color

Hey guys, I'm considering purchasing this 2005 is300 for $4,800.
It's owned by a guy who works at a car shop and claims to have kept it in great condition. I checked it out and person and mechanically it seems to look great. The VIN reports have returned positive. No accidents or anything. I test drove it and it ran pretty smooth. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to test drive it at a high speed yet though.

The interior is in alright condition. The drivers side seat has a decent sized tear in it, but aside from that it's very clean.

Fresh tires/breaks on it. The radiator was replaced last year(he claimed the plastic over the top was cracking and he went ahead and replaced it before it busted), and the timing belt was replaced within the past 25k miles or so(currently sitting at around 145k miles).



I'm not very knowledgeable about cars, but it certainly drove well. He has lowered it a little bit, but it doesn't rub on the tires unless you hit speed bump or something at a decent speed.

The main two things that are throwing me off about the car atm:

On the roof, he has that carbon fiber Chargespeed roof diffuser which is a bit scuffed up and looks a bit outta place IMO. The spot the diffuser is placed on the roof
covers up a part where the corner of the roof is bending up off the car but there are no leaks or anything just makes me curious if that would be a tough fix so I can remove the diffuser.

The paint on the hood is being scuffed(?) away

It's only really noticeable in the right light but it definitely could use a repainting over that at least. He claimed the engine combined with the heat in the area I live in causes the paint on that part of the hood to be worn off.

I'm mostly looking for a fun daily driver that can last me a couple years or so and I've read that this car can be extremely reliable and a fun drive if you can accept the terrible MPG.

I'd really appreciate it if you guys could give me some ideas on if this is a solid pick-up and whether or not any of these problems could be a big deal. I figured if I don't know a whole lot about cars (yet), coming straight to the Lexus sub itself would be my best bet.

NAli

If it is in good mechanical condition I see that as a fair price. I have a really clean 02' with about 105k miles that I spent about 6k for but I'm located in NYC, so I'm not sure about the price market for these cars in Florida.
Fun daily driver? Yeah.
MPG? It's no Corolla, but the fun you have driving this car makes up for it.
Last a couple years? More years than you can think of.

Lastly, my car also has that problem with the hood. For me, it's not really paint scuffing.. it's more like clear coat damage (almost like some sort of foggy residue that can't be wiped off).. looks as if the sun combined with the heat of the engine might've caused it but I'm not entirely sure.

BUT..... the roof is bending off from the car?? That should be your main concern, I'd take another look specifically at that part of the car because that seems absurd.

Other than that .. hopefully everything checks out.

Patek14

Did you check the VIN vs. lexus's maintenance database?

The biggest drawbacks of this car -
1. it was partially ruined by a ricer jr [roof,grill is retarded]
2. its really really slow
3. the interior is terrible . . . scuffs when you look at it. what is the interior like

Benefits -
1. reliable
2. cheap

IcyBishop

I'd have him take the diffuser off to better inspect this issue on the roof. That's really the only big problem I see with the car.

Interior wear and tear is normal - for a couple of bucks you could get another set of seats in there. Since the dash is already starting to get sticky, you'll want to re-finish that asap (which will end up fixing any scuffs of scrapes)
The clear coat damage on the hood happens to a lot of older cars, that can be fixed fairly easily with a quick re-finish at a body shop.
That grille is an Altezza grille and can easily be sold for a few hundred dollars. Hell, you could probably trade it for new seats!!

For what you're looking for out of a car I think the IS is perfect. Just check into that roof issue and then go from there!