So a couple weeks ago I found a very vague ad for a 2000 LC on craigslist. It had 165k and was priced in the 9-10k range. I inquired about it, but the seller didn't really know much about the car and it was hard to get the answers I needed from him. He was located about 2.5hrs from me so I just wrote it off and continued my search, unsuccesfully.
Now flash forward to a few days ago. I took my fiance with me to test drive a 2001 that available locally. I wanted to get her in one and hopefully get a definite green light on buying one (not that specific one as it was really overpriced). Well, much to my surprise my plan actually worked and she told me to just hurry up and buy one so I can get it over with before our wedding in a couple months.
So that night I made contact with the owner of the previously mentioned 2000 LC to see if it was still available and it was. At this point, the craigslist ad was about a month old so I figured I had a little more bargaining power. I ran a carfax and it showed it being a one owner car with good service history. The carfax and toyota service history both listed the paint color as Jade. I figured it was just an error as this does happen from time to time if a buyer orders a car in a certain color, then makes a last minute change to paint color. I offered him $7k cash, pending inspection in person, and he agreed.
I posted on here asking for any advice when inspecting the vehicle and got some helpful suggestions.
Upon inspection, I found the interior to be disgustingly filthy and unmaintained. It was smoked in, dirty, and leather was trashed. The paint job was crappy. They didn't bother masking off rubber grommets and hoses, etc. The drivetrain was excellent though and that was the biggest factor for me. I decided to buy it knowing that some of the fun stuff (bumpers, lift, rack) might have to wait a little longer that I wanted in order to replace the interior and fix some other issues that I'll go into later.
Over the last couple days I've put about 5hrs into detailing and have only done a quick vacuum of the whole vehicle, the dash, console, front door panels, front air vents, and glovebox. This thing was dirty. Hopefully not for long. Here are some photos as it sits now. I haven't touched the seat belt area or headliner yet so that'll give you an idea of how dirty the rest of it was. I've found an upholstery shop that will do both front seats, center console, and entire middle row in for $550 so hopefully that will get done in the next week or two.
Now flash forward to a few days ago. I took my fiance with me to test drive a 2001 that available locally. I wanted to get her in one and hopefully get a definite green light on buying one (not that specific one as it was really overpriced). Well, much to my surprise my plan actually worked and she told me to just hurry up and buy one so I can get it over with before our wedding in a couple months.
So that night I made contact with the owner of the previously mentioned 2000 LC to see if it was still available and it was. At this point, the craigslist ad was about a month old so I figured I had a little more bargaining power. I ran a carfax and it showed it being a one owner car with good service history. The carfax and toyota service history both listed the paint color as Jade. I figured it was just an error as this does happen from time to time if a buyer orders a car in a certain color, then makes a last minute change to paint color. I offered him $7k cash, pending inspection in person, and he agreed.
I posted on here asking for any advice when inspecting the vehicle and got some helpful suggestions.
Upon inspection, I found the interior to be disgustingly filthy and unmaintained. It was smoked in, dirty, and leather was trashed. The paint job was crappy. They didn't bother masking off rubber grommets and hoses, etc. The drivetrain was excellent though and that was the biggest factor for me. I decided to buy it knowing that some of the fun stuff (bumpers, lift, rack) might have to wait a little longer that I wanted in order to replace the interior and fix some other issues that I'll go into later.
Over the last couple days I've put about 5hrs into detailing and have only done a quick vacuum of the whole vehicle, the dash, console, front door panels, front air vents, and glovebox. This thing was dirty. Hopefully not for long. Here are some photos as it sits now. I haven't touched the seat belt area or headliner yet so that'll give you an idea of how dirty the rest of it was. I've found an upholstery shop that will do both front seats, center console, and entire middle row in for $550 so hopefully that will get done in the next week or two.
