hi everyone, I need some help. I just found a 93 GS300 with 116k miles on it, it's got brand new 18" rims and tires on it and the dealer is asking $11k for it, it looks like it's in good condition except, the cup holder is broken, the wooden part around the shifter was cracked so he's replacing that, the airbag light is on ( he said he'd take care of that too), the light for the speedometer is faded (not completely) up till 60mph which I dunno how to get fixed and the cost of it and the last thing is it just got a brand new painjob which i didn't really understand either. I checked the carfax report and it came out all clean, the interior is in pretty good shape, everything seems to work fine. Any suggestions would be really helpful. Thanks in advance

ps. I really need a reply soon because i got 2 days to decide on this.

 

If I were you I'd be cautious about the new paint job. I had my 93 GS repainted when I bought it, but when a dealer paints the whole car (not a cheap thing to do), that raises some concerns with me. Couple that with an airbag warning light, and all of the sudden something doesn't smell right. And a thing about CarFax is, if an accident is settled privatly, there's no record of it anywhere. Have your mechanic check the car if you can.

 

sounds like the car was in an accident. Air-bag light is on, new paint job, body panels not lining up (did you look close enough?)...think about it.

 

From my personel experience i will not buy a repainted car again unless its show quality. the previous owner of my car had the car repainted. the paint is soo ugly compared to factory. it has orange peel all over the car that i can't get rid of because the clear coat is also too thin. i'm planning to repaint my car to get rid of it

 

I just got the car checked by my mechanic and he said that it looks like it's in really good shape, he checked everything on it and he said that he's sure that it wasn't in a wreck so i dunno what to do now. I mean can the airbag light be on because of a wrong sensor or anything like that?

 

What did your mechanic say about the airbag? Maybe it is just a bad sensor. Have the dealer fix this before you purchase. If your mechanic did a thorough inspection and you are satified with it, buy the car.

 

the dealer is gonna fix that for sure but there's couple of things that i can't figure out. First of all i'm thinking that if the car was in a pretty bad accident before it would definitely have a police report or an insurance report, second if it wasn't in an accident i just don't understand why the dealer would get a $3000 paint job? I went to a body shop and they said it doesn't look like a cheap paintjob at all and they said a paint job like that would cost around $3000-$3500. do you think that if I would take the car to a collision center they would be able to tell if it looks like it was wrecked before?

 

get a car on a lift and check under the car for bent chasis and crap. also tear off some of the trunk lining and check behind there for weldining and other obvious stuff.

 

forgot to mention something, only the outside of the car was painted so the interior and under the hood still has the original paint

 

i got your PM. if the car was painted a different color than orignial there is NO WAY that car is worth 11,000. is this an actual lexus dealer or a dealer on the corner of the street. also you said 116k is that in kilometers or miles. if its in miles that is a little below avererage but i still would not personnaly pay more than 9,000 even for this car.

 

Welcome Deicide100!!

In this case, as much as i want you to be in a GS, I think you need to go with your gut on this one.

If you have doubts, I would rather see you keep looking than risk your doubts becoming reality shortly down the road.

The GS is a great car, very reliable, comfortable and stylish...but satisfy yourself FIRST!!

Todd

 

thanks alot everyone, i decided to go with it and the dealer agreed to lower the price alittle too so from now on hopefully i'll be hanging around here