hello group,
i just bought an 2000 LS 400 from florida sight unseen!
it has 66,000 miles. i paid $9,800.
it apparently has all the options, but i know i doesn't have navigation.
it was a single owner driver. clean carfax.
i actually called the dealership where the maintenance was done and they said everything was up to date:
timing belt, water pump were done in 2008.
engine mounts were also done in 2011. (i don't even know if this is regular maintenance.)
i just had shipping arranged from florida to chicago.
i hope i didn't make a mistake!

is this a good deal?
what should i do once it gets here?
thanks for all your help.
LOVE the forum.

duke

 

Assuming that the mileage can be believed I think that you got a great deal and KBB.COM agrees. The engine mount replacement isn't a maintenance item but they fail with some regularity. Well done.

 

Good luck mate. Let's see how it pans out.

 

the timing belt is not really necessary until 90k so i'm a bit skeptical. engine mounts are not necessary either, and only show their age past 100k. like PD stated, let's see how this pans out.

 

I would at least want to see the driver's seat

that + carfax tells me everything I need to know about a car when I buy them on ebay!

 

i should be be clear that that i did not see it in person.
i did see photos that were sent which i'll attach here.

 

I dunno

driver seat looks considerably more worn than my 96 bought with 111K miles last year

a 2000 with 66K should have a driver's seat that looks essentially new, unless previous owner was rather rotund!

 

engine mounts can die due to age, so that's not entirely surprising.

the seat doesn't look overly worn at all, though there is a random light spot on the image.

 

i didn't even think about the drivers seat.
good thoughts.
do u think the color of the leather would look wear differently?
i guess i'm not sure what a worn leather seat would look like other than leather that has obvious cracks in it.
i do know that this car was taken into the stealership like clock work.
and there was no mileage warning on the carfax.

i guess i'll take it in to the my local dealer when it gets here for a thorough once over.
anything i should be looking for in particular when i take it in?

 

An ungaraged car will have seats like that. It does not look worn it looks not conditioned periodically

 

did this car come from pompano beach, FL?

 

I'm sure the car will be fine. Looks like a good buy to me

 

Looks fine to me.
The driverseat just needs some TLC

 

Congrats! Looks like a good deal. I paid 8 grand on my 99 with 67K on it but without the timing belt / water pump done. She looks clean and I'm sure you will enjoy her. Single owner cars from wealthy owners are usually a good way to go.

 

Looks like a fairly good deal. Florida is one of the two best areas of the U.S. to find cars with lower than average miles. I can tell which options it has by the photos but you can check out at http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2000/2000LSspecs.pdf (The specs are incorrect in that heated rear seats were not available in the U.S.)

The leather looks pretty good. IMO, darker color leather shows wear and fading more readily than lighter colors do. Use leather cleaner and conditioner and DO NOT try to soften the leather - that only breaks it down.

You might want to see if your new 00 LS had the steering column revision implemented at the factory or if it was done later under the relevent TSIB which I have posted here several times in the past.

If this is going to be a daily driver/winter driven car, first thing to do is GET SNOW TIRES! It took 2 1/2 hours to drive less than 15 miles today in 12 inches of fresh snow on mostly unplowed streets. There is no way I would have made it without "real" (mountain/snowflake symbol on sidewalls) snow tires. Craigslist can be a good place to find extra wheels to use with snow tires. Any 95-up LS400/LS430 wheel will work.

Be glad it doesn't have the horrible 98-00 LS/GS navigation system for which no updates are available since 2004. You are better off with the standard Pioneer system - easier to find replacements than for the Nakamichi like I have.

You are also better off without the problematic air suspension option although it might have been handy today when I got high centered on snow and had to shovel myself out.

Looks like the perfectly equipped 2000 LS400 to me. Hope those heated seats work!