nayguy

Hey all,

FIrst post here but I've been lurking for awhile. Ive been on the search for a 06-08 RX400 which is really exciting to me as my last car was a not as fun Subaru VDC. I sincerely apologize if this is not the right place. This is my first venture away from owning a wagon in awhile and I was able to convince my wife this could be a good car for us.

Anyhow, I live in NYC area and have some cars on my radar. There is a wide range in price -- we can afford the more expensive ones, but if we can get a good more affordable one, we'd be happy with the tradeoff in miles.

So here are the specs Summary for the finalists (let me know if I should post listings or actual carfax's)

Car A: 08 Rx400, 75k miles, 2 owners, list price 12998
Pros:
Low Mileage
Looks Immaculate
Fully featured
has a Bram warranty which allows for 1 yr basic maintenance free (not sure if this is legit)
Cons:
<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;**br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;**-->-low mileage = no timing belt water pump done and will be around corner
-Higher pice
-dealer has poor reviews
-car was in an accident according to carfax but no evidence
-not extensive service history
-POA93 code inverter?
Analysis
Beautiful car and low mileage but feel like id like to get this at closer to 12k than 13k

Car B: 06 Rx400, 80k miles, 2 owners - one in Fla, list price 11190
Pros:
<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;**br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;**-->-Reputable dealer
low mileage
-nice price
-not city driven
-regular maintenance done with records
-Timing belt changed at 60k miles....Is this weird?
-brought into lexus every 5k miles

Cons:
-lots of maintenance done. Is this sign of a car with problems or maybe just a super careful owner?
Cracked radiator changed at 70k
-IPM was replaced
-Battery has had issues

Analysis:
-This is my favorite overall for price, lacks full feature set, but still a beautiful car at a nice price. If repair stuff checks out would like to see if I can get it at 10,500

Car C: 06 Rx400, 142k miles, 1 owners, list price 8500
Pros:<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;**br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;**-->- single owner
- Timing belt and water pump done at 90k
-seems honest lists all issues
may be negotiable selling for over a month
-lots of highway miles

Cons:
-high mileage
-driven by teenagers
-some nicks on body

Analysis: has been on market for awhile. Body in worst condition of the group with some nicks. Interior still looks clean would want it at closer to 7500

Car D: 06 Rx400, 163k miles YIKES, 1 owners, list price 7995
Pros
<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;**br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;**-->- great condition seemingly
-1 owner
-lots of records on carfax
lots of pics
-highly reviewed used car dealer

Cons:
<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;**br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;**-->- high mileage
-timing belt was done, but almost time for another?
-is timing belt done?

ANalysis: I secretly love this car despite the mileage. It looks immaculate in pictures and has all the features and is priced okay. I should probably stay away though.


There was another finalist I recently crossed off. It has 110k on it and looks good, but doesnt seem to have been regularly maintained. Dont know if the Water Pump was even done


​​​​​​​Would love to hear some thoughts!

nayguy

Ok wait just saw service history

Looks like in 2013 Safety Recall IPM replacement power module = inverter?


Once this was fixed has anyone else had a failure?

danthedj

iTrader: (1)

You're not getting thousands of dollars off the list prices of any of these vehicles. This isn't really a difficult decision - Car A is out because it's been in an accident and doesn't have service records. Car D is out (in my opinion) because it's not much cheaper than Car C and has many more miles. It's between Car B and Car C. I'd personally go for Car B because it seems it was driven by adults who took the car to the dealer for oil changes and had anything Lexus recommended done. It's also low miles and has already had the timing belt done (which is done earlier by people who don't drive much - it's a miles or time wear item).

nayguy

Thanks Dan!

not thousands, how bout 500 to 1 thousand lol
Car A accident seems minor but it was on the carfax. Really cant see, but who knows what lurks underneath, right?

nayguy

Hey all, Went with Car B after seeing Car A. Car B was immaculate and was maintained every 5k miles.

nayguy

Here are the dealership photos


http://imgur.com/LrYhPSc
http://imgur.com/yp5dSWh
http://imgur.com/UT9gjWA
http://imgur.com/kHjx81I
http://imgur.com/KX30Jn0
http://imgur.com/7XmhsFj