IH8MUD™ Forums - View Single Post - Local 96' Lexus LX450

maybe_a_80... · 05-11-08, 10:15 PM

Couple Notes for you -

First of all, yes get one of these rigs.

Check www.nada.com pricing as well. NADA is the general pricing guideline dealers use for trade-ins. And it is WELL below KBB. This also means the retail and private party sale values are lower than KBB. If dealers are using this for trade in value, then we should all be using it for purchase price comparison.

My bank also used nada.com to decide how much they would loan me for my FZJ80. If had bought a truck on KBB pricing, there is no way the bank loan amount would have matched up with the KBB price.

There are many highly priced 80-series trucks out there (both Toyota and Lexus). I looked for over a year and finally found a 1996 one-owner Land Cruiser with 106,000 miles for $9,900. I bought it from a used car dealer in Rhode Island. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. I gladly paid $1,000 to have it shipped to me (the dealer covered the shipping costs above $1,000).

At one point I looked at a 1997 TLC with about 90,000 miles on it near Boise, Idaho for $15,000. It had dings and scratches in it, the dealer had received the vehicle so recently it had not yet been detailed and placed on the lot and the dealer was not interested in budging on the price. So I walked away from that one (call this my "strange" dealer experience). When you are about to spend some money, whoever you are working with better be ready to listen to you and work with you to make the sale happen. Salespeople that put you off are not worth your time and the entire organization for which they work is probably no different in their attitude towards customers.

It seems like you could do better for your money than a 222,000 miles '80 as there are still lots of clean ones out there that could be had for about the same money with fewer miles. Remember also that most consumers will not touch a 12-15mpg vehicle at this point so the dealer is not really in a position to hold firm on a price that seems high.

Everyone's criteria for purchasing a '80 is different. I religiously (like nearly daily) checked both www.cars.com and www.autotrader.com for a year to see what type of pricing, mileage, overall vehicle condition, and ownership history could be had for what price. I used the search controls on both sites to set the search for only 1995-1996 vehicles and searched the entire country. This helped me recognise when it was time to pull the trigger. The cleanest, best value '80s usually only last 2 weekends (or less) on a dealer lot. If you are ready to buy, you should be looking for a '80 that will not last long on the dealer lot before it is sold.

Best of luck!

05-11-08, 10:15 PM	#6
maybe_a_80... IH8MUD Junior Join Date: May 2007 Location: SLC Posts: 128	Couple Notes for you - First of all, yes get one of these rigs. Check www.nada.com pricing as well. NADA is the general pricing guideline dealers use for trade-ins. And it is WELL below KBB. This also means the retail and private party sale values are lower than KBB. If dealers are using this for trade in value, then we should all be using it for purchase price comparison. My bank also used nada.com to decide how much they would loan me for my FZJ80. If had bought a truck on KBB pricing, there is no way the bank loan amount would have matched up with the KBB price. There are many highly priced 80-series trucks out there (both Toyota and Lexus). I looked for over a year and finally found a 1996 one-owner Land Cruiser with 106,000 miles for $9,900. I bought it from a used car dealer in Rhode Island. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. I gladly paid $1,000 to have it shipped to me (the dealer covered the shipping costs above $1,000). At one point I looked at a 1997 TLC with about 90,000 miles on it near Boise, Idaho for $15,000. It had dings and scratches in it, the dealer had received the vehicle so recently it had not yet been detailed and placed on the lot and the dealer was not interested in budging on the price. So I walked away from that one (call this my "strange" dealer experience). When you are about to spend some money, whoever you are working with better be ready to listen to you and work with you to make the sale happen. Salespeople that put you off are not worth your time and the entire organization for which they work is probably no different in their attitude towards customers. It seems like you could do better for your money than a 222,000 miles '80 as there are still lots of clean ones out there that could be had for about the same money with fewer miles. Remember also that most consumers will not touch a 12-15mpg vehicle at this point so the dealer is not really in a position to hold firm on a price that seems high. Everyone's criteria for purchasing a '80 is different. I religiously (like nearly daily) checked both www.cars.com and www.autotrader.com for a year to see what type of pricing, mileage, overall vehicle condition, and ownership history could be had for what price. I used the search controls on both sites to set the search for only 1995-1996 vehicles and searched the entire country. This helped me recognise when it was time to pull the trigger. The cleanest, best value '80s usually only last 2 weekends (or less) on a dealer lot. If you are ready to buy, you should be looking for a '80 that will not last long on the dealer lot before it is sold. Best of luck! Last edited by maybe_a_80...; 05-11-08 at 10:23 PM.