Hi all, looking at a 2015 ES350 with 206k miles. Asking $13,000. The Lexus owners website show most all maintenance performed at the dealer. Just about ever 7k-10k it was in for normal service. There may be a lapse in a few item that should have been serviced. Brake fluid changed, spark plugs, coolant flush, and maybe transmission not being serviced. I am not really afraid of high mileage exactly. But, anything I should look at? Carfax shows two minor accidents. One in front, one in the rear. They must not of been much. I cannot even see a color difference. So, they were repaired well. I would think the color the car is would show color differences real well. It is the metallic beige color. Interior and exterior wise, you would never know it had the miles on it. What are your thoughts on CL? It is the nicest car I think anyone could touch for under $15k. These ES350s are really something. I have had older BMWs and the quality is night and day. The Germans are in real trouble. We purchased a 2004 ES330 with 170k on it for my sons first car. It has some scratches and small body damage from before we purchased it. We have had it a year and it is at 185k miles and other than tires and oil changes we have not had to do a thing to it. I have had many Toyotas when I was younger. I know they are good. Just wonder what all of you are seeing as your ES350s are aging. What should I look for? Tia. Ron.

 

A huge plus that you can verify that all the fluids have been changed and on time mostly. This is the most important thing for the longevity of any car but especially a Lexus. J D Power has ranked by Lexus in reliability over the last twelve years #1 ten times #2 once and #6 once. No other car manufacturer can come close to this. They ranked the ES the highest in reliability of any vehicle in their long history. They survey owners of three year old cars. So for a 2015 model that would be 2018 when Lexus was #1 and the ES was top in the compact premium category.

 

Generally speaking it is nearly impossible to go wrong with ES350. What trim level is it? Not sure if I understand you correctly, you saying spark plugs got changed and transmission fluid possibly not? Changing spark plugs on this car is not the cheapest thing there is, particularly if you find oil in the spark plug well and have to pull the valve cover. As for the damage reported by Carfax, it is case-by-case scenario, it depends on what was replaced.

 

It does NOT appear to have had trans fluid, brake fluid or coolant changed. Nor the spark plugs. Oil changes were done consistently. If I go to the Lexus owners site, Enter the VIN, I can see the service history. That is the good thing if you get your car serviced at the Lexus dealer. It doesn’t look like the service interval where those should have been done were performed. Doesn’t mean they weren’t, I just don’t see them listed. The dealer let us take it over night tonight. I have driven it about 80 miles today. Will wash and throw a quick wax on it in the morning. Then I will notice any body damage. Then Jack it up and check for leaks and loose suspension components. Finally, put my OBD2 scanner on it to see if there are any pending codes. So far, so good though.

 

With that much mileage one thing you can look for is oil consumption. Is the oil in the dipstick dark? Usually in these cars it is not very dark. Also you can have somebody follow you on a highway and accelerate the car and then suddenly lift your foot off the gas. If there is a puff of black smoke on acceleration, the throttle body may need service. If there is a puff of blue smoke when you let off the gas, then the valve seals are wearing out.
You can check the compression if you really want to see the state of the rings.

 

Service records only tell so much. The previous owner could have changed plugs themself or had a local mechanic do it, etc., therefore it wouldnt be on record. The only good way to check it out is to have a reputable third-party mechanic look the car over, both mechanically and electronically. Thanks to inflation and lack of supply, 2022 prices are insane. But if I was paying $13k for an ES that is 8 model years old with 200k+ miles on it, I'd expect it to be cherry. 7 months ago I bought one with only 35k miles on it, never wrecked and cherry, and payed just over $20k. Two years ago I could have bought the same car for $15k. Ask the dealer if they're willing to let you do a third-party inspection. Typically most reputable dealerships would. If they won't, I would walk away personally.

 

I normally do work on my own cars. Coming from BMWs you have to unless you have a lot of money. So, I am good at looking over and working on cars. I was asking if any owners have seen anything consistent in their ES350. Almost always, models of cars have common failures. Looking at the CL forum, there is not any consistent thread on the ES350. BMWs and Fords have threads, normally many pages long discussing an issue and how to fix them. I know Toyotas, grew up driving them up until about 10 years ago. I did not care for the styling after the mid 90’s. I know the quality is excellent. We purchased an old 2004 ES330 for my son as a first car. For reliability and safety. The Body is not great, scapes and bumps but great for a first car. Anyway, we passed on the 200k 2015 ES350. They let us have it overnight. It ran flawless. Oil was clean. I had no concerns about it mechanically. I washed it and was going to wax it while we had it. I would notice a any issues with the body that way. When starting to wax, I noticed the right rear quarter was odd. It was not as shiny as the rest of the car. It had a magnet and found body filler in the wheel arch. This damage was not on carfax. When we first looked at the car we didn’t notice it. And it was very dirty when I picked it up for the overnight test drive. The good washing exposed it. Thank to everyone for the advise. Still looking.

 

A couple things.

Very reliable cars, but a few small things/rare things.

Sunroof noise. Shim kits available. Big repair, live with the noise.

Oil cooler line leak right side of the engine up top. They now make the line all metal. Easy fix.

Timing cover leak (rare), but huge job.

Variable valve timing actuators can leak down and make noise upon startup on high mileage vehicles. Live with it. Not a big deal.

If I were looking for a higher mileage ES350 I’d want to see transmission services performed. Spark plugs changed. And obviously your consistent oil changes. Maybe the coolant done once too. That’s about it. Great cars!!

 

You might want to look into the es300h too. Doesn’t have some of the engine issues of the v6 and it’s one of the most trouble free engines from Toyota.

 

We found and purchased a 2013 ES350 with 155k from a Germain Lexus Dublin in Columbus(great group of salesmen). Better history. All fluids done as recommended. Spark plugs done too. Better color, in our opinion, the nebula grey pearl with black interior. The Lexus infotainment system it is very clunky. Looking to add one of the systems that add carplay. Have had the car for a week. Put about 1000 miles on it already. The fuel efficiency is very good on a car this size with the acceleration it has too. We keep it is “ECO” mode. Very happy. We were trying to stay <$15,000. So, that limited our choices. The back seat has two large holes in it. We have been quoted $350 to fix it. So, when done we will have a very nice car. Very happy. Thanks to all that responded.

 

Hope you get what you want from it 🤔🙄

 

You say the Lexus infotainment is clunky.

I test drove a 2011 Mercedes C300 as I really like the sedan exterior sporty look.

​​​​​​The radio is a joke, I wonder who had the idea of placing a digital "analog" radio.

 

At least they didn't make it look like one of those vintage, Grundig multi-channel receivers! (Came mighty close though).