JohnZ66

Hello everyone,

I have read many posts in this forum and they are very helpful. I haven't owned Lexus in my life and currently in the market to buy a used 2013 - 2015 RX 350. After doing many online research and read all the posts here, I like the SUV very much.

I am in Maryland. I use Carguru to search used RX 350 in conjunction states like MD/VA/PA. Sometime, I even search the NY area to compare the prices. Generally speaking, the NY prices are lower and more reasonable than MD/VA. The price range is wide but the sweat spot is between $21,000 - $23,000. I have monitored multiple cars and found that whenever dealers reduced the price to this range, the SUV was sold quickly if the car had good maintenance history and no accident. Recently, I am thinking to buy the RX in wholesale auction like Manheim. I searched Craigslist and only found two guys providing the service to bring individuals to auction to bid. I contacted one of them. He was asking 8-10% as service fee. I asked him to provide a recent sold price history of RX350, i.e. a Manheim MMR, report but he couldn't provide. Maybe he was too busy to care about my business.

So, may I ask someone here if you have the access to the site and can please create the MMR for me? this way, I can better understand the market and decide if it really can save several grands to go for the auction or just buy it from a dealer. Also, if you know anyone with a good experience in MD/DC/VA region, please let me know and I can give my business to him.

salimshah

When you are spending that much, 'whole sale' would not apply. I know finding a vehicle through auction may be the bargain but for me the risk goes up.

The other thing to keep in mind is at trade in time the Lexus dealership may choose to put the returned vehicle on their used Sales lot [40% + value of a new vehicle .. this is just a guess] . There is second tier resellers, who would buy the vehicle from the dealerships [25-60% value]. The whole sale you may be thinking of is yet another tier [upto 20%] where the dealership thinks it is best to have it hauled away [Few hundred to few thousand]. This last category is very seductive to folks who go in with the thought that they will be able to purchase low and with fixup bring the market value up.

YMMV

Salim

lexusrus

For that amount of money I would go for a "L Certified" from a Lexus dealership with UNLIMITED MILEAGE WARRANTY for 6 years total from the original date of service. I know the price will be higher, but again for the amount of money involved, I would like to have some assurance.

Now, if we are talking about a twenty five hundred dollars car, then I don't need any warranty (besides there will be none anyway).

RickC5

It's funny. Out here in Colorado, lots of used Lexus come from auctions on the East coast--including those sold by Lexus dealers--and they are "L Certified" too. Many come from the New York area, and for awhile, there were quite a few that had been flooded in Hurricane Sandy in the local lots, minimally cleaned up and then offered for sale without disclosing that these were flood cars. Easy to tell: the inside smelled like a combo of dead fish and sewer, while the undersides had gotten a fresh coat of black paint.

My point? As a buyer, you absolutely MUST do the required research to get an accurate idea of a vehicle's history. Carfax is OK, but not many of those flood cars from Houston ever got reported to Carfax, as owners had no flood insurance. Caveat emptor!

Clutchless

It does not cost that much to take the train or plane from MD/DC/VA area to NY, say Long Island and drive home a nice cheaper L certified RX350 from one of the Lexus dealers up there. I got mine in used Long Island and drove it home saving a few thousand over local prices. I actually got mine from Atlantic Cadillac & Chevrolet but did research and knew it was a local one owner car and they guy traded it to Atlantic for a Cadillac. If the Lexus dealer had it it probably would have qualified for L certification and cost even more, but I love a bargain and was not concerned about the extra warranty. This is the dealer that sold my vehicle new https://www.atlanticlexus.com/ maybe they have something you may like.

JohnZ66

Thank you all for the valuable inputs. I have jogged them done on my research notes.
@ lexusrus, when you say "For that amount of money", I guess you are referring to the guy's service fee of 8%-10% of the car value. I thought it was high too. If someone charge about $500 - $800. That would be a way to try.
@RickC5, good comments on thorough research for the car when buying it. Absolutely agree that buyer have to be diligent to research the car from general aspect to a specific ones when choose to buy. The flood cars are a good sample here. New York has been in couple hurricanes. This is a special alert when buy from the region.
@Clutchless, an insightful idea to find a good and less expensive RX from a dealer. I checked the AtlanticLexus, they don't have much used RX350. Which Lexus did you buy brand new from them?

Thank you all and please keep posting. If anyone can get a MRR for the RX, please do.

Clutchless

I did not buy any vehicles from Atlantic Lexus. I bought a used RX350 from Atlantic Cadillac. The vehicle had been sold new by Atlantic Lexus (then called Lexus of Massapequa) and later had been traded to Atlantic Cadillac. The dealers are not far from each other and it now appears that the Atlantic group either bought the Lexus dealer, or already owned it and changed the name.
I found the vehicle by doing advanced searches on www.cars.com You can set very specific criteria. Mine was RX350 within 500 miles with under 30,000 miles, Nav and AWD and tow package with heated cooled seats etc. The one in NY was about $4,000 cheaper than anyting similar in the Washington, DC area at the time (October 2012).
My point is you do not have to go to a Lexus dealer to find a nice used car. Other new car dealers also have nice ones available, usually better ones than independent used car lots. Plus do your CarFax research and then check the service history at https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/
Just sign up and enter the VIN of the car you want to check. It does not matter that you do not own it, the system will still give you the dealer service history.
I actually found one with the Sport Package in Chicago but once I got there it turned out the interior was Gray, not Parchment as listed on the internet. (Wife hates the gray interior) The photos made it very difficult to tell the difference. The car was at a Bentley/BMW dealer and they listed it as Parchment because that is the BMW term for Gray. Once I pointed out that in Lexus talk Parchment was tan and they confirmed it with the Lexus dealer down the street (same owner), they paid for my return air fare.
Good Luck hunting!

lexusrus

Exactly!!

You must determine in your own mind what you are willing to pay for "the car" with "X optional features". The data can be found all over the internet. Also there are regional differences in prices too.

Yes, after a Lexus is "flooded" as a "L Certified" Lexus previously on a Lexus dealer's lot......it is no longer "L Certified". If that same Lexus DEALERSHIP tries to pass off with cleaning/drying it as a "L Certified", that Lexus dealership will be in trouble (not just with Lexus HQ). SO MOST legit Lexus DEALERSHIPS will not risk getting their lucritive franchise agreement terminated or not renewed. So they sell off to wholesalers quickly to clear the lot for new Lexi WITHOUT ANY HESITATION and business must go on without missing a beat. Once BEFORE a "L Certified Lexus", but NOW without papers.

The key is to find a "L Certified" Lexus from a Lexus dealer with the proper paperwork at a price you can live with (at or below a price you had in your mind). This can be done with patience.

Vehicles within the last 5 years especially had gotten increasingly more complex and with more computer chips and electronic gagets, it is even more important to make sure all the components work together flawlessly. For example:. If one of your self retractable outside mirrors stopped working or your auto rain sensor stopped working, what would you do? The car is still driveable, but in my opinion, no longer a true Lexus WITHOUT "all the other stuff" that make it a "Lexus". If you have the "L Certified" warranty or Lexus extended warranty, then these malfunctions will be fixed.

Another example: Your NAV screen goes dead. One may argue that "I don't need that stupid Lexus NAV. It's no good anyway. I'll just use my WAZE on my smartphone or Garmin!!!". Sure, but then you realize most of the "other stuff", including climate control and radio/sound/entertainment systems are intergrated into the NAV. I don't know about you, but the last time I drove a "HOT CAR" in 110 F degree weather (AC not working) or a "Freezing CAR" in -10 F degree weather (heater broken) was way back during my college years and thereafter I was so motivated to be do well in my life so I don't have to endure that experience again.

Recently the automatic rain sensor malfunctioned in my LX570. Is it a life/death situation? No, of course not! But it's nice to have this feature in a Lexus, no less. Because I had extended warranty on it (I never thought I'll need it in a LX570), this got fixed with ZERO DEDUCTIBLE/ZERO out of pocket expense. The repair bill was around $580.

With some patience and diligent research, you WILL find THAT LEXUS to your liking.

Good luck.

JohnZ66

Hello Clutchless, your step by step strategies are much appreciated. I immediately started practicing them in my research . First, I registered to the Lexus driver service website. What a great website. This is a truly useful online tool to check RX350s' service histories. We are lucky to live in the 21st century. Internet is great, isn't it? Nowadays, dealers normally provide free CARFAX reports. Combining these two together, we can get a pretty good picture on a car. For instance, I just checked some cars I am watching and even find one which on the Lexus driver site says "Maryland State Inspection DENIED, car was in an accident, sent back to auction". HOWEVER, the CARFAX still shows it as CLEAN, no accident. Hmmm... I heard that CARFAX missed accident records, and now I see a live example.

Another advise from you that I find is true is this, "new car dealers have better cars than individual used car lots". This is a useful tip. I kept this in mind and compared several cars on the watch list. What I see is that used car dealers have many cars from auto auctions. New car dealers get cars from individual trade-ins. What does this mean? It makes a big difference on the car's maintenance history. I confirmed that trade-in ones have much better service records than auction ones. In another words, dealers normally cherry-pick good cars to keep and send not ideal ones to auction (this is my own understanding, correct me if someone has better comments). This really put me rethink buying cars from wholesale auction. The chance to get a good car is there but slim I think. I may just save the hassle and pay a reasonable premium to go to new car dealers. So, I decide NOT to ask for the Manheim MMR because I won't go this auction route. My mind has been changed because of all of you guys' good advises .

In the end, it is interesting to read your color discrepancy story with the Chicago dealer. What I can tell is that the dealer is honest. I read some story about dealers let potential buyers travel in from other state and end up playing bait and switch game on them. That was horrible and this concerns me a bit when I am considering travel to NY to buy a RX350. What if they play the same game on me, then I could do nothing. The Chicago dealer was responsible and stand back on their business. I wish we could have more such honest dealers.

Thank you all. I will keep this thread alive and updating my story on getting my RX350. Please keep posting too. You never know how helpful your tips are even you think it is small and trivial.

Clutchless

I used to work with someone whose father (in Las Vegas) had a good friend in the used car business who let him go to the auctions with and buy cars through the friend. However, there was no mark up due to their relationship. She advised that she and her siblings always went through Dad when it was time to get a new/used car and there were great bargains for some very nice vehicles at the auctions.

Regarding CarFax, I too have been told they do not catch every accident and that one should also consult Autocheck.
https://www.autocheck.com/vehiclehis...hoCDv4QAvD_BwE

JohnZ66

@lexusrus , Your comments make a lot of sense. After thinking about your points, I see a highlighted keyword, PATIENCE. For me, who is in the market to look for a good deal, I think this is the key. I am aware of the L Certified RX carrying more peace of mind which is important for buying used. Couple days ago, a guy posted his 2014 RX on Craigslist and mentioned it had Extended Warranty until 2020. I contacted him and everything looked good. However, after search Lexus site, I learned the Extend Warranty was NOT transferable. This was a minus for L C Lexus cars when owners trying to sell them. What a pit. So I didn't buy it.

Yes, I am patiently watching the market and now, I am specifically interested in a F Sport model. Thank you again for the tips.

lexusrus

You are CORRECT. Lexus L Certified warranty is not transferrable.

Addendum:. Question--- Will the seller be entitled to some prorated refund from Lexus HQ for the UNUSED portion of his L Certified warranty program for the Lexus he is trying to sell? If there is a refund, then maybe you can negotiate with the seller for an even lower price? Then go buy your own extended warranty from a third party or even from Lexus? Or just have that Lexus checked out by an expert Lexus tech and save the money for a rainy day?

salimshah

There are different warranties.
Base manufacturer ... is transferred
Extended warranty by Lexus [bought by the owner before expiration of base warranty] is transferrable for a fee (used to be $50 documentation fee)

L Certified ... I am not sure if this is transferrable but most likely is not as pointed out bu lexusrs.

Salim

JohnZ66

@lexusrus and @salimshah, Thank you so much for the inputs. Members in this forum are so helpful. Both of you provided me good points to talk to the owner. I will see how it goes. If I find the answers, I will definitely post them here.

lexusrus

I think salimshah is right about the BASE OEM warranty (4 years) is transferrable.

The L Certified warranty is not transferrable which is too bad bc Mercedes and BMW are transferrable. Recently our MB GLA 250 4Matic had some issues with the stop and go mechanisms/software updates/battery replacement, and etc....all we're covered with zero deductible. I know for a fact the MB CPO warranty and the extra CPO warranty extension for two additional years are transferrable.