Hey all, been lurking for a long time, went back and forth about getting an LS, drove a 13 and liked it, but more than I want to spend on a car right now. Was tempted at a used 15 Genesis 5.0 but again more money than I would like to spend.
I have a small deposit on this car, its color and options I want. Carfax and Autocheck are clean, story seems to checkout, Lexus maintenance records on Lexus website seem ok aswell...eBay flipper rep....well that's questionable.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LS-LEXUS-LS...19.m1438.l2649

I plan to fly in and drive it home, and will inspect it before handing over a check. What are the big things to look out for? ( I think I know from reading threads, so maybe what should I be looking for that is not so common.)

I do pretty much all my own wrenching, have a full shop/tools and access to a lift if I need it. Also will stop at my brothers on the way back and probably do a full going over on normal maint items ( he is full time self employed mechanic ).
Decent deal, barring any major flaws I find?...worst case out a few hundred for airfare.

 

Sweet. Looks good.

 

It looks good, but I hate buying from guys like that. Check out the one-star Yelp reviews - https://www.yelp.com/biz/amazing-car...t_by=date_desc

He apparently doesn't like to complete the transactions on ebay, which is always shady.

 

I'm agreeing with Dave's sentiment. Good car, the seller might be the only thing to make me nervous.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah car looks good, history seems ok but will look for a backup car just in case. Will report back on what happens.

 

The 19" wheels and Michelin tire are about $2000 alone. It looks like it has been maintained meticulously and not someone who couldn't keep up with cost of ownership. What is your max budget?

 

Looks good but check all of the vinyl interion for stickiness/dirt, especially the armrests.

 

I did not really have a max budget, I am just kinda saving for an early retirement in the next year or so and did not want to drop a lot of coin on a car right now. And I think for around $13k its a lot of car. I am actually not a huge fan of the 19's on the car, surprised they would be worth $2000, but it does have really new Michelin Pilots mounted so that is a plus.

Fly out to check it out with check in hand...if its a duffer will head straight to Austin to meet some friends for MotoGP, but hoping it all goes well. Will have it looked over with a PPI by a local Lexus Indy that has good reviews online. If it needs a few things I will still probably go ahead with purchase, I expect to have to put some money in the car to keep it reliable and comfortable, no problem with that.

I did drive another 08 locally the other day ( I have only otherwise driven an AWD 13 earlier this year) and it was kinda rough with about 88k miles...engine seemed bit louder under acceleration than I would have expected but what really stood out was the transmission, shifts seemed somewhat rough and very noticeable, I expected a really smooth trans. Will update more this weekend.

 

Hope it works out. At least it won't be a complete waste of time since you have friends to meet up with.

 

I like it. The prices are dropping. That car would have been hard to find for less than 18k 2 years ago.

 

I don't think you're wrong in being cautious of the seller, however caution needs to be given for any used car purchase without stereotyping. I'll admittedly get a bit defensive here when talking about flippers because I'm a flipper (light restorer might be more accurate). Flipping a car is a huge financial risk and brings a lot of unknowns. I take each car from a source that isn't capable, (financially, skill set, or initiative (usually the later)), of getting a car prepared and properly marketed for sale. I take a car and address any and all problem areas, perform remedial maintenance, and present a car that someone wants to buy in an open manner. After all of that I've had buyers walk away saying, "oh you're a flipper". Dealerships are usually regarded as more trustworthy and this is likely because there is a brick building in place for recourse, but being in the business I can tell you I've seen some really shady incidents even at brand name dealerships. The story the salesman always wants to present is this was a little old lady local trade, however what happened is a rep looked at the car for 60 seconds at a massive dealer auction, bid and had it shipped in. But they go over each one and bring it up to spec right? Maybe. But they certainly have no idea of the history or how it was treated. My point in all of this is you have to evaluate each and every seller independently without stereotype (good or bad!). Ask the right questions and do inspections until you're comfortable. Good Luck!

 

Hey no worries, I am in the same field, just with motorcycles so know all about it. I have no love for the big dealerships either, especially when it comes to service work, and I don't really put a lot of value in the cpo stuff other than the warranty. Will see how things check out on this car, fingers crossed that it's a good one!

 

Hey All.....well just back after a 1400 mile trip home and really overall pretty happy with the car and was getting ready to write a nice long post about the experience....but then some really weird stuff just started happening. The short of it is the car was as described, really clean and you could tell it was well taken care of. Really nice drive home, *everything works* and it was what I was expecting.

Stopped in Phoenix today to visit family and go to a window tint place I had used before to have 50% put on the windshield. All went smooth, quite a bit of soapy water and some of that obviously gets squeezed down between windshield and dash.

And this is where it gets weird:

Drove from Phoenix to So Cal over 250 miles in really warm temps...no issues, nice drive. Get back to home base ok.


Park car and set alarm, and hour later when I am moving fob about 15 feet away in my shop alarm goes off...hmm maybe I hit the panic button. Reset it, 15 mins later goes off again. Odd.
Look through window at dash see yellow triangle. Get in car and start it up. VSC and Brake warning lights, take to dealer. Starts and runs. In drive it idles low, just under 500 RPM....in Reverse it idles normally....put A/C on it idles normally in Drive. Ok.....

So, plug in my scan gauge, no codes, reset and clear and lights go out but still idles low. Shut off and let it sit...alarm goes off again 10 mins later. VSC / Brake Lights and take to dealer message back.

So unhooked battery and letting it sit overnight. Battery is 4 year old Walmart brand...reads 12.85 after sitting...car made 13.8 when running on the scangauge.

So did some moisture from tint get somewhere its not supposed to be, possible weak battery....electrical gremlins already...lol? And it was such a nice drive home!!!

I searched a bunch of threads, read stuff on VSC and Brake actuator, not much about random alarms going off and also some stuff on low idle....but none when all these things are happening at once!!! FML....lol at least it is at home at my shop!

 

Most likely the battery issues. These electronics are very sensitive to constant, steady current flow. Since the battery is 4 years old, why not replace that is test?. A good battery can be had for $100 - 150.

 

The low idle is being discussed in another thread. If you have no A/C running, DRL's off, no seat heater / cooler going and under those circumstances it low idles IN GEAR, I don't think that is an issue worth worrying about. Many (maybe most) do this. Stick to the VSC & Brake actuator. I am no expert, I forget, there's a guy on here that knows this well and is the expert. He may be one of the moderators. But as I recall, it's likely rather simple.

I think it is probably a door switch problem. Likely the driver's door switch. Do a search for door switch, you'll get the phone book. It seems the driver's door switch goes bad, makes the security system think the door has been opened. And it also seems to cause a battery drain, and electrical gremlins. I hope I'm not wrong and/or pointing you in the wrong direction. But, the door switch is a simple fix ... and cheap. If that's the case, seems like only that and the lack of Exhaust Vents is the only problem your car has!!!! Good find!


Jason Oliver