just bought
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: OR
just bought
We just sold our MINI to get something better for road trips and easier to get and and out of. We are just about to retire and wife just had knee replacement.
I had it narrowed down to Lexus ES, Avalon, or Passat. Ended up looking at an '04 LS 430 on a car lot and got interested--hadn't really considered an LS and had no idea how nice they were. That led to more looking and I found a nice '05 LS 430 at (ironically the MINI dealership). 46,000 mi. and carfax showed it had been involved in two collisions. One owner. No nav or backup cam or upgraded sound system (none of which is a big deal to me). Does have power rear window shade which we thought was nice. (standard?) The dealer had the repair bills for both collisions. One was the front bumper, the other was the rear bumper. No other damage shown. As a former auto claims adjuster, those repairs were not an issue to me (but might have been a factor in price). Price had been lowered twice and was now $20,995, which seemed low from what I had seen...and they said it was non-negotiable at that price. Then it got more interesting.
We decided to check out an Avalon before making our decision so went to Toyota dealer. We found a couple of used Avalons, but actually ended up parking next to another LS 430! This one was a "03 with 55.000 mi. and higher trim package (nav. and sound system upgrade) and was listed at $25,995.When I told the salesman about the other car and that he would have to get below $20,000 for me to consider it, they got down to $21,400, which they said was it. Colors were not an issue (light "greenish" color on the 03 and what I call "pearl" white metallic on the 05). From what I've seen, the 03 probably cost quite a bit more when new because of the extras. Of course both of them test drove like a dream.
Seemed like 2 pretty good deals on low mileage cars. Close to same price. Older but with more goodies? Or 2 years newer with lower miles, but no extras and two minor collisions on history?
After sleeping on it, we chose the white '05. We haven't got it home yet, but pretty excited about it--especially the more I read and learn about these cars. $21000 for what was probably close to a $60,000 car new. Goal was to stay under $30K, so in my wife's view of the world we just "made" $9,000 to pay for a nice vacation. (PS The 2013 ES 350 just hit the car lots- what a gorgeous car!, but over $40,000--so I'm thrilled with my $21,000 "luxury classic")
Looking forward to keeping and eye on this forum.
I had it narrowed down to Lexus ES, Avalon, or Passat. Ended up looking at an '04 LS 430 on a car lot and got interested--hadn't really considered an LS and had no idea how nice they were. That led to more looking and I found a nice '05 LS 430 at (ironically the MINI dealership). 46,000 mi. and carfax showed it had been involved in two collisions. One owner. No nav or backup cam or upgraded sound system (none of which is a big deal to me). Does have power rear window shade which we thought was nice. (standard?) The dealer had the repair bills for both collisions. One was the front bumper, the other was the rear bumper. No other damage shown. As a former auto claims adjuster, those repairs were not an issue to me (but might have been a factor in price). Price had been lowered twice and was now $20,995, which seemed low from what I had seen...and they said it was non-negotiable at that price. Then it got more interesting.
We decided to check out an Avalon before making our decision so went to Toyota dealer. We found a couple of used Avalons, but actually ended up parking next to another LS 430! This one was a "03 with 55.000 mi. and higher trim package (nav. and sound system upgrade) and was listed at $25,995.When I told the salesman about the other car and that he would have to get below $20,000 for me to consider it, they got down to $21,400, which they said was it. Colors were not an issue (light "greenish" color on the 03 and what I call "pearl" white metallic on the 05). From what I've seen, the 03 probably cost quite a bit more when new because of the extras. Of course both of them test drove like a dream.
Seemed like 2 pretty good deals on low mileage cars. Close to same price. Older but with more goodies? Or 2 years newer with lower miles, but no extras and two minor collisions on history?
After sleeping on it, we chose the white '05. We haven't got it home yet, but pretty excited about it--especially the more I read and learn about these cars. $21000 for what was probably close to a $60,000 car new. Goal was to stay under $30K, so in my wife's view of the world we just "made" $9,000 to pay for a nice vacation. (PS The 2013 ES 350 just hit the car lots- what a gorgeous car!, but over $40,000--so I'm thrilled with my $21,000 "luxury classic")
Looking forward to keeping and eye on this forum.
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Lexus Champion
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 16,737
Likes: 443
From: Knoxville, TN
Lol I'm not trying to rub anything in, but I still marvel at the fact that I got mine (in January, 7 months ago) for $16,900. 04 with 74k. I think I got the deal of the century. Never wrecked, flawless, all records.
Anywhoo, enjoy your ride. You will fall in love with it the more you drive it. The little things, in the way you can tell so much thought/engineering went into this car, will shock you.
Keep us updated as to how you like your new ride, and congrats!!!
Anywhoo, enjoy your ride. You will fall in love with it the more you drive it. The little things, in the way you can tell so much thought/engineering went into this car, will shock you.
Keep us updated as to how you like your new ride, and congrats!!!
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