Good to know................I worked for a MMR In Houston......................I should know !

 

It depends. Its the cheapest way to purchase a car, is it the "best" way? I don't like used cars, I like having a new car and I lease for business, so for me used cars don't make sense.

 

I should have said some not all, I stand corrected.

 

Cars rarely hold their value, unless it's some crazy classic something or other. I've been looking for many months for my next LS. I'm searching in the years 16-17. I don't find the pricing that great, but some are not terrible. My 08 black on black has 75,000 miles and I'm guessing I'll be lucky to get 10K trade in. Generally, I have a net price in mind and I don't care how they get there as long as we're close with the car price and trade in. But, since I'm in no hurry and my car is pretty awesome, I'm taking my time. Hope the dealership who gets my trade appreciates the ML system, parking assist, and new interior!! lol

 

Call me crazy but it seems things have leveled off a bit. I have been seeing the LS'es stay pretty stable in the last couple of months.

 

I saw a '14 LS460 F-Sport, absolutely sick, for $29,999 and that was at the dealer. That's cheap.

 

Mileage is the major factor in pricing. Everything else being equal, a 30,000 mile 2014 LS will be at least 4-5 grand more than a 70,000 mile car.

 

Yeah, lol, but it's not like that matters one bit with an LS. I'd buy an LS with high miles no problem if it was serviced properly. My LS had 70k actually, when I bought it. Lol.

 

Oh if only. I live in Miami Beach and Continental GTs are as plentiful as rice. I was veeeerrrrry tempted until I started looking at reliability and cost of ownership when there is no warranty. It is absolutely a car for someone that can buy it new, but not for me.

But back on topic. I'm seeing absolute bargains everywhere for the LS 460 and I am having a hard time deciding what to do. Just about 2 years ago, the prices of quality low mileage LS 460s was high enough that my crazy idea of getting a 1978 Lincoln Continental Town Car and resto modding it ($25K budget) was way less than getting a good used LS. I currently drive a 2006 430 which I love and recently refurbished (tranny fluid change, bushings, motor mounts, tires, rims, etc) to give to my daughter next year. But seeing the cost of a very low mileage LS 460L!!! right here in Miami at around 30K makes the Lincoln idea kinda hard to justify. Ditto Mercedes and BMW, but we know those are cheap because they are endless money pits.

I for one, welcome the nosedive. If I owned one currently, I wouldn't be too upset. I would just know that it's a keeper.

These are first world problems folks. I'm still jazzed every time I start up my 13 year old LS.

 

My guess is, if you see a low price on an LS 460, it’s most likely had an accident. I spent 6 months searching for my car. Anytime I found an LS with a low price, it had been wrecked. For some a wrecked car is worth the low price. Not for me.

 

I’ve been shopping for a few months and values are just all over the place. I’m talking like sometimes $6k swings for two cars that are nearly identical — similar condition, miles, history, etc. It’s like the market is correcting but some people haven’t got the message yet.

Is there a data source for KBB average values over time or something along those lines? TrueCar used to have graphs of car values over time before they nearly imploded; they’re a shell of their former selves and I can’t find that feature anymore.

 

72 and retired we are a one driver family with wife having RA. Drive 10k a year now with 1 2k mile trip to NM usually.

Ive got two keepers an SUV, 2011 QX56 AWD loaded and my 2914 LS460L AWD. I'm standing pat until self driving cars sort themselves out. I rarely drive my SUB these days as I love the LS in town which is most of my mileage. . I really dont need the big SUV these days but its been flawless with 85k miles, flawless meaning only second set of tires and two new batteries. I love driving it in traffic where I can see over most vehicles other than trucks and big subs. Its a great road vehicle too and we can haul more than I care to load into it these days lol.

I bought both new, and got good deals for those days. I change the oil with a full synthetic every 5k miles now, which I am sure helped me avoid some of the issues the SUV has seen with timing chain.

I use 93 octane locally and always the highest octane I can find when higher up in NM mountains, highest I see there is 91.

Question on fuel though. I joined Sam's club and been buying their 93 octane which is not a Tier 1 fuel like Costco is. Should I switch to Costco or run a few tanks of their Tier 1 every now and then or go to a major with a top additive package like Shell or ExxonMobil? We belong to both and the Costco is closer but wife has that membership and I shop early at Sam's like 7am and can fill up before I get in the store there. Also got my new LS tries there since they are open to rotate them at 7am when I am shopping to beat the crowd and heat. Any advice?

I love my LS more today than when I bought it. Love the L and AWD, I had a hydroplane accident as a teen and freak with a tire breaks lose so go AWD for that not the conditions here in Texas. The car has been flawless too, comfy, smooth, I love the look the longer I have it to be honest. Just a happy happy LS owner now.

 

Yep that L in miami is mine. Have had 3 people commit to buy it only to not be able to get financing 🤦*♂️. It’s no wonder Carmax is so successful! Selling cars sucks.

 

Agree - when I was shopping for my LS about 3 years ago (did 6-9 months of shopping before pulling the trigger), I noticed that every 10k miles was worth $1k in asking price. That was for all cars in FL and I was making sure to compare apples-to-apples (same features, SWB vs SWB or LWB vs LWB etc). I was looking only at 2010-2012 and for the most part felt the prices down here were pretty consistent and predictable. After a few weeks of searching it was easy to identify the outlier prices.

 

I paid $19,500 for my 2004 LS430 in 2009, sticker in the glove box said list was $57k and change. Sold it for $2500 in 2019. I put a new timing belt, water pump, hydraulic idler, T-stat and serpentine belt at 130k miles. Over the 10 years I had the car I probably replaced O2 sensors 2-3 times at $120 each (my mechanic in Houston has his own shop after 17 years at a Toyota dealership and is fair). I think I paid the same guy $400 for new valve cover gaskets so it would stop dripping oil on my garage floor. I changed the passenger headlight about 6-7k miles before I sold it and wish I would have paid someone to do that - I had to drop the bumper cover! Three sets of Michelin MXV4s at $1000 each. Changing the oil on average every 5000 (>1/2 I bought Mobil 1 at Walmart and changed myself) at an estimated $50/change. If you tally all that up and divide by 10 for the number of years, I got to drive in the luxury of a really nice sedan for about $2700 per year. That is $221/mo for total cost of ownership minus fuel.