2000 Lx470

[drsales]

I have been test driving the above LX at home this weekend. It has 104k miles and has a complete history of maintenance. The 90k has been done. Some dents and scratches in the front bumper and ps fender. Looks like the wife had a hard time judging turns and clearances. Single owner very clean inside. Lexus dealer selling no warranty. Needs tires and DS mirror does not work. They are offering this for $19,500. Drives and handles quite well.

Thoughts?

I love my 95 but the wife likes the 2000. This would become my DD. My boys tell me they will kill me if the 95 gets sold. What to do? What to do?

 

[aedgington]

Sounds high with the amount of work that needs to be done. No warranty, tires, mirror, cosmetic work...

 

[bamachem]

no way. last month i got a 2000 LC with 62k and all dealer maintenance records for $19800. the only blemishes was a rock chip in the windshield, one mark on the front bumper passenger side corner, one scratch on the pass side fender about 1.25" long, and a mark the size of a penny on the rear bumper driver's corner. other than that, it's mint. for that price, they should AT LEAST fix the mirror and provide you with a OEM fender. that way you can take it to your choice of body shops and get the front end taken care of. if they provided the fender, then you could possibly get it fixed for under $1000 out the door. add in another $700-$800 for a good set of tires.

 

[drsales]

After pleading my case, they offered $18,000 take as it is. BTW there are complete records for the truck and it was done on schedule.

I am giving it some heavy consideration.

 

[tabraha]

Would you have to get rid of the 80? It sounds like a solid rig that personally I would not want to get rid of. Don't rush on that 100, it's definitely not a deal but at 18k it's not a bad deal either. You won't be missing the deal of a lifetime or anything. If possible I'd buy the 100 for a DD and keep the 80 for fun.

 

[aedgington]

I'd say that 18K w/ the 90K service done is reasonable. Personally, I would tell them to put tires on it & call it a deal. Then you're getting a good buy instead of a reasonable one IMHO, there are too many nice higher mileage 100's that dealers *don't know what to do with other than take to the auction* for you to "settle".

 

[drsales]

Well I did not do it. He even offered to drop it another $500/ $17,500.
I just was'nt ready to pull the trigger. I like the 80. Its a truck, which comes in handy with my sales position. I have a boy starting college and felt it would be better to wait.

Also I have invested lots of pm and mucho dollars to get this 80 running well. Now I need to look at replacing the birfs. Oh well another day another story.

Thanks for the responses.... it did help me!

 

[drsales]

Well here we go again. I am such an ass.

2000 LC new front brakes, new timing belt, new tires. Dealer inspected 99k miles,
$16990. Body in very good shape.
What do you all think?
Listed on Ebay, Cleveland Hts, Ohio

 

[bamachem]

now that's a good buy if it has a good history. i looked on ebaymotors but didn't see a '00 LX w/ 99k.

[edit].... ahhh, LC, not LX[/edit]

02/16/2000 310 Ohio
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Staten Island, NY
Title #1803632637 Title issued or updated
First owner reported
Loan or lien reported

02/24/2000 New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Staten Island, NY Registered as
personal vehicle

03/25/2000 1,915 New York
New York City Area
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection

View what was inspected

03/27/2000 New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Staten Island, NY Title issued or updated
Loan or lien reported

03/30/2001 7,986 New York
New York City Area
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection

View what was inspected

04/11/2002 24,562 New York
New York City Area
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection
Passed emissions inspection

View what was inspected

05/30/2003 50,190 New York
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection
Passed emissions inspection

View what was inspected

02/10/2004 New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Staten Island, NY Title issued or updated
Registration issued or renewed
Registered as
personal vehicle
Loan or lien reported
Passed safety inspection

06/09/2004 72,158 New York
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection
Passed emissions inspection

View what was inspected

01/09/2006 New York
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Staten Island, NY Title issued or updated
Registration issued or renewed
Registered as
personal vehicle
Passed safety inspection

07/14/2006 Dealer Inventory
Cleveland, OH Vehicle offered for sale

two things against it... one- the color. it's not a very desirable color, so resale is hurt by that. two- it's spent it's entire life in new york. that means lots of city driving on rough roads. it also means road salt.

it's a good price, and it's at a toyota dealer, but i'd have that thing checked out VERY well. also take a look for yourself while it's up on a lift. make sure it doesn't have surface rust on everything underneath.

 

[drsales]

I ran the history also. First, the owner is a past sales manager for the dealership. He bought another and traded this one. Second the life of this truck is in Stanton Island...negative. What was kinda crazy is the leather on the steering wheel was worn in the 10 oclock position. Negative. My 1995 LC looks like it is brand new...go figure.

The internet salesman was a young fella 25-28 and not what I would call a good salesmen. (That being my profession for 30 yrs.) Not what I would call friendly and or informative. Kinda held his cards close to the chest. Negative.

The Lexus dealership which I have purchased a LS400 was, is and has bent over backwords to sell me the LX470. Night and day difference.

I did crawl under the unit and the muffler did have some rust. Not good not bad. Everthing else seemed not bad. They had no service history. Whereas the Lexus is very detailed and all service has been done at the dealership.

So I did not make an offer...just a gut feeling.
The unit sold yesterday. There will be others.

 

[aedgington]

I think you made the right choice. All Houston dealers shy away from northern LC/LX because of rust. Not just major rust, but all the little things; brakes, rotors, bolts snapping, etc that just make it a PITA.

 

[LXPearl]

Good decision. There are better ones out there that will be more satisfying for you. I looked at many a 100 after selling my first one and saw lots that were marginal to poor condition (asking top dollar too). Made me wish I had not sold the first one even more. I decided to only buy one in excellent condition at a fair price - and told salesmen that. Eventually, a salesman called with one that was not exactly what I was looking for, but was in better condition than I expected. I also had better experiences with Lexus dealers than Toyota.

Once you have had an LC in good condition it will be a irritation to get one that is not in good condition, unless it was knowingly purchased as a project and priced accordingly.

 

[drsales]

I have continued to look and learn. Yesterday test drove a 2002 Black LC 60k miles asking $24,500. Auction car, Pennsylvania history. Independent car wholeseller, who buys them at auction, cleans them up, puts little investment in parts and sells to the public. There are a few of these types here in the Cleveland area.

Clean LC but needs the 60k service, brakes and tires. Inside looks clean and minotr rust on exposed components under the frame. Love the northern winters and the use of salt. Drove pretty well but had a minor pull to the left. Alignment probably needed. So lets say the LC needs another 2+k in service is $24,900 such a good deal?

Thursday I am looking at a 1999 LC with 114k miles. Maintenance history at a Toyota Dealership. Asking $19,500...I already told them they were quite high.

Again my needs and goals are.
I drive 25-30k miles a year in NE Ohio. Present truck 1995 LC 195k miles, which I have replaced almost everything that needs to be. Birfs are next, but I do little off road. Lucky for me my company pays for my gas plus maintenance. The 95 is probably going to my son in about 1 yr. I bought the 95 to see if I would like the suv experience. Well I think you all know the answer.

I usually buy 3-4 year old cars with 60k+ miles to use for another 3yrs. The 100 series seems to be the next logical choice.

BTW the 2000 red lc which sold over the weekend went for $20k off the lot. On ebay you could of had it for $16,999.

With the summer months and higher gas cost I feel the LC in my area are a good bargin at this time. How are prices in other areas of the country?

 

[Sword]

drsales,
I'm not in your neck of the woods - but in the UK, they are cheap as chips (relatively speaking)! Nobody wants the huge petrol engines at the moment.

This means that 2 months ago, I was able to get my Oct 02 (new facelift/interior) from a Yota dealership with 29k miles for £20k ($34k at 1.7) and its mint. That is actually several thousand below book value over this side of the pond - so you guys can count yourselves lucky!

New price is approx £50k ($85k at 1.7) over here and the spec is just as the LX (which they don't sell here) - even down to the rather pointless middle row independent hifi controls. They call it the Land Cruiser Amazon.

The diesels sell for about £5k more per unit - cos people don't realise that £1.5k on a lpg conversion will give you cheaper fuel and less emissions than a diesel but still leave all the other benefits of the v8 - like its near silent operation!

I don't know much but from reading this board, it seems like 2000 + for year is defo the way to go if you can afford it at all. For me, the interior was very important - and this looks so much better than the pre Oct 02 stuff:

Just thought it would look "current" for longer ... plus you get a few more toys I plan to run mine until Jan 2016 so that was important to me, lol!

Sword

 

[drsales]

Sword
Your pic must be inverted. That darn wheel is on the wrong side!

Kidding aside thanks for the info.
A few years back the men in the family made a golf trip to Ireland and I had to drive a Toyota Van all over the country (700miles). Learning the rules of the road and driving on the otherside was quite interesting. Once you get the hang of it, it was.... dare I say "normal".

What are you paying for petrol (US$) in the UK?

 

[Sword]

Average UK £ prices per litre from 63 stations within a 10 mile radius of my home in Wales (busy urben area with no supply issues) are as follows:

...................Unleaded...........Diesel..........Super............LPG
High...............101.1p...........103.0p.........105.9p.........42.9p
Average...........98.7p.............99.6p.........102.3p.........40.6p
Low.................94.9p.............95.9p...........97.9p.........39.9p

to get to $, you can multiply by 1.7 then from litres to gallons, multiply again by 3.79 - or a cumulative multiplier of 6.44 to get from our price per litre in £ to a US equivalent $ price per gallon!

Cheapest unleaded would be $6.11 per gallon
Cheapest lpg would be $2.57 per gallon

Go on, tell me how much you're paying ...

Sword

 

[drsales]

Well here in Cleveland Ohio regular unleaded runs $2.89 to $3.10 depending what side of town you live. This is the highest I have seen ever. We are up $1.00 in 1 year.

If the war continues to pick up they state we could see $100/barrel oil which I think means about $4/gallon fuel.

BTW I feel for you and your fuel cost. If I recall when we were in Ireland I think we paid around $3.00 to $3.50 Dollars US for a UK Gallon

What is the cost for tires. Here Michelin MTX at the local discount house is around $170. each.

 

[Sword]

What is the cost for tires. Here Michelin MTX at the local discount house is around $170. each.

Not far off really - I use www.blackcircles.com

Fuel is a bummer - largely due to a greedy government. The cost of LPG is the cost of unleaded, the rest is tax added - literally! And even that lower value is subject to another 40% corporation tax on the profits that the companies make!

Then I pay 40% on my income above that too!

And where does it go?

At this rate of Labour support, I should be getting a Peerage

Sword

 

[LXPearl]

With all the highway driving you do and willingness to get used vehicles, I would recommend that you contact the internet sales at several Lexus dealers within a reasonable distance (car or plane) and let them know what you are looking for. A certified LX470 will be in excellent shape and you get 3yr/up to 100K miles Platinum level warranty plus financing at the new car rate and roadside asssistance. Compare those to what you see on car lots with no warranty where you have to figure out what to fix (is that LF wheel drag really alignment, brakes, ???). Although some certified LXs look high on price, the internet salesmen will deal off their web page price.

Stock is always a challenge and Lexus dealers rarely maintain one on the lot for more than 60 days. Their pricing varies by their stock and demand. In AR, certified older models are in high demand, so they do not last long. Dallas has better stock. If you have several salesmen looking for you, they will contact you before it get to the lot. First one with the right LX with a fair price gets the sale.

Sometimes a vehicle with less than 60K miles is not listed as certified. Usually, there is some work to be done to certify it, and the dealer may do it. It usually costs the dealer about $800 to certify, depending on what needs to be done. I have seen some over 60K miles that were prepped as if certified with a list on the sticker of what was done (Sewell LX Dallas).

Summer tends to be a good time for 4wd sales into the fall. In late fall people start worrying about winter weather and hang on to their 4wd, and usually fewer 4wds are on the market with higher pricing. Sometimes Dec is good with lots of trade-ins on new vehicles for Christmas. End of the month usually allows more bargaining leverage.

Happy hunting.

 

[drsales]

LX Pearl
Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Most of the LC/LX units that I have seen that are certified are at least $10-25K more than the price point which I am searching. Which leaves room for a few repairs.

That said today I test drove a 2000 LC with 93k miles. Quite nice not beat up at all. Some minor wear but talking with the dealer about them and hope to have them covered in the purchase price.

They are speaking with athe previous owner to night to see if he did the 90k service( please..please...please say yes) But I doubt it.

So here I go again.