So, I found this GS, and I need some questions on whether this is a good buy or not.

It's a 2000 GS. Color is Spectra Blue Mica (SOOO SEXY!), and the interior is Tan (Favorite color combination).

The car has 117,794 miles on it. I took the VIN number, and went to Lexus Drivers, and it shows the service history for the car up to 22,500 miles.

Services include: 1k miles service fluid check, Battery r&r, mobil paint touchup, resurface break rotors, balance 2 front tires, 10k maintenance, secure b pillar, replaced front rotors and pads, painless dent removal, and a few other minor stuff.

After that, it shows the CARFAX history.

1st owner owned it for 1 year and 5 months, and up until 22,400 miles, 1 month later..

2nd owner owned it from 22, 644 miles, no service done, had the car for 2 years and 5 months, then..

3rd owner owned it from 66,429 miles, and has just 4 passed emissions inspections, no other service. Owned the car from 07/2005 until 10/17/2011.

The car was just posted 3 days ago, and the dealer is asking for $6,991.

I'm hoping they can give me the car for $6,500 out the door, with a $500 down payment. If my credit union finances the car for me, it will be financed at 1.99% apr, and the payments will be $171 a month for 36 months, or $130 a month for 48 months.

Is this a good buy?

Also, since the car is 11 years old, and has 117k miles on it, is there anything that I should expect to happen to it, service wise?

If all goes well, I could be getting this new car. Currently drive a '90 LS400, and the V8 is killing me. This car will definitely be a huge Step Up from my current ride, and I'm assuming that the mpg will roughly be the same as my LS?

 

6500 is not too bad...shoot it has less miles than my 02...you want to def chack to see if the timing belt was done already if not you need to do that...check the famous GS ball joints, check for vibrations at 60-70 mph...as long as you dont see any old damage and not rebuilt then I would say go for it...and yess gas sucks on it...lol

 

you seem to have a few conflicting msgs in your post and i am a bit confused on which part you are asking is a good deal?

are you asking about the car itself (i.e.. the condition, lack of service records, mileage and price) or the financing terms (APR, term of loan) or whether you are looking to improve MPG (even though you say that the V8 is killing me but is a huge step up when both the GS3 and GS4 get similar mileage to your LS right now)?

if there are no service records, then i would assume the worst and say that you will need to invest some money to do the major service items (i.e.. timing belt, etc) any of the COMMON issues we have on the GS can be found in the multiple stickies we have at the top of the forum... just search and/or dig around... if you test drove the car, did anything feel off? if you really want the piece of mind, before you buy it, spend some money and let a Lexus dealership have a once over and they can give you the laundry list of things to do...

good luck on your purchase... and post pics if you do get the car...

 

^^ Those guys beat me to it.

2000 GS really isnt helpful. GS300, 400, 430? Im assuming its a 300 since your current V8 is "killing" you.

As far as your questions are concerned, the lack of maintenance history isn't the end all be all, the car could have been properly maintained at a shop outside of lexus. This is a judgement call based on how the car runs. Also, maintenance wise at this point youre looking at the timing belt/ water pump being replaced ($700 at the toyota dealer with oem parts) as well as the ball joints needing to be replaced (~$1000 at lexus). Besides those to big ticket items the car should last quite a while with just normal oil changes.

Unless there is something significantly wrong with the LS4 you drive now, I'd shy away from taking out a loan on a car that is 11 years old unless your LS isnt in good mechanical condition.

 

How did you come up with these prices...especially the $1k for ball joints replacement. This isn't correct at all. If anyone did pay $1k for ball joint replacement, they were taken advantage of badly.

To OP, all of the previous posts are dead on. Just follow up with what they stated, ESPECIALLY the ball joints (which are worst on the 98-01 models)...read they were upgraded on the 02-05 GS's. I purchased my car in May with 78k on it; I have a long commute and it has 92k on it now. I plan on doing the ball joints shortly and replacing the TB/Water pump/coolant at 100k with a independent Lexus/Toyota shop who stated they will charge me $965.

 

Just because carfax doesnt show history on maintanance, doesnt mean anything really. I've had my GS since 27k, now it has 90k and has ALWAYS been serviced at my own car dealership. Carfax wont show that of course. 6995 is a great starting price and 1.9% financing, cant go wrong. Pay the extra money and do a full pre-inspection, it will be worth ever penny.