Looking at a Ls430 this week.
06-16-14, 03:07 PM
#16
I am a strong believer in not having payments of any kind ever on a depreciating asset. The typical transaction costs for financing, selling, and buying cars to produce a lower short term payment almost always obliterate any long terms savings. But that's should be a whole different thread. I meant this as general advice to lots of young folks on the forum. Sorry about that, I should have made my post way more general in nature.
Back to topic at hand - best of luck with finding a really great LS430. The 04-06 models are basically identical so shopping for a mint low mile version of any one of those years should be fine.
Back to topic at hand - best of luck with finding a really great LS430. The 04-06 models are basically identical so shopping for a mint low mile version of any one of those years should be fine.
06-16-14, 03:22 PM
#17
Get an inspection and drive em both and see which drives nicer. How much are the LS's and the Optima in comparison, I'm thinking its a few k? With int'l issues and gas $ going up you may want to wait a while.
06-16-14, 04:36 PM
#19
id also go with the one with the lower mileage , but they both sound great to me either way u go.
lol I did the same thing when I bought my LS, kira gave me a quick run down on a few concerns and questions I had.
I used to feel the exact same way , but lately ive started crunching the numbers and with a decent interest rate it makes great sense to make monthly payments , at least in MY opinion.
I am dying for a corvette for some reason, and although I could probably scrape enough money up to buy, one I would much rather make a 25% down payment and just finance the rest .
That way my money stays safe in the bank and you wont really miss a few hundred per month as much as dumping a huge lump sum.
Might cost you a little more in the end but to me its overall less stressful on your wallet.
I am a strong believer in not having payments of any kind ever on a depreciating asset. The typical transaction costs for financing, selling, and buying cars to produce a lower short term payment almost always obliterate any long terms savings. But that's should be a whole different thread. I meant this as general advice to lots of young folks on the forum. Sorry about that, I should have made my post way more general in nature.
Back to topic at hand - best of luck with finding a really great LS430. The 04-06 models are basically identical so shopping for a mint low mile version of any one of those years should be fine.
Back to topic at hand - best of luck with finding a really great LS430. The 04-06 models are basically identical so shopping for a mint low mile version of any one of those years should be fine.
I am dying for a corvette for some reason, and although I could probably scrape enough money up to buy, one I would much rather make a 25% down payment and just finance the rest .
That way my money stays safe in the bank and you wont really miss a few hundred per month as much as dumping a huge lump sum.
Might cost you a little more in the end but to me its overall less stressful on your wallet.
06-16-14, 07:41 PM
#20
Slightly off topic, but for those concerned about making payments on a car you can always calculate the total interest payment over the life of the loan and add the amount to the purchase price to get an idea of what the total investment is going to be in the vehicle. If you're comfortable with that final price, then go for it. If you're leery about it, then it might be cause to rethink the purchase.
To the OP, based on your brief description both cars sound pretty good. Although, I tend to lean towards the gray rather than tan interior. Black or saddle would be lovely, but not exactly easy to find on a white car.
To the OP, based on your brief description both cars sound pretty good. Although, I tend to lean towards the gray rather than tan interior. Black or saddle would be lovely, but not exactly easy to find on a white car.
06-17-14, 05:08 AM
#21
All things being equal and if that is the actual choice here I'd buy the one owner local car instead of the car that's been through auctions and multiple states/owners...that's almost never a good sign.
btw - the transaction costs of selling/trading your current car and buying a new used car with another car loan from a dealer are going to completely eat up any possible "lower payment" savings especially in long term. You are attempting to defy the laws of financial car buying physics and that cannot be done. Wealth is built by owning and driving cars with no payments, not cars with lower payments.
If you want to really save money sell your current car privately, pay off your loan, and buy a $500-1,000 beater to drive for cash with no payments. Drive the beater and put money in the bank until you have saved enough to pay cash for your next car.
btw - the transaction costs of selling/trading your current car and buying a new used car with another car loan from a dealer are going to completely eat up any possible "lower payment" savings especially in long term. You are attempting to defy the laws of financial car buying physics and that cannot be done. Wealth is built by owning and driving cars with no payments, not cars with lower payments.
If you want to really save money sell your current car privately, pay off your loan, and buy a $500-1,000 beater to drive for cash with no payments. Drive the beater and put money in the bank until you have saved enough to pay cash for your next car.
06-17-14, 06:17 AM
#22
hi simple decision there both gold for the future, pay a lexus dealer a small fee to do inspection on both vehicles one at a time and pick the one that has the best outcome with inspection, the suspension parts and fluid changes, spark plugs timing belt water pump see which one has had more work to it and verify with an auto body shop the car has all original paint good luck
06-17-14, 06:30 AM
#23
and i was laughing at the lower miles, bought mine 8 years old at 89k. the cars are just starting to break in with 60 to 70 k on the clock with proper maintenance there good to go for 300000. i mentioned the auto body shop because even with a clean car fax in rainy weather you can have panels on the car that have been sprayed, also they will be able to verify the stickers on each panel with from manufacturer that the panels are original
i learned my lesson the hard way with this one, the funny part is my car was a 3 owner modestly taken care of and sprayed on one side, the car looks and drives like new. if you drove a 100000 mile ls430 from 04-06 and test drove a optima, sonata , es 350 or any vehicle under 40k, the ls430 would still be a far superior ride, just be realistic with the costs moving forward, all the parts are over engineered and expensive to replace so get a relationship with a parts guy at a lexus dealer or such the boards for places like sewell lexus
good luck.
i learned my lesson the hard way with this one, the funny part is my car was a 3 owner modestly taken care of and sprayed on one side, the car looks and drives like new. if you drove a 100000 mile ls430 from 04-06 and test drove a optima, sonata , es 350 or any vehicle under 40k, the ls430 would still be a far superior ride, just be realistic with the costs moving forward, all the parts are over engineered and expensive to replace so get a relationship with a parts guy at a lexus dealer or such the boards for places like sewell lexus
good luck.
06-17-14, 08:04 AM
#24
Most LS430s in Florida are going to have blown subs or weak ones on the way out. The sun beating directly down on the grill destroys the foam surround. Door speakers go as well but are much cheaper to replace. Just figure that cost into the equation. Very early 04s might have transmission issues, but most likely were already addressed by this time. If the car is original with no paint work and you have the service history, go for the car of your choice. Most of these cars are owned by seniors and some only drive when they come down during the winter months as snowbirds. However, seniors do like to back into things so check the body carefully for paint work. Nice LS430s sell quickly here in Florida as the word has been out for some time on the quality of these cars. Good luck.
06-17-14, 10:22 AM
#26
One thing to note at Lexus of PB: they told me that the last number in the price indicates how long the car has been on their lot. In this case, the 2006 has been on their lot for a few weeks and may be headed to auction soon. The '04 is a newer arrival.
06-17-14, 02:35 PM
#28
I see one white 04 with 44 K and some scrapes on the back bumper and an 06 Cypress Pearl with 96K on the Lexus of Palm Beach site. Where is the 2nd white one?
i just checked about 10 min ago...
06-18-14, 09:25 AM
#30
Moderator
The really good used cars sell in a few days max. Really cherry examples sell on first day if they are cars that are in demand. The dogs are on the lot for up to 90 days then they are sent to auction or to another (usually further downscale) lot. Very few mainstream used cars lots will keep a used car longer than 90 days.