00 Ls400...good Deal

[Qafas]

Hi guys,

I've been hunting for a 98-00 LS400 for about a month now. Finally found one I really like....it is at a Toyota dealership. It is a 2000, with 71K miles on it. One owner, who traded it in for a new toyota. The car was bought locally and has remained local the whole time. Seems like it has been maintained well, but receipts for services are not available. Carfax is clean.

It certainly drove very nicely, without any glitches or rattles etc. The radio lcd display is starting to go. Other than that, I didn't notice anything wrong with the car.

The advertised price was $26,998. The car's been on the lot for 2 months now. The dealer put it on sale for $22,998 recently, but told me today that he has since removed the sale price. However, he was willing to honor the sale price if I wanted to buy.

Anyway, a little more haggling later I've got him down to $22,100, which he says is just a 100 bucks more than what his cost for the car was.

Now, does this seem like a good deal at that price to you guys? I seriously doubt that he paid $22K for the trade, but I have no way of knowing what he did or did not pay. I walked out today after much discussion and told him I wanted to sleep on the price. Seems to me like he won't budge any more than that.

Also, should I go to a lexus dealership and run the VIN to see if service records are available? Should I ask the dealer to replace the lcd before I buy (how much does that cost anyway?)

These are some of the questions I'm struggling with tonight. Any input from you guys would be appreciated. I've found quite a bit of useful information in various threads on this forum, and am hoping for some more timely responses to help me make this decision.

Thank you so much!

AJ

[akewlguy]

CARFAX: $20 : I like to look for accidents, lease or corporate.

Check vin number with LEXUS: they will let you know maintenance records.

Cars.com : Compare price with those listed

Kelly Blue Book (Excellent):

Private Party 20k Trade in $15,625

Fix LED is about $300 bucks and your time.

Timing belt will be done about 90k : LEXUS $1200 : Local Mechanic $600

Front end usually needs work about 100k : LEXUS $2000+ or Mechanic $1000+

Most of this is regular maintenance and is expected with any car. LEXUS is a tank that will last forever! I own a 93 so expect some input from the 00 owners.

Make sure the front end is tight. Use the laymens for laymens guide at top of LS400/430 thread.

If its such a great deal it would have sold on the lot in two months.

I dont know.. Great LEXUS. If you say its in great condition and its been there for 2 months tell him 18,000. Then leave your number. If he wants to sell fine.

[akewlguy]

Dont forget to check the tires they are about $800 bucks for new ones. MSVX-4 or Bridgestone LSV.

Is this a LEXUS dealer with the LEXUS preowned guarentee?

[akewlguy]

All of NEW ENGLAND ON CARS.COM 15 to 25k

My point is on any day there are plenty of LEXUS's for sale. Dont rush and pressure your self. You have the money and skum bucket wants it (dealer). I see a white 00 with 47k for 18,900. The was a 500 mile search from RI.

2000 Lexus LS 400 LS $24,995 68,000 Champion Auto Sales Sedan White

1999 Lexus LS 400 $24,990 67,395 Hendrick Lexus Sedan Sterling .

2000 Lexus LS 400 $24,950 47,771 Lexus of Akron Canton Sedan Silver.

2000 Lexus LS 400 LS $24,950 47,000 Classified Ad .

2000 Lexus LS 400 LS $24,950 47,000 Classified Ad .

1998 Lexus LS 400 $24,900 55,036 Lexus of Richmond Sedan White .

2000 Lexus LS 400 LS $24,900 49,000 Individual Seller Sedan Black .

1998 Lexus LS 400 $23,990 66,667 Hendrick Lexus Sedan Black .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $23,900 43,474 Fred Robati & Associates Sedan Gold .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $23,900 35,000 Individual Seller Sedan Gold .

2000 Lexus LS 400 LS $23,500 69,000 Classified Ad White .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $22,990 85,735 Hendrick Lexus Sedan Black .

2000 Lexus LS 400 $22,950 57,260 Baron Automall Sedan Black .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $22,900 68,000 Feretti Motors, Inc Sedan Black .

1998 Lexus LS 400 $22,859 78,201 Lawrence Lexus Sedan Gold .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $21,995 50,500 Lee's Toyota Sedan Mint Green .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $20,900 65,000 Jaguar of Huntington Sedan Silver .

1997 Lexus LS 400 $19,995 52,031 Lexus of Rockville Sedan Black .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,995 68,306 Hempstead Ford Sedan Tan .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,995 65,937 ESCO Motor Cars Inc. Sedan Black .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,995 65,597 Callahan Motorcars Sedan Silver .

1998 Lexus LS 400 $19,987 82,504 Ira Lexus Sedan Black 88 mi.

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,900 92,356 Pohanka Lexus Sedan Silver .

1997 Lexus LS 400 $19,900 58,544 Ameri Motors Inc. Sedan Dark Green .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,900 98,132 Pleasant Motors Inc Sedan Black .

2000 Lexus LS 400 $19,900 74,298 Parsons Automotive Inc Black/Leather .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,880 86,137 Lindsay Lexus of Alexandria Black .

1998 Lexus LS 400 $19,790 61,779 Washington Automall Sedan Gold .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,785 58,412 Sunnyside Acura Sedan Black .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $19,600 64,200 Exclusive Online Classified Silver .

1997 Lexus LS 400 $19,500 94,157 Lexus of Richmond Sedan Gold .

1999 Lexus LS 400 $18,995 77,000 International Automall Silver ,Fully..

1998 Lexus LS 400 $18,995 73,734 East Coast Toyota Scion Silver 117 mi.

2000 Lexus LS 400 $18,995 47,954 Mark Motors Sedan White 47 mi.

1999 Lexus LS 400 $18,950 71,994 Palmiero Nissan Sedan Gold 415 mi.

1999 Lexus LS 400 $18,900 60,000 Classified Ad Blue 95 mi.

1998 Lexus LS 400 $18,500 65,000 Classified Ad 287 mi.

1998 Lexus LS 400 $17,995 99,000 Atlantic Auto Exchange Pearl White .

1998 Lexus LS 400 $17,500 86,575 Phillips Volvo Hampton Bronze 389 mi.

1998 Lexus LS 400 $17,495 98,297 Dorschel Central White / Tan 304 mi.

1997 Lexus LS 400 $17,250 77,711 Lexus of Cherry Hill Moonstone Graymi.

1998 Lexus LS 400 $16,950 -- Classified Ad Green .

1997 Lexus LS 400 $16,875 83,834 Arnold Palmer Cadillac Sedan Beige.

1998 Lexus LS 400 $16,500 -- Classified Ad i.

1993 Lexus LS 400 $16,125 127,360 Major World Sedan Black 112 mi.

1998 Lexus LS 400 $15,995 98,237 H & K Motors Sedan Bronze 104 mi.

1997 Lexus LS 400 $15,995 94,661 Flanagan and Seaton Sedan Black .

1997 Lexus LS 400 $15,995 114,309 Adrenalin Autohaus Sedan Black .

1998 Lexus LS 400 $15,995 84,435 Avon Auto Brokers Sedan Gold 65 mi.

1997 Lexus LS 400 $15,990 75,611 Carbiz Autos Sedan Moondust Metall...

1997 Lexus LS 400 $15,900 81,000 Classified Ad 647 mi.

1998 Lexus LS 400 $15,900 71,264 Northeast Motors, Inc Sedan Burgandy

1998 Lexus LS 400 $15,500 90,341 Buy & Sell Cars Inc. Sedan Blue

[akewlguy]

Also check out the generations and see how much the better the 00 is then the 98 or 99. I think they are almost the same. So if you could save 4k with one year and then $500 in taxes it might be worth your time.

On top of that if you drive 10k a year and you can get a 99 with 50k instead of a 00 with 71k miles you would have an extra year.

For sure check carfax (dont listen to skum bag/dealer unless its LEXUS (then dont listen to dealer, but mechanic)). DONT RUSH AND PRESSURE YOUR SELF.

I needed a car and searched for 2 months. It stuck to wait, but then I found my ideal LEXUS and I am so happy! Also I hear something about GPS not really that good on the 98 models. So dont let that effect your decision to much.

[akewlguy]

Good job with Carfax I missed that.

$300 dollars LCD is by a second hand place not LEXUS. So this may be a 1000 dollar repair. Remember the tires and the fact LEXUS is 6 years old.

Althought they last forever so that really is not a big deal, but negotiating with jerk off it will help. In fact dont even negotiate. Get a few more options by cars.com, autotrader.com and then go in there and say 18k, bye.

[akewlguy]

Hey he did not pay a penny over 16k for that LEXUS. One owner who drove it about 12k a year. Average LEXUS buyer age is 53 so figure a 59 year old traded it in for a new 05. He gave them about 16k towards their 40k car.

So after all is said and done they are happy and he is happy to make 4k off of you.

[SW03ES]

Akewl- Please, in the future if no one has responded to a thread since your last post, please just edit your last post instead of replying to your replies. Replying 5 times to your own post isn't neccisary, trying to be helpful or not.

Personally I think $22k on an 00 with 70k is a pretty good price depending on your area. Its not stellar and I would take the VIN to a Lexus dealer and see if you can get a service history. I would also take the car to a private mechanic or the Lexus dealer and pay to have it inspected. You can probably do better as akewlguy suggests.

Carfax is handy but you can't count on it. An inspection will tell you for sure if its ever been in an accident etc.

Front end usually needs work about 100k : LEXUS $2000+ or Mechanic $1000+

This is just not true at all. There can be some isolated front end issues with ball joints and strut ends but nothing widespread to say it "usually" needs work. $1000 from a private mechanic is also a high estimate.

Don't begrudge the dealer his profit, they're in business to make money and of course there's going to be a markup from what they paid. They also have to prep the car for sale, house it, and advertise it too. Yes they're going to make more than $100 on the deal too.

[sha4000]

yeah i think that is reasonable if the car is in good condition. i bought my 98 2 years ago on a private lot in queens and i didnt even have this forum to aski questions about it, i jst went from personal knowledge since i was driving a 91 at the time. the98 had70k and the sticker was 23 and change i waited 2 weeks and finally got him down to 18k things had been slow for this guy b/c there are nothing but used car lots,plus they all had luxury cars n them. i now have close to 120k on it and not a problem. absolutely no front end issues so i would recommend you get it and repair the lcd and flush all fluids, after you get it checked out of course

[akewlguy]

Sorry about the action. How does one correct their post.

So what year did the front ends get repaired for long term duribility?

[nc211]

Kewl, I think it was when they switched generations in 95 that they made some changes to the suspension, but I don't know to what extent. I say this because you can get those Diazan suspension bushings for the 1st generation models easily, but you can't get squat for the 2nd + generations "except for rear carrier ASUS bushing"...Or at least you couldn't a few months back when I decided to blow $1,600 for all new suspension components all the way around. There was a guy in Australia "Vlamos" that was working on them, but I haven't heard a thing from him since last January.

[SW03ES]

The front ends have always had long term durability. Certainly its moreso with every year but I've never heard about these front end problems you seem to think are rampant.

Fact is on all cars you're going to start needing suspension work ~100k or so. The bushings and struts just take a huge beating and however high quality they do wear out. 100k is great strut life for instance on any car.

[agc]

Qafas,

I tried sending you a PM, but could not; so I sent you an email instead

Thanks

[Qafas]

Thanks for all the replies guys...I really appreciate it. Well, I couldn't talk the guy down from $22K, but did check on the service records at a lexus dealer. Everything checked out just fine.

So, I go over to this dealership today and look over the car one more time before buying, and find that the one of the headlights is out. The only other thing out was the LCD. So, I ask if they'll fix that within the purchase price. The sales guy says no problem with the light, but he'll have to ask the sales manager (the guy I did most of the negotiating with a couple of days ago) about the LCD. The manager not just flat out refuses, but doesn't even have the decency to stand and talk it over with me. Says to me"you shouldn't have negotiated on the price if you wanted things fixed." Then says to the salesman, "it's as is. We're not doing anything else," and walks off.

So, I thought about it for a couple of minutes. Then I told the salesman that if and when the manager grows a bit more mature and acquires a few shreds of professionalism, and they decide to fix the LCD in the purchase price, they can give me a call. If not, they can chalk up the lost deal on a car that has been sitting on the lot for 2 months to the grand attitude of the manajerk. The sales guy walks out with me, apologizes for the manajerk's behavior and asks me to file a complaint with the head of sales for their dealership, which I now plan on doing. He says he'll talk to this head guy himself about the lcd, and get back to me.

I said if I decide to come back, I simply will not deal with the manajerk.

So, anyway, the deal has fallen through for the moment. But I do appreciate all your comments, especially the extended ones from kewlguy :) My search goes on for now...

[bartkat]

According to Edmunds.com, $22,000 is full dealer retail for a 2000 LS. They ought to come off of that some, if they really want to sell. I don't know anybody that pays full sticker price for any car.

[ragabnh]

I would not pay more than $18000 for it. Check Ebay you will find the right car for you

[akewlguy]

Man its part of the game. They knew you would pay about 22k so they threw the bone out and you almost bit.

As for the front ends. I might have been under the impression these cars have issues. Problably more with the pre 95 since they are over 10 years old. Secondly I drove a few (95-98) that were messed up, so I was concerned.

As for IDIOT sales mgr pushing the hard sell. SCREW them. I know that car will sell for 19 or less.

Good luck and hope I helped a bit

[luptona]

According to Edmunds.com, $22,000 is full dealer retail for a 2000 LS.  They ought to come off of that some, if they really want to sell.  I don't know anybody that pays full sticker price for any car.

←

Hmm... I'd be very suspicious of the rotten attitude. His unwillingness to fix the problem or negotiate with you (unless you've been snide as well :) may indicate other problems with the car that he may already know about. Look for other electrical issues; other lights burned out, radio noise or failed speakers or channels (left/right), etc. Look for any fogging in any panels like the instrument cluster, etc. My 98 LS still has the original headlamps, etc. All electrical is fine with one exception, a screw fell out of the dash right after it was purchased and caused a short. Now the stereo comes and goes on the right side occasionally. Never been able to pin it down. At least I know the car's history and no water damage which I would suspect if various electrical things were going haywire.

A couple of things to keep in mind (or question). Why is a 2000 LS400 being sold at the Toyota dealer and not at the Lexus dealer? He may have picked it up wholesale from the Lexus dealer because they wouldn't certify it or weren't willing to offer an extended warranty due to known issues. He may have gotten perturbed because you were hitting a little too close to home. Several years back I bought a Tahoe from XYZ Ford, when XYZ GMC/Chevy was about a mile down the road. I knew better and regretted it later. Found out several months later why the darn thing was wearing out tires so fast; it had been wrecked pretty bad. See, the Chevy dealer wouldn't cert it so they shipped it down the street to their Ford dealer, waxed it and sold it there. It was a beautiful truck and just what I was looking for at the right price... oops.

My personal advice is to forget the Toyota guy. Buy a brand from the brand dealer or get one from a private owner. And do all the research you can, Carfax, etc. Heck, the dealer will even print out the service history of the car if you ask nice. Mine did. Now, if the dealer can't certify because of the mileage, they will certainly sell you a warranty, generally for under $2K which will give you the same coverage as the certified. To extend my 98 LS400 to 8 yrs/80,000 miles was $1695 (I seem to remember). I didn't do it after all because I elected to put the money back in the car instead and take my chances... I didn't regret it but I could have. :) You can always throw the warranty in at the last moment as the deal breaker. Many times, they'll provide it or sell it to you at a significantly reduced cost rather than lose the sale. Especially if they know they have a really good car that they don't expect back for warranty work.

My 2 cents.

:)

[SKperformance]

The easiest thing in the world is to run the Vin with the DMV and go ask the old owner.

They don't care anymore abouts its problems as they sold it already.

18 000 for a good condition LS is ridiculously low if you find it snag it but there is probably a few expensive problems.

Lots of dealers get other make trade ins all the time. If they don;t sell them in about 2 months they ship them off to wholesale auctions like Adessa which are located across north America.

[lexguy2000]

Hi guys,

          I've been hunting for a 98-00 LS400 for about a month now.  Finally found one I really like....it is at a Toyota dealership.  It is a 2000, with 71K miles on it.  One owner, who traded it in for a new toyota.  The car was bought locally and has remained local the whole time.  Seems like it has been maintained well, but receipts for services are not available.  Carfax is clean.

It certainly drove very nicely, without any glitches or rattles etc.  The radio lcd display is starting to go.  Other than that, I didn't notice anything wrong with the car.

The advertised price was $26,998.  The car's been on the lot for 2 months now.  The dealer put it on sale for $22,998 recently, but told me today that he has since removed the sale price.  However, he was willing to honor the sale price if I wanted to buy.

Anyway, a little more haggling later I've got him down to $22,100, which he says is just a 100 bucks more than what his cost for the car was.

Now, does this seem like a good deal at that price to you guys?  I seriously doubt that he paid $22K for the trade, but I have no way of knowing what he did or did not pay.  I walked out today after much discussion and told him I wanted to sleep on the price.  Seems to me like he won't budge any more than that.

Also, should I go to a lexus dealership and run the VIN to see if service records are available?  Should I ask the dealer to replace the lcd before I buy (how much does that cost anyway?)

These are some of the questions I'm struggling with tonight.  Any input from you guys would be appreciated.  I've found quite a bit of useful information in various threads on this forum, and am hoping for some more timely responses to help me make this decision.

Thank you so much!

AJ

←

Everything is relative towards the condition of the car. If this car has good service records. No accidents, rust, paintwork, clean interior with no cuts, tears, non smoker, good tires. If it originated and came from the sunbelt. I'd be inclined to say $22,000 would be OK provided the lighting interior and exterior work.