Is $28k too much for a 2004 LC100?

Please let me know if I am in the wrong forum.

We just got our second dog (another German Shepherd), and plan to do a 3-4 week drive around the country in March compete with a bit of backpacking and 4x4 camping before I begin training in the hospital (I'm a med student). Currently, I have a 2010 Subaru forester which is great and does all I need, but for the trip we may want something more spacious in case for whatever reason we find ourselves needing to sleep inside it, and we may end up renting a camping trailer. Plus, it's about time we have a second car as I will be staffed at locations across the region and country for weeks at a time.

I found the LC at a used car dealer through a friend, but I haven't had the time to check it out. We weren't planning on buying until Jan/Feb, so at the moment I don't have all the cash on hand to negotiate a larger discount. At this point, I am wondering if it is even worth my time to drive and check it out (it's a 2 hour trip). The only reason I am contemplating this car is its rather low mileage.

A bit about the car I found:
Pros:
-Under 120,000 miles
-Interior looks B+/A- on photos. No apparent tears, dings visible. Only a few stains visible in the footwell carpet
-Exterior looks great for an 18 year car...on photos
-Claims all electronics work. Backup camera and nav are shown to be functioning, dash lights up correctly on video.
-Clean title, no accidents on record.
- Engine bay appears clean though I see some hints of rust within on a few exposed metal parts. Is this normal?
-My favorite color both outside and in
-This is one seductive machine

Cons:
- No undercarriage photos, and the dealer is in a salt heavy winter region. I'll likely need to check in person. If I see even a hint of anything more than light surface rust, I'm out at this price.
- Not a lot of information on the car available from the dealer on first inquiry, seems like a red flag re: maintenance and upkeep.
- This is nearly $30,000 for an 18 year old car. Even with the recent rise in prices over the last two years, this seems like a lot for what is a stock model.

I've been drooling over these things since I entered college, and now nearly 12 years later I finally find myself in a position to buy one, and I wonder if I've found a gem under 120k miles. Should I be more patient?

What do ya'll think?

 

[REKCUT]

You will never find a consensus on this forum on what to pay for a cruiser. Best advise is to find one you really like and just pull the trigger. Your gonna spend a bunch more or maintenance and mods so this is just the start. Don't worry about what others think, just get what you want and you'll please yourself.

I can tell my from my days of being a buyer for a larger dealer group, you can almost never pay to much for a top end quality truck and you can never save enough on a bargain piece of crap.

 

[Roosevelt T]

Well, in 2018/2019 there was a contingent in here bragging at every chance they got because they bought some meh 100 series with zero service history for 2k less than the other guy, and felt it was in the best interest of the entire forum for them to talk about it every chance they got, and one-up everyone else for how cheap they got their truck for.

I'm glad to say I don't see that these days. Maybe one of the few positives to come from Covid.

Truck is worth what you'll pay for it. People aren't giving them away anymore, and I don't see that changing... but for 28k it better have no rust.

 

[BullElk]

YES

 

[Tighe]

Hard to really comment without more info as all of the pros and cons in your list could be true of a $10k vehicle, or a $50k vehicle alike. If I were shopping for a 100, everything would have to be pretty much perfect to consider spending that much money. And that includes good communication with a knowledgeable seller/dealer, full history, clearly no rust, etc etc.

You can take a look at the recent 100 Series sales on BaT for a sense. Granted it's not an accurate representation of the full market but I think it's useful. Looks to me like most of the higher priced 100's are particularly nice examples, or heavily modified, or special in some other way to merit the cost.

Can you post the CarFax?

 

[ChuckMag]

Hard to really comment without more info as all of the pros and cons in your list could be true of a $10k vehicle, or a $50k vehicle alike. If I were shopping for a 100, everything would have to be pretty much perfect to consider spending that much money. And that includes good communication with a knowledgeable seller/dealer, full history, clearly no rust, etc etc.

You can take a look at the recent 100 Series sales on BaT for a sense. Granted it's not an accurate representation of the full market but I think it's useful. Looks to me like most of the higher priced 100's are particularly nice examples, or heavily modified, or special in some other way to merit the cost.

Can you post the CarFax?

I don't need anything too built. A stock LC will cover all of my camping and backpacking needs. I think getting history and rust are the biggest trends.

I finally got the carfax after waiting for the dealer to send it over:

https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/ar20/yuEiFrFzkaLitFjNgDSv7fxEWfvcUj8zxGA5IxgRSj3Z8ZgjmZNWqpYVT-k0DMniKW8-9BP-POBeksOz0wEzIfqbK-ZokhQOCqo

Looks like it's been in New England / Upstate for most of it's life. That makes this $30k price tag a bit too much for me.

 

[Tighe]

I don't need anything too built. A stock LC will cover all of my camping and backpacking needs. I think getting history and rust are the biggest trends...

Well the history looks pretty good and from the photos it looks nice. You can try calling the dealers mentioned in the CarFax to see if they can share more details about the work performed, if you're interested. I did that when I bought my LX and the Lexus dealer where the PO it had been serviced was happy to share full service records with me, so you could try that. Timing belt was changed a decade ago. If this truck somehow emerged rust free after 15 years of driving in New York then I'd be impressed- have you requested chassis photos?

 

[ChuckMag]

Well the history looks pretty good and from the photos it looks nice. You can try calling the dealers mentioned in the CarFax to see if they can share more details about the work performed, if you're interested. I did that when I bought my LX and the Lexus dealer where the PO it had been serviced was happy to share full service records with me, so you could try that. Timing belt was changed a decade ago. If this truck somehow emerged rust free after 15 years of driving in New York then I'd be impressed- have you requested chassis photos?

I have, they're pending.

 

[peneumbra2]

Sometimes, you've got to grab the bull by the tail and look the problem square in the face!
(I'm not sure what that means...)
AND, STOP DROOLING! your chin will rust.

 

[Jerzywerzy5]

I wouldn’t get too worked up on where it’s been, plenty of cars from the northeast have minimal rust and plenty of coastal cars from Ca are rusted through. These cars are pretty easy to inspect.

 

[Tighe]

I wouldn’t get too worked up on where it’s been, plenty of cars from the northeast have minimal rust and plenty of coastal cars from Ca are rusted through. These cars are pretty easy to inspect.

Yeah for sure. I had a SoCal 60 series that needed a whole new roof welded on because the old one was rusting so bad, and my 98 Volvo V70 T5 which spent the first half of its life in CT has no rust. @ChuckMag if the photos look good and you're enticed enough to go inspect in person, have a read through SOR's buying guide. Lots of good info. And here on Mud too.

 

[aedgington]

Too much for a northern truck. Prices are already slipping and you've got months to wait and watch.

 

[jLB]

Seems high to me, BUT, it depends on whether you want to buy a $5k-10k vehicle and put $18k-23k into making it a “pristine” old vehicle with no service records, or just pay $28k on someone that already has…

Then again, it could be a $28k vehicle, that needs $10k of work.

 

[jerryb]

Wait for the crash! while this won't be 2009 again, it will be somewhat close.

 

[ChuckMag]

Yeah for sure. I had a SoCal 60 series that needed a whole new roof welded on because the old one was rusting so bad, and my 98 Volvo V70 T5 which spent the first half of its life in CT has no rust. @ChuckMag if the photos look good and you're enticed enough to go inspect in person, have a read through SOR's buying guide. Lots of good info. And here on Mud too.

Decided to walk, and found one in New England, mall cruiser, garage kept, vacation car, annual service, first owner, 2006, less miles, and they wanted 7k less.
Patience is a virtue sometimes lol.

 

[Tighe]

Decided to walk, and found one in New England, mall cruiser, garage kept, vacation car, annual service, first owner, 2006, less miles, and they wanted 7k less.
Patience is a virtue sometimes lol.

Excellent, congrats! Glad you posted up here. If you want to Venmo me half that $7k PM me . That seems a much more reasonable price for a comparable truck. Post some pics when you can, and good luck with it, hope it turns out to be a wonderful purchase!!

 

[ChuckMag]

Excellent, congrats! Glad you posted up here. If you want to Venmo me half that $7k PM me . That seems a much more reasonable price for a comparable truck. Post some pics when you can, and good luck with it, hope it turns out to be a wonderful purchase!!

Well to no fault of the seller, they had their primary car totaled by a teen driver In their neighborhood. I was about to hand her the check when the guy came racing through and plowed into their daily on the street. Absolutely destroyed the car.

after the dust settled she asked if she could cancel the sale, and I felt compelled to let her keep the LX. Back to the search!

 

[ChuckMag]

Well to no fault of the seller, they had their primary car totaled by a teen driver In their neighborhood. I was about to hand her the check when the guy came racing through and plowed into their daily on the street. Absolutely destroyed the car. Sounded like an explosion.

after the dust settled she asked if she could cancel the sale, and I felt compelled to let her keep the LX. Back to the search!