For those of you considering an IS or ANY car for that matter.
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For those of you considering an IS or ANY car for that matter.
Let me just preface this post with the fact that I admit I'm pretty **** when it comes to cars, but glad I am. Also, in the past I wasn't a big proponent of vehicle history subscription services like carfax because they can miss quite a bit but I have to admit Experian's product was the single most useful tool that saved me earlier last month from a lot of future headaches. Combined with the other stuff I put together, maybe this could help somebody else as well looking for an IS300.
On Feb 1st I totaled my 02 Sportcross that I LOVED(not my doing, another moron decided to pull out in front of me) I received a check from the insurance company and started searching on cars.com, autotrader.com, carmax.com to get an idea of just where in the world I would find another mint condition IS around the same model year with the money I had from the insurance settlement. I spent an entire weekend sifting through over 700 different cars online to only locate a grand total of 28 that were worth contacting. Here's the main criteria I was shopping for.
I developed quite a knack for entering VIN numbers of "for sale" vehicles into the experian website and ran history reports on every one of the cars where a VIN was provided. It came out to over 700 history reports which equated to over 700 emails. I was quickly able to narrow my search down to just over 110 cars. Here's the main criteria I was using.
If you're wondering if I got a good deal on the one I ultimately chose, YES because I used this at the end of the negotiating.
So I wouldn't waste any more of my time and then money flying to Florida to to get the car only to find out the owner was lying, I sent a nearby relative with the attached checklist prior to making any offer. Everything checked out and now I have the sedan version of the IS with 30K less miles than my Sportcross had on it. I hope this info can help somebody else looking for a decent IS300.
Sincerely,
Ken
On Feb 1st I totaled my 02 Sportcross that I LOVED(not my doing, another moron decided to pull out in front of me) I received a check from the insurance company and started searching on cars.com, autotrader.com, carmax.com to get an idea of just where in the world I would find another mint condition IS around the same model year with the money I had from the insurance settlement. I spent an entire weekend sifting through over 700 different cars online to only locate a grand total of 28 that were worth contacting. Here's the main criteria I was shopping for.
I developed quite a knack for entering VIN numbers of "for sale" vehicles into the experian website and ran history reports on every one of the cars where a VIN was provided. It came out to over 700 history reports which equated to over 700 emails. I was quickly able to narrow my search down to just over 110 cars. Here's the main criteria I was using.
- Nothing that was owned or originated in a state that salted it's roads in the winter.
- Less than 75K Miles on it.
- Never been in a "Reported" accident.
- Non-smoker.
- One Owner.
- Clean Title.
- Within a reasonable price range for all of the criteria
If you're wondering if I got a good deal on the one I ultimately chose, YES because I used this at the end of the negotiating.
So I wouldn't waste any more of my time and then money flying to Florida to to get the car only to find out the owner was lying, I sent a nearby relative with the attached checklist prior to making any offer. Everything checked out and now I have the sedan version of the IS with 30K less miles than my Sportcross had on it. I hope this info can help somebody else looking for a decent IS300.
Sincerely,
Ken
Last edited by Indyken; 03-05-08 at 09:52 PM. Reason: typo
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