I am looking to buy a 13 or 14 ls460 and I have been looking around for weeks. my question is why are private seller selling at the same price as the dealerships? I mean I know thats their right but geesh.

Let me ask it another way. If YOU had a 2013/2014 car, that was in very good to perfect shape and you were trying to sell it, wouldn't you want to get the most you can for it ?

The advantage that you could have is dealers sit by a book value, and most of them are a "no hassle" type dealer, the price is the price and they will not adjust it (well, if they play with the numbers with a trade in, it looks like they do but, it's not really), on a private sale, you might be able to work on price a little with them.

These cars hold their values very well, so it's really hard to get an epic deal unless there is 150K+ miles, or has some type of cosmetic damage on them (heavy wear). With these you need to watch the service history, just because it's a great deal, it does not mean it was taken care of very well.

you can ask whatever you want for a car doesnt mean you going to get it. The advantage of getting from a private seller is you get it for cheaper than a dealer and the advantage of getting one from a dealer is inspection , warranty , if something goes wrong within the first couple of days etc

There are benefits to private sellers, you can ask them on maintenance and ownership history that Carfax may not have (though the Lexus Owners site is awesome); I honestly haven't seen too many LS sales via private seller because most people don't have $30k-$40k in cash lying around, and a lot of financial institutions make you jump through hurdles to finance a private party purchase. That ends up in your favor to negotiate...

I took a look online and prices are all over the place. It depends on mileage, features, & carfax report. What price range you wanting?

The problem with Private sales is that you lose your privacy. Buyer has trouble with any car and returns
to the point of sale for a remedy. Don't want a knock on the door after selling a car privately do you?
Even meeting at the local Cop Shop for the test drive, mechanic check up and title/funds transfer ends
up with you handing over the title...with your name and address on it. (OK if you moved, right?)

In Illinois at least, trading in a car lowers the tax paid on the new car. Selling it outright demands that
you ask and get the trade-in value X the tax % or you are coming out behind.

All this to say that the seller wants what KBB/Edmunds said "Excellent Retail" value was. You might try
a tease...what brand of coffee do you brew for me while you are washing her up like the Lexus dealer does?

out the door 20 grand is my max of what i am willing to spend

My guess is you're going to be looking for a high mileage car. I've not seem them out the door in the 20's. You'll have taxes included in that out the door price. Good luck.

i am ok with low 100,000 on the car like such https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...3693/overview/

I don't know car sale laws where you are but most dealers sell used cars "AS IS" NO WARRANTY. Carmax does offer warranty but the prices they ask are premium. Also, there's no guarantee that any car has been inspected. I think you're making some assumptions about dealers that just aren't true and dangerous to your wallet. I wish that you could count on a dealer.

Even if you got them to $20K, with taxes and any fees, you'll be well over your $20K. That car looks nice. Has the ML and shows it's never been wrecked. All you can do is negotiate.

[QUOTE=MysteryMob;10726239]That car is sold by a small dealership, meaning they likely bought it from auction for cheap or it was a reject from a large dealership. Either way, not a good way to set yourself up for success. Go do a search in a 300 mile area around you, and see how many 2013+ LS460s are $22,000 with 100,000 miles. If the number is tiny, you're budgeting too little. Also, with your budget, you're highly unlikely to find any private sellers that are selling anywhere near your range.

Like I said, if you budget a couple thousand dollars more, you're going to end up with a better car.[/QUote

People have budgets for a reason thats what they can afford , so its not as simple as add 5000

I pay for inspections myself i have already paid for two with lemon squad and lets just say I didnt get either car

i would try to get them around 20 out the door.

there are cars around that price range https://www.cars.com/for-sale/search...31936&zc=06514