Sad day over the weekend sold my 2014 IS350. 108K miles. Black on black base model with a handful of mods, sold as is. $15k sale price.

Sale price falls well within KBB but these cars are normally listed well over that. Still, relatively happy with the sale and after a month of daily inquiries and a handful of "serious" buyers flaking on me.

Planned to keep the car forever but needed it gone to get the deal I needed on a home loan. I'm in escrow now and neesed it gone before it closes in a couple weeks.
Still have a 18 Hyudai CUV which is CPO and suits are family neess better than the IS, so that was the one to go. Not an easy decision! This was somewhat my "dream" car.
Borrowing my family members Audi A3 in the meantime. Probably going to be a at least a month or two before my next car. A3 is kind of fun with a tune and coilovers.

I'm going the opposite direction with my next purcahse, either a CT200h or a Camry hybrid. Inventory way down on these cars just the last couple weeks ans prices went up quite a bit from just a month ago, CA is closing down due to COVID-19 as of last night so perhaps this will help car prices go back down.

Still, in 4-5 years I may get myself another IS350, 2017-2020. Love everything about the car. But won't be getting black! Way to OCD for another Japanese black car.

Hopefully I'll still be on CL as I'm leaning towards the CT for my daily car the next few years.

 

Congrats on the new house. Did you sell the car with your mods still on it?

 

Thanks!
Yes I did. Including that F-Sport intake I got from you!

 

Try an ES300h, much better than a Camry hybrid. I love my CT200h but if I could do it all over again I'd get an ES300h. The ESH seems to provide roughly similar economy to the CT while being a lot bigger. The CT (in F Sport) does handle pretty good though. You can sort of have your cake and eat it too=40 mpg + good handling

I think if you get a Camry you'll regret it just cause it's a Camry.

 

hey congrats on the new house! where did you wind up buying in north county? i remember when i bought my first house here and i absolutely adore it - i take care of it (and my cars) as those they're my babies as i have no kids haha. also, my city is super strict on HOA rules being followed so the city looks perfect kinda like rancho bernardo or something or portions of san marcos - like the san elijo hills area looks super similar to the masterplanned communities of temecula. the custom communities here are a different ballgame with their multimillion dollar price tags in various neighborhoods throughout the city, the foothills and wine country. i was fortunate enough to buy into wine country only because my parents own a lot of property in temecula and fallbrook and they gifted me quite a large amount to either put down on a house or to build one, and so i opted to purchase a home in the gate community of the groves in wine country. such a beautiful place to live here. hopefully you're happy whenever you wound up in SD or SW RivCo.

also, the CT is a good looking little car. i think it's one of the best looking in its class actually and it's too bad they didn't have a higher performing version of that car because people would have scooped that car up if it were a hot hatch. for your needs, though, it's perfect. the ES300h is only attractive in the newest iteration. the last generation's exterior styling is horribly dull. I wouldn't go for that car if between the CT and the previous gen ES.

 

Hey thanks! Yeah this is a 1st for me. I ended up in north west Escondido. The area is maturing nicely and they have lots of big plans for that side of town, and downtown which is a bit south of me. East Escondido still a little rough around the edges. I got everyone pitching in on my purchase including the realtor and mortgage guy (friends of mine), even the seller is kicking back a bit.
The rates are all time record low so this took immediate priority over any car.

Yeah i agree completely on the ES. A new one is out of the cards anyways and dont care a great deal for the later gens although still a grest car generally.. I'll have to finance and who knows what they're gonna say when I already have a car and a new home, should be ok though.

Camry just makes sense on paper but the refinement on the CT or any Lexus is much preferred. Got my eye on one now but likely can't move on anything until next month at the earliest.

 

And as for the IS350 later down the line, thats a high probability but ill be watching the aftermarket options at that time. Be nice to have some good power without dishing out $6k for a supercharger. And if I keep the CT as a daily I may pickup something as a project weekend car and go fully custom.

Then, there is the potential for IS500 hopefully they don't want GS-F prices on it.

 

Congrats man, sounded like a hard decision.. hope everything with your house gets settled smoothly

 

Congratulations on selling your car, the new house and move! The CT 200h looks like a nice commuter car with great interior space.

 

Congrats again -- there are definitely some nice parts of Escondido and hopefully you and your family will stay there for a while, if not forever. I know that when I purchased my first house that it was going to be my house forever because I want to retire relatively early and I was lucky enough to purchase a desirable house in a desirable neighborhood from the outset. I hope that's the case for you as well and if not, I hope that whatever your path is that you are able to realize it!

Yeah, don't touch ANYTHING financially until escrow closes. There will be plenty of CTs to choose from when you are able to purchase one, and yeah, the CT is better suited to your needs than the staid last gen ES.

Good luck! You're well on your way!

 

thank you for the kind words, and yeah it was. Hadn't ever planned on selling. When the doors eventually fell off, I'd bolt them back on lol. Zip tie if neccessary

 

Thank you! Yeah If i land in one of those I know ill be happy. Bored, maybe a little but my new "bro bragging" rights will be killer mpg. They do have decent interior space surprisingly. Enough for a forward facing car seat and a passenger or 2, good to go.

 

Yeah the property may be mine forever, but the end home will be different. Although nice its just a condo. Appreciation in the area over last 5 years is minimum $70k, so thats kind of my aim with this one (although likely won't see much of that next 1-2 years, we'll see). This particular home up $50k since 2017. Future rental likely though.

Speaking of retirement this may be the stepping stone, to be investor / agent early "retirement". Easier than what i do now! Sounds like you landed something awesome, I know the area is and the way you describe it.

Yeah I'm stopping myself from shopping cause I dont want to find something perfect too early before I can even make a move on it (which I have haha). Then feel like i lost the deal lol. Telling myself there will be plenty more next month. I have this family loaner until mid Sept. if I need it.

Appreciate the kind words, soon to be relatively near neighbor.

 

Picked up a CT200h last night, F-Sport Ultra White with black interior.
Shockingly clean inside and out. Love the color combo, that alone is huge to me coming from black IS.
Toyota dealer posted it in the morning, called them when they opened and worked out the deal over the phone. Had them send me a signed copy before I went up there. Quick and easy, everyone happy.
KBB is $17.5k i think it was.

42mpg on the way home, enough room for the car fam (with baby car seat), and really surprised at the front cabin space. Very comfortable...perhaps equal if not more so than the IS (base model). I believe this will be a perfect economy/ "luxury" commuter. The need for a sport car will come later.

The CT200h is painfully slow at highway speed. I got a good laugh out of it. But a very solid feel on the freeway and handling really nice. Lower end acceleration sufficient around town and freeway on ramps.

It was exactly what i wanted, and the only one so far within 100 miles of me that had what I wanted, and more so didn't have the extras I didn't want. Been scanning the market for a few months. I am missing BSM but no big deal (well, not yet lol).

There will be very light mods. But the idea is get in, put it in drive, floor it, done. Maintenance on these is ridiculously low. And fuel savings for how much I drive is hundreds.

 

Congrats. I'm sure it will provide thousands of trouble free driving.