williakz

That's a CPO "wrapper" warranty which is different than the "true" factory extended warranties available for purchase from Lexus ONLY while the original 4-year/50k mile factory warranty is still in effect. Note that the process of CPO'ing a vehicle immediately ends the original factory warranty and replaces it a different one, even though coverage terms may be the same, or in the case of a wrapper, NOT. One of the MANY reasons I steer clear of the CPO'd cars of ANY manufacturer.

RayLS

Good info. Didn't even know that.
Then there's your additional selling point.
Best of luck.

williakz

My first Lexus was a beautiful white/beige CPO 2007 LS460 RWD with 18k miles on it. Had tears in my eyes the day I traded in that beauty (65k miles and still looked brand new in 2013) for my wife's new GS450h. Had to drive her old 2010 ES350 until my custom 2013 LS came in from Japan a few months later.

CarGuy89

+1 for Autotrader. I have sold all my previous few cars on there. They all sold either at, above (once), or very near max KBB value, and all sold within a month's time. IMO presentation is everything. Make sure the car is nice and clean, find a clear day and take some high quality pictures (I usually find a large empty parking lot). Use a tripod and a good camera - give the person browsing a reason to click on your ad. I usually end up paying for all the extra bits like more photos and advertising that puts your ad on the 1st round. Costs about $100 but totally worth it when you sell at max blue book value. I imagine cars.com is very similar and another great source. I usually just copy/paste my ad from Autotrader and put it on this forum's classified as well (never really any leads, but I guess everyone already has their dream Lexus right?). Doesn't hurt and it's free so why not. I never list a nice car on Craigslist - you want serious buyers only, not someone who will annoy you then ask for $10k off the car. And for your scenario, definitely push the warranty that sounds like a big selling point for you, can prob list for a thousand or so above max KBB value.

Good luck with your sale!

mstritt

I used CarGurus. com to sell my last 2 vehicles. One was 2005 GS430. Check it out.

texas008

by websites:
autotrader.com
cars.com
carguru.com
ebay.com
craigslist.com

to dealer:
Lexus dealer
carmax
texas direct auto

I've heard that Texas Direct Auto usually gives better price than other dealers.

vfr700f2

Here's all the potential ways I'd do it. You can try one or a few, and if that doesn't get results try different ones.

Word of mouth can be a great thing. Leave your contact info with Lexus dealer employees (sales, service, etc), maybe Toyota dealer people, independent shops that do a lot of Lexus business. You can print business cards on your computer or get them cheap from Vistaprint, etc, with name, phone, brief car details and price. You can offer a finder's fee for a referral that results in a sale. I'd be happy to get $100 in my pocket just for handing out your card...

As for online advertising, I'd put it on Autotrader, eBay classifieds and Craigslist, and of course any forums you're a member of, Lexus or otherwise. If your newspaper classifieds section has a lot of cars, maybe people still look there and I'd think about it. Last time I used a newspaper to sell a car, the paper also put it on their website which was affiliated somehow with cars.com so the ad went there too.

Write a detailed good ad with clear pics. Some people won't bother to read it. My wife thinks nobody bothers to read my carefully-crafted ads, but I won't even respond to a crap ad, so I won't post one.

You'll hear from a lot of lowballers and time-wasters, especially from Craigslist, but that's what you have to deal with to get top dollar.

There are Facebook groups in my area, including general "for sale/swapmeet" kind of things, general auto enthusiast and brand-specific groups. The BMW Facebook groups I've tried have been hideous train wrecks of moron young people and I'll never go near one again. YMMV. They're free, so...

Do you have Cars & Coffee-type gatherings, burger-joint cruises, etc near you? Show up with a for sale sign, have a cup of java or a burger and make some new friends.

Carry a couple of signs and display them whenever you go shopping, evenings out, wherever.

If you live on a well-trafficked road, just parking out front with a big sign could pay off. I've had some of my best results with that.

If you're not parking it at home with a sign, it could be wise to meet potential buyers away from your home, at a public place. Some police departments welcome sellers to do this at the police dept, you can call and check.

Talk to your bank about recommended payment types, so as to avoid forged cashiers checks, etc.

GLWS!

kevin

williakz

WOW! You wouldn't consider working on commission to sell an LS460 by any chance, would you? All kidding aside, thanks for the great info and super ideas.

I think I'll try some of your "softer" approaches in the next month or so while I get the "hard" stuff (ad copy, pics, etc.) ready to go for Oct./Nov. splash looking for a likely Dec./Jan. sale. If a sale comes earlier, I'll simply drive our spare car until I get my replacement for the LS.

Thanks again!

You too:
CarGuy89 (takes money to make money)
mstritt (hadn't heard of CarGurus before)
texas008 (great lead on TDA if private sale crashes)

vfr700f2

I'm full of ideas, that's for sure. Sometimes I'm full of something else, If only you had my dream LS430, I'd do you one better and buy it myself...

Anyway, it's a pleasure to be of some help, and I hope you get your price quickly. Sounds like you'd be a great person to buy a car from.

caha14

Another vote for autotrader.com, and I echo others' comments in terms of crafting a proper ad, etc. You will get the occasional email from [rather irritating] auto brokers, as well as spammers here and there, and the occasional fool who's budgeted for a Camry yet wants a Lexus, but by and large, my experience has been very positive.

Indeed!

Not the case, actually, for what it's worth... Under the old CPO program, 4/50 and CPO would coexist, essentially diluting the value of the 3/100 CPO warranty. Personally, I received my CPO 600hL a week before the 4/50 expired, so that worked out well, as I had some items addressed under 4/50. I also bought a wrapper (extending to 6/100: i.e., through 2020), and the wording is verbatim that on my Platinum VSA on the LX570.

Under the current L/Certified program, the certified 3-year warranty now picks up when 4/50 ends.

It works well sometimes; other times not. IMHO, it all comes down to the quality of the car, timing, pricing and the level of quality standards at the selling dealership. Indeed, I've seen a lot of great non-certified cars and a lot of CPO'd junk, but the opposite is also true.

My '08 I bought from non-Lexus dealer and purchased a Lexus VSA; my '10 I bought CPO, as I alluded to.

williakz

Thanks for the correction on the CPO/Factory Warranty handoff. Now that you mention it, I recall the 4/50 coverage (of which I made liberal use!) on my 2007 LS460 CPO.

Do you guys have any thoughts about the crash history stuff like CarFax and the like? Do potential buyers want to see that stuff? I have no crashes with mine; only a Lexus OEM windshield replacement through my insurance.

vfr700f2

Absolutely. IMHO people have a lot more faith in Carfax than it deserves. Carfax guarantees to tell you everything they know about the car. If they don't know it, they're not responsible. So a clean Carfax doesn't mean a clean car, but people are totally sold on the service. Pay a few bucks and have a copy ready.

Nospinzone

Wow Kevin, really good info in both your posts #22 and #27.

For all the flak Carfax gets over not reporting accidents, it still is a necessity in my opinion. If a car did have an accident that was reported, how else is an individual supposed to easily find out?

LS430FL

Very true about carfax and the fact that it sometimes doesn't tell the whole story. I can tell you from my personal cars, I had an 09 RX that had one minor fender bender. Police were called and a report was filed. my car didn't require work, but airbag light was on. I eventually traded it in on a new RX and told them about airbag light being on from minor fender bender. The dealer told me no problem. I found car for sale at another lexus dealer, airbag light was off and no accident on carfax. Another car of mine I recently traded in, had two accidents. First one was on carfax. The second accident, the car was sideswiped while parked on my street. Traded the car in with the damage on both doors. Lexus fixed it and the car is for sale now (with no mention of the damage). The damage was not on the carfax….. I agree carfax can be a useful tool however, nothing beats a PPI to check all panels and frame of the car for unreported accidents such as the ones my cars had. (if you live in S. florida you know so many of the used cars for sale have had some sort of fender bender its commonplace around here).


I have always wondered if you could take your vin and call police station or look on their website and find accident reports based on your vin. Never tried it though.

vfr700f2

Thanks, Paul!

Carfax is definitely useful, it's just unfortunate how people believe it's like the bible of car accidents...

Carmax (not Carfax!) uses a black light to find paint work. I don't know if it's a special sort of light, or just a regular black light. I don't know if it's infallible. Many brands have VIN labels on removable body parts and VIN stampings on other prominent parts, like strut towers. An inspection by a body shop that actually gives a crap can find signs of repairs, though you might have to pay them for the time it takes to do it right.