Is This A Good Deal On A 98 Gs400?

[l3xu5]

Since most of you here own/have owned a Lexus, I wanted to get your opinion on a deal I found. I found a used 1998 GS400 at a Lexus dealer for $9800 (can probably deal him down a bit) and as far as I can tell, it has no damage, looks clean, and the CarFax report shows no accidents or any other questionable history. The reason that it's so cheap is that the car has a lot of miles on it, almost 167,000 miles. Even though I don't plan on driving more than 6k mi/yr, it still seems like a lot of miles to me.

Based on the blue book value of the car, this is a pretty good deal. But should I be buying a GS400 with this many miles on it? I asked the dealer if it was CPO and they said too many miles and too old. It has Nakamichi, heated seats, and traction, so it seems pretty tempting. I know if treated right, these cars can go easy 300k+ miles, but I'm worried that with so many miles, I might get problems if the previous owner didn't baby it.

Thanks.

[SRK]

Two things are important when looking at a high mile car - number of owners and service history. If the car has had a single owner, it has probably been well looked after, and therefore should have a good service history. If it has had more than about three owners, wait for the next GS to come up.

[l3xu5]

Well, the dealer says the car has had only one owner while the CarFax report says 2. It also shows that the car was registered as a Fleet vehicle at one point, so not sure if that's a + or a -. As far as the service history, not sure how much is available from the Dealer and there's almost nothing on the CarFax report. I guess this is just one of those where you have to get an independent inspection done and roll the dice.

Any other thoughts?

[ZINFANDEL22]

Well, the dealer says the car has had only one owner while the CarFax report says 2. It also shows that the car was registered as a Fleet vehicle at one point, so not sure if that's a + or a -. As far as the service history, not sure how much is available from the Dealer and there's almost nothing on the CarFax report. I guess this is just one of those where you have to get an independent inspection done and roll the dice.

Any other thoughts?

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I think the price you are looking at is the same price you will pay for a 1 owner well cared for car so if its not fitting that bill personaly I would keep looking. Most people either have there service records or at least used there lexus dealers for some service so I prefer a paper trail myself with any older or high mileage cars,just my opinion.

[Gumart1]

Remember in just 13k miles the timing belt and water pump are recommended to be changed as part of the costly 90k service. So be sure to factor this in to your cost. Is it for sale by a Lexus Dealer? If I am going to buy a Lexus from a Dealer, I would prefer it be from a Dealer who knows the car very well. Have the Dealer run the entire service history. I mostly agree a one owner is better, but I've also seen one owners get very lazy when they know they are getting up there in miles and don't feel like shelling out those Dealer prices or know they'll be dumping it eventually. I'd say if you can have it fully inspected first plus negotiate for the upcoming 90k service then it might be worth considering.

[l3xu5]

Lots of good thoughts. It is being sold by a Lexus dealer, but I'm not sure if it was taken care of by that dealer (I'd just assume not). However, the salesperson is going to fax me over service records he has, so I'll take a look at those and see what's been done recently.

As for the ownership, there was a corporate lease (fleet) on the vehicle's title from when it was purchased until 20k miles. After that, it was sold to a private owner. If that owner took good care of it for those 147k miles, and took it to a Lexus dealer regularly for service, that would be nice.

I've heard that the 90k service is in the $1200 range or so. Can't I just take the GS400 to a Toyota dealer and have them do it there? I mean, it will definitely be less and they should have identical parts (or close to it). Has anyone tried doing this? Or maybe I can just have the dealer do the 90k service now and negotiate it in to the price (unlikely though considering it's that expensive). But that 90k service would definitely kill the deal.

[ZINFANDEL22]

Remember in just 13k miles the timing belt and water pump are recommended to be changed as part of the costly 90k service. So be sure to factor this in to your cost. Is it for sale by a Lexus Dealer? If I am going to buy a Lexus from a Dealer, I would prefer it be from a Dealer who knows the car very well. Have the Dealer run the entire service history. I mostly agree a one owner is better, but I've also seen one owners get very lazy when they know they are getting up there in miles and don't feel like shelling out those Dealer prices or know they'll be dumping it eventually. I'd say if you can have it fully inspected first plus negotiate for the upcoming 90k service then it might be worth considering.

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just remember you are in the drivers seat. they want to sell the car you would be suprised what you can get them to through in. check the service records wheel and deal your 90,000 service in ,and have it checked out by a good mechanic.

[master]

Remember in just 13k miles the timing belt and water pump are recommended to be changed as part of the costly 90k service. So be sure to factor this in to your cost. Is it for sale by a Lexus Dealer? If I am going to buy a Lexus from a Dealer, I would prefer it be from a Dealer who knows the car very well. Have the Dealer run the entire service history. I mostly agree a one owner is better, but I've also seen one owners get very lazy when they know they are getting up there in miles and don't feel like shelling out those Dealer prices or know they'll be dumping it eventually. I'd say if you can have it fully inspected first plus negotiate for the upcoming 90k service then it might be worth considering.

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just remember you are in the drivers seat. they want to sell the car you would be suprised what you can get them to through in. check the service records wheel and deal your 90,000 service in ,and have it checked out by a good mechanic.

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I agree with you, there is alot more you have to inspect, bring your mechanic, this is a must!!!!! Remeber car is being sold "AS IS" condition, after purchase you might not be able to take it back RE/ to "AS IS" condition. TAKE YOUR TIME