Hey All,

I'm in the process of selling my 2002 M5, and realizing how much money my wife and I have been giving up in interest, depreciation, maintenance costs, and insurance premiums.

One thing that attracts us to Lexus is quality and decent amenities while having an amazing track record of being well-built, safe, and most importantly RELIABLE.

We've been debating between an 04 RX330 or an 04LS430, both of which we can find for about $10k if we shop for a well cared for, higher mileage example.

However, there's still a LOT of interest, and a reasonable amount of depreciation we'll still lose money on at that price point.

So I'm curious if we go a few years older, where the diminishing returns are of inexpensive-up-front vs cost more time and money for maintaining. Then we can pay it off quickly, save our money while still driving a decent car, avoid wasting time with constant reliability issues, and build up savings and investments before moving up to nicer cars like a 5-7 year old LS.

What do you all think? What's the sweet spot of nice/reliable yet on the flatter part of the depreciation curve and not a huge up front cost?

 

I had a 2004 RX330, it was the first model year after the redesign. If you go older, you will end up with the 1st generation RX which is simpler and has less to go wrong. However, you lose a lot of amenities. My RX was pretty flawless, nothing terribly expensive. I got rid of it in 2010 with 120K miles and I did not do the water pump nor timing belt. No major maintenance issues except for an air suspension problem. I would stay away from that option.

The LS I feel would have better reliability as it probably over engineered compared to other vehicles on the road.

 

welcome. from an m5 to an rx or ls? man, your wife must have really given you a hard time. kidding.

don't understand this comment. most cars drop in value regardless. if you're gonna have a 10k lexus for a few years, then depreciation isn't much of an issue, it is? i figure cars always cost me $5k/yr. it just seems to always work out that way. so if you bought a 10k lexus and 3 years later you sell it for say 4k, then you 'lost' 2k a year, which isn't much at all. so i'm not sure how you're looking at it from what you wrote.

but i'm not the best person to comment as i don't like buying used cars, but if i did, i wouldn't buy one more than 10 years old for sure! not just due to reliability, but because safety equipment has changed so much, and i don't want to look at a cassette deck in the dash (that one's fixable, although might be pricey).

 

To be honest, the incredible experience of driving such a machine was tainted heavily by the fact that I purchased it before I could responsibly afford it. I'll have another one some day, probably 3-5 years out, when I can pay cash for one in much better condition. The idea of a less fun but much more reliable car sounds incredibly appealing.


I purchased my 2002 M5 in the low teens. Its MSRP was $78,000. For the first couple years, the value fell by $8-10k. It's been slowing down, and now these are losing around $1500-$2k depending on current condition. The idea is that there's a depreciation curve - it's not linear. As that curve flattens out to the $500-$1500 per year mark, you're losing the least possible amount on a vehicle. Right now, when that matters most to me, I'm willing to go old enough and cheap enough that there's not much room for the car to lose more than $1k or so in value per year.

So an LS? Well, I can get a 2004 for around $11k, and can get an otherwise equivalent 2001 for $8500. That means I can reasonably assume that if I were to buy a 2004 today, then in three years it should be valued at approximately $8500, netting a loss of $833 per year. That's massively less than buying a $20k car brand new, and selling it three years later for $11k. Get a much nicer car, too, even though it's older.

 

I'd go with the LS, as reliable as it comes once you buy a used model in great shape. The Depreciation is mostly absorbed by the previous owner(s).

To me to ES would be your best bet since it costs less to run than the LS

 

What years? Would the LS400 be a much better option than the newer LS430 considering:

Cost to maintain
Cost to insure
Cost to purchase

How much better would an ES of whatever year be than the recommended LS?

 

I dont get having a tight budget, worrying about maint costs and then shopping for a Luxury car like LS430 that has a V8 (not great on gas) and if something does break - will cost u a lot of $$$ to fix.

Why not get Accord, Camry, Subaru etc?
All would much cheaper to own than an old Lexus with over 100k miles for $10k.

If ur set on Lexus - I would get an LS430 or GS300/430 (2nd generation).
These cars are built to a much higher standard than ES or RX.

 

My understanding is that nothing is as over-engineered or well built as a Lexus. I'd like to get something dependable. I do have a shop in which I can use a 2-post lift and tools, so I can save quite a bit of money wrenching on cars when needed, I just want to minimize instances where the car needs that.

My wife and I live within 2 miles of both of our places of work, so fuel economy isn't a massively impactful thing. Also, I've been averaging 16.7mpg with my M5, so I'm confident even in the LS430 we could make a large leap forward.

From what I've seen, for the price of a given Camry, you can get the ES from a year or two before for the same price. I don't see much of a reason not to do that if it means more amenities, more attention to detail, more comfort for the same price.

I could be completely off base, these are assumptions. I'm totally open to being corrected. I'd like to make the wisest decision possible.

 

LS will be fine...

 

If I went with an LS430, I'd go for a higher mileage 2004+ for around $11k
If I went with an LS400, I'd go for a well-maintained '98+ for ~$6-7k
If I went with a GS430 or GS300, it'd be a 2001+ for roughly $7k or $5k, respectively.

If looking to go cheaper up front, we'd probably venture towards the 1999 ES300, for $4k or so.

My impression given prices and amenities is that it's hard to compete with the '01 GS300 for around $5k. I do like the FWD of the ES, since this will primarily be my wife's car, and I'm not sold on RWD given I live in Iowa (a normally 33 minute trip took 1hr today in my M5... haven't put the snows on just yet).

I'm just thinking out loud here, so completely open to more feedback.

 

LS430 - bullet proof motor. Just lost mine in accident with 235,000 miles and it was as tight and as fast as the day I bought it.


I believe many use the LS's motor in race cars - something to do with dual race bearings of something like that.

 

Any feedback on this comparison? I really want a LS430, but I don't know that I could make a case for it being worth twice the money as the GS300.

 

Unless you need the greater traction and ride-height of the RX in the wintertime, I'd go with the LS430. IMO, and to my tastes, it is arguably the best car Lexus ever built. It also rides a little smoother then the LS460 which replaced it.