whitels

Anybody knows why some pre-owned GS on Lexus lots with approximately the same mileage have or does not have Certified rating? What is exactly going on with those GS that are not Certified Pre-Owned? I'm curious why some that have actually a little bit higher mileage are CPOs?

Pricing for CPO vehicles are about $6,000 to $10,000 higher than private parties. Can't you buy your own 100K miles maintenance for about $1,000?

zxlr8

or you could buy my cpo with nav and 17s for a lot less.

GS4Will

like many things in this world, always keep your options open. regardless of mileage, some lexus are cpo, and some are not for the reason of passing the inspection. dealers usually get their cars from auction and trade-ins. i have seen cars with a little more miles and pass the certification and cars with ferwer miles that are not certified. the ones that cannot pass the test are usually in fairly bad condition, ie torn seats, major accidents, things that are beyond repair.

though lexus publish a general and strict guidelines for its dealers, it is usually upto the dealers and thier tech guys to "assess" what is to be considered a CPO lex. in addition, the amount of time and $$$ vary from dealer-to-dealer.

if you know someone who is selling their GS and he/she takes care of the car meticulously, this can be a great buy. my first 93GS was a cpo and came from lexus coporate demo program that was driven by a top lexus exec for 2 years, and only has 15k miles. i paid $30k+fees in 95, sold it in 98 with ~95kmiles without many problems.

YES, you can buy an extended program for ~$1000. just need to make sure that the car did not went thru major fender bender, flood/frame damage. longo also provide pre-buy inspection. so whether you pick up a cpo or private party GS, just make sure you have it chekced out completely.

with cpo(or longo cpo), they basically started this process for you early in the game; but as you said, for a price. the price difference is ~$3-5k, based on my past experience of lex ownership. there are times when dealer has too many cpos that they want to move, that would be a good time to consider a clean cpo.

hope this helps...

ocnbrzz

If you can afford it. The cost difference b'twn p/party & Dlr/cpo can make or break ones ability to afford a newer pre-owned GS.

I know, as I am presently looking at a newer GS for the wife, and granted the cpo's are real clean and you can but w. confidence, It sure would be nice to find a p/p GS that the owner is selling and they had real pride of ownership. Heck, I find it hard to imagine owning a Lex and NOT having extreme pride of ownership.

As a little side note on CPO'S...

I bought my 93GS last year fm Lexus Westminster and it was a CPO, and absolutely M I N T w. only 75k on it. Elderly man owned it...rare find!!!

MidniteLexus

Those who know what CPO vehicles are know that you cannot buy a CPO LEXUS from a LEXUS dealer unless its under 60k miles and less than 5 years old. But ocnbrzz probobly meant it has 75k miles now.. right?

Midnite

ocnbrzz

I stand corrected!!

I guess it is not a CPO per the prerequisites that you state. It was completely gone thru by the dealer, and is extremely clean and does not show the type of wear and tear one would expect of a 9yr old car.

Everywhere is just plain "new" looking. The interior is flawless, engine is totally detailed.

I bought it from my buddy who is a Lexus dealership mgr. He gives me the red carpet treatment. When I take it in for service, I call him, he calls his svc mgr & the appt goes thru him. That's all I will say on the subject.

H'ver to be fair, he does pressure me quite a bit to buy a newer Lex asap.

Cheers!

garnet92

Whitels, Midnight’s got it – those are minimum “qualifiers” before the rest of the car is even considered.

And gs4will has good points as well, in that the individual dealer’s requirements are known to vary. I bought 2 cpos – both from Sewell Lexus in Dallas. They don’t move any crap through there. They’re one of the “Elite” dealerships in the country (among the top 5 they tell me) and they do have some corporate pride in their sales and service. No, I don’t work for them, I just appreciate quality. And secondly, the pricing I’ve seen is more in the 3-6k variance range, not 6-10.

The overriding factor is your “I want it NOW” quotient. If you can take your time and investigate a number of private cars, you’re gonna get a better value. Could happen tomorrow or could be 3 months?? My IWIN quotient is always so high (no patience) I go for the cpo and have loved both cars I bought that way.

And finally, gotta remember that the extended warranty isn’t the only difference between cpo and private party – the cpo has been screened by the dealership’s service department and whatever is out of tolerance is repaired or replaced. There’s a “peace of mind” factor as well if you have any confidence in the dealership.

MidniteLexus

Elite does not mean "top 5" .. they may be in the top 5, but an "Elite of Lexus" does not mean placing in the top five, its more of a combination of customer satisfcaction, sales and other quota. I know, trust me.

Sure, Lexus dealerships sell a variety of pre-owned lexi. But the only ones to recieve a factory (Lexus) warrenty and is officially called a "Certified Pre-Owned" are those under 60k miles, and less than five years old. BUt, yes, Lexi are known to last long and finding one in excellent conditon like ocnbrzz's car is great!

I just let a good friend of mine take over my high payments on my previous GS4 (in my sig pic) and JUST got another '99 White GS4 but this time with Nak and not nav. many of you many know abou the 4.9% Tier I financing that allowed me to get my payments REALLY low. I just love that 300hp V8.

Midnite

portcityplaya

iTrader: (1)

Just for the record, when I bought my 92 ES300 back in 97 it had 70k miles on it and it was a CPO. But I think some of the requirements have changed over the years as well as the warranty.

garnet92

Midnight – I think you misunderstood, that’s not exactly what I meant … what I said was that Sewell was an Elite dealership (recognized by Lexus as such) and – and, that they were among the top 5 of the Elite dealerships – are you saying that’s not true?

mayandoom

At one point when shopping around I came acorss Crown Lexus in Ontario to look at some GS's. They had a white GS being sold as a CPO for about 9k above the average Autotrader price. Upon closer inspection the whole front end was painted and the bumper did not even line up with the quad lights which goes directly against what Lexus claims for CPO's (no prior accidents). The salesman swore the car was never wrecked.
I would get the cleanest GS from someone you feel you can trust. Carfax, vehicle records and such. CPO is no guarantee.

MidniteLexus

No, I ws just trying to define what Elite of Lexus is. Sure, they may be in the top five of the Elite of Lexus, and thats one hell of an accomplishment.

Ya thats a good way to buy a pre owned Lexus.. .. but with CPO, there is definetly a gurantee/peace of mind, because Lexus has to take a responsibilty on the car. If they are going to give you a full bumper to bumper warrenty up to 100k miles, then they damn well must make sure they dont give you a car thats going to keep coming back for service and costing them money. Dont forget, I'm talking about the official "Lexus Certified Pre-Owned" vehicles here---the ones that are backed by a 3yr/100,000 mile warrenty, that gives you the EXACT same benifiets of new car ownership--except the CPO has miles on the odemeter!

Midnite

altaf

1. Many Lexus dealers get the vehicles from "Lexus" auctions, which can include other Lexus dealers and private dealers as well.

2. CPO Lexus is done by the dealer, at their discretion. The only thing that can't be certified is a vehicle with 60k+ miles or 5+ years old, car has been flooded or frame damaged.

3. The cars are tuned, cleaned up, and put on the lot. The CPO warranty does NOT cover adjustments, trim items, paint, battery, glass, and normal wear/tear items.

4. You can get the maintenance history of a CPO vechicle from the Lexus dealer as long as the car was taken to a Lexus dealer for service. Otherwise, it won't show up on the report.

Look for a CPO GS this has the factory warranty still remaining , that way you'll have a bit more coverage. Best bet is buying from a private party - it's usually cheaper, and they tend to be more honest and retain all the paper work.