Well my 06 GS300AWD that I purchased in Aug. 2005 will be paid off next month ($52K MSRP - I paid $48K). I have 72K miles and have ZERO problems with my car to date (knock on wood). I just put on my summer tires which have good thread left. I have the original brakes, so I know I will need new brakes and there are some TSB's that need to get done, but question now is do I trade it/Sell it for the approx. $20K it is worth and use that "equity" towards a new car (perhaps another Lexus), or keep it and drive it to the ground? What other major expenses may I be looking at for maintenance?

Thanks,
E

 

I suppose it depends on what you want to do. If you like the GS, keep it and run it till it dies, that's always the cheapest option.

If you trade it, the car's worth around $17k, if you sell it privately, it's worth around $20k. So, assuming you private sale it, that's a cost of $28,000 for 72k miles, if you trade the car in it's worth about $17k assuming no paintwork and clean condition, with the sales tax credit it works out to just over $18k, meaning those 72k miles of use cost you $30k in depreciation.

Now, say you keep the car another 72k miles... right now an 02 GS300 with Nav and Lev is worth about $5k as a trade and $7k retail with 145k miles. Meaning the next 72k miles are going to cost you half as much in depreciation. Assuming nothing grenades on the car, and knowing Lexus reliability, nothing is likely to grenade, you'll save a lot by keeping it for another 5 years. Literally you'd have to spend $15,000 in repairs over the next 72k miles for you to break even in ownership costs. I can't see a GS costing even half of that over the next 72k miles in repairs.. maybe if you get unlucky $2-3k.

This is why I NEVER buy new cars EVER.

My Jag cost me $22k with 45k miles on it, I bought it a year ago. MSRP in 06 was $67k, I could have bought it for $61k. I could drive the car for the next 2 years, set it on fire and still be (assuming $3k in repairs that would have otherwise be covered by the warranty) $14,000 ahead of buying a new one and driving it for 3 years. In reality, I'll probably be able to sell it for $9k or trade it for $6k. I REALLY want to get the new 2011 XJ, but I just can't see buying a new one and watching it crash in value like that.

 

^^ im like dat too im not into that all oooh imthe first one to get it, I rather wait a year or two and get it hopefully by then all the lil quirks were taken care of by the previous owner and I got the same car that some other guy got the year it came out for less money

 

Yup, that's also why I've NEVER bought a brand new car. I will one of these days do it once just because. Like my BMW that I bought last year for $50k cost $80k brand new! And it was only 2 years old when I bought it with 30k miles on it. I never feel bad for the original owners though.

 

Ok, in your case. If you're bored of the car, sell it private. NEVER trade it in. Let's say if you were going to trade it in for 17k and people are selling theirs for 20k, sell it for 19k and it will sell with in an hour. You're still up 2k.

 

I can't say how it works where you're from but this isn't always the case here. When you trade in a car, that reduces the balance of the car you're buying by the trade in amount and you only pay taxes on the difference.

So, sales taxes here are 13% (Hello! I hope the healthcare system is still intact by the time I get old.). In your example:

Trade In: 17K = ~$2,200 In Taxes
Private Sale: 19K = ~$2,000 Above Trade-In
Difference: $200 in favor of trading in.

Of course, this varies a LOT depending on where you live, and the difference between trade in offer and what you might be able to sell the car for with minimal fuss privately.

In my case, I actually decided to trade in my last car instead of private sale because after the tax savings and some negotiation I really wouldn't have made any more money doing a private sale and it would have been a lot more of a pain in the rear taking calls from strangers wasting my time kicking tires, trips to mechanics. Not to mention on private sale you will need to pay to have the car certified, and pay for any certification items like new brakes, tires, and other small things that normally the dealership just automatically accounts for in their trade in offers so the price delta gets even wider if your car actually needs some of those things to sell.

As for my opinion on the actual matter... just drive the thing, it's totally not worth selling especially since you bought the car new and took all of that depreciation hit. You've had the car since day one and taken care of it, to sell it now would be a total waste considering it's in good condition, it's still a great car, and you've already invested so much into it.

 

100% agree.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I am in Mass, so you do get a tax benefit from trading in the car vs. selling, but of course that benefit is only good if you can't sell it for more than the tax benefit.

I go back and forth on buying a new/another car almost on a daily basis.I have a 08 Jeep Wrangler that I drive around during the summer and really bad winter months - so I use my GS300 less than 10K miles per year now.

Just need to decide what to do!!

 

Bottom line: If you can afford a new car, go for it. You only live once - might as well enjoy yourself. Again, affordability is the key (pardon the pun).

 

^^ +1, You only live once. Enjoy whatever your heart tells you.

 

Wow, quite the consumer-based society we have running here.

No, you DON'T do whatever your heart tells you.

You only get to buy a new car if you can pay CASH for it. That means, if you want a brand new 2010 Aston Martin DB9 and have $200k lying around to spare, then GO FOR IT (if that's what you want to do).

If you're going to sell this perfectly running car and I'm sure it still looks great, just to take on a new loan for next 4 years for bragging rights to friends and neighbors about driving a new car, well, then, you're dumb.

Invest yourself (savings, stocks, funds, whatever) or your kids (college funds, their future house down payment, weddings, whatever).

But like I said, if you have the cash, do whatever you want, you can afford to.

 

You can you that $20K equity as a a down payment on the LFA!!! LOL!

 

I just picked up an CPO 06 GS430 with 33k (one owner) for 27gs...car is spotless and good (complete) maintenance record...i'm happy with what I paid for it

 

Welcome to CL! Nice pickup on the '06 gs430. Now post up the pics of your ride.

 

dang...33K miles in 4 years?? geez. That's a good deal you got. I bought my 06 gs430 in march 07...had 7300 miles and OTD $44800 (60K msrp). I was very happy back then with it. I paid it off and now have 70K on it.

For the original thread...I say keep it a couple more years. No need to get a new GS when yours is pd for (no big change to GS anyway for the extra $$). Also, if you haven't enjoyed not having a car payment in awhile, its a good feeling. With this economy and nothing else really that exciting, I would keep your GS. The car still looks great compared to anything on the road. I plan to keep mine at least until I get 130K..another 3 years. i just put that $$ into my "Lexus Fund" for my next one..lol