Found on FB marketplace, thinking about making the drive to look at it. He want's $4800.
Thoughts?
What do I need to be looking for? I know it needs a hood and the clear coat is trash on the roof...

 

Personally I would not waste time on this one.

- It’s been run a long time with engine covers missing on the timing gear. A really sign of poor ownership and care.
- It’s been negelected to the point of paint failure - hard to do on this generation Lexus; it was quite good.
- Boy racer mods abound

Find a well-cared for one. That’s priced about $2800 too high; it’s priced like it’s in decent shape, and it’s not.

 

Thanks for your feedback- I'm not really stuck on this car and will probably pass. I have seen much worse down here for the same money and Everyone thinks they are sitting on gold right now. Anything over ten years old usually has baked paint if it's not garaged. Florida sun kills cars - I was surprised the interior wasn't completely trashed.

 

Yeah, I agree with @Oro and would pass on this one. There are much better cared for ones out there, just have to be patient.

Care to share what the purpose is for? A soon to be driving kiddo? An extra car just to have or for tinkering around?

Even though it's FL sunshine and heat, personally I'd stick with black interior as it just wears better and doesn't show wrinkles, stains, or dirt as much.

Good luck with your search and feel free to share again if you find another that has potential...

 

Just looking for a fun decent daily driver, I have enough toys. Been driving trucks and Jeeps for years, the wife drives the a new ES

 

I lived in Flodia a while and know you have to take care of things. But the most extreme example is my brother still has a ‘66 Dodge Dart GT convertible, in Clearwater/came from Clearwater. Paint on it is still fine. He bought it in ‘86 as a kid; prior owner took care of it, my brother has since. So it’s not inevitable; you just have to not care and fail to do paint maintenance. If a ‘66 Dodge can still be ok from Florida weather, an ‘00s Lexus should look like gold still if taken care of.

 

That might be a good deal if it were here in DC. A lot looks good about it. I'm not sure how he can say "no rust" though. Everything rusts. The VVTI gear is covered in rust due to lacking the cover. That is the biggest issue I can see. Not much a fan of the cheap aftermarket lights either, but the stock ones were probably super toast in the sun. If you want an IS, and it's close enough, you can take a look and a drive, and then make an offer like he says. I don't see many for sale these days, and certainly not in that good of shape. But I'm not sure how the market is in your area.

 

I wouldn't pay more than $3k for this, absolute tops. I'd tell him about the timing cover and the issues associated with it, make a big deal about how you're likely gonna have to redo the timing again because you don't know what damage it's already sustained due to the missing cover and rusty VVT gear, then show him the fact that doing that job at a shop usually costs at least a grand, see if you can get him to come down in price by really hammering on that. It's a bigger deal than I think people realize to drive without a timing cover, as evidenced by the rust on that cam gear. The cam gear is way more delicate than people realize, you'd likely have to replace it entirely to make sure you don't end up with a permanent, undiagnosable misfire, and at that point, you're doing a whole timing job anyways, so might as well get a tensioner, new seals, all that good jazz. Lots of $$$$ just because someone couldn't bother to put on a piece of plastic and 4 screws.