AandSC

I would buy the 61K 2003. That's a nice car and the price is right given the miles and condition.

mafpolo

Air suspension is a problem. The struts cannot last forever. There are seals and air bladders. Rubber gets old and hard, and is exposed to the elements. There are many other things to go wrong, but the other things you are probably safe with - compressor, dryer, air lines, ECU, etc.

If you don't mind paying a lot of money for replacement air struts, then don't worry about air suspension. The ride is really good, and it feels like a new car ride for as long as it works. Two of my air struts began to fail on my car recently. I decided (Lexus tech agreed) to convert to coil and springs. The LS rides really nicely with them, and the handling is far better. If I had to do it over again, I would have hunted for a custom luxury, so I could get some of the stuff that comes on an UL, but without air suspension.

fensterlip

Calabasas is a nice upscale community. A little curious since Cerritos is 70 miles away. Oh, well. Lexus of Cerritos is a good dealer. It checks off all the boxes. It's a good year and consistently maintained. The scratch should be cheap to repair. We have an identical looking '04 that has been a good, trouble free trooper.
The cheapest part of any car is the original purchase price. It's what comes later that will just kill your wallet. This looks like a good candidate.

LVPUNK

Thanks for all the feedback.

I should be able to start actively looking at these cars after the first week of February. I'm finding enough one owner vehicles in nearby cities to stay true to that requirement. For some reason Las Vegas had a lot of junk (right now anyway) compared to other areas I see.

PabloMEX

Might be stating the obvious here, but when I was looking for mine a carfax came in really handy. Several LS400/430s that I was looking had several accidents and whatnot. They also show maintenance records.

AandSC

Mylexus.com had some information on my LS400 that was not reflected in CARFAX. I would recommend using both resources.

LVPUNK

This one just popped up locally.

2006
51k miles

Asking 17,500 OBO

What do you think of the price? Seems steep or no?

AandSC

KBB is just under $17,000 and NADA is a bit higher. If the car checks out I would buy it. Price in ad says OBO so you might be able to get it for $16.5. Hard to find as nice a vehicle that will give you many years of service for that price.

LVPUNK

Seems like a great fit. I'm going to call the guy and try to see it this weekend.

Bocatrip

Check history thoroughly and make sure you are not buying from a dealer. Low miles are great, but our cars may still require attention and repairs regardless of the miles which can be expensive.

LVPUNK

Thanks.

Any car I consider will be run through Lexus website for maintenance history, carfax and be brought into my local Toyota/Lexus mechanic for a PPI. Getting to know the owner a little bit helps too IMO.

You can ask questions about the car, or in general, to get an idea of how detail meticulous they may be. My hope is that I can find a nutter like me, who knows the vehicle inside and out. When I sold my Mercedes, I had driven that car for 14 years and explained everything in great detail, and had a stack of records/receipts to back it up. Surely I can find a doppelganger with an LS 430 out there somewhere, haha

LVPUNK

Just test drove it today. Drives great. It has two scrapes on the front bumper, another on the rear and a small dent on the back of the trunk. Kind of a bummer to see that. I don't believe it was down to the metal though. They just dropped the price down to 16,800. Still seems too high to me.

Of course this one is pretty dope, and I'd like to work out a deal with another enthusiast from here if I could. It would require a bit more of leg work, but if it's a good car, then I'd certainly pursue it.

Waiting for some health news (or no news as it may be) next week, and then I'll see if I can work something out. Unfortunately sometimes life gets in the way of plans we make....

LVPUNK

Lots of junk out there, and the ones that seem like a match all ask 3-4k over KBB's "excellent" rating. Is this common with LS430s or is this just my area? Kind of annoying after a while.

hyperopt

People love their cars and they priced them as such that they get to keep for little longer. Same cars get re-listed weeks after weeks. Just be patient and ready to pull the trigger when something good comes along.

LVPUNK

Trying to decide between these two. Both have good records. Both have had their timing belt replaced. Both are second owners.


2004 Lexus. Ls430 with low ml navigation

110k miles. Asking $10,700 bottom dollar


2004 Lexus LS430, Modern Luxury Trim

86k miles, asking $12,000 bottom dollar.

Thoughts??