jgcec

considering 2011 ES 2nd Owner 55k miles from a local car lotI am considering buying a 2011 ES with 55k miles on it from a local used car lot that purchased it at an action.
The local car lot has a 4/5 Yelp review going back about 5 years.
There were some 1 star reviews, the most recent being 1-2 years ago.

None of the Yelp reviews revealed anything too bad,
just typical inexperienced car buyers that didn't have a mechanic look at the car
or didn't get any dealer promises in writing.

According to consumer reports and comsumercomplaints.com 2011 is a very reliable year.
I test drove it and it is in excellent condition, with no exterior or interior issues.
It has 4 new Bridgestone Turanza Serenity tires - I need to check the spare.
The battery was replaced at 46k miles.
The brakes were at FRONTS 9.0MM REARS 7.0MM at 40k miles.
It is $1,200 under Kelly Blue Book.
It has been on CarGurus.com for 32 days and dropped from 20,000 to 17,000.

I am planning to have either a Lexus dealer or independent Lexus mechanic look at it.
Is it better to be inspected by the dealer that maintained it, or by someone else?
I am hoping to have it inspected by the Lexus dealer that maintained it,
in hopes of learning some inside info about why it was auctioned.

I am also wondering why the Lexus dealer didn't sell it themselves and instead it was actioned?

The vin number lookup on lexus.com and carfax did not produce anything unusual.
It was serviced at local Lexus dealer, with just some small repairs.

My main concern is that it is a 2 owner car.
The first owner had it for 50k miles
The 2nd owner got it at 50k miles and it was certified.
The 2nd owner just had it for 5k miles, and had the following problems with it:

1 repairing drivers mirror at 45k miles that got stuck and wouldn't move,
it was replaced for $437 as part of the certified warranty .
2 engine vibration at 600 rpm with AC on - Lexus could not find a problem with this.

I am trying to imagine why the 2nd owner only had it for a few thousand miles?
I know there might be an undisclosed problem or maybe they just didn't like it and sold it

Brent1944

If you bought it at a used car lot and they say they got it at an auction...How do u know the auction got it from a Lexus dealer? On the Carfax report..Things on a Carfax report only show up on said report if it was reported, if not reported, then it isnt there...I personally wasnt surprised at the cost for the mirror replacement till I saw it had a warranty and cost that much...Course I font know the details of the warranty...I know years ago you could call the pior owner and talk to them ..However, I bought a new 2016 Honda Pilot and I didnt like the 9 speed transmission.. I traded it for my 2016 ES and the Pilot had 3,500 miles..

TechNut

I agree with your concern regarding the second owner, but there are hundreds of reasons it might have happened so it's really hard to say. The dealer could have sold it at auction because of the age or perhaps they just had too many used of that particular model? It's really hard to say.

You might also also post to the fifth generation forum where people will be more familiar with that model year or generation. Perhaps there was some particular issue with that year that you need to watch for.

lesz

+1 to all of the above.

There are a few regulars on this board who have owned a Generation 5 ES, but most haven't. So, you would be likely to get more meaningful input with a post on the Generation 5 ES board.

There are several reasons why a dealer might send a car to auction. As mentioned above, the dealer could have too many cars of the same vintage on its lot, but, also, Lexus dealers tend to prefer to keep cars on their lots that they can certify. Lexus only allows one owner cars to be certified. So, if they get a second owner trade-in that can't be certified, they might put it on their lot for a short period of time in the hope of making a quick sale, but, if that quick sale doesn't happen, they would likely send the car to auction.

The new tires are a plus, however, the minus is that most here who have had the Bridgestone tires haven't had a very positive opinion of them.

As far as pricing is concerned, the price is probably in the ballpark, but I'd guess that the dealer is still leaving a bit of room for negotiations. There is a 2011 ES being offered by a local Lexus dealer here. It is nicely equipped with navigation, HID headlights, etc.. The asking price is $16,900, and I know that this dealer typically starts out with an inflated advertised price. Then, every couple of weeks, they reduce the price until they sell the car or give up and send it to auction. With this car, the $16,900 asking price is their first offered price, and I expect that, if the car doesn't sell in a couple of weeks, it will be lowered. So, even if the price is a bit below KBB, there is probably still some room for negotiations. That said, with used cars, since each is somewhat unique, if you find the car that you really want to buy, it doesn't make sense to quibble over a few hundred dollars because it could be a while before you find a similar car.

Otherwise, it sounds like you've done your research well. Good luck in finding the car that you want.

offroad200

Possibly because of the airbag recall. Any car we get in that is part of the Takata recall, we send it to the auction.

jgcec

I did post the question in the 07-12 ES forum, but that is less active, and I only got one response there, that suggested I call the servicing dealer, which I did and didn't learn anything new (see below).
so I thought I would post it here also.

The airbag recall is one explanation of the auction sale made on 7-18-2016,
when the airbag issue was unresolved,
but now this same dealer is selling many ES 350s with the defective airbag.
Tanaka recently said in Dec 2016 that the states with high humidity and high heat like Florida and similar states are the most at risk
and they are fixing cars from those states first.

The carfax states info related to the 2nd owner sale, the auction, and that it was sold to the 2nd owner certified. The Lexus.com info is more detailed about repairs.

I called the dealer and they can't tell me anything because it is private information.

This doesn't make sense because on Lexus.com that is public info.

Has anyone found out anything about their Lexus from the dealer
about the past service history that was not on Lexus.com?

Gekko

how much exactly for the 2011? have you consider spending a little more and getting a 2013 with the new body design and all of the new innovations?

Maljunulo

I would hesitate to buy any car from a local used car lot.

jgcec

Gekko recommends 2013+
I don't like the 2013+ series, for many reasons,
I test drove several of them from 2013-16 recently.

Maljunulo says don't buy ANY car from a used car lot.
Are you really better off buying from a private party than a used car lot?
What about CarMax? They are technically a used car lot with over inflated prices.

If you buy from ANYONE except a Lexus dealer, an other brand dealer, or Carmax,
there will be some kind of risk of the unknown.

Even a Lexus dealer is not perfect.
I was about to buy a 2008 ES, with 100k miles from a dealer, on an impulse,
because I had leased my 2010 ES from this same dealer,
and when I looked up the maintenance history a few hours later, I found leaking cv boots and leaking ball joints,
that they didn't tell me about.
Yes, I would have discovered those things in a mechanic's inspection, but the Lexus dealer didn't tell me upfront.

WHAT IS IT - that buying from a lexus dealer gets you that you can't find out on your own?
If you run the carfax, take any car to a good Lexus dealer or mechanic, have the mechanic test drive it,
check for flood damage or frame damage that was might have missed, have the car aligned,
check the lexus.com maintenance history and only buy one that was maintained by Lexus 80% of the time
test drive it yourself for several hours on the way to and from the mechanic,
WHAT AM I MISSING?

I am considering a 2012 ES Ultra Luxury edition with ML sound from a private with 70k miles, red with a black interior
from a private party, for 16.3.

You also have to remember that SF Bay area prices are 20+% higher the the rest of the country for most anything,
and about 4 times higher for housing prices.

Brent1944

You could fly to another state and buy one and drive it home a lot cheaper than buying it in SF.

TechNut

I agree with your skepticism regarding the benefits of purchasing from a Lexus dealership. I'm not convinced buying from a dealer has any benefit given the age of vehicle we're talking about. I have sold more used cars privately than trading in because the dealership can rarely show me what I think the car is worth. For example, we sold a 5 year old Tundra with 24K miles for about 5K more than the dealer was offering on trade. The Tundra was in perfect condition and had obviously been pampered and kept in a garage so should the buyer have been concerned about buying from me rather than a dealer?

jgcec

I agree with that,
but you could end up flying to a nearby state and then end up not liking the car for some reason,
and then you would be out the cost of the trip.

Or you could have it inspected first before you get there,
and somehow the owner sells it to someone else.

The car I am looking to buy is $1,100 under KBB,
and I am getting it for another 500 lower for a total of 1,600 under kbb.

I have also considered getting a LS 400 with 100-150k miles,
but I am wondering if that would become too much of a project.

Gekko

what's the price??????

engine vibration would scare me away.