Good deal for 2004 LX470?

Hey Everyone,

I have been a lurker and decided to ask for some guidance. I found this 2004 LX470 local to me in LA. It only has 120K miles, I drove it and it was almost perfect, better than my current car.

2004 Lexus LX 470 | Burbank, CA | STELLAR AUTO INC.

Check out this 2004 Lexus LX 470 in Blizzard Pearl from STELLAR AUTO INC. in Burbank, CA 91505. It has an automatic transmission. Engine is 4.7L DOHC 32-valve V8. Call Vlad Pichugin at 818 - 809-8676 today!

www.stellarautoinc.com

I am very mechanically inclined and rebuilt my first car and do all maintenance on my current fleet so I am not to concerned about long term service.

Couple things wrong or need attention.

The stereo was modded and only the right side speakers are working. My assumption is a loose wire at the AMP or faulty AMP.

Car "smells" like cigarette smoke and found a few burn mark on the a-pillar. I would need to detail, shampoo the car.

No idea when the timing belt was replaced, the dealer couldn't find anything in the carfax. I would NOT do this myself, I am very sketched out by messing with engine timing.

Some body damage but I can blend paint so not worried about that.


If I pull the trigger I would be getting rid of my 2017 Kia Cadenza for this.

I would want to upgrade the car for Apple Carplay/Android Auto, do some body work, and just tweak it overtime. Only thing I would be missing is adaptive cruise control.

Big thing is just paying this much, potentially, for a 16yr old car that I would have to put money into with the Timing Belt. It's a hardsell to the wife even though this car, unlike my Cadenza, will not depreciate much or at all.

What do you all think?

 

[Banzai Run]

Smoke smell is always a bit of a red flag - can be very stubborn to deal with if it was smoked in for years and years as in potential headliner/carpet replacement.

How was the undercarriage - any rust? (even though its in CA now small dealers will sometimes buy at auction from salt/rust areas)

IMO $20K is pretty high even with the lower miles. For that price I would expect it to be rust free, mechanically perfect, and hopefully have some decent history/ service records available.

And of course these small time dealerships can be risky - be sure to check out their rep and make sure they are as "stellar" as they claim to be.

 

[G FORCE]

In my inexperienced opinion, I think the price is high. I bought my '06 same mileage for less than that. Mine does have some mild rust issues so as the previous posters state, that's key in determining value. You seem mechanically inclined and can do body work....but, do you really want to?

It's been hit, it's been a smoker car. It just really depends on what you're willing to work with. I wouldn't give anything close to $19k for that.

 

[bob4kacz]

I checked the undercarriage and it looked very good, no bad rust. Surface rust is what I saw.

You said it's been hit? It had a clean record on the carfax. Seller was honest that they repainted the bumpers due to parallel parking.

What would you ideally pay?

 

[AN470]

I would say it could be worth it IF you had service records that showed it was well maintained, no rust or body damage. Prices in southern CA are generally higher, but this might be a bit too high. I paid less for the same car with 60k more miles, but it was a pristine 1 owner car with service records. In LA. I would pass on this one.