mooton

Funny story: last week I was out driving my '02 Gold (Egyptian Sand Pearl) with the top down on a beautiful afternoon. While waiting at a red light, a car pulls up next to me with three women in it, one of them leaning out and telling me she can't believe it - that she had just sold her identical '02 - same color, same wheels - just five minutes ago at the local dealership. She said it only has 22K miles and the dealer gave her $11,000.

Before I could stop myself, I said: wow, he's gonna sell it for twice that. I realized that was probably kind of rude and insulting to say that, but I said a couple nice things to her before the light turned green and had to drive off.

I looked into it a couple days later and found it on their lot for $17,990. I went to see it - it's nice - very clean. Like mine, but has the saddle interior and the darker wood, not the Ecru and maple.

Seems like a really good deal considering the mileage and the two owners per Carfax (hers since 2003). Regular maintenance, but nothing major.

I don't think I'm allowed to put links on here for cars-for-sale, but you can find it in Napa.

Thoughts on that price? I'm sure you could talk them down to $14-$15K. I haven't seen one with that low mileage for that kind of price - from a dealer, no less.

Bgw70

Nice Car!!!
Sc430

jonas's RX

Notice a few things on this SC

At first glance, looks like the front bumper is scuffed up
and also rear bumper repainted and not matching the car too well

Also, rim damages on a few rims.

ivanj

If they bought it for $11k you should be able to buy it for $13k. What did they do to it; change the oil? Sorry, retail customer, no warranty.

Annualize the profit margin. Would you like that rate of return in your 401k?

With this obscene markup no wonder I've never seen a poor car dealer.

jonas's RX

I don’t think anyone should have an issue with a dealer making a profit

Afterall, if a seller does not want to bother with doing the work
and selling the car themselves, then more power to the dealer if
that can make a easy 7K

As far as is this SC even worth 17K, I think in my mind if the
bumpers and the wheels were not damaged or repaired, a clean
low mileage SC with 22K is definitely worth every penny at even
17K. I personally would rather pay a bit more and get a clean
original panel SC .

The damaged, repainted and just not too desirable SC can be had
All day for under 10K but why settle for a crappy SC ?

my2 cents

mooton

I agree that if the opportunity is there, the fact that they got it at a low price shouldn't deter them from selling it at market retail value, even if that means a high markup.

Jonas, I did see the car in person, and though I may have oversold the "pristine"-ness of it, as there was a minor chip in the front bumper and a slight one in the back as well, I definitely saw no signs of a repainted bumper. And there was slight road rash on the wheels on one side, but none of those would keep me from pulling the trigger given the low miles and the possibility to get it in the low teens.

jonas's RX

Absolutely agreed

I have owned 4 SC’s in the past and
when I sold my old ones, I have never
Really “ lost money” other than a few
hundred.

The condition, mileage and if the car has
never been repainted will keep the car
from dropping much once they get pass
10 years old

I never look at a car as a investment
anyway

ivanj

It is interesting to get the reactions to my parody of a point of view that is current - not just about car deals.

When I acquired my SC 430 it was more of a rara avis than I thought. Mine came out of Texas. We see very few of them in the Northeast. I never saw one after the SC300/400 series. Even though I have had to put some money into mine mechanically, and it is not pristine, I guess I "acquired it right." I enjoy the heck out of driving it, maintaining it and making incremental improvements to it. I am learning quite a bit about the care and maintenance of this model from this board.

forbirdie3

I purchased a '02 silver/ecru from a Lexus dealer in Houston for $12.3k three weeks ago. I owner, 51k with all the records. All fluids changed on schedule. Very clean body, a few wear marks on the driver seat. Dunlop Direzza 102's with 4k miles on them. (Wish they were Michelins)
The dealer showed the car needed a CV boot and had two bent rims. My independent Lexus mechanic pulled the maintenance records and said it was a good buy.
I replaced one wheel and repaired one, wheel alignment, timing belt, and water pump changed ( thanks to CL thread and mechanic's recommendation).
I am in just under $15k with everything done. A fun car to drive in retirement around town!

Harold57

Welcome to the forum forbirdie3. Sounds like you got a pretty good deal and a good SC430.

forbirdie3

Thanks Harold57. I have been reading the threads the past three weeks and seen your words of wisdom on many.
As one of the newbies, I say thank you for your great advice.

VVTiBob

I’d also like to say welcome AND thanks for using the forum’s vast resources of information. I appreciate you searching out topics on your own and finding the info you need. Members are the life blood of the forum and sharing helps all of us.

forbirdie3

Thanks VVTiBob,
The forum has already saved me a lot of time and frustration.

Harold57

Thank you for the kind words, I'm just one of many. There are so many great contributors on this forum and we all build on each other.

JTho

The car is no longer listed. Maybe somebody snapped it up. I second the fact that this is a great forum!