OCADA

I remember when my wife and I were first getting our careers going 6 years ago and seeing the new 2010 RX350 at an autoshow and liking it. Now we have a kid and are looking at SUVs so we're thinking about at used RX350s.

It seems like there are a lot of options in my area (Orange County, CA) for MY 2012 + 2013. They are mostly priced in the mid to low 30s. I honestly don't have a huge feeling one way or another about the spindle grill so I would have no issue getting the original design of this generation.

I did see a 2010 RX350 with Nav and Premium, in light blue(not my favorite, but I can deal with it) CPO with 64k miles listed for $24k. Carfax is showing 3 owners which is odd, but carfax is also showing it was religiously maintained. Another odd part is that it looks like it was sold twice before at two other local dealerships, but they never CPO'd it. Now that its for sale again, its a CPO from the biggest dealership in OC.

For $10k less than most of what else is out there I can overlook the miles and the color. I probably would put about 12k miles on it a year, so I would expect to get almost all of the 3 year warranty out of it. I've have no experience with Lexus before, but I know their reputation for a very well built product.

The 3 owner thing has me scratching my head, but it could be a carfax screw up. And even if it did have 3 owners having the CPO alleviates a lot of concerns. It looks like the dealership has been trying to sell the car for 3 months which might explain the deep discount.

Does this sound like a solid deal or should I look for something a little newer and with a little less miles and pay the $8-10k extra? (I'm leaning no )

Thanks in advance everyone.

MDames2

iTrader: (1)

I have a 2010 RX350 and I love it. It does only have 35,000 miles on it. But it runs like new and drives superbly. The engine and transmission in this vehicle has been around for a while. So it is tried and true. A well maintained RX with this engine should easily last 200K miles plus.

FLYCT

If you go to drivers.lexus.com and register you can enter the vin number and see more detailed service history.

It looks real good BTW.

Price is excellent with CPO. When purchasing a CPO you can opt for extended Lexus warranty. Once you drive away that's no longer an option

It looks like Newport Lexus Dyed the leather and did some paint reconditioning to get it ready for sale.

It would be one that I look at it if I was in the market.

Let us know and good luck looking.

OCADA

Thats really great to hear MDames and FlyCT.

Thanks for suggesting the lexus site. Looking over the service history the previous owner(s) seemed to be very meticulous. I get the impression that it might be the same owner given how habitually they maintained the RX and seemingly had issues returning the loaner on time lol.

Fly - Do you have any concerns just reading about the paint and leather work done? Or does that strike you as the dealer fixing normal wear and tear to make the vehicle look its best?

raylor

just be forewarned, cpo is essentially nothing more than a nice warranty.

my cpo that presumably had a "100+ point inspection" had used napkins in the rear armrest (did they even pull it down to look?!?) and - to my horror and embarrassment for not noticing until a month later - was missing a rear headrest! maybe it's just lexus of towson, but cpo was basically a joke. and the joke was on me for thinking it was really anything more than a very nice warranty (which it is).

as for why there are so many owners despite being meticulously maintained, also be forewarned that the 3rd generation rx is known for ticking, rattles, and squeaks that can drive one crazy and may have led to people getting rid of it. i'm speaking from experience here as i am considering doing the same on my 2012 cpo. the warranty does not cover rattles/squeaks/ticking, etc. or brakes. lexus of towson was pretty good about giving it a try a few times on the b pillar ticking and rear seat rattle and squeaking.

if you couldn't tell already, i expected more from lexus and am pretty disappointed. don't get me wrong, it is a BEAUTIFULLY smooth ride when on pristine smooth surfaces but a rattle and squeak box over any roughness (and not just big bumps) in the road. i am working to get rid of some of the rattles, especially the b pillar ticking, and i think i would be happy with the vehicle if i can do so.

FLYCT

I would not have any concern with them touching up the paint.

Raylor is correct about CPO. Some dealers are very good making the car look like new where others are not. I walked away from a LS460 CPO and a 2008 SC430 CPO. The SC430 had horrible acid etching from love bugs that were left to eat up the paint by previous owner. A CPO LS460 had a cracked taillight and several scratches on the bumper covers.

Basically you can't assume at if its a CPO that it's cosmetically near perfect. What you can expect is that the tires, brake linings, battery are in good shape.

CPO warranty is excellent. It will come with fresh oil, good tires, battery and brakes. They also will cover your first service at 5,000 miles.

I owned a CPO LS460 that had seat dyed. The texture was not quiet right and they had a tendency to transfer blue jean dye to the seats. I also had the same issue Ford parchment leather but never an issue with my 2 CPO SC430s I bought.

Looking at the driver.lexus.com service history the RX you are looking at seems to be maintained by a meticulous owner and it doesn't have any significant issues when serviced. If it looks good cosmetically and drives well, it should be a keeper.

Best of luck.

gusar

I bought my 2013 without navigation, which probably saved me a couple of thousands...

justin1203

We have a 2010 RX350 AWD with 82k on the ODO now, and we love it.
Purchased 12 months ago with 67k for 25k. NAV/Prem and comfort package.

Is the one you're looking at AWD?

PR FIEBRU

I bought 2010 6 months ago 39k cpo all serviced at dealer one owner.. 27k. 1.9% finance.
I think I got great deal!

snowy

Last November we purchased a similar car with 49k for $25.5k. While you can expect all used cars to have experienced use, the warranty is great. The advantage of a car with some "character" is that you worry less about the additional character you will inevitably add.

With our 3 year old things are bound to (and do) happen. Parking in the back 40 is not always an option with the little one. For us it was the right choice and we could put the extra money into other things (college account for example).

The few things that have cropped up have been 100% covered by the dealer, including a radio that would not work with the defroster on and a rattle in the steering column ($3k in repairs).

It is a great car and should last a long time. We enjoy it a lot. Have fun picking out the right one for your family.

PS we ended up with silver, not really our favorite color. At least it hides things and is good camouflage with all the other silver SUVs out there!

Clutchless

I have a 2010 with about 40,000 and have already dyed the front seat cushions myself because they got so cracked and nasty looking. The look almost new again!

scubadown

OCADA

I just (last week) purchased an Red 2010 RX 350 (65K miles) with Nav and it was about the same as you paid. It too is CPO'ed. It has new tires and brakes. It think it was a good deal and is a beautiful car. My previous car was a Honda CRV and it is quite an upgrade. Good luck with yours. I'm still trying to figure out how to work everything!