Is $10K a fair price for this LX450? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Threads
73
Messages
259
Location
Dana Point, CA
First off, sorry, no pictures. I will do my best to describe the good and bad.

I just looked at and drove a VERY WELL maintained '96 LX450. The color is Champagne, it has approximately 110K miles, all options except for factory lockers. It's owned by an old guy who has garaged it since he bought it new in 1996.

The truck is flawless inside and out. The paint and body are perfect. The front seats look great, the second and third row seats appear to have been never used. The carpet looks new. Headliner is perfect. Dash looks new. Engine compartment looks new. Has been serviced at the local Lexus dealership since new. The grandson of the owner is the Lexus technician and he has personally serviced it almost since it was purchased. It needs nothing. Tires, brakes, shocks have been replaced. It has just been serviced. No leaks, etc. etc. This LX450 ALMOST looks new. Damn, this Lexus looks perfect and drives great.

In addition to the only "negative" (no lockers) I just pulled up the carfax and it does show accident history back about 6 years ago. Supposedly, it was a minor issue and only reported to the police since the other driver wanted more $$ than he was entitled. The front and rear bumpers were replaced as well as the passenger mirror. I actually have a paint meter and tested the entire vehicle and it was pretty consistent at 4.5 to 5.0 mils all the way around, so there was really no body work. Bondo or repaints will give readings of 10+ mils.

Anyway, is his $10K price (in so cal) too high?
 
Why is he selling it? 10k sounds a little high, but are you in love with it?:)
 
Way too high for a non-locked lx450 that has wrecks in it's history. I would say $6500 tops.
 
He's 85 years old and he bought a new car. He says he would never sell the lx450 if the ride was better. I personally like the way it rode. Part of the "problem" the guy has with the ride might be due to the fact that the grandson (Lexus tech) replaced the LX450 shocks with LC ones because he himself liked the firmer ride.

No, not "in love" with it. Champagne has never been a favorite color, but I don't dislike it. No doubt it will be easy to maintain though.

It is in incredible shape for car of it's age. It will be difficult finding one as nice and as well maintained.
 
If the accident was truly minor it is worth what he is asking... at least in my market. Sounds like a heck of a find!
 
I have a 97 that color and i paid 10 for it 2 years ago. It had 127k when I bought it and a small rear main leak. the small rear main leak is still there but it is so small i dont have to add oil between changes. That said I was new to 80's at the time. I wish I had paid less. I would have only given 7,000 for mine. That said this had a good service history, Mine had no service history. I would offer 7 and see if he will meet you in middle.
 
In my case, I just paid $10K for a 97 LC with lockers and 97K on the ODO. It had a minor fender bender in it's history too, but had extensive maintenance records and an in dash nav/cd/sirus, etc. upgraded radio and a few other goodies like LEDs and marker lights switched out. I wouldn't say the condition on mine is as good as yours though. While it's solid and only has a rock chip or three and a very small door ding, it's not as pristine as your perspective rig and the undercarriage shows it lives in a borderline rustbelt state (Virginia).

If it's worth it to you for the garage kept pristine nature and solid maintenance records then it's worth it. Could you do better?; I suspect so, but do as already suggested, see if he has any wiggle room in the price.
 
Last edited:
It seems a little high, but it really depends on what you want. If you really want a truck with lockers, lockers are $2k to install and don't change the price on the used car market. I say this because if you were to find a locked truck in the same condition, the price wouldn't be any different even though the locked truck has $2k of added value to an enthusiast. If you are not set on a locked truck, then I would try to bargain him down. You might be able to use the lack of lockers as a bargaining tool.
 
It is in incredible shape for car of it's age. It will be difficult finding one as nice and as well maintained.

There is nothing more insulting that a low ball offer. I'd say you'll be told to "get bent" rapidly at $6,500. Is it worth $10K? Eh, probably not but it is surely worth more than $6,500 IMO if it's as pristine as you say, minor fender bender aside. $6,500 would be an absolute steal if it were listed in my neck of the woods. At 85-years-old, he probably doesn't have to get rid of it too badly or he would have just traded it in and made life easier.

I sold my 56K-mile 2000 Bonneville last year and a gentleman offered me $4,000 on my $7,000 asking price during the middle of the test drive. I told him "I think we're done here" and to drive it back and park it. He seemed shocked and his previously chatty wife was in utter silence in the back seat. Awkward ride back! Sold it a week later for $6,500.

Just my .02

Carry on!

:cheers:

--Mark
 
Last edited:
I paid good money for my non-locked 97 LX (no-lockers) with 89,000 miles. I know many think $10,000 high, but lower mileage, one owner 80s with a superb maintenance record are getting harder to find. I say go $9000 and take it home. No PM work to do, no worries. You can do an Aussie in the rear end and do pretty much anything from what the boys here say.

You can certainly keep looking for a better deal or a rig that is locked AND in great shape with low mileage, they are out there. It's a matter of how long it takes to find it!
 
Have no comment on pricing, but since it has “Accident” history, if you want to sell it down the road, it may scare some buyers away.
 
It all depends on who you ask but I prefer a UNlocked truck, then i just add the arb locker.

I dont know how minor a accident can be if both fron and raer bumper were replaced? I would offer 8800.00-9300.00 for it. sounds like a good find as long as you have the car checked out make sure its straight etc. if all is good go for it. pickings on nice cruisers are getting slim. It took me a good 2 months to find the my truck and it was a fluke that i came across it.
 
did you buy it?
 
Thanks for asking. I should have posted a follow up sooner...

Yes, I did. The guy selling it didn't want to go lower than $10K so that's what I paid.

I'll be posting some pics soon.

John
 
It is a good deal if you are happy with it.........just my opinion....

Good luck with your purchase !!!!!:beer:
 
Truck sounds great. 10k sounds high but its what YOU want to pay. As far as the accident goes and may hurt you down the line when selling, the way this rig sounds is that you have a perfect interior 80 that was garaged kept so you will probably be keeping it for a while. I reallly wouldnt worry too much about that. So with that sound the truck would be close to 20 years old when you might sell and who cares then when its that old. Good luck and buy it brother, need some pictures though
 
If you are picking this up to mainly use as a non- offroad vehicle, great deal. I have a 97 lex with lockers that I picked up for 6800, but the seats, carpet and paint were in bad shape. It has sense been lifted, armored and roof racked, in short, turned into a hunting/camping/rough and tumble kinda vehicle....my wife hates it! She is open to getting another for her use and dumping the mini-van, but it would have to be a pristine princess like you picked up. P.S., all the ‘stuff’ I’ve added has pushed the prices well past your price(don’t tell the :princess:).
 
I "bit the bullet" and paid more than I wanted to, but I know how I am with cars/trucks that aren't quite perfect...I end up spending thousands of dollars making them that way. Also, I have been burned, more than once, by cars that weren't as mechanically sounds as I thought they were. Once again I would find myself spending thousands making the repairs.

I don't plan on using this truck for anything more than light off roading and trips to the local mountains for skiing. Over 90% of the miles will likely be commuting to and from work or local errands.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom