Newbie Here
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 5
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From: New York
Newbie Here
HI ALL,.
been doing some trolling on here and this site is great! I'll have pics of my just purchased GS either tomorrow or friday. I pick it up from the dealership tomorrow night.
I posted this in another thread so bare with me. Just kind of anxious to get an answer from some experienced 2GS owners
I got my first Lexus today--a 2002 GS300-all black w/ a spoiler and Alloy wheels--only 74,000 miles. I love the car to death, but i fell in love with it online before getting to the dealership. When i got there i found out it was just the base model. no leather seats, no sunroof--no goodies whatsoever. the damn thing has a cassette player! (i'm gonna add the ipod adapter though).
i have 2 sets of questions. number 1) what can i do on my own to make this car like the other GS300s i see out in the street? tinted windows? aftermarket power sunroof? in dash navigation? is it possible to reupholster a car? performance wise its amazing, and the exterior is BEAUTIFUL. but the interior is blaaah
2) i ended up purchasing it anyway after running a VIN CHECK (hahahaha, i know). But it was more of an impulse buy to celebrate a new job (and raise!!). i want to know what type of deal i got. I paid 13,995+8% sales tax and 9% finance charge over 48 months. i also got a 1 yr 12,000 mile powertrain warranty for $595.00 (since at 75,000 miles it's right around first tune up time)- total cost of the car was about 16,700. but i didn't haggle the price or anything. to all you experienced Lexus owners out there...did i get fleeced? or was that about right? the dealer didn't try to nickel and dime me at all save for trying to add a few crappy extras at ridiculous prices (remote starter: 600 bucks). but other than that the deal was straightforward so i'm kinda worried.
what do you all think?
been doing some trolling on here and this site is great! I'll have pics of my just purchased GS either tomorrow or friday. I pick it up from the dealership tomorrow night.
I posted this in another thread so bare with me. Just kind of anxious to get an answer from some experienced 2GS owners
I got my first Lexus today--a 2002 GS300-all black w/ a spoiler and Alloy wheels--only 74,000 miles. I love the car to death, but i fell in love with it online before getting to the dealership. When i got there i found out it was just the base model. no leather seats, no sunroof--no goodies whatsoever. the damn thing has a cassette player! (i'm gonna add the ipod adapter though).
i have 2 sets of questions. number 1) what can i do on my own to make this car like the other GS300s i see out in the street? tinted windows? aftermarket power sunroof? in dash navigation? is it possible to reupholster a car? performance wise its amazing, and the exterior is BEAUTIFUL. but the interior is blaaah
2) i ended up purchasing it anyway after running a VIN CHECK (hahahaha, i know). But it was more of an impulse buy to celebrate a new job (and raise!!). i want to know what type of deal i got. I paid 13,995+8% sales tax and 9% finance charge over 48 months. i also got a 1 yr 12,000 mile powertrain warranty for $595.00 (since at 75,000 miles it's right around first tune up time)- total cost of the car was about 16,700. but i didn't haggle the price or anything. to all you experienced Lexus owners out there...did i get fleeced? or was that about right? the dealer didn't try to nickel and dime me at all save for trying to add a few crappy extras at ridiculous prices (remote starter: 600 bucks). but other than that the deal was straightforward so i'm kinda worried.
what do you all think?
Congrats on getting the car. But werent you supposed to ask these questions before you finalized the deal?
I've never seen or heard of a 2002 "base" gs300. only 98s or 99s.
I think dealer got you on the price AND the warranty - i mean c'mon in a year nothing(hopefully) will go wrong with powertrain. Should've used that $600 on mods.
Since youre in NY too, that price is way too high. Honestly did you even look around cars.com and autotrader? Could've gotten 02 gs430 fully loaded +nav with 80k miles for $16 OR 03 gs300 sportdesign with nav and 92kmiles for $14700.
If youre keeping the car, then visit leatherseats.com, get the eclipse and forget about adding 'aftermarket' sunroof!
Welcome to CL and good luck!
I've never seen or heard of a 2002 "base" gs300. only 98s or 99s.
I think dealer got you on the price AND the warranty - i mean c'mon in a year nothing(hopefully) will go wrong with powertrain. Should've used that $600 on mods.
Since youre in NY too, that price is way too high. Honestly did you even look around cars.com and autotrader? Could've gotten 02 gs430 fully loaded +nav with 80k miles for $16 OR 03 gs300 sportdesign with nav and 92kmiles for $14700.
If youre keeping the car, then visit leatherseats.com, get the eclipse and forget about adding 'aftermarket' sunroof!
Welcome to CL and good luck!
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
Likes: 1
From: 248 formerly 203
welcome to CL! congrats on buying a GS.
you got your GS for a bit more than i did. i got my 00 GS3 platinum edition at a dealership with 52k for 15,500, but that was with a connection (they were originally asking 18,000).
but anyway, you'll definitely enjoy the GS...although it must be a little weird driving a Lexus without leather seats
you got your GS for a bit more than i did. i got my 00 GS3 platinum edition at a dealership with 52k for 15,500, but that was with a connection (they were originally asking 18,000).
but anyway, you'll definitely enjoy the GS...although it must be a little weird driving a Lexus without leather seats
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 5
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From: New York
thanks for all your comments--i def. learned a good lesson today!
to clarify...it's not really a "base" model. the person who originally leased it just didn't opt for the leather trim package or whatever package was available at the time that made it more luxurious.
i actually found that GS on Autotrader. Most of the ones i saw in the 02-03 yr range were selling at 15 or 16 or up w/ more mileage while this one was 14 and more importantly, BLACK w/ a spoiler. the color and spoiler were very important to me...the cheaper ones were either gold, red, dark green, etc...not bad looking at all but definitely not quite as visceral, although they were loaded on the interior. i saw a couple of nice silver ones, too but the black kept on calling me. but that's just my personal taste. but yeah once you factored in taxes, and APR it would have gotten out of hand. so i made a decision not to go over 16 after all the fees and stuff were included. but damn i had to go and get that powertrain warranty! i def. learned my lesson though.
Prior to purchasing this car i hadn't been to a dealership in 10 yrs because i got my 99 civic brand new (i paid cash and got it for dealer invoice and let them keep the holdback) and its been running great. this was def. an impulse buy. turns out i had a chargeoff on my credit report i didn't know about that screwed up my rate and got me in at 9% (i was expecting 6. i called capital auto finance to get my own financing and they quoted me at 11!!!) THAT CHARGEOFF REALLY HURT.
the funny thing is i still want to keep the car. i let her have it on the test drive and she passed w/ flying colors, lol. i'm def. gonna pay it off in a yr or 2 (my monthly payment is pretty low) so that i at least avoid the finance charges. so figure 15 and change. missed out on having leather and a sunroof, though--damn i knew something was up!
first things first though...i'm getting the leather done and tinting the windows--and then will continue to take suggestions as i post pics
but the civic is still going to be my main car until she's ran into the ground, gas prices being what they are, lol. but this GS is a hell of a weekend warrior!
any other tips, advice, etc will be greatly appreciated.
to clarify...it's not really a "base" model. the person who originally leased it just didn't opt for the leather trim package or whatever package was available at the time that made it more luxurious.
i actually found that GS on Autotrader. Most of the ones i saw in the 02-03 yr range were selling at 15 or 16 or up w/ more mileage while this one was 14 and more importantly, BLACK w/ a spoiler. the color and spoiler were very important to me...the cheaper ones were either gold, red, dark green, etc...not bad looking at all but definitely not quite as visceral, although they were loaded on the interior. i saw a couple of nice silver ones, too but the black kept on calling me. but that's just my personal taste. but yeah once you factored in taxes, and APR it would have gotten out of hand. so i made a decision not to go over 16 after all the fees and stuff were included. but damn i had to go and get that powertrain warranty! i def. learned my lesson though.
Prior to purchasing this car i hadn't been to a dealership in 10 yrs because i got my 99 civic brand new (i paid cash and got it for dealer invoice and let them keep the holdback) and its been running great. this was def. an impulse buy. turns out i had a chargeoff on my credit report i didn't know about that screwed up my rate and got me in at 9% (i was expecting 6. i called capital auto finance to get my own financing and they quoted me at 11!!!) THAT CHARGEOFF REALLY HURT.
the funny thing is i still want to keep the car. i let her have it on the test drive and she passed w/ flying colors, lol. i'm def. gonna pay it off in a yr or 2 (my monthly payment is pretty low) so that i at least avoid the finance charges. so figure 15 and change. missed out on having leather and a sunroof, though--damn i knew something was up!
first things first though...i'm getting the leather done and tinting the windows--and then will continue to take suggestions as i post pics
but the civic is still going to be my main car until she's ran into the ground, gas prices being what they are, lol. but this GS is a hell of a weekend warrior!
any other tips, advice, etc will be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by UPSCALE-1; Apr 30, 2008 at 10:23 PM.
