CJITTY

Hello everyone,

This is about to be my first Lexus purchase and of course it is going to be a LS460!

I need to know if this is a good deal. I'm preapproved and needed some opinions from the experts out here on the forum so I can feel even better about this purchase..thank in advance!

2007 LS460 SWB
Black with Tan Interior
44K miles
asking price $37,999
Carfax approved with no issues at all and Autocheck score is 95, no frame damage or anything.

Options highlights:
*Luxury Package
*Levinson equipped
*Intuitive Park Assist
*Navigation
*Power trunk open/close
*Rear seat recline
*Heated/Cooled all seats front/rear
*Power headrests
*Heated steering wheel

This is from an A+ BBB rated broker who appears to have a superb reputation. I've done my research and cannot find a negative thing about this broker. Car has some slight scratches that appear to be normal for a car with 44K miles and it drives great. Probably may need tires in about 10K miles and the brakes have a very slight pulse..perhaps a slight rotor warp..but the tranny seems like it is good as new and all the features above work just fine. It doesn't appear like he has much of a margin on this car, but then again, i don't know what he got it for. Your thoughts ladies and gentlemen?

Thanks again folks!

vitieubao

The deal is ok, not so good, not so bad, you can find similar deals on Texasdirectauto . When you test drive you need to pay attention to those:
- Wind noise.
- Drift to either left or right. There is a TSB for it, but it is applied on 1 year old or first 20K miles only.
- Check the wheels if it has some damage, they may shake the car at high speed.
- Check to see if the car still has manufacture warranty.

That is what I remembered for now.

Nospinzone

It seems to be a good deal. You should go to edmunds.com and use their "Appaise Your Car" feature.

HSVRX350

Good deal on this would about $34K...You might want to budget about $1.5K to get extended warranty before it expires from Lexus / Toyota dealer.

CJITTY

thanks for the Edmunds.com reminder. I just did that and it comes up with these figures:

National Base Price Dealer - $36,667

With the options this car has adds $5974

Total $40,041 for "Average" condition
Total $42,814 for "Clean" condition

I say the car is leaning more toward the clean side. Interior is flawless for sure.

My credit union is offering 3.45% for up to 72 months if I want to go that far out and the extended warranty adds 60 month/100K miles (on odometer), whichever comes first, and will cost $1000 for a zero deductible. So that is a pretty smokin deal for the warranty from what I have seen. This is an old credit union I had for years, not the dealers CU.

I am going to drive it again today and get it up to highway speeds and see whats up.

miniz

Have you ever owned a black Toyota product before? Do yourself a favor and pass on this car. It sounds like a good car, but the color is a deal killer. You will see every swirl, dent, ding, scratch, pit and all other paint imperfections in the softest water based paint on the market. Water from rain or sprinklers will bake into the clear coat and cause severe etching. The hot GA sun will make it turn into a sauna. Get a light color. Also, don't depend on CarFax/Autocheck. They do not see everything, including cash jobs. Get all used cars inspected by a mechanic and a body shop prior to purchase.

CJITTY

Definitely good advice..had it checked out and it is mechanically in excellent shape as well as no issues with the body or frame. The paint has normal pits here and there. There was a scratch that couldn't be touched up so he will have the entire front bumper repainted and that's great because the car came off exec lease in NY and has the front tag bracket and all that..they will remove that and fill in the holes for a nice smooth look @ no charge. This is not my daily driver so it won't be in the sun that much. Thanks again for the feedback, but I am official now!

miniz

Coming off lease from NY makes it even more of a no buy! Do not buy used cars from corrosion-ville, unless they were only used during the summer. The road salt, even in just a few years, has already started to eat the car. If it was driven in or around NYC, don't even think about buying it. The poorly maintained roads with giant gaping pot holes eat car suspension systems for lunch. This helps explain the paint damage. There is no reason why you can't find a southern car that has never seen a winter and it not a dark color. LS460's are a dime-a-dozen in South FL. There are a lot of them around Atlanta too. I'm not sure where in GA you are, but it makes no logical sense to ship in a car from NY unless they are giving it away for like $20k.

CJITTY

Another good point. I have a 2003 Acura TL now as well that I bought in Minnesota back in 2003. It suffered through the brutal MN winters driving through salt and mag chloride for 3 years, then moved back to home in Colorado. Another 4 winters there with lots of mag chloride, salt and sand and my car has no issues at all. There is no sign of any corrosive issues on this this LS at all. I mean it is really in great shape. Lexus has a corrosion warranty for up to 72 months regardless of mileage as well, so there is some protection there.

From Lexus Warranty Webpage:
Corrosion Perforation Warranty
This warranty covers repair or replacement of any original body panel that develops perforation from corrosion (rust-through), subject to the exceptions listed in the Basic Warranty page. The Corrosion Perforation Warranty coverage is for 72 months, regardless of mileage

Black luxury sedans seem to be the standard down here in ATL. I always wanted to have a black lux sedan to be honest. IMO this car looks amazing in black. If this was my daily driver and the car would not have any garage to park in, I would be more concerned about the black color.

Without knowing the actual owner, it is hard to say where the car spent the majority of it's time, but with the folks that have looked at it, it checks out with a super clean bill of health inside and out. The car was already on site at the broker, I didn't have it sent from NY. I have been all over the net looking for one that has ALL the options this car has around here and its hard to find. It has everything minus the adaptive cruise/collosion avoidance. Haven't taken delivery of it yet, credit union is processing the paperwork on Monday. I really do appreciate the inputs folks!

jmcraney

Be sure the car has the "Wind Noise" option. If it doesn't have that then it may be a knockoff.

RGSW

If it's 2007, and depending on the VIN #, it may have a recall coming for new valve springs. The following quote from the Lexus web site:
Lexus announced that it has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of its intention to file a Defect Information Report (DIR) regarding approximately 138,000 Lexus vehicles, powered by 4.6 and 5.0 liter V8 and 3.5 liter V6 engines in certain 2006, 2007 and 2008 GS, IS and LS models in the U.S. The formal report will be filed the week of July 5.

In the covered vehicles, due to slight variations during the manufacturing process, some foreign material may have contaminated a small number of the valve springs. If a vehicle is affected, there is a remote possibility that abnormal engine noise or idling may occur. In extremely rare instances, the engine may stop while the vehicle is in operation.

Lexus estimates that the likelihood of a customer vehicle experiencing this condition is two-tenths of one percent (0.2 %). Lexus has received no reports of accidents or injuries related to this condition. No vehicles from the current 2010 model year nor 2009 are affected.

Lexus will send owners of the involved vehicles a recall notification via first class mail. Owners are requested to contact their local Lexus dealer for diagnosis and repair after receiving their notification. The repair will involve replacement of the engine's valve springs at no charge.

Owners can continue to drive their vehicles. If symptoms are noticed, such as vibration, rough idling, unusual engine sounds or poor performance, the vehicle should be brought to a Lexus dealer for service.

cmasten

Its good advice for sure, taking care of a Black Lexus is something to clearly understand before you get into one.

With that said, I spent about 5 months researching for my LS last year and ended up buying a CPO Black on Black. There is just nothing that looks as classy (IMO) as Black for this car. I live in So Cal, so rain, snow, salt etc are all not a problem, I do wipe it down each day when I get home to just keep the dust off of it and hand wash it every 1-2 weeks.

I get compliments on this car several times a week from various people, it just stands out, if you add a nice set of rims (I have the factory chromes) it really stands out. I also have black interior, as I like the black/black look and have had vehicles over the years in all kinds of colors. The AC system in this car is amazing! It was over 100 a couple of weeks ago here, and I left it in the sun at work for about 6 hours, I used to remote to drop all the windows and the sunroof and it dumped all the heat out I got in the car, started it and within 7 or 8 minutes if was totally cool inside, it also will do an outstanding job of dehumidifying the air inside, it leaves more water on the garage floor than any vehicle I have ever owned.

So Black can be a bear if you dont keep up with it, its not easy to maintain and shows everything, but when its clean, there is nothing else that looks like it and I dont regret my decision in the least. It is a beautiful car, and draws a lot of attention in any color, but I have never received the compliments on any car (White Benz, Blue Lexus, etc) like I do this car, people just notice it and its a great combination IF you understand that it requires a lot of care and feeding.

CJITTY

@ CMASTEN, I hear ya! A black LS with a nice shade of window tint and a nice waxed up exterior with treated tires looks incredible. Here in GA, the humidity here is just insane and there is a lack of dust here, way more dusty in Denver..could never keep my TL clean out there. Back on the humidity, one day when it was 100% humidity and about 90 degrees, my car was idle for a while and i had a mini river of water coming out from the bottom of my car, the most I have ever seen. I did notice how quickly the LS cooled the interior, especially with the cooled seats. I was not aware of the remote control for the windows, so thats a huge plus! I don't have the car just yet so I haven't got a chance to read the owners manual on the ol shizzer just yet lol. I know everything about my TL, but now I have to learn about all the crazy features this amazing LS has!!! I spent an extra 20 mins on the test drive practicing my park assist skills and in awe of reclining rear seats...thats just amazing to me.

@RGSW - Thanks for that, I saw that on the board not too long ago, so I am going to gather up any warranty issues I notice (if any) and head into the dealer within the next few thousand miles to take advantage of the factory warranty before it expires. I assume they can do that wind noise fix as well, if not, the fix which has the DIY on here seems very easy and the overall best fix.