Price Negotiation On Certified Pre-owned Lexus

[sictransit]

I'm planning to buy a "certified pre-owned" Lexus LS 430 soon, a 2002, 2003, or 2004 model, and I'm wondering if anyone here has any advice on negotiating the price, and how to figure out what my target price ought to be in negotiating with the dealer. Does anyone idea how much haggle room there is in the dealer-quoted price for certified pre-owned Lexuses?

[SW03ES]

It really depends on your marketplace, what the dealer had to do to prep the car, what they had to pay for it on trade, the mileage, colors, etc. Narrowing down a "target price" on a used car is a lot harder than on a new car.

I'll let some of the others that know more about used car negotiating than I do chime in.

Welcome to the LOC! You made the right choice with the LS430. My advice? Do the 2004 if you can swing it.

[Dust]

Hey welcome!

Unfortunately people will help you right away if you state more information. What is the maximum mileage would you prefer on the car? How much are you looking to spend? Because obviously the early 2001 years will make about a 3-4 thousand dollar difference.

( My opinion if I was in your shoes )

2002 - 45.000 miles a good deal would be $28-30.000

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;j...5802&aff=duluth

2003 - 26.000 miles a good deal would be $35.000

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?t...5802&aff=duluth

If I was to get a 2004, 2005 LS 430 I would just go to various dealers, depends on your location and get their quotes. Remember they have to make a profit too but there are hassles you should look out for. My opinion is to make sure you have warranty up to 100.000 miles

If you would like to learn about your dealer, what feedbacks they have received over the years, search here www.dealerrater.com

Good Luck and happy hunting for the next best thing on the road.

[dxt45]

a couple things to keep in mind:

The average car dealer wants to make a minimum of $2k on any used car....luxury and Lexus dealers usually want to make more. They typically play on people walking into the showroom, so do heavy research on internet pricing beforehand.

Find out how long they have had the car...if it's a "just in" car, they'll be asking top dollar, if they've had it for more than 30 days, it's likely they'll break even or take a loss to get rid of it. Find a dealer that is stuck with a car....and they'll do anything to sell it.

Typically, you should be able to negotiate anywhere from 5-10% off the asking price. Shoot for the lowest number possible, and work up from there.

[akewlguy]

Just get the 93 for 7k with 90k miles. I suspect the ride is similar. :)

I always compare prices on cars.com to get an idea of what market rate is..

Cheers

[sictransit]

It really depends on your marketplace, what the dealer had to do to prep the car, what they had to pay for it on trade, the mileage, colors, etc. Narrowing down a "target price" on a used car is a lot harder than on a new car.

I'll let some of the others that know more about used car negotiating than I do chime in.

Welcome to the LOC! You made the right choice with the LS430. My advice? Do the 2004 if you can swing it.

←

Any particular reason to prefer the 2004 over the 2003, aside from just being a year newer?

[cardona6569]

It really depends on your marketplace, what the dealer had to do to prep the car, what they had to pay for it on trade, the mileage, colors, etc. Narrowing down a "target price" on a used car is a lot harder than on a new car.

I'll let some of the others that know more about used car negotiating than I do chime in.

Welcome to the LOC! You made the right choice with the LS430. My advice? Do the 2004 if you can swing it.

←

Any particular reason to prefer the 2004 over the 2003, aside from just being a year newer?

←

Hi: The newer the model usually the more refined and less problems it could have, plus you have to spend less on warranty issues, since the car still has the factory warranty if it had not surpass the mileage, in which case is an overused car not to be bought from a dealer anyways. If you read closely you could even find in this forum a person who bought an LS with over 250,000 miles the person showed some pics of the car and it really looked very nice for a 1k and for all the time it has elepsed since it was on the factory floor.

To me and this is just my opinion, a Lex should be bought as newer or new if possible. But since not everyone like me has the cash to do it, we have to take the second best, buying it used, until in my case have the money to buy a new one. I will not give up until I get it out of the dealer floor brand new. I bought this one to practice and learn the Product, in other words a rehearsal in the Lexus brand. And so far my 98 runs pretty nicely. Even the cassette works like a charm.

Parting words, get the best service/warranty agreement. Second the opinion of the Member who told you to find the differnt dealers and the one that told you about going to several dealers and checking the book value as the other owner with the one with the cingular pic, are very good advice. Remember this is a capitalistic venture dealers are there to take as much money as they can from your pocket. Even as I experienced in my dealership that the sales manager treated me so well, even as I ended up not buying a car from them.

In my case my Lex was originally priced at 20,000.00 they placed an ad in the net, no one paid much attention to the car. I happened to stumble across the ad and asked them, they painted it like the car was perfect. When I got to the dealer the car had the check engine on, I asked to take the car for an hour on the road to see how it moved, they agreed, they erased the code, the code came back, due to not being extra careful I did not notice a little ding in the bumper, but when it was time to buy I told them, at this time they lowered the price to 17,999.00, to which I told them dream on buddy, they kept at it and I replied, 15,000.00 they said they could not, I said I could not. Later they called me and agreed for 75.00 dollars more for the tittle which is understood and that is how I got my car which the dealer had almost forgot about it. Even the salemen told me that car had been there waiting and fogotten. That is why I second the opinion of a car that has been left at the dealer lot for more than 30 days. Make sure to do a carfact check, remember there will be many flooded cars from the hurracaine hit areas, and I do not care if it is an 2005 model, they will come with problems. I will only buy one of them if is a 2005 and they give me full warranty, which they will not do, and sell it to me for about 20,000.

My grain of Salt

Sincerely,

C. PR

[craigamuir]

I bought my 70k miles 2000LS on eBay. It took a leap of faith to wire transfer $20K to someone and then wait a week for my car to show up. None of my friends could believe I did it.

I live in Sterling, VA. and I bought a Jade green LS from a dealer in Tucson. I was the only bidder, just meeting his minimum. We talked afterwards and he was mad. He said he would never buy another green one because nobody wants them. He went to Connecticutt to buy mine and he had to truck it to Tucson.

The buying experience was great. It turned out that he had misrepresented the tires because they would not pass inspection. 4 new tires cost me $600. He said that he felt the tires were ok but to avoid a bad feedback he would do whatever I asked. We split the cost, $300 apiece.

The main point was that in August 2004, 2000LSs were selling for $31K - $33K at dealers, but they were going for a lot less on eBay. I won the bidding on mine at $19,900. I had to pay $800 to have it shipped here. A 10-car carrier showed up on my street about 7 days later and off loaded my baby. I would recommend eBay to anyone buying an LS.

[akewlguy]

I like the 15k offer. Place your offer and walk away. I was about to buy a 98 and the guy was begging me to make and offer. I think he would have done it for 11k, but I bought the color I really wanted in a 93. Then turned around and added a few thousand in tires and all that.