I am interested in purchasing a 97 ES300 for my daughter to go off to college with. It has 157K on it, one owner car. They are asking 5K for it. I have only seen it from the outside and it looks to be in great condition, I will inspect it further, drive it tomorrow and run a carfax. How do you feel with 157K on this car? Assuming its been taken care of, will it last much longer and when can I expect to have to dump alot of money into this thing?

Anything inparticular that I should look at that is can be a costly repair?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

 

if you could get a lower mileage es (preferable 00-01) you will save on maintance costs...
triming belt and water pump should be done at 100k mi, and 200k mi.($1000)
Transmission usually needs to be rebuilt anywhere from 150-200k mi (depending on the wear/tear) ($2000)
Maybe find an es with around 110-130k miles?
from past experience, a rebuilt tranny can run for another 100k without problems. As long as the engine oil has been changed regularly, you should be fine. The newer es's with vvt-i (99-01) is less prone to oil gelling.

 

If the tranny fluid isn't brand new looking and smells fresh, forget the car. Oil gelling is a concern with that mileage if it has used conventional because people simply do not change there oil on time, you have to assume this, chances are though engine failure would have happend a long while back.

 

Personally I think the asking price is too high. Be patient you can do better.

 

Sixgun,

The mileage isn't a factor if the car was well maintained previously. I purchased a 1994 ES300 for my college son one month ago. It has 161,000 miles on it. I spoke with the owner and he assured me it made every maintenance interval with Lexus. I called my nearby Lexus dealer and gave them the VIN # and they looked it up on the computer and said that it had been serviced regularily.

I took it for a test ride and was happy with the performance. His brothers have driven it on a 1200 mile round trip to Ole Miss to visit him and it got 28 mpg on the highway with no mechanical problems.

Yesterday I ran Seafoam in the oil and when it was changed it was clear as when I put it in. I dropped the tranny pan and found no debris in the bottom and very little on the magnets.

If the car has been well maintained you can feel comfortable putting your daughter in it. Just continue a good maintenance schedule when you are the owner.

 

Assuming the car is in good shape and had been well maintained, a 97 with 157K, what would you consider to be a fair price for this vehicle?

Parts - Are parts for this thing much more expensive than lets say an Accord? I have a 06 BMW 525i, I hope it isn't comparable to that!

Gas Mileage - What can I expect?

Thanks again! This is extremely helpful.

 

Sixgun,

I just checked Ebay Motors. Here are the first four that looked good.

1995 w/168,000 $3990
1996 w/101,000 $5000
1994 w/69,000 $5100
1995 w/113,300 $4490

If your budget is $5000 the 1994 definitely stands out! I think $5000 for a 1997 with 160,000 is high.

Parts are readily available for these vehicles from Toyota and Lexus. However they aren't cheap. Parts are also easily found on Ebay and other sites much less expensively than the dealer. My son's car needed a dogbone engine mount. Toyota wanted $77, I found it brand new online for $25. Toyota sells the oil filters for almost $6 including the washer. I bought 10 original filters w/ washers for less than $40 including shipping on Ebay.

Reading through this forum will provide you a wealth of info for repairs and parts. Once you have found a car you want call the nearest Lexus dealer and give them the VIN #. They can tell you the entire service history. My dealer has been very hospitable even though I didn't buy either car there. It is that great Lexus service!

 

3k-3.5k If there was not any maiintenance done it will need to be done soon.

 

Got my 97 w/111k for $5,500 and the 90k service was done. However I had to put new front brakes, rotors, calipers and replace radio display shortly after the purchase. Which I didn't mind because I did the work myself.