I happened to run across another LS430 here locally in Nebraska for sale, which is extremely rare. It seems like most of the surviving LS430s are located in the warmer climates (Florida, TX, etc.).

This one is extremely clean, black on black, and is priced at $6500 (supposedly the seller's "bottom line," down from an asking price of $7700). It has 174k miles, but it did have the timing belt changed at 111k miles, so good for a bit longer, and surprisingly everything works on the car (even the door lock actuators and power retractable steering wheel). It has a fairly long Lexus service history, and nothing particularly troubling showing up. It drives great, but with a slight rattle in the driver's side back (and I see from the service history that Lexus was unable to determine where the rattle was coming from, but confirmed everything looked okay in the rear suspension). The brakes are good, the tires are pretty new, the rear struts were recently replaced...

I admit I like the look of the black exterior with the chrome accents. I'm really not a fan of Chrome wheels, but they look decent on this car. The car came out of Texas, and I didn't see any signs of corrosion.

I'm thinking this is really more of a $5-6k car, given the miles, but the seller says he won't budge below $6500...

Any thoughts on this one from the forum? Thanks!

 

I would tend to agree that $5k is a fair price. A rattle that the dealer can't find doesn't sit well with me....but then again dealers don't tend to work on/spend time troubleshooting $5k cars.

It's no different than eBay, many entertain offers but don't take them seriously. I came across a sweet Viking class 2 safety vest tear away yellow blah blah blah. Seller wanted $11 or best offer, so I offered $7. rejected I went up to $10. rejected lol (they are using the system collecting offers) Whereas I saw a brand new Snap On 100 tooth ratchet 3/8 with the swivel head and round (ah my 36 tooth is my go to even more than the 80's) listed for about 35% off list. I offered 50% off list and accepted (c'mon these are pro sellers who pay nothing to students who got the gear at a huge discount closer to 65%).

My point is even if the seller is firm at a high price, they could be 100% serious, but they are amateurs. Doesn't mean they won't get the $$$$$. But imho let someone else pay that high price....my .02

 

Bottom line is this.......These days, where can you buy a used car (and a reliable used car at that) for $6500? New Camrys and Accords are hovering around the $40,000 mark. Where can you find anything for $6500?

 

The firm price is a bit high given the mileage. Still, it's nice to see one that looks just like my car (except for the window tint)!

 

No adaptive cruise makes it a no-go for me (2004-2006 would have a glass plate in front of the front L emblem, 2001-2003 would have a laser module in the bumper at the lower front passenger side ). It's worth whatever you're willing to pay for 174K mileage, new timing belt, new rear struts (if air struts, this is much more valuable than non-air).

To me, I would not pay $6500 USD for that high mileage and lack of options, but someone who values fewer options (and theoretically less parts to fail and theoretically higher reliability) may find value in fewer options.

 

Seems like all rental cars now have adaptive cruise. I often don't have time to figure them all out, kind of like it is what it is. But the 2019 Nissans clearly have 3 selectable distances, and I did not find that with the 2020 toyota, just one. I have to admit that without googling, I could not find the trip odo on Toyotas. Anyway, I must be old-fashioned because it did cross my mind, what if the system doesn't work, and it's all you know, you just rear end the person in front of you? Or upon failure the car does massive braking and you get rear ended? What? Again, seems like Nissan it has to be activated, but toyota, it's on by default. I'd rather do without it, but then again, I am a guy who enjoyed using a clutch in bumper to bumper traffic this AM. I truly prefer it, guess I am not mainstream.

 

From what I have seen, an '04-'06 LS 430 with zero issues usually will command a price like what this guy wants, or more. Yes, you will find lower priced cars, but they are that for a reason -worn out, not maintained, dings and scratches, things not working etc. If you really like the car, as is, and want it, get a PPI and if it checks out buy it. The 174,000 miles would not deter me.

 

You are right on. Your estimate of value is full retail dealer price for a similar LS 430 with 0 issues. Seller is ambitious with price. If a private party, very ambitious at over 2x trade-in value. Especially when one has to listen to a rattle each time one drives, and once one finds the cause, may be a $1000 repair. If never find the cause, still a damn rattle every time you drive an LS 430 paying that price? Potential buyers know buying an LS 430 may require significant expense if/when maintenance and/or repair occurs. Some may be fortunate to have an LS 430 which never breaks. But, there are 1000's of threads on these forums of owner's asking advice on how to fix their broken LS 430s. Any issue with the car present at the time of sale hurts value.
May not be the case in this instance, but have been told by car sellers in the past that a noise issue was looked into by the service facility of a dealership but it could not find a problem. And, after closer inspection was able to diagnose the problem, often fairly easily, which usually would have resulted in a significant expense to resolve. Was always suspicious in such occurrences that seller was told of the issue(s) by the service department, but seller chose to sell instead of paying for repairs and chose to say otherwise while trying to sell.

 

Reminds me of car ads where the seller states the AC system needs a recharge. If that is all it needs, why not just do it since a buyer (here in FL at least) will be way more likely to guy a car with working AC than with non-working AC.

 

Going way back to when I was in grad school and really couldn't afford a car, I would grab the then version of autotrader, free at supermarkets. You would see all these cars "light RF damage, yard drives." Then there would be 3 pics, LF, LR, RR. It was the convention. Really strange I thought, if anything I'd like to have a gander at the damage. I remember seeing a brand new Nissan with the huge (LOL) 16" star rims and thinking dang, someday. Then when I started working this older sales guy (had to be 25 haha) had a sweet one with Bose and black leather, 5-speed (for those unfamiliar with the term, cars once had this "stick" thing in the console, and an extra pedal to the left of the brake, where you moved the lever after stepping on that extra pedal, people liked it, both men, and women), and again I said someday.

Assuming we're all older than I was above, we have so many choices, we don't have to settle, we can get what we want, so imho stars have to align to buy a 14 y.o. (at newest) car--think about how old and brittle all the rubber and plastic is regardless....

 

I like people who say that!
if I'm interested in the car I always tell those sellers 'ac systems should never need to be recharged, so that means yours has a leak that will likely get worse, that I will then have to fix'. Usually means you can knock off a bunch on the asking price.
The ones that top off the refrigerant so it blows cold when you test it and say nothing about it are the guys I don't like!