Kostyan

OP, as someone that has friends -dealers and had access to Manheim ( I am from Baltimore County) I ended up getting a better deal on my own than would have gotten through auction. Time and time again shows that quality used cars can be bought for the same, or better, without headaches. You need to consider having to make multiple trips to find exact color/option/mileage/price combo then inability to test drive, limited warranty (21k will likely no longer be covered under factory powertrain wtty), dealer fees, auction fees, car prep fees, then associated expense to fix in order to pass MS State Inspection, all can end up being 5k in overhead. When going to a dealership, do not be afraid to haggle and come up first with realistic OTD price.

Also word of caution on buying NY cars. They are cheaper but sometimes the deal is too good to be true because of that extra wear and tear vehicles get in that state, climate, poor roads, etc, and likely undocumented ODO rollback. I would look for vehicles in PA, VA, NC, CA, GA, and FL.

JohnZ66

Hello Kostyan, thanks for the inputs. For the warnings on NY cars, I think these at least worth paying attention. I watched online for couple cars in NY which have/had very good prices but sitting there for over 100 days. On picture, they look very good for the price. I couldn't figure out why people don't buy them. Then your notes make some valid points. I also agree that NY has bad winter and salt on the road can easily rust cars. In this case, Florida and CA have the best bets. I would like to buy cars locally and I do see couple good deals come and go in Baltimore/DC/VA area. I also find OH has good deals too. However, for me to drive to OH to see the car, test drive it, if not good, then have to drive back are so scary. So I am patiently waiting for local area (within 50 miles) deals.
If could, would you share some info about your RX 350 buying experience? dealer or private? negotiation etc.? For private seller, I have checked on Craigslist, most owners' asking price are even higher than dealers. I don't know how this can happen. Maybe because the owners have too strong confidence on selling the RX 350 for a good price.
I am patiently watching the market. The winter is coming and most of the 2015 RX350 will be out of manufacture warranty. These factors can make a nice deal of the car.

salimshah

Warranty starts from the date of 'sale'. So they have been rolling in and more will come and some can even go into next year.

Salim

Kostyan

My experience is dated 2015 when we bought our 2013 AWD with only 9k mi for 36.5 OTD that translates to 34k selling price+fees, taxes, and tags.
The key is to have realistic expectations and do proper research on pricing. I have been scouting autotrader listings and calling dealerships, and offering a number what I thought was realistic. Then there was a brand new ad from the BMW dealer in NJ/NY area that was about 1500 off from what we had budgeted - elsewhere the same vehicle would cost 3-5 grand more. I gave them a call and after some haggling with sales manager, they knocked a grand off, I'd paid a $500 refundable deposit to secure the vehicle.

You have to understand that when you are seeing a specific vehicle that is priced less that other sellers have been charging, you have to dig in deeper and do your research to make sure it is a true deal and not a toad. A lot of times cheaper priced vehicles ended up being FWD and not AWD models, fewer options, rebuilt title, prior accident history, multiple owners, for sale by a non-Lexus dealer, or non-CPO. Color can play a 3-grand difference on this vehicle, where bold colors, especially white seems to command premium, while gold-ish/bronzish, grayish are in the cheaper end of the pricing. You have to be realistic about the price that you are expecting to pay. I would add that a reasonably loaded one owner 2015 AWD less than 70k and clean history for 21k is not going to be an easy find

JohnZ66

Hello Kostyan, thanks for sharing the detailed buying experience. It is very helpful. I find what you mentioned those features influencing prices are very true. I didn't realize them at the beginning of my search but after several months, I gradually figured out some of them like colors, AWD vs FWD (this one is kind obvious), packages(I made an excel file to save all the abbreviations for packages:-)), type of dealers etc.
For color, White is the best selling one and leads a higher premium, black is easily available on the market with cheaper prices.
For dealer type, used car dealers normally price cars lower than New car dealers, and New car dealers are cheaper than Lexus dealers. I prefer to buy from the later 2 kinds. I mentioned the reason why on my previous post. The main reason is that the later 2 have trade-in RX which have much better histories than auction ones.
You are right about the budget for the RX. Actually, my budget is $23k plus other fees which means on the road is about $26,000. Yesterday, I saw a 2013 RX, L Certified with 47,000 mile, silver exterior, tan interior, many options for $23,000. I haven't negotiate the price. The only thing not matching my criteria is the year, I prefer a 2014 or 2015 model. Would someone shed a light on the differences between years of RX? I did some research on yearly changes for 2013 -2015, it is not that much. I am wondering if I just pull the trigger.
This forum is very educational and helpful. Thank you all for the good advises.