M3to4GS

Just curious on CL members' opinions on sourcing quality vehicles from Manheim auctions. I have a close friend who operates as a dealer and has access to Manheim Auctions. I've been on there and seen numerous GS350's for sale, some in bad shape and quite a few in great shape at a very lucrative price.

For example,

2015 GS350 F Sport, NGP/Cab, RWD, Nav, ML, BSM
No paint/bodywork, clean carfax, one owner (lease return from CA)
33K miles
$27K

Would this be considered a good deal?

Curious about y'all's thoughts?

dgpiii

Yes, the answer is yes.

BLexodus

iTrader: (1)

Looks like a great deal.

LOLjasonW

my local dealership deals with them as well, the only reason they would send it to Manheim, is because they can't get it certified for a CPO. could be any number of reasons, a bunch of little things or a bunch of big things but they still think they can get a $ out of it.

My 3gs went to Manhiem and sold, I picked it up from a different dealer. It needed brakes all the way around, and it burns oil. All the work on it was done at lexus and since it's 11yrs old, they wouldnt CPO it, when they got it as a trade in so to manheim it went

I guess all i can say is be careful obviously you can get screwed pretty good, I thought I was going to be and it turned out the opposite

jordanhigg

I use to do this part time about 10 years ago and still have contacts as well.

It will be harder to find a nice, clean, good shape (typically) but you will be saving thousands of dollars vs retail and even private party.

I would definitely buy one at an auction as long as I could inspect it before I buy. (most have a 24-48 hour hold)

happy to answer any questions you may have

HPLouis

Mine went through Manheim due to miles. It was a 2015 with 58K miles. I bought it in July. Besides rear tires and front brakes, the car has been perfect since.

jordanhigg

what did you pay after fees. (not taxes)

HPLouis

It was $30,100 before fees.

jordanhigg

is it immaculate? Price sounds a few grand high with that many miles imo

HPLouis

It really was. Body and paint were excellent, car was solid, no creaks, rattles, etc. I expected that from a Lexus though. They are great cars. It's also a Crafted Line AWD car so that's where the additional cost was.

jordanhigg

CL and AWD add a lot to its book.

Great purchase

jagsfan201

Is the buying process the same through Manheim? If I get my mechanic check out the car within 24 hours and he says it's good, how does the transaction go from there?

talltrini1

I just looked up the Crafted Line - I wish I had known this was a thing when I was shopping. I would've held out for that!

jordanhigg

you will the auction and then you have 24-48 hours before you have to officially buy it.

different rules for the different auction. Some will let you take the car off the lot to get inspected and others make you use "their guy"

bclexus

If you plan to buy a vehicle at one of these auctions you better damn-well know what you're doing and have a whole lot of experience under your belt. Many (MANY) times what you get at auction is not what you were hoping for, or what you were expecting...and quite often you learn too late why the vehicle was sold at auction instead of from a car maker's brand dealership lot.

There is a local car lot (European Motors) that carries a lot of high-end, luxury vehicles that many of them are purchased at auction. Some are Lemon Law titled vehicles that car makers don't want, flood vehicles that were routed through various states to avoid a Flood titles or Salvage titles, wrecked vehicles that are not accurately entered in CarFax, etc., etc., etc. Their cars look really good on their website and to the inexperienced many look really good in-person, and they are often priced significantly under what a nice equivalent car is priced on a dealer's lot...but more times than not their vehicles are highly suspect, if not downright crap. Buyer beware... Same applies to vehicles purchased at auction. As I said, you better damn-well know what you're doing and have a whole lot of experience under your belt.