jzarena

I am getting tired of my 10' RX450h and then the thought occurred to me that I had always wanted an LS since they were released except that I could not afford a new one. NADA says average trade in is 25.5k for my RX.

I have two listings in my area that I am stuck between.

Chrysler Dealership:
07 LS460 SWB w/ 69k miles, looks like no ML or any other neat packages.
negotiated down to 23.5k before any dealer fees or title fees

or

Private seller:
08 LS460 SWB w/84k miles w/ ML + Comfort Plus package
negotiated down to 24.5k and apparently they just bought new tires w/ <1k miles on them. No sales tax in a private purchase in AZ.

Did my research using their VIN numbers and Carfax, both were dealer maintained every ~5k miles.

Need people's opinions on what is a better deal?

roadfrog

Hands down for me would be the 08. Not even close.

jzarena

I am leading towards the 08 as well, not sure if anyone thinks the difference in mileage is worth the exchange of some of those features.

roadfrog

Not as far as I'm concerned....especially when they are so reliable.

Besides....I don't think I could ride without Levinson as my co-pilot. :-)

Nospinzone

The ML and the Comfort + Package are such advantages over the 07 that a mere 15k miles and another $1k is nothing.

No question in my mind that the 08 is the better deal (unless you absolutely hate the color).

Tee

My choice like the others would be be 2008 from the private seller, that's good you ran the VIN #'s via CarFax but, you can do better digging into the history of both cars.

Register on Lexusdrivers.com site, then plug in vins to see history and compare with AutoCheck & CarFax to fill in holes. When you see a service task listed that makes no since or has a number ask a service rep at Lexus dealer to provide the data b/c they can see what was done. There is a little drop down tab that opens up the misc service to reveal better detail.

Also to anyone reading this that is looking for used 07-09, i would not avoid an 07-09 just b/c you hear others say stay away due to first run/yr issues. If you do your homework on the history of the car, the previous owner could have done all of the TSIB's, recall and warranty work on the car for you. You could end up passing on a very nice 07-09 with a great ownership experience in your future!

CJITTY

Exactly! !

jzarena

Took a look and test drive of the 08. The person's definition of "excellent" condition is a bit off. Small chips in the paint was expected. No rear carpet. Needs a good detail and carpet steaming to remove all the dirt and one of the chrome rims had the Lexus emblem fall off. I do like the Nav on my 10 RX and will be sad to see that resolution and bright screen go away. Ill ask for another $500 off to update nav and do the extensive detail cleaning that it needs.

jzarena

So I was able to negotiate with the owner to credit me some money to detail the car and $80 to subsidize part of the nav map update. (Might hold off on the Nav update till next year, he has maps from 2011)

Final Price: $24,220.

I will probably be an LS owner by this weekend

peteybabes

Congratulations and welcome to the LS family!

Post some pix once you get this all cleaned up.

Nospinzone

I think you did very well. Good job!

As an FYI, the nav updates come out yearly around the end of September.

roadfrog

Well done!

philj

if you are going to upgrade the nav do it before you add addresses. once you update all of your saved info will be lost. Also I have found that different dealers charge different prices for the upgrade so you may want to shop around.

Congratulations.

Tee

Congrats!!!!

RodT

Congrats!!!!!!!!