SC430fun

On a different note, wtf is going on with this site? Its keeps telling me my message is too short, and needs to be at least 10 characters.. ****ing pos.. this is the 4th time i tried, and had to type this up twice now..

I am going to do the timing belt myself if needed with radiator, and all the other components. Ill also move my goodies over from my other car at the same time. I had much more posted, but i am not typing up a third time.. This site is seriously tripping out right now!

So the price for the gray one is pretty good if I get the total with license and tax included for at or under $20k? my loan amount is for that which is why I ask..

Thank you for all the help guys!!

riknchar

Have you been able to see a CarFax for the Gray car? The price is pretty low for a 2007. I looked up the VIN in the Lexus web site and found the following entry from Jan 29, 2009:

REPLACED FUSE AND TESTED AND TESTED SYSTEM OPERATING AS DESIGNED AT THIS TIME GUEST STATES NAVAGATION IS BLACKED OUT AND DOOR WILL NOT OPEN.CHECK AND ADVISE - BLOWN FUSE POSS.DUE TO IMPACT POSSIBLY FROM ACCIDENT DAMAGE - REPLACED FUSE AND TESTED AND TESTED SYSTEM OPERATING AS DESIGNED AT THIS TIME

Another entry from Jan 4, 2011:
DIAGNOSTIC CHECK ONLY GUEST STATES FRONT RIGHT TIRE IS DAMAGED MAKES A NOISE - AF TER INSPECTION FOUND 3 WHEELS HAS TO BE REPLACED DUE TO ROAD DAMAGE GUEST REQUESTED TO RE LACE FOURTH ONE. - DIAGNOSTIC CHECK ONLY

On Mar 19, 2014, the entire right front suspension was replaced (ball joints, control arms, strut, etc., due to "Impact on right front side of car..." from a pothole, supposedly.

On April 29, 2015:
CRACKED FOUND DURING INSPECTION CRACKED ENGINE MOUNTS AND TRANSMISSION MOUNT - CRACKED - 57954 TRACED TO CRACKED ENGINE MOUNTS AND THE TRANSMISSION MOUNT REPLACE AS NEEDED.

IMPACT DAMAGE CUSTOMER STATES DRIVER SIDE MIRROR WONT GO UP OR DOWN,IT MOVER LT AND RIGHT , CHECK AND ADVISE. - IMPACT DAMAGE - 57954 REPLACE THE DAMAGED PASS OUTSIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR AS NEEDED.....TRANSFERED OLD MIRROR GLASS TO THE NEW MIRROR.

Seems to me that the car has been driven by a VERY BAD DRIVER for all of its life. On the bright side, though, the damage has been repaired each time by Jim Falk Lexus. With all of the accidents this car has been in, the resale value will definitely suffer (that's why it's being offered so cheap). If you don't mind the history, the car itself may turn out to be a good value for the money...

Good luck!

SC430fun

I am going to look at the grey 07 this evening and ill check the carfax..

The owner of the blue one sent me a recent invoice where he had his at Jim Falk Lexus with an almost $10k bill for new run flats, sensors, all kinds of hoses (radiator, emissions, P/S lines), rear brakes. front control arms, looks like a radiator was done at almost $600 as well..Fresh fluids all throughout, including gearbox, trans flush.. much more, and this was done 6 months ago. He is out of town and willing to fly back if I pay him close to the offering price of $22k but I started with $18k and willing to do $19k.. Is that crazy and should I move on?

My silver one had a history too at the lexus dealer, where it went back and forth a lot early in its life, plus a documented accident.. yet it ended up being a great car, and still held up fine with the airbags working in my recent accident.

Ill look at the gray one this evening and get back to this.. I may go for that one, since I dont want to wait much longer. The loan from my CU is ready I want to move forward - it will be healthy for me to get past this, and Ill end up with a better lower mileage car in the end either way! That dealer did say they will negotiate with me as well, and at just under 65k miles with a clean title, its very tempting!!

tennman117

Please do not put too much faith in a clean Carfax report.

I have found them to be virtually worthless in the past.

One BMW I purchased had a clean Carfax and I later found out it had been in four accidents totaling over 16k in repairs.

They are helpful in determining the number of owners sometimes.

SC430fun

I am having a lot of trouble with this site.. I just lost an entire ****ing post again!!

There are messages popping up telling me my message is too short, and then it cuts my message out. From now on, I am typing up in Word and pasting here.. this is nuts.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...466655460.html

I am going for this one.. The guy got back to me and supplied a recent invoice for Beverly Hills Lexus for $10k of service including new run-flats (yuck) and sensors installed. There is a ton of other things too.. hoses, control arms.. Things that probably were not too bad, but the dealer was being proactive. It was his fathers car, and his prized possession but he passed so his kid got it, and now he is selling it. He was in no hurry to sell, but the car going to me apparently has a lot to do with his willingness to fly out to sell it to me because it makes him happy it goes to someone who will love the car and care for it the same way.

Its 77k miles and a 2006 - The gray one is 2007 with 65k miles, but it has a more spotty history. This one was babied for years before I step into the picture, and that is more valuable to me than to worry about 10k miles. I offered him just below bluebook value based on the description which is basically flawless except for a small scratch on the front right wheel. I can swap in my chrome inserts on this car from my old SC if it bothers me that much. The interior is perfect as well, with crystal clear headlights, and the bulbs were changed in the recent past as well, but I do have my heart set on getting ones with a more purple-ish appearance and ones of the same color temp to match for the fog lights.

He is setting up a meeting with a friend of his for me to look the car over from top to bottom, and I will drive it just to be sure. Once I confirm with him, he will fly out to meet me and we will go to the credit union together to finalize the transaction, and then it will all be done. Ill have a car payment again, but this will be behind me and I can move forward - this time with much better insurance and GAP coverage so there is no question it will be covered if something happens again. I will use my Honda most of the time for work and will use the SC more for myself in the future to keep it from getting over-used, and away from more unnecessary harm.

Bgw70

Your link is not working...
Was it this one?
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst...466655460.html

BTW, what device are you using?
I previously used an iPad 2 and had all kinds of problems with this site. It was not the website, it was was the lack of memory and processor speed in the ipad2.
I now have an iPad Air 2 and never have any issues.

SC430fun

Thats the link - its for the blue SC - More blue than the sky

I run into this issue when I take too long to write a post, or click the submit button after logging in. But the site can normally handle that, and takes me to the login screen where I proceed to enter my credentials, and it takes them. From there it says I need to go back and refresh, and then after I refresh, I get the error message that my message is too short because the site sees it as less than 10 characters. I made sure its not an issue with the body of my message, because if you quote someone, and accidentally move a quotation mark, it may think that most of your new post is quotes from an old post. Its odd, and each time it happens, its beyond midnight both times, but never earlier in the day. I am wondering if its site maintenance related..

In any case.. This guy is ok taking 18k for the car, but that is the limit for him, and he is only doing it for me because I know the car, and he knows I will take such good care of it.. This is also why he is flyin back to town early to sell it, or else he would just wait to handle it until he gets back. He knows if he waits, I wont be able to hold off that long. I told him of my situation about my current SC, and that I want to "fill the void" ASAP!

$18k is at the bottom bluebook range, since his car is technically in "excellent" tip-top condition, and he as able to provide me the PDF of the most recent Lexus service for $10 parts and labor, and the damn thing is several pages long! He will also be able to provide additional history on the car as well.. The gray SC, will actually end up costing about $19k after haggling with the price, and its more of a spotty history with only 10k less miles. Ill go for the gray one as a backup if the blue one falls through, but I have a good feeling in my gut about this blue one, and I always wanted a blue one as well! Whats most important to me is that its a 2006 so it has the newer design with the 6 speed. I can add puddle lights, and turn signals to my side view mirrors - I was planning to do that to my silver 06 that got totaled!

I know its just a CL ad, but what do you all think of that one? Under 80k miles looks great to me!!

riknchar

That's a very good deal on a 2006, in my opinion, especially with all the recent work that has been done. Did the recent work include the Timing Belt/Water Pump replacement?

If you can obtain the VIN you can review the full Lexus maintenance history (or post it and let us review the history and give you our advice).

I wouldn't be very concerned with the miles -- these SCs can easily go 200K miles without major engine issues.

Good luck!

Bgw70

The blue is a beautiful color and as you can see we like it too!
It sure seems like a fantastic deal but I just cannot get past this question,
Why would someone spend $10k in maintenance and then turn around and sell the car?
The agreed to $18k, if he would have spent nothing and placed an ad for $15k, then let it go for $13k, he would be $5k ahead.
Did the father do the $10k of work at the dealer before he passed or did the son do this work?
Did I misunderstand something?
Did the seller make a big mistake?
Just be careful, something does not seem right, but if it is, you are getting one heck of a deal on that car!!!

SC430fun

He has it at $22k in the ad... I think his father may have done the service before passing because the name on the Lexus invoice is different than the person selling it, which is his kid.. kind of makes sense I guess... I will be seeing the car this Sunday morning, and I am going to test drive it, and go over it with a fine-tooth comb like I did my silver one that was rebuilt title. I will take the VIN and check it too, but the guy told me that he has too many cars and is forced to get rid of a couple. I may just be getting lucky and actually catching a break!!

He was not in a rush to sell it, but he wants to sell to me in particular since I will be able to treat the car so well.. Not to sound ****ed up, but I hope his dad did not pass away, IN the car or anything! He is local and I told him the story and showed him a pic of my SC and how mine was totaled and I am very bummed out.

I need to take a pic of the odometer, and the registration to email to the credit union.. This is so they make sure that they dont loan me money for a car that is priced too much.. I dont think I will have that issue, since I offered him $18k which is lower end of the bluebook value, between "good" and "excellent" condition. Then they give me the clearance and he flies down to come to the credit union with me in the car, and he shows the smog certificate, and title, and its transferred over to me and the CU gets entered on the title as lienholder.. the guy gets his cashiers check, and the car is mine!

77k miles is great with the fact its been so well cared for.. I just need to make sure it has not been in any accidents and I will verify that this sunday as well. I know these cars can go forever if cared for, - my old Lincoln made it beyond 300k and was able to rip the tires and leave rubber as I drove it out of my garage to a buyer that pulled the engine to sell to a Mustang Cobra owner (same engine). I would be fine with the 07 with 65k miles as well, but I get a better vibe from this one. Maybe it was meant to be, and the guy really is just trying to give me a break since he can see I loved my old car, and it got smashed.. I was joking when I said that above, but now it really is beginning to feel like this. Ill check the rest of the maintenance history as well, to see if the timing belt, and all the other related stuff including water pump has been done yet.

Since I am buying another one, I just want to make sure I do it right and get one that is taken care of AND lower miles, so I can end up with something better if I can! I will get a LOT of pics when I look at it closely, and share them on here immediately for your opinions!

ALSO - the police report came today, and the LAPD did me right! The other drive completely at fault, by making "an unsafe turn" in front of me. I am going to take the kid to court and sue him. Karma is a *****, and he was trying to lie about it, even going as far as calling my insurance company himself to say I ran a red light, and all other kinds of BS.. I went through enough, and it was really jacked up for him to do that crap. So its "learning time" for the young lad, ad he will learn his lesson too, and have his wages garnished if he does not pay me when I get a judgement against him! This affected me badly with missing work, and all the other negativity I had to deal with..

Thank you all very much!!

SC430fun

I see I am able to post a doc file, so I will try converting the invoice from pdf to doc, so I can try to post it.. I want to see what you guys think of all these things that were done!

Once I get this cleared up and get the new car, and finish up with the insurance, I may be able to keep the car for a few weeks to "dig in" for some goodies.. I have been waiting to get back to everyone's pm's on this, since its been up in the air. You guys may end up making out as well (with good cheap parts) if it work out like this for me!

SC430fun

i am picturing these wheels on this SC and drooling!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-19-Whe...VWxLQP&vxp=mtr

SC430fun

The most recent invoice is attached as a pdf to this post.. lemme know what y'all think

95k service done early as well, according to the invoice .. hence the 4 new run flats and new sensors .. lol

Bgw70

After seeing all of this, I would purchase this car.

Go to Lexus.com, create an account and look up the service history of this car...BUY IT NOW!

You found a great deal!

Bgw70

here is the service history!
looks like a one owner car.
and the history of the owner.

The owner...
HORATIO NELSON
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/in-...students-staff
http://funeralhomeweb.net/mobile.asp...5#.VuK08N0o7IU

where the car lived...
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0068...8i6656!6m1!1e1