tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Looking a (2) Ls430's non UL this week hopefully...

1st one is a 2004 white/tan 63k miles, 2 owners, no accidents

2nd one is 2004 white/gray 44k miles, 1 owner, no accidents...

Been contemplating this for about 2 months now on trading in my Optima to having a lesser car payment... These 2 vehicles fit my budget and I'm hoping to get a good price for my 2012 Optima SX with 8900 miles....

Anything i should look for when looking at these cars? Both look really clean but need to be tinted...

thanks in Advance...

Legender

I think it's going to be your decision... color/condition/maintenance... which one appeals to you more. I would not worry about the miles delta between them. Not enough to bother with...

greg s

Personally I think grey interior is better than the tan.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

I would just sit down and crunch the numbers. You will loose money on the Kia of course but just be aware of the cost of maintaining a 10 year old car. Believe me, they are fantastic and I love my car but even with sourcing the parts myself and negotiating labor rates the LS430 is a little pricey to keep in factory condition. It would be much more expensive if I just dropped her off at the dealer..

The major cost are going to be the timing belt / water pump, tune up, and rubber in the suspension / motor mounts. All the fluids should be replaced if not already. Full coverage insurance is also more expensive then I would think it should be for a 10 year old car. I would bet it's more then the Kia. I'm all for it but if you are doing it to just cut your payment then it may come back to bite you. The mileage is low on the models you listed, which is a plus but time is also a factor in the maintenance schedule and normal deterioration of parts.

LS430FL

I am one to go for cars with less miles... Also, although carfax can be a flawed document, I do like to buy a car with a clean carfax as well. One owner is a plus also! I think I saw in another thread that you were heading to lexus of palm beach. I looked on their website and saw the above cars. If it were me, I would choose the one with 44K miles. Run service records on the owners site or have them print them for you while you are there like I did. When comparing the carfaxes between the two cars the 44K mile car is a local one owner car from Boca Raton. Probably an older person and this was their second car. They probably did maintenance by the book. That is comparing it to the other one with 66K on the clock. It has been in several states, through an auction,etc. I would not look further if that was me but thats just my opinion. Hope I could help!

p.s. try and negotiate the 90K service into the deal. Although they aren't near 90K, the time for wear factor is a good idea to get it done now if it hasn't been done yet.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

thanks for the replies guys. I agree on all that but with that being said should I look for 2005 or 2006? I looked on Lexus. com and typed in both VINs and I didn't see anything major. both cars seemed to have routine maintenance and recently both cars had new brakes, tire balance and rotation. I do like the lower mileage LS myself.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I would take LS with the grey interior since it has lower miles.

You should be fine with an 04 unless you find another LS you like better that just happens to be an 05 or 06. The only thing different about the 05+ is that they usually have the five spoke 18 inch wheels on them.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Also, for whatever reason consumer reports ranks the 04 having audio problems vs 05-06. This may be the sub and speaker cone deterioration issue. Don't know if they used different speaker cones in 05 and 06 but it is quite common for 04 models to need new front door and sub speakers. The drivers are fine. The paper cones seem to fall apart.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

thanks Kira, i was going to message you this morning but i got busy at work... I know you have 2 LS's and wanted to pick your brain... thanks bud....

greg s

I replaced both my front door speakers the first week I had my 04. Better than new now.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

You're welcome! Feel free to hit me up anytime if you have any questions.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

That's interesting. I wonder if they actually did use different speaker cones.

I figured it was common throughout all of the LS430's since my 02 has a blown speaker in the door and most LS' I see have a blown speaker, sub, or amp.

Jabberwock

All things being equal and if that is the actual choice here I'd buy the one owner local car instead of the car that's been through auctions and multiple states/owners...that's almost never a good sign.

btw - the transaction costs of selling/trading your current car and buying a new used car with another car loan from a dealer are going to completely eat up any possible "lower payment" savings especially in long term. You are attempting to defy the laws of financial car buying physics and that cannot be done. Wealth is built by owning and driving cars with no payments, not cars with lower payments.

If you want to really save money sell your current car privately, pay off your loan, and buy a $500-1,000 beater to drive for cash with no payments. Drive the beater and put money in the bank until you have saved enough to pay cash for your next car.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

No one is talking about wealth here. I'm perfectly financially comfortable FYI, I'm looking to get into a used car with a lower payment.. How is that defying the law of physics?

Jabberwock

I am a strong believer in not having payments of any kind ever on a depreciating asset. The typical transaction costs for financing, selling, and buying cars to produce a lower short term payment almost always obliterate any long terms savings. But that's should be a whole different thread. I meant this as general advice to lots of young folks on the forum. Sorry about that, I should have made my post way more general in nature.

Back to topic at hand - best of luck with finding a really great LS430. The 04-06 models are basically identical so shopping for a mint low mile version of any one of those years should be fine.