turbojarhe

Good morning, I am in the market for a LS430, does this look like a good car to you long time owners? I have had a few Lexi over the years,and want to buy again. This will be a daily commuter, about 500 miles a week. I can buy an older one, was actually looking @ a 2001 seriously, but it seems they are few and far between for decent cars that aren't completely eaten up with miles, and unless it is around $5k or so for an almost perfect car, it does not seem to make sense to put the parts expense into the older ones.
Anyway, I would appreciate any advice on which seems to be the most attractive and the best buy.

http://www.trucksintexas.com/2006-Le...-78217/5887799

http://discovery-texas.ebizautos.com...-14820174.html

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used...ting=136988754

I like Silver/Black the best, although it is also the furthest away, as well as the highest mileage. The blue is the closest, but..MAN. ...that is BLUE!
Thanks for any help, guys, I am in Houston if that makes any difference.

LS430FL

What I always recommend is going to look at cars in person. Pictures are great, but they can look entirely different in person (both better and worse). The first link, that car has had an accident so I would want a highly recommended PPI to look at the car and see how well the accident damage was repaired. The other two cars I did not see carfax or auto check for. Clean carfax doesn't always mean no accidents but I am sure you know that by now. Also, the lexus drivers site is great, and you can plug in each vin and check out the service history on each car.

Somebody correct me if I am wrong but it appears that all three of the cars have the modern luxury package. So then we are just looking at what color you prefer, and then the difference in mileages on the cars and the 2005 vs 2006 cars. Its clear the dealer with the Blue 2005 has priced his higher than the other two cars because it has rather low mileage and the exterior color isn't as common. You will notice in present the blue is more of a navy, the dealers lighting give it a different look. I looked at one before and it didn't look electric blue in person like it does in the pictures.

My own personal opinion if I had to choose from these three cars would be to attempt to bargain down the blue one because I like low mileage rather than a year newer (sometimes only a few months newer depending on the cars production date), however, if the seller wouldn't budge I would go with the Silver on black if no accident or accident was minor because I personally don't care for silver on grey cars. Thats just my opinion.

turbojarhe

Thank you, LS430Fl, that is the way I am leaning as well. The problem here is that Houston is so large and spread out, and so much traffic, that if you set aside a full day to look at cars you would be lucky to look at two due to the distances and traffic. That would be fine, but if they are decent deals they are usually snapped up before then.
On the blue car, it has been for sale for at least 170 days,according to cargurus. I wonder why it has not sold? It looks clean. I figured it was a hated color by most people, similar to gold for many.
Thanks you for you advice!

JffGRY706

the 3rd one has a Carfax over on cars direct. looks alright 3 previous owners NO timing belt done yet

LS430FL

Oh yes, like JffGRY706 mentioned, Check to see if they had timing belt service done yet. If not that is a good bargaining point as well.

turbojarhe

Thanks for all of you guys assistance. I keep forgetting what a hassle it is anymore to buy a car, I guess I am a little OCD. I appreciate all of you guys help!

Daspyda

iTrader: (1)

Don't forget the Classifieds section on here and other (inferior) Lexus sites.

Also, ask for books and records...

tradosauru

Definitely put your eyes on the car you are interested in. I never had good luck with indept car dealers.

legend921

I agree with everyone else regarding to getting your eyes on the car. I had dealers tell me that a car was super clean in and out when I was looking for a LS430. Every time I had asked for more pictures more often than not they referred me to their webpage to see unless it was specifically something else that I wanted to see in particular. Well, I had to peer through the pictures closely and my suspicions started to appear I my head regarding to the true condition of the car. Nonetheless, I was glad to make the drive out to see the vehicle prior to just buying one way train tickets for a three hour trip to get to the dealer to pick up the car. The car was not in the condition that they had described such as steering column failure, broken door panel pocket on the passenger side, the driver's door armrest leather was ripped (UL model) and there was a water stain on the sunroof area. They even told me that the car was dealer maintained, well, what they meant by that was that they poured money into it and created receipts, but the car had no other records. That really upset me with the shopping experience since they just kept describing to me how nice the car was.

turbojarhe

Thanks for all of you guys advice. I have had many cars, and a number of Lexi as well; it seems that the nicer Ls430's still command a premium. I would prefer to buy from a private party, but it is so spread out where I live, and most of the advertised owner cars are basically overpriced garbage. I will keep looking, thanks again.

Bocatrip

This should be no surprise to you Turbojarhe.......The best cars are going to be sold quickly and unless you know exactly what you want, the lesser cars are left. Do your homework but understand that the LS430 will always be desirable even as the values drop and first come first serve! You need to be there for the good cars. and yes many are junk. Choose wisely and do your homework my friend. Good Luck.

Yohimbo

I was briefly interested in that blue one in Houston. I never looked at it, but I can tell you the guys who were selling it were VERY anxious for me to come see it. Looking back, it smelled like desperation. Be cautious.

turbojarhe

Thanks, guys. The blue one was sold last week, they just never got around to taking it down. It is pretty frustrating dealing with car dealers nowadays, they either dont return calls/emails, or call you ten time s a day with vehicles you don't want.
I appreciate you guys help.

tradosauru

Here is one for sale at a Lexus dealer in Houston. The Carfax looks clean.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...34836900&Log=0

I also included the ad for the Lexus I bought a year ago. The LS430 seem to go quick at Lexus dealers because it appears that the Lexus dealers won't display junk on their lot. My wife and I looked at three LS430 that were junk, two at indpt car lots and one at a Ford dealership. We decided to stop at Park Place in Plano and found a LS430 that was literally placed for sale on their lot 2 hours before we got there. 2 hrs later we were driving off with it.

dmmoroney

I'm looking to put a deposit on this LS today. I'm just concerned because Cargurus has had it listed for 273 days. The price started at $12,500, but has come down $3,600 to $8,900:

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=129122198

And here is the Carfax: http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory...BN36F840160901

The only issues I saw of note was a headlight leveler issue, which the owner declined to repair. Also, it has not had the timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt replaced yet.

Looks to be in great shape.