mikef

iTrader: (3)

sorry but I see those all over back in florida and you couldn't pay me to drive it, ugly, doors fall off those things lol, sloppy handling. the sc is superior over that car, cars are only what others are willing to pay.

DA51

The price on this car is a Bargain. If this was a 1997 Supra NA with similar options, it would have a value of $34,000 (KBB.com).
Someone buy this car and keep it original. The value will come back in 15 yrs. Think a rich man's Supra in the Lexus Body.

Aron9000

Supra values are going to go down in the next few years. After 25 years you can legally import RHD Supras from Japan, those cars are CHEAP over in Japan compared to what they sell for here. Prices are high due to the limited supply of cars.

Also you can already start importing 1JZ-GTE turborcharged Soarers from Japan, which are pretty neat as well.

DA51

Show me a Soarer with 24140 Km (15,000 mi) in this car's condition for $15,000. It cost money to Ship from Japan and forever stuck on the right side. Supra will never come down to $15,000 with low mi/original condition. Toyota sold too few of them in US (1993-98,11239) and Fast & Furious Movie (2001) has made them a Legend.
I had a chance to buy a 1993 Supra TT, auto, no whale tail, cream interior in 1997 for $22k. It had 24,000 miles. I was strapped with a house and new car payments. Those are rare chances missed.

DA51

I did some background checking on the 97 SC300. It is a 2-owner car. 2nd owner at 9288mi Apr 2000. Last time seen by Lexus was Sept 2003 with 12,724 mi. It needs a good home. No VVT-i to complicate matters.
I bet the antifreeze has never been changed or tires or brake fluid. Same oil since 2003?

ponypal

I'm in the process of purchasing my first SC400 (have been an LS400 owner for a few years) and have a couple carfax checks still on my account so I ran your JT8CD32Z9V0037522. Mileage checks out. First owner was Corporate fleet for 10 months (6,893 miles), 2nd owner is personal for 18 years, 9 months (last reported at 14,916 miles). Estimated miles per year for car = 463. No recalls, accidents or other issues reported under either owner. No service records, just emission's inspections and no red flags in the mileage reports throughout.

$15k seems very reasonable to me. Sure there are others going for less than half that, but this car is very special and like-new. But then, y'all might think I'm paying too much for my 1992 SC400 with 35k miles @ $11,900. In the overall picture of car value and quality, I think it's worth it. I looked at some 100k SC's at the lower prices but couldn't pass up the like-new condition. Might be the last car I ever own.

Biddles

iTrader: (2)

In my opinion the car is worth much more then $15,000. It's basically a brand new car. On top of that it's also a rare color, rare last year 5 speed, and rare two tone interior.... The only thing that could make it better was if it didn't have a moon roof. It's a hell of a find, and I would buy it up in a heart beat if I was looking for one. You won't come across this gem again..

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Can't say I share that line of thinking. It's basically a new car by mileage, but not by features. You can buy a fairly nice '14-15 model of many cars for around that price, taking into account the immediate depreciation from driving off the lot. A 20 year old car is only worth comparable money if it's collectible, which SCs aren't currently.

Having said that, many aspects of new cars I don't care for.

FSUsucks1

iTrader: (5)

The USDM Supra's are not prices are not going to be coming down when that 25 year mark hits. Especailly with the 1997 & 1998 Original Twin Turbo's.

There are states like the one I live in that you won't even be able to register a RHD Supra's from Japan. Not only that but the USDM Supra's are so limited in numbers that they will always remain a collectible car and will hold their value.

1998 USDM Twin Turbo Supra's are very rare!! Mine is 1 of 26 in my configuration sold that final year here in the USA.

Aron9000

^ I guess we will have to agree to disagree. I don't see the Supra prices collapsing, but 50-70k for low mile twin turbo examples is not going to last when you have choices of nice, low mile RHD cars for half the price in a few years. Plus I think sports cars in general are over-valued at the moment thanks to people like Wayne Carini and investors buying cars instead of stocks, everybody thinking they can make $$$$ flipping sports cars.

FSUsucks1

iTrader: (5)

Time will tell!

eknine9

iTrader: (8)

If you want to really get into it, these past two decades of low interest rates have been driving up the $$ price of most everything, and issues with the stock market and uncertainty of the federal reserve policy have pushed a lot of investors into non-traditional assets, like collectible art, cars, guns etc. USDM Supra's will always pull a premium over imported Supra's in the same way that numbers matching muscle cars always pull a premium over non-matching restorations. The ceramic turbo's and RHD of the JDM Supra's will always make them less valuable from just a practical standpoint, along with the collectible standpoint. If interest rates ever do normalize we may see a pull back in used car values in real prices, but if inflation breaks above 2% we'll still see actual prices rising, just not as fast, even if real prices fall. I'm expecting inflation to keep rising though, so I'm expecting for a continuation in the rise of the prices of most everything, including collectible items like the Supra.

DA51

I was doing a background check on a nice 2006 LS430 with Black interior. The car has NEVER been seen by a Lexus Dealer after its sale. Who in their right mind would never take their car in for service while it was still under warranty? It blows my mind!
Another guy had a 1993 SC400 with 18,000 miles and was trying to sale it $20k. The original owner is just trying to get 1/3 of his money back.
We all know a vehicle purchase is one of passion. What we spend on the upgrades are for ourselves and will never recoup our expenses.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

If I were to go to a Lexus dealer, it would be nearly 3 hours of driving round trip. How much servicing does a car really need while it's under warranty? It should be close to zero if it's a solid car. And once it's off warranty, there's little incentive to go to the dealership. So, it's not that unfathomable for someone similarly far from a dealership to see little reason to make the drive for the luxury badge pampering.

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

Funny you mention, I recently purchased a '97 SC400 that only had 6 entries on the service history, including things such as the Pre-Delivery Inspection.

It is also worth nothing that it is easily one of the best maintained SC's I have ever laid hands on.