Looking for a preowned ES350 preferably 18' and newer and wanted to know what others think about where to buy. Is it better to purchase from a dealership or private party/smaller independent car dealers? Question is do dealership keep the best of the preowned cars to sell directly to customers versus sending trade ins to auction etc.. I know dealership get a premium it seems like, but just not sure what is the best plan. I would like to have an independent PPI from likely a lexus/toyota dealership but just not sure what is the best place to buy. Looking for low mileage preferably under 40K.

I am located in north Dallas and have several Lexus dealerships near me but inventory at these dealerships is very limited versus what i see with independent dealers/private party.

Any recommendation are appreciated.

 

Dealerships will have far more inventory because the majority of 3-4 year old ES's will be lease returns. You also have manufacturer-approved extended warranty and CPO options available from dealerships. Lexus dealerships will also be able to allocate vehicles from other Lexus dealerships, so look across the country.

 

they do have better inventory but you will generally pay more than elsewhere. however more cost = less driving around, easier to finance if necessary, cars are generally in better shape and cleaned up for sale than non-OE dealers/private party. so generally you do get your money's worth plus other benefits already mentioned like CPO warranties.

if you're patient you can find a stellar deal private party, especially from an originally owner who can tell you all the history of the car (sometimes more than the dealer can give), but it comes with cons like payment and title transfers which have to be done manually. these are also much fewer and far in between. the savings is about $3-5k from my experience going private party, and it took me about 8 months to finally find "the one".

 

Main thing to me is due diligence. Review service records if you can. Nowadays most service will show up on CarFax. Also, Carfax will generally, but not always, show accidents, and will tell you the area of country where vehicle owned (so look out for saltwater, salted roads, etc.). If the vehicle still has a good amount of original warranty to cover any issues, a non branded dealer may provide better pricing.

Whatever your budget, buy as new as possible. 2019 is the first year of the latest generation of ES. My wife is on her second ES300h, and her 2019 has more tech, and feels more luxurious that the 2013 she had. She plans to keep the 2019 many more years.