bezee

Salesman is getting on my nerves a bit. I asked for details on some of the items I saw on the service records and he said he would talk to the service manager about the ones I noted. He calls and says they were really busy today but he talked to some of the service guys and the said it was just regular maintenance and the car was clean.

Then he started telling me about the car fax report looked great blah blah.... I'm like dude I read that ish too but that's not what I asked for, I'm an out of state buyer and would feel more comfortable just talking about some of the records seeing as it was bought and serviced there. Right? So he said tomorrow he'd get me the # for the service manager so I can ask my questions.

If it checks out I'm still gonna try to hit him for $36, 500. Maybe talking to his boss could get some movement.

Ascari_2

Take what I say with some grain of salt because I myself was able to get a pretty good deal on a great car recently, but if a car is at the bottom of the price list there may be a reason why. Yes it's certified, and yes it's being sold by a Lexus dealer, but CPO cars can vary considerably between their condition. So there may (key word being "may") be some underlying reason for the price being so low (smoker's car / poorly kept interior / paint work being in sub-par condition / wind noise / or other things that are easily concealed in photographs and that a sales person will not tell you about).

The car could also have been in some minor fender bender. A clean carfax will not guarantee that the car hasn't had body work. I remember going to look at an '08 600 that was priced very aggressively. When I called and asked the sales person about the car and it's condition the response was "oh clean carfax and it's in great condition ... no signs of accidents." Well that was until I got to the dealer where I saw clearly misaligned body panels. When I pointed those out to the sales guy his response was the usual "oh yeah, I didn't see that ."

I would look at the dealer's inventory to see if they have any other LSs and see how they are priced. It may very well be that this dealer prices their cars aggressively. Or it may be that they gave a very low trade-in value. On the other hand if you see 3 other LSs all priced higher than the bottom line of the market, that could give some indication that this particular car has its issues.

If I was in your shoes I would call the dealer and just ask to speak with the pre-owned sales manager (you can figure out who that is on the website). When you talk to him just say that you are interested in the car and you are ready to fly out there with a check as long as the car is in the condition that it is purported to be. Tell him that for you to do this, you need some very simple facts about the car (service history, imperfections that you will easily notice when you see the car for yourself, any signs or records of body work), and tell him that you do not want to be in a position where you fly out only to face all those issues that you could've found out about over the phone. Also tell him that up to now all that you've gotten was a run-around and if they are not interested in selling the car to just say so and you can take your business else where.

roadfrog

This is getting painful to follow.....

Dude, if you want the car, why don't you do what you suggested already and get an independent appraiser/inspection done on the vehicle and be done with it? Secondly, if you get the car, will you really remember six months from now that you should have held out for another 1500 dollar negotiation in the price? You'll have such a ish-eating grin on your face from the pleasure you'll be experiencing in your new LS that you won't care.

williakz

Excellent post! Numerical comparison is at the heart of productive analysis. Nice job showing how it can be used to a (potential) buyer's advantage.

peteybabes

i'm here with you on this roadfrog! lol!

i enjoy your comments

bezee

I know, I know...I'm just going a little nutty because of not ever being in the position of making such a large purchase.

roadfrog

Doooo iiiittttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bezee

I'm gonna!!! Finally got through to the sales manager and he was able to immediately tell me the specifics on some of the items on the service history. Unfortunately I had to throw Gus the salesman under the bus for dragging his feet. I guess that worked because Gus was calling me before I could even get off the phone with his Manager. They are gonna send me a form to put a deposit down to hold the car and I guess I'll be booking a plane ticket. I'm still going to try and get them to budge even if its a few hundred dollars at least for my plane ticket.

roadfrog

Atta boy.....

bezee

Got the deal done! Rode home 1100 mile like a magic carpet. More pics n details of the experience flying down to get her to follow. ..

DavidinCT

Very nice, congrats !

hfahmy

Congratulations!!! Glad it worked out. You got yourself a deal

pmiller

Glad it worked out. Awesome car!!!
I'm curious, how you did you end up paying? Did you get am extended warranty? Reason I ask is I have a 2010 460L and I'm curious how much it's worth.
Thanks.

peteybabes

what a gorgeous beast

beautiful car, we're all glad you made the plunge.

Soldier76

Congrats on this beautiful work of art.:thumb up: Only thing to do now is post some more pics so we can all lust after it, "LMBO"!!!!!!!