robert1408

I posted here two years ago about possibly buying this car. At that time my sisters and I talked our parents out of their idea to buy a new LS. Dad died this past July and now mom is buying a new 2013 LS base car without too many options. I am buying her 07 LS in a "pass through" transaction so mom gets a sales tax break and I get the car for the trade in price at the same time. We agreed on $25,000. The deal should happen Friday morning.

The "07 LS is a swb car, mercury metallic with grey leather. It has the comfort package, nav and ML sound system. No air suspension. It has stock 18" wheels in perfect shape and recent HX MXM4 Michelins. My folks bought it new in July "07. It just turned 38,000 miles. The car was always garaged and the roads were not salted in their part of Texas. No smokers or babies have ever been in it. Paint and interior in amazing over all condition. There are a few small rock chips on the front and small scuffs on the lower corners of of the rear bumper and a few very light scratches on the right doors, otherwise flawless. Not one door ding (yet). I'm pretty sure those scratches will buff out.

The bad is that the ML radio head is dead. Fuzes are good. Dealer tells me they now generally exchange these radios for remanufactured ones, way cheaper than a new one! Mom is offering to pay for the radio repair but I figured some of that expense in my offer. All recalls are done. The engine and trans work perfect. Car does have a slight right pull since new so I'm ready to go at it with camber brackets and control arms as needed. It's never had a brake flush and even though the fluid looks very clean and clear it will get flushed. Nav was never updated. That $25k don't sound like such a bargain now, eh?

I've known this car since new. Sure look forward to getting it in shape. The beauty of it is that depreciation has made these great cars affordable to us mortals. Cheap to insure. Old enough to not overly worry about parking lots or deer strikes. And they look and drive pretty much like a new one. Even the dreaded wind noise is slight on this one, only noticeable in odd cross winds.

PRSUIT460

iTrader: (3)

Definitely a good deal!

chris07ls

Buy it- you know what your getting. My 07 cost me 70k and now has 100K miles.

You need to put some miles on that car.

chris07ls

On second thought, take the $25K and buy a new Camry SE. It will be more reliable and a heck of a lot cheaper to maintain.

robert1408

Definitely buying it! Put some miles on it, you bet! I'm retired now so this car will see some USA for sure.

PRSUIT460

iTrader: (3)

Crazy how you can be driving a nice flagship Lexus for the price of a new Camry. I'd take the LS

robert1408

I don't doubt a Camry would be way cheaper to run and tons more trouble free but the all day comfort of an LS is hard to beat. Plus if I'm gonna spend a lot on fueling and maintaining a big ol' car like this, I'll bask in the snob appeal that comes with it, too, heh, heh...

Fhobbs

I have an 07 LS (85k miles) and a12 Camry Sle (6) and I gladly let my wife drive the Camry. I'll take the LS anyday. Plus, the LS is the go-to car for trips and anywhere else we go.

sydtoosic

go for it... LS/Camry... that's a no brainer. once you've sat in an LS and driven it, then someone mentions Camry... Camry who... ok IMO a brand new cam doesn't hold a candle to a used LS ( a used LS in good condition for that matter ).

Nat

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear about your loss.

LS460 with 38K mile for $25K is a no brainer. All those small things to repair are minor...good thing is you know the history of the car, that's a greater peace of mind.

I8ABMR

sounds like an amazing deal. Great car, low mileage, not driven hard, and you personally know the last owner. No brainer and a hell of a deal. I wish you many happy miles.

Nospinzone

What?! Buy the car with a 2006 map system (the '07 update didn't come out until Sept.). No way! Tell your Mom to pound sand.

Just kidding with you Robert. If you don't buy that car I will.

Welcome to the forum as an owner, and don't be a stranger.

robert1408

Well, I'm flying out tomorrow to pick up the "07 and drive it 340 miles home. The dealer tells me that '07 LS's will be too old to qualify for CPO status starting in 2014. That will ding the trade in value at least a little. There's no extended warranty on my car now and the dealer can't do the CPO thing on a pass through trade so i'll wing it. I've never bought an extended warranty on a car anyway. In 43 years of driving I've had only one transmission fail. That was on a $500 clunker in 1976.

robert1408

Well, it all went as planned. Flew to mom's and drove the "07 LS home to Austin. I bought it as a pass-through trade on mom's new '13 LS for the agreed on $25k. Drove the new one 340 miles to deliver it to mom. The driving experience is a bit better on the '13. The seats are somewhat better and the steering and suspension feel a little tighter. There is almost no wind noise on the '13. The trip in the '13 was against a 30-35 mph headwind at 75-80 mph resulting in a dismal 18.6 mpg.

Finally got to work on the '07 this week. Had the tires balanced and rotated. It drives straight and oh so smooth now. Put the car on the aligner at my former employers shop. Got under it with a flashlight and a big pry bar to check those notorious front control arms. All 8 of them are good, not cracked or worn at all! All alignment readings in front were spot on, the rears needed a small toe adjustment. Rear camber was well in the green.

Warmed up enough today to wash and wax it up and clean the interior. The grey leather really came out nice as did the carpets, dash and most of the trim. The door pulls and arm rests have a stubborn grime on them that I can't get all of it off. I'm leery of using stronger stuff on them. The grey floor mats were pretty grubby so I put a new set of black Lexus carpeted ones in.

I pulled all the under hood and engine covers off and cleaned them. Looking at the engine room laid bare is interesting. One good look at it all tells you why Lexus covered it up. There was some dust on the stuff under there but that was it. No way was I going to spray all that complex and expensive stuff with anything. I had bought a bag of clips so I had plenty to replace the missing and broken ones. I had broken a few when replacing the air filters last summer.

Next project is a nav update and diagnosis/replacement of the ML head unit. Can't wait to see the bill for that. I used to work with the parts manager and one of the service writers and I'll discretely ask them to suggest a tech for this job. I don't mind paying up for the best work. It's cheaper in the long run.

Nospinzone

Hey Robert, congrats on the new car! Sounds like you're off to a great start. The last time I saw the price of the Nav update it was $169 for the update itself plus labor which shouldn't be more than $80.

See this thread, I'm going to try the stuff myself.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...r-and-awd.html