Private Party vs. Dealer Spread

[petomoo]

Looking to get a used GX, model year 2013-2015, and I've noticed at least with Kelly Blue Book pricing compared to what some dealers online are charging, the spread between the private party price and the dealer price is really narrow.
I'd love to get a GX through a private party deal (thinking I could save a lot), but the dealer pricing for these years seems super competitive.

Has anyone else seen this?

 

[Mountaintrails]

Back in the day used cars at dealers were trade ins that people didnt want to sell themselves because they had issues. Maybe some of that still exists but good quality dealers will sell trade ins that they feel are worth the money and they will send the crappy cars to small dealers or auction. People are also more educated. The net allows them to research prices. For a long time I stayed totally away from dealers because of issues I had. My Gx came from the local Porshe dealer as a trade in.

 

[KayGX]

There are two types of dealers: independent and franchise. Generally speaking, all the franchise dealers follow a bare minimum of requirements (aka “100 point inspection” or whatever). Upon trade in, if the car doesn’t meet these requirements, they sell it to an auction. To my knowledge, franchise dealers don’t usually buy from auction... they just get their used inventory from trade ins. Independent dealers however are the buyers of these sub-quality vehicles, who then try to resell them to the public, sometimes with slap-dash fixes. Knowing how even franchise dealer will sell you a problem car, this makes the idea of an independent dealer even scarier. Also worth mentioning, a lot of banks won’t offer loans if the purchase is through an independent dealer.

My take, I’d only buy from a franchise dealer or private party. Be super aware that even from a franchise dealer (of the same manufacturer even) they may try to sell you a seriously problematic car. Happened to me and I ultimately ended up selling the car to an independent dealer who didn’t care about the previous frame damage. Even CarMax wouldn’t take it.

Nice thing about Lexus, you can easily pull from online for all the dealership maintenance history. It’s worth it do the research to make sure you get a good one.

 

[se7enine]

I wouldn't buy private party at the moment cause it's a PITA to get anything done at the DMV cause of covid. No walk-ins and at least 3 months out for appointment here. With dealer you can take care of all you need online.

 

[KayGX]

I wouldn't buy private party at the moment cause it's a PITA to get anything done at the DMV cause of covid. No walk-ins and at least 3 months out for appointment here. With dealer you can take care of all you need online.

Out here in CA you can pay an extra $90 and do all the DMV title transfer paperwork online. I bought my GX from a private party earlier this summer and made things way, way easier without the need to go to the DMV in person. Even without Covid, I’d say $90 to skip the DMV is worth it.

 

[petomoo]

Nice thing about Lexus, you can easily pull from online for all the dealership maintenance history. It’s worth it do the research to make sure you get a good one.

This is why I like buying used Lexus, amazing to see the detailed service history online. I had a conversation with a private party seller, and they mentioned a small fender bender, went and looked at the service history and sure enough "rear tail light replaced". I see a ton of 2015's for sale right now...