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Hi Kevin, you mentioned that the SC has the dirtiest Engine you've seen, but to me it just looks dusty.
You have mentioned the problems with it, but nothing said about the condition of the Body, Interior, or the undercarriage.
Apart from the high miles, have you asked the Guy how long its been in the Family for & the reason he's selling it?
You said that he has a clean Title. Also you mentioned that you've taken it for a spin, how did it handle? Squeaks, Rattles, etc.,
Are you mechanically inclined?
A lot to consider, but at the end of the day it's $4,800. versus anything between $10-$15,00 for a better one.
I really question the car not having the DVD for the nav - why would anyone take the disk out? and you can get a gen4 nav on ebay pretty cheap along with a DVD
Exactly. And I've never seen a Lexus without the master key?? (At least one). Having just the valet key was a big question mark.
On a good note I just got off the phone with the guy. I told him I can't in all honesty purchase the car without my Indy looking it over. Just too many unknowns. He said he is off work on Friday and would be happy to drop it off to have my Indy look at it. I'll call my Indy tomorrow and see if he can fit me in. So I guess I'll have my answer then. If the top is not a simple fix it's a no-go. But I also want to know what else I am getting into (suspension, leaks, etc).
Hi Kevin, you mentioned that the SC has the dirtiest Engine you've seen, but to me it just looks dusty.
You have mentioned the problems with it, but nothing said about the condition of the Body, Interior, or the undercarriage.
Apart from the high miles, have you asked the Guy how long its been in the Family for & the reason he's selling it?
You said that he has a clean Title. Also you mentioned that you've taken it for a spin, how did it handle? Squeaks, Rattles, etc.,
Are you mechanically inclined?
A lot to consider, but at the end of the day it's $4,800. versus anything between $10-$15,00 for a better one.
Chris.......From OZ.
The undercarriage and interior was pretty good, especially it being a NY car. I pulled the CarFax and also put the VIN in at Lexus Drivers.com and it appears it had 2 owners. Evidently his older aunt was the driver and lived outside NYC and drove a lot for business. The Lexus history shows the mounting of snow tires so I believe it was driven all year round. Evidently they purchased a newer car and dropped this car off on the way to Louisiana (I'm in North Carolina). The guy who is selling it has a wife and new baby and really doesn't want the car in his driveway.
The lack of timing belt change gives me pause, that's a pretty important area on these cars as you know. And pricey. I've done 2 on my GS400.
But you're right, from the CarFax it looks like the last service in NY was 9/2016 and it was registered in NC this year....so it's probably dusty from sitting.
The undercarriage and interior was pretty good, especially it being a NY car. I pulled the CarFax and also put the VIN in at Lexus Drivers.com and it appears it had 2 owners. Evidently his older aunt was the driver and lived outside NYC and drove a lot for business. The Lexus history shows the mounting of snow tires so I believe it was driven all year round. Evidently they purchased a newer car and dropped this car off on the way to Louisiana (I'm in North Carolina). The guy who is selling it has a wife and new baby and really doesn't want the car in his driveway.
The lack of timing belt change gives me pause, that's a pretty important area on these cars as you know. And pricey. I've done 2 on my GS400.
But you're right, from the CarFax it looks like the last service in NY was 9/2016 and it was registered in NC this year....so it's probably dusty from sitting.
before you pull the trigger, so to speak, on this car, you must know what codes the car has for the roof...it could be really bad or as simple as the micro switch that tells the car it can lower the roof.
what happens when you push the button to lower the roof? Does it blink red or nothing at all?
like I said before, if you did your own work, you could spend $1500-$2000 and have this car back in perfect shape mechanically. You said you would be paying someone to perform all of the work which means this car may require $5000 in work. Several of us SC430 owners changed our own timing belts with associated parts and it is a big job. For me, it was the most time consuming timing belt I have ever done because of all the covers.
all of the fluids should be changed in your car. If the master cylinder goes bad, a new one is about $1500 just for the part. Mine went bad but I was lucky and found one in a salvage yard for $100 because the salvage yard had not idea how expensive and complex it is.
I think Kevin should go down to Fl to get that 2002 SC 82kmile for $8000 that Bgw70 suggested. That car is a lot better deal and a sure thing than 2002 SC at 200K miles with all sorts of problems.
I think Kevin should go down to Fl to get that 2002 SC 82kmile for $8000 that Bgw70 suggested. That car is a lot better deal and a sure thing than 2002 SC at 200K miles with all sorts of problems.
Not to mention these are Florida cars...you don't get the wear and tear you get in NY. So there is a lot to consider. It might be better for me to wait.
I'll keep you all posted after my Indy takes a look at the car.
Here is an example in Washington, D.C., that for $9,995 would be half the mileage and in better condition. I have a brother who lives there and he could drive it down to North Carolina for me if I needed him to.
As it stands now I will probably wait as I am in no rush, and there are much better examples available. This is a car I want to keep (and take care of) for a long time. I have no intention on selling my GS and would be the same with the SC. It would simply be a weekend / summer car.
That's exactly what I did. I live in Adelaide South Australia & I flew to Melbourne Victoria to get ours. 1 hour to get there by Plane & 8 hours drive to Adelaide 500 Mile trip.
I took my Son with me to share the company & the driving.
Take a couple of days off & treat it as a mini holiday. I have learned to never buy without seeing first.
We visited the U.S. 10 years ago to buy a 1958 Corvette. I didn't buy one as they were nowhere near the way they were presented on the internet for the asking price.
We drove all the way from Detroit to San Fran & looked at least 6. We also looked at some '59s & '60s but still not happy.
Wish you the best with your find.
Chris.....From OZ.
In the 4k range, this has great potential to be a good car. I'd offer him 4300$ if it comes back in "okay" health from the indy.
I judge cars off the drivers seat. The pic you showed, shows it's in near perfect shape. Usually a sign of 'easy miles'...
I've also passed on a few of these cars at the auctions, with "low miles", all I do is look at the drivers seat, and what kind of story it tells.
Sounds stupid? Sure. It's worked out for me on high milers and very low milers thus far. Eventually one runs into the cars they passed on back in the day, low and behold the ones with brutal drivers seats ended up being heaps.
The key? Well, masted key fobs break. I had mine break twice in an 8 year ownership of my ES... perhaps the transponder got lost/misplaced at the aunt's home? And they dug up the valet, as it could've been in the car just to turn it over.
Plus, those locksmith's can cut/program them for a fraction of the price with OEM Lexus fob's.
The roof - I don't know squat about that. Could be a microswitch as mentioned earlier.
The motor and lack of service - meh! The 1LS guys pride themselves on going well over 150k on one timing belt.
These motor's are amazing. I had a scrap GS300 & 400, both motors sat for close to 6 years. All electrics still worked, like a time capsule!!
With old gas in the tank, and a booster pack the fuel pumps primed and would've started if the fuel wasn't basically water & didn't have rat nests/bird nests in the motors.
You could turn both by hand, no problem.
I never took my car to the stealership. Never will; unless its a recall. I keep paper service records, but they do get lost with time...
If the motor doesn't sound like death, I wouldn't be bothered. Just this week I was going to go see an '09 ES350 with 240k on it. The interior and exterior were immaculate. But high miles... and full service.
Could it possibly need suspension stuff in the future? Sure, but parts for these cars are incredibly cheap, various links and such are under 20$, bushings are a few dollars. A new Denso rad is 106$ from rockauto.
I tend to disagree with you about the condition of the drivers seat, as they can be replaced if they look daggy. On the other hand, Miles, Body, Overall interior & Handling is a different approach when purchasing a Car.
Here is an example in Washington, D.C., that for $9,995 would be half the mileage and in better condition. I have a brother who lives there and he could drive it down to North Carolina for me if I needed him to.
As it stands now I will probably wait as I am in no rush, and there are much better examples available. This is a car I want to keep (and take care of) for a long time. I have no intention on selling my GS and would be the same with the SC. It would simply be a weekend / summer car.
that looks good!
i did see a problem with the HVAC outside temp digit is missing pixels.
I agree with the majority, it just doesn't seem like a god deal, It can cost a lot and you will spend more time repairing it than driving it and there are plenty of things you can do to a fully fixed SC if you want it as a project. Too many minuses. Especially the 200,000+ miles, that one you cant fix.
Just wanted to keep everyone updated, the owner sold the car to someone else. Which is probably for the best because when I went back over and pulled the radiator cap there wasn't any antifreeze in it...
Thanks again for all your comments it really helped me realize there are MUCH better SC430 options out there.
03-07-17, 04:13 PM
