God.. I cant believe I am even thinking about this.. But its about money unfortunatly...

I drive a truck and the price of fuel is just killing me... I am spending almost $2000 a month now, and income is dropped a little too.

On top of that I am driving my LS about 20K a year, and that does not help matters either.. I have been lookin around for a cheap car that gets better mileage, with the idea of selling the LS and putting the balance in savings. I found an 87 Honda Accord for sale, I really would like to stay with a somewhat luxurious car.. (the truck beats me to death all day.)

My 94 LS now has 185K on it. It runs great, engine and trans are in good shape. It had a timing belt done at 167K, along with WP, all belts and seals.

Body is good. interior is good, but not great.

Problems... Dash, PS hose is leaking, some noises coming from front end.. but drives ok. Tires OK.

Any thoughts on what it might be worth? If I cant get a decent amount then it is not worth it to lose a GREAT car, just to save some money for fuel.

As spring/summer approach, I may be able to ride my little 200cc dual sport to work and around town... that would save me some money too.

I am really just tossing this idea around in my head for now... But would appreciate your opinions, or ideas.





Thanks..
Ken

 

If you have to do it don't get sentimental about it. In the end it is just a car, and if it's a burden on you, then you should replace it with something more economical. However, if you do replace it, make sure that whatever you replace it with isn't going to cost you more money to tune-up or repair, and will actually get substantially better mileage to actually be worth it in the long-haul. Get something that you can drive until the wheels fall off. Additionally, do some calculations to see what the savings might be, and include insurance costs and all other peripheral costs associated with your car and possible replacements. Once you see the possible savings in dollars and cents it may help sway you one way or another.

 

To put it in perspective I bought my 94 LS 400 with 220k, in immaculate condition interior and exterior for $4400.00. Your car would be around that mark.

There were several who said I paid too much on this forum, not one said I underpaid. You get what a car with 185,000 miles sells for unfortunately, not what "Lexus" LS 400 sells for.

I don't think its worth it,.. 2 months of gas? I honestly don't see how you can drive 500$ a week, but I guess that is all you do mostly

 

maybe he meant "truck" as in big rig...?

 

Maybe so.. -- Either way it is what it is. It is always up to you.. how much do you value your LS? Do you need 4 or 5 grand and don't mind dropping the car? Getting something else reliable is going to cost at least that much imo,.. And the gas mileage of the LS is not bad, imo its actually good.


If you needed to sell just for cash and weren't getting another 'replacement' for gas mileage I could understand the situation alot better.

 

I think you should keep it. You will not get more than 3000 for the car, if that, and if anyone buys it.
A normal person will not buy a car with so many miles unless they know something about a Lexus. From an economic point of view, it easier and cheaper to buy a 2003 Cavalier or some GM car with less miles than a luxury car thats older.

I think you should keep it, or just keep in in a garage untill times get better. I hear things will get better 3rd quarter of the year, gas might go down a notch, but not much.
Unless you plan to sell the car to pay off some debt, or credit card bills (hate them bastards, they are having a tie of their life now), I think you should keep it, that is if you still get some kind of joy out of the car.

 

I understand your situation brother but if it were up to me I would not part with it unles you just don't have the cash to fix those issues. Especialy if you are not considering a newer, reliable car. Honda's are great - my wife had a coupe and it was fantastic but not bulletproof. I too thought about replacing my LS (daily driver) with an economy car but decided against it because I would rather keep my cash in hand than by an economy car , carry full coverage insurance, etc. My LS is in tip top shape and I get between 24 and 26 MPG usually. The gain of the economy car does not justify me pulling cash out of savings, etc. so I opted to keep driving my old LS.

Your situation is different though. If this LS is going to cost you money (and it sounds like it will - especiall the PS fix) then you should dump it until your situation changes. The good news is there are plenty of clean LS models out there brother!

 

an 87 accord is most likely gong to need as much work as your LS to keep it on the road safely and properly. i can't tell you what to do, but i'd never trade my LS for an accord for 4 or 5 more mpg. i'd cut back on going out, movies, dvd's, etc. instead.

 

keep the car.

 

I drive a truck as well, and would never think of selling my LS, unless I upgrade to an LS430 (possible thinking). Trust me man, i know that fuel prices are killing us out here; $4.39 for a gallon of diesel!!! Sheesh!!!!! My LS is pretty much a parking lot queen anyways, so the regular fuel prices don't bother me much; until I have to fill her up. Truthfully, if you really need the money, just sell her outright, but unfortunately, don't look to get more than 3-4K for her. I am pretty much in the same dilema to let mine go, but only to get a later model. Since you are just tooling back and forth to work, don't let a good car go and regret it later. You are gonna have to invest some money to fix some of the problems, but in the end, you will still be happier.

 

I've been pondering another car aswell in the days of $75 fillups. Especially since my car needs about 500 for suspension work. But i thought about it and I'm just gonna keep my car. A cheap civic or accord will not be nice, and you deserve something nice, trucks are so uncomfortable!

Considering you drive 20k a year in your LS, i think you should just keep it.

I'm gonna do some calcs for you.

lets say premium is 3.70. Lets say you get about 22 mixed city highway.
you will spend about 3400 in fuel for the year.
if you get that accord, lets say you get 29 mpg. with regular at 3.45 p/g.
you will spend 2400 in fuel for the year.

You will only save $83 a month in fuel costs. Is your comfort worth $83? Also an accord isn't as reliable as an LS and its 6 years older! Keep your LS for $2.73 extra a day.

If you really want to save money, dont eat out. that will end up costing you way more!

 

Thanks for all the replies... I really appreciate hearing everyones thoughts on it. It always helps to bounce ideas off other people.

the $500-520 a week is the money I spend for diesel in the truck.. I spend about $68 a week in the LS.

The various reasons to keep it that everyone mentioned are very good ones... Also I would have the problem of selling the LS to get the money to buy what ever other car I would want... If I try and trade it at a lot.. I will get totally scrwd, reducing my gain to almost nothing anyway.

I am thinking the best thing is to keep the LS.. none of the problems with the car keep me from driving it.. nor will they anytime soon, and if I can ride my little 200cc dual sport bike to work.. say 30% of the time... It would save me more than the Honda would anyway.


Thanks again for your help with this. I will update if anything changes.

Ken

 

a bike is definitely the way to go for commuting. i'm considering another one jsut for that reason.