kalimski

Hi guys,

I am a 25 yo Lexus rookie, living in Europe (Czech Republic). I'm seriously considering purchasing a 2007 Lexus LS460L with executive package (w/o ottoman). The car has been imported from US and has only 25k miles, in mint condition (at least optical). Here's the link:

http://english.denker.cz/nabidka/Lex...L-Luxury/1912/

I'm aware of fact that a 2007 AWD is a nonsense and that would be my very first question for the dealer tomorrow. I hope it's just a mistake, so let's put this aside for now (I don't really want AWD anyway)

Most of the people of my age are getting those european cars with teeny tiny 1.6 diesel engines with great gas mileage and low cost maintenance, but I have been a luxury car fanatic since ever, so I want something special so bad. The 30k I'm about to spend is close to a half of my income, so knowing that decision to buy a car in this price range is not so smart in general, I need to make a smartest pick within. My father in law has a 4th Lexus and he's never had any problem with any of it. He's actually always making fun of his friends who own MB, Audis or BMW, as he barely knows what maintenance costs are. Lexus is no brainer to me then. I found LS to be my favorite by far.

I've done a thorough research on this great forum, so at this point my knowledge is as far as this:

- possible shock and strut problems (air suspension)
- need to make sure all 3 recall repairs have been done (most importantly the valve springs)
- possible control arms replacement (ancient roads in Prague)
- I need to check the car on Carfax or Autocheck

Now I would be very grateful for any additional input from you, dear experienced Lexus owners. I am going to check the car personally tomorrow and I would love to know what would YOU check and ask there If you were me.

Also, If there is anything else I should consider before becoming an LS460 owner, please tell. And last but not least, If you think I'm crazy and this whole decision is stupid, hit me!

Thank you so much for any inputs,
Tom

SBlexus

Has the car been painted white or is that a wrap?

kalimski

It's a wrap. It's been installed right after purchasing the car back in 2007 I've been told. They will remove it on request and I will certainly take advantage of it to check the paint.

williakz

Did you check the Lexus service history on the car? With the vehicle's VIN, you should be able to get at it. It may not include everything done to the car, but it will show you what U.S. Lexus dealers have done to it. More info is always better, so worth a try...

pmiller

Looks nice. Has the executive seating. I like that but cannot do it as I have 3 children to ride in the back of my LS LWB. The wrap would raise a flag for me. That seems strange to me to wrap a car like this. Why'd they do that? What happens when the wrap is removed? What will the paint be like? Or do you keep the wrap? Just seems strange to me to wrap a Lexus LS. I'm interested to hear what happens with your venture.

Nospinzone

Obviously I don't know the Czech used car market, but that car seems surprisingly low priced to me. Make sure you can get clear title to the car.

In addition to following up on williakz and pmiller's advice, you might want to have a professional mechanic inspect the car for you.

greg3852

The wrap raises many flags. They go right over the parking sensors, so that feature is probably not working anymore. They wrapped it, but didn't put back the LS 460 on the back instead put the LS on the side door? The glove box is in dire need of a fix as it sags a lot. More than mine did and mine drove me nuts. I'm curious as to why they would wrap a car with only 25K miles.

kalimski

The dealer actually offered me to remove the wrap in case I'm seriously interested, to make sure it's not there to cover anything. That made me quite comfortable about it and I do want to remove it before making a decision. In Prague, it's surprisingly easy to get your car scratched, so wrapping a new car makes perfect sense to protect the car paint from day one.

On the Lexus website, there are only 2 initial records - Pre-delivery service and a March state and emission inspection. That's it. Autocheck has 1 record only and Carfax claims they have 5 service records available. I will go ahead and pay Carcheck to reveal it to me.

In case valve springs haven't been replaced, how expensive it is? (Warranty's gone)

peteybabes

it does appear to have the ottoman, but it does not appear to have radar cruise control.

Nospinzone

If the Lexus website doesn't show the recalls as being done, you can be certain that they were not done, especially the valve springs. No one would have paid an independent shop out of pocket to do that work when it was covered by Lexus.

Since it was a recall, it can be covered even though the car is out of warranty. I believe the recall is in effect for eight years. However, this applies to the US, your country may be different. Are you buying this from a Lexus dealer?

kalimski

Thank you for this information. I was just about to ask! It's not a

I've checked the car today, and it exceeded my expectations. Just love it! There is just one thing I am worried about now - It turns out that this car wasn't in use for past 18 months. Is there anything that could have significantly suffered from this?

The ride was smooth, transmission shifts promptly, all electronic equipment works like a charm. Only thing was a slight shudder when braking, but that went away after few minutes of intensive braking. I am quite sure that was just because rotors got a bit rusty on its surface after such a long sleep.

Turns out that the car has been exported as new, which explains no further records on Carfax. I was just wondering If the Lexus driver database is worldwide or US only...

Thanks for your inputs so far!

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

I would look for a nice LS430 vs the 460 considering your income. I know you love luxury cars but why not buy something that is more in your budget. Have you factored in insurance and cost of fuel into your ownership? 30k @ 4.5% interest over 5 years is $560 a month. Also, don't buy the thing without a warranty.

Nospinzone

Things that could go wrong with the car sitting that long is the battery probably went dead if it wasn't on a tender. If they just recharged the battery then it lost some of its power, but not a big deal.

The other thing is the gasoline will go stale and potentially gum up the fuel pump and injectors. If it ran well for you then you are probably OK. I would say just run a couple tanks with some sort of injector cleaner (like Gumout if they sell it there).

Also the tires could have developed flat spots. Sometimes just driving the car will work them out. If not you will have to replace the tires. You may have to anyway if the tires are original, at 7+ years old they are approaching the end of their useful life.