farklspark

I have a few models I am looking at here in town. I feel almost lucky to have so many to look at. Anything strike your fancy? I will have my favorite inspected thoroughly. Price is what I think I can get for it.


2001 LS400 base - 100K recently repaird 3 weeks ago and marked salvage for fender and headlight. Repair done by a body shop owner in town. will be checking the bbb rating and yelp reviews. Had the salvage title been issues years ago i could imagine it would have needed a BIG accident to warrant salvage but my understanding is that this model may only be worth a few 1000s on paper so it wouldn't take much to warrant a salvage title. I am inspecting tomorrow in person. Price = $2500 - seems almost too hard to pass up.

2001 LS430 BASE - 67k miles. Priced at 9500. no timing belt done yet as they were waiting for 90k. I keep hearing sellers say this. Has a valve cover gasket leak that will be repaird. new tires, new batteries,. very little service shown on carfax.

2004 LS 430 UL - 42k miles at $15.5 - this one is flawless. no timing belt done due to years. I'm still stuck on the whole 7 years thing.

2001 LS430 129K miles. alternator recently done. timing belt done at same time within past year. price $4500


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so what would you folks all pull the trigger at? I can swing about 8k without a loan. Prefer to not pull too much new cash out.

2KHarrier

Welcome aboard Farkl!

As always you need to balance age with mileage and find the best deal. With that being said, I would pull into Lexus.com and log into the owners area, input the VIN numbers and see what the maintenance history reveals on each car.

The 2004 will have the 6 speed auto, which had a recall for some shifting issues, but that is the most appealing of the 4 cars.

The car with the salvage title would be a fun project car, but not something I would settle for as my only driver. It's cheap enough, but it may need some attention at that price.

The 67K mile car that needs a TB will need that done ASAP. That belt is 16 years old. They don't break very often but you're pushing your luck with that one...

Hope the hunt yields some fruit!

dtrosch

Hi Fark,

I just bought an 02 with 91K last week ($6200), so I don't have any historical knowledge to share. That said, I would look at the one with 67K and the one with 129. The salvage title one would be difficult to sell, and may have hidden problems you may be dealing with for some time. The Ultra would be fantastic, but I believe the better value would be the two other 2001s. I would probably go for the one with 129 to avoid taking out a loan, and using some of the extra cash to fix up anything it needs.

farklspark

I would love the salvage one to be in great condition... the loss of resale value sucks but for $2500 and 100k it might be worth it if the inspection passes. Gonna research the shop in the meantime.

keep em coming. One option I do not have is ebay. I live in Hawaii so it kind of adds on 1-2k in vehicle shipping prices right there but man are there some nice ones on the auctions.

fensterlip

The 2004 UL would be my choice. The features and condition can't be added later. The 7 year thing? These cars are very troublefree. I would try and negotiate on the price a bit though.