preference. You can have a more modern and capable portable system but it comes with the hassle of extra wires and mounting adapters etc - definietly pros and cons there also.

Someday most cars will come with a standard port for a person's all in one media/computing/communications device - it will slide into a standard slot and will drive all the items in the car like entertainment system, car phone capability, navigation, personal ergonomic settings like seats, mirrors, HVAC settings, etc. But it will take a while for manufacturers to build standard interfaces and stop building their own proprietary clunky inbuilt systems....we are in the cave man days of this stuff.

user 820442

You can get the most up to date DVD for about $200 from Lexus and install it yourself in about 5-10 minutes. It is a peice of cake. We did it for my wife's RX 350. There is a thread here with step by step directions.