kuruption213

Hi, I'm currently a GS400 owner and my father is looking into buying a used 2001 LS430 with Navigation and Mark Levinson from the Lexus Dealer for 45,000 certified. Do you guys think this is a good deal. Also he's looking to sell his 92 LS with 70,000 (very little i know he never drives it), it has been in one accident hitting a dear but no engine damage or anything occured. What do you think is a good used price range for the car?

Thanks.

bluestar

$45K for a used '01 LS 430 w/ML and Nav sounds a little on the high side to me. How many miles are on that puppy ??

Here is a sample site you can use to check on what to expect to pay for the '01 or to sell the '92.

http://nadaguides.com/Values/ValueMa...yID=2&ColorId=

Good luck

BobDana400

I'd check out www.edmunds.com for an exact appraisal with the specific options on car. They also take into account your geographic area. The same can be done for the car your dad wants to sell. Edmunds is an excellent site because it makes you informed of the market.
Good luck!

Methodical

iTrader: (-1)

Average wholesale on an 01' LS430 with 25 to 30k miles is $38,000.00 to $38,500.00. That figure represnts what the dealer would be willing to pay for the vehicle if it was traded in by a private party.
Keep in mind that the dealer probably low-balled the trader of the vehicle and it's very possible that they might have taken it in for $35,000.00. It's very safe to assume that the vehicle has a 5g mark up form average wholesale. I would not offer the dealer anything more than 1g over average wholesale.
Hope that helps. Take care

mikhailw

Check out a GS400 marketplace group. There is a member who is selling his 2001 GS430 with 22K miles, NAV, MARk Levingston radio, perfect for only $31K. I doubt there is another dealer who will pay more than $31K.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

One plus even though you pay a premium is that the dealer will go over the car thoroughly. When picked our '97 up, it didn't have a ding anywhere. They painted the bumpers, hood, cleaned the inside completely and detailed the engine. Brand new brakes, tires and all maintenance to that mileage point were taken care of. I couldn't ask for a car in better shape.

Buying from some PP owners can be an "educational" experience.

mikhailw

Actually, this is exactly why I will never buy a car from a dealer. I don't want them to cover up damage and abuse of the car. I don't want repainted body panels. New paint will never be as good as factory one. A car could have been in a bad condition, abused. Dealer cleans the car, changes the oil(for the first time since new). Now you own this car, but you don't know if previous owner was changing oil, and taking care of your new car. Many dealer buy damaged and abused cars at auctions for very low price, and then they "go over the car" to make it look nice. Buyers think if car looks nice, it must been taken care of. Dealers are your enemy, and you shouldn't trust them.

I spoke with a local Lexus dealer, and he told me if a car has been repainted, you will get at least 30% below trade-in value of a car with the original paint. I would stay away from cars with repainted panels. You pay full price, but resale price is much lower. Lexus has very good quality paint, so most often panels are painted after an accident. Nobody will paint entire hood to cover-up few paint chips. This is why there is touch-up paint.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

>>Many dealer buy damaged and abused cars at auctions for very low price, and then they "go over the car" to make it look nice.

This does happen, I've read lawsuits charging various dealers with such tactics and this can be quite a scam. Consumer laws have improved and occurrences like this have not been as wide spread here.

>>I spoke with a local Lexus dealer, and he told me if a car has been repainted, you will get at least 30% below trade-in value of a car with the original paint. I would stay away from cars with repainted panels.

Interesting. Always something to learn, I'm glad you mentioned it. For the longest time I've bought PP and this was my third experience with a dealership. So long as there was no major damage, it was secondary if there were painted panels. But the price is a factor if they are padding it. Whether his was Lexus or what, it is somethng I'll tuck away for my next car purchase.

For brevity purposes in my original post I generalized the bumper and hood. The bigger chips were filled, color sanded and clear-coated, bumper got about the same. The panels had the matching panel ID numbers so it wasn't major. Curiously, can they lift the ID stickers and replace them on other panels?

Before I signed the purchase contract, I did get the vehicle repair history. Was in regularly for each service interval at a dealer across town.

bluestar

If any body part has been replaced, it will NOT have the VIN. May be worthwhile for you to check things all over again, just in case.

BTW, here is an interesting article that I'm sure you'll find very informative for anyone buying a used car.

http://www.vauxhallpa.50megs.com/paintwork.html

mikhailw

Thanks bluestar.

I really enjoyed reading the article.

kuruption213

thank you very much for all of the information

rybikowsky

I reccomend you buy a used lexus from a lexus dealer. 1st their reputation is too important to them to sell a poor vehicle. usually they keep the nice stuff, and wholesale all of the other cars. I bought my used lexus from lexus of alexandria. The car was just as they said it was. Now as to buying from a private party. there are so many possible varibles to this. 1st what the owner tells you about the car may be true as far as he knows. But he may be in the majority that know little to nothing about cars. or you can get someone who is a d-mm crook.True you can get a better price from a private owner but you had better know what you are doing. If I buy something like an LS. I look for ones for sale in the high dollar realestate areas. Around here that could be spring valley, chevy chase, potomac, middleburg,etc. You want to get service records on any car you are thinking about. Be in no hurry. You get the best deals if you take your time. I ran a new car dealership years ago. I put all of the prices on trade ins and wholesaled out most of them. and yet I am still very leary about private owner sales. good luck, Michael. carpe diem.