Should I Buy A 2000 Gs400?

[gsnoles]

Hey all. Im looking for some seasoned GS owners' insight...after about 4 months of research Ive decided im going to buy a GS...Only problem is deciding on a 2000 that looks good one owner no wrecks far as I can tell...with almost 79k mi. for about 14k.. or spending the ten grand additional on a 430 around 03 or 04. I know opinions vary on the two but Im looking for major downsides if any and just some 2 cents from informed owners. SO if you guys can warn me of any MAJOR drawbacks of going older its very much appreciated. Also is 14k a fair price for a 00 with nav, one owner with no known paintwork or wrecks? Or am I overpaying??? I plan on doing the 90k maint, but not till then of course. Its from a non-lex dealer...I also was considering one from a lex dealer that is about the same milage but its a base car, no nav..similar on price one owner, no wrecks...the 430's seem to run around 25k which is a lot for me for a used car with 50k in mi's. thanks in advance fellas.

[sakataj]

welcome to the forum

with that last sentence........it seems you have already made up your mind on this matter! but i dont think 25k is that much for a 5 year old car that originally was 45-47k depending on features! just shop around if you cant find a better one or look for a 2001 gs430! i got mine off ebay for 14k! no bs i can send you the link!

brian

[gsnoles]

welcome to the forum

with that last sentence........it seems you have already made up your mind on this matter! but i dont think 25k is that much for a 5 year old car that originally was 45-47k depending on features! just shop around if you cant find a better one or look for a 2001 gs430! i got mine off ebay for 14k! no bs i can send you the link!

brian

Thanks for reply Brian! Ive been debating for a long time and I started looking at the 430's originally. I just love the car...I agree its a great value for a 50k car.. Its just that there are very few of them local by me that im seeing at under 25k w/Nav. I drive a good bit so I really do want the Nav. I have had some second thoughts about the older ones with hard drives and I read that they can only be updated to 04. I thought about getting one wout and putting a custom one in but read there some drawbacks. Im also a little afraid of 03's with 3 owners that have over 100k. Seem hard to come by private owners in the south with low miles one owner...Seems people dont sell these great cars if they are not wrecked. And after driving it-I know why! Thats an outstanding deal on your car congrats! Send me the link if you still have it pls. Thanks

noles2g@gmail.com

[sakataj]

crap i had a post on here with the link but cant find it.......i went to ebay and since it was from back in nov u can no longer view it! :cries: i knew my car had been in a wreck but i did a carfax on it and all parts were replaced by a certified Lexus collision specialist so it didn't bother me so much! i have all the options including the ml stereo/nav ect etc only one i didn't get was the 17" rims i got the 16"s and i wish it was black on black but i love her regardless! only has 70K on it when i bought it! and since nov i have put 20k on it.........driving from Manhattan to Erie pa, then back to Memphis, then to Virginia, than to little rock. I'll be taking her to Nashville and little rock shortly! i go out of town on personal stuff a lot! i just got my 90k maintenance done and will be replacing my tires shortly! i have done nothign to her but a yellow top optima, k& n air filter, new pads/rotors front and rear!

Brian

[gsnoles]

Good to hear that you have had a trouble free exp. AND that you drive alot. I HAVE to be comfortable as I commute a bit and have a messed up back...and didnt want a car thats too much lux though with no sport..drove just about every car (under 30k used) and keep coming back to the GS. I looked at the LS too but think its just too conservative and pricey (for me) So im going to make a final offer on a silver/tan 04 with Navi/MLev, spoiler with the 17's...has all options offered in 04 :D about 37k mi and still under warranty for a few months. FL car, 2 owner, clean carfax and hasent been hit far as I can tell. Im going to get a mechanic to look at it sat.

He's firm on price.. He wants 24.5k...He has came down from 26k. Do you think its a fair deal Brian??

[gsnoles]

crap i had a post on here with the link but cant find it.......i went to ebay and since it was from back in nov u can no longer view it! :cries: i knew my car had been in a wreck but i did a carfax on it and all parts were replaced by a certified Lexus collision specialist so it didn't bother me so much! i have all the options including the ml stereo/nav ect etc only one i didn't get was the 17" rims i got the 16"s and i wish it was black on black but i love her regardless! only has 70K on it when i bought it! and since nov i have put 20k on it.........driving from Manhattan to Erie pa, then back to Memphis, then to Virginia, than to little rock. I'll be taking her to Nashville and little rock shortly! i go out of town on personal stuff a lot! i just got my 90k maintenance done and will be replacing my tires shortly! i have done nothign to her but a yellow top optima, k& n air filter, new pads/rotors front and rear!

Brian

sorry for ignorance but is a top optima an intake? Did it make any diff in performance in your opinion? Id like to do some bolts ons as soon as can.. nothing crazy, but a lil something..Are the chips a waste of $? also what did the 90k maint cost you? The car has the bridgestone oems on it with like 75% life left. so I think I'll wait till they wear out to get 18 or 19' wheels..what kind of tires are you looking at btw?

[gsnoles]

crap i had a post on here with the link but cant find it.......i went to ebay and since it was from back in nov u can no longer view it! :cries: i knew my car had been in a wreck but i did a carfax on it and all parts were replaced by a certified Lexus collision specialist so it didn't bother me so much! i have all the options including the ml stereo/nav ect etc only one i didn't get was the 17" rims i got the 16"s and i wish it was black on black but i love her regardless! only has 70K on it when i bought it! and since nov i have put 20k on it.........driving from Manhattan to Erie pa, then back to Memphis, then to Virginia, than to little rock. I'll be taking her to Nashville and little rock shortly! i go out of town on personal stuff a lot! i just got my 90k maintenance done and will be replacing my tires shortly! i have done nothign to her but a yellow top optima, k& n air filter, new pads/rotors front and rear!

Brian

sorry for ignorance but is a top optima an intake? Did it make any diff in performance in your opinion? Id like to do some bolts ons as soon as can.. nothing crazy, but a lil something..Are the chips a waste of $? also what did the 90k maint cost you? The car has the bridgestone oems on it with like 75% life left. so I think I'll wait till they wear out to get 18 or 19' wheels..what kind of tires are you looking at btw?

[kc92hatch]

Well, you're a Seminole and I'm a Tiger (Clemson), but I'll reply anyway! ;-)

The Optima is just a battery, not an intake. A nice battery, by the way. I don't have a GS (yet. still looking like you) but have done much research and reading here. The 90k service seems to run from about a low of $800 (at a non-Lexus shop) to maybe $1800 or so at a Lexus dealer, so not cheap.

Here is my $0.02....you seem to be jumping between only two options, $14K 2000 or a $25K 2004. ($14000 for a 2000 is too much imo.) Here in the KC area, 2001 GS430's can be had for around $14k with typically 80k to 100k miles. I would think you could some other nice GS alternatives in the 2001-2002 range in the mid to upper $teens.

Later!!!!

crap i had a post on here with the link but cant find it.......i went to ebay and since it was from back in nov u can no longer view it! :cries: i knew my car had been in a wreck but i did a carfax on it and all parts were replaced by a certified Lexus collision specialist so it didn't bother me so much! i have all the options including the ml stereo/nav ect etc only one i didn't get was the 17" rims i got the 16"s and i wish it was black on black but i love her regardless! only has 70K on it when i bought it! and since nov i have put 20k on it.........driving from Manhattan to Erie pa, then back to Memphis, then to Virginia, than to little rock. I'll be taking her to Nashville and little rock shortly! i go out of town on personal stuff a lot! i just got my 90k maintenance done and will be replacing my tires shortly! i have done nothign to her but a yellow top optima, k& n air filter, new pads/rotors front and rear!

Brian

sorry for ignorance but is a top optima an intake? Did it make any diff in performance in your opinion? Id like to do some bolts ons as soon as can.. nothing crazy, but a lil something..Are the chips a waste of $? also what did the 90k maint cost you? The car has the bridgestone oems on it with like 75% life left. so I think I'll wait till they wear out to get 18 or 19' wheels..what kind of tires are you looking at btw?

[gsnoles]

KC

Any ACC fan is a friend of mine!

I rarely see 01-02's available. I did see one with issues months ago...I want 1 or 2 owner car thats clean. Im willing to pay a lil extra for that I guess. Im getting tired of looking though..The 2000 I saw fit the 1owner/no wrecks condition, but from Lex dealer..I suspected it was overvalued by a few G's. starting to sell myself on spending the extra $ on the 04..There were something like less than 1500 produced that year I heard yesterday...so I guess Im just not going to have a ton to compare it too around here, if I want a FL car. Good luck to you in your search as well KC. I wish I could find an 02 in the teens around here! The 02 I found is 23.5k... hardly worth saving a few K at that point. For an extra 2k I can get an 04 with 2 yrs less milage..I haven seen ANY 01's yet!

[sakataj]

yes i think as long as the car is in good condition and a mechanic YOU TRUST says its ok i would take it! i think thats a semi cheap price for a 03 gs430 with 37k ml/nav/spoiler/etc/etc actually ! no the yellow top optima is a after market battery normally made for a big stereo system or something else that needs more juice, i stole it from my es300 before i sold it! i haven't done a chip nor do i think i will! im looking into some headers/the jet supercharger/and some exhaust but i know i will be pipe dreaming 4 a min as i just bought another bike and im gonna have another surgery shortly! Plus im wanting to do a coil over/big break kit/rims & tires before i do performance stuff! i really liked the Michelin mxv4's i ran on my es300 i had no problems with them they are still on the car! (i sold it to my father) also was looking at some Yokohama advans but i will decide on that this week i HAVE 2 do tires before next Friday. i think wed night i might make a BIG stinky burnout/donuts and just light up the old tires and then drop off the car to get tires thurs morning :whistles:

Brian

[gsnoles]

yes i think as long as the car is in good condition and a mechanic YOU TRUST says its ok i would take it! i think thats a semi cheap price for a 03 gs430 with 37k ml/nav/spoiler/etc/etc actually ! no the yellow top optima is a after market battery normally made for a big stereo system or something else that needs more juice, i stole it from my es300 before i sold it! i haven't done a chip nor do i think i will! im looking into some headers/the jet supercharger/and some exhaust but i know i will be pipe dreaming 4 a min as i just bought another bike and im gonna have another surgery shortly! Plus im wanting to do a coil over/big break kit/rims & tires before i do performance stuff! i really liked the Michelin mxv4's i ran on my es300 i had no problems with them they are still on the car! (i sold it to my father) also was looking at some Yokohama advans but i will decide on that this week i HAVE 2 do tires before next Friday. i think wed night i might make a BIG stinky burnout/donuts and just light up the old tires and then drop off the car to get tires thurs morning :whistles:

Brian

Nice! Ok im feeling better about the buy thanks!...Its a loaded 2004, actually still under factory warr... for a few months. Im gonna bring it to lexus here in tpa to see if they will look at it for me.

TIRES-Ive had pretty good luck with the pair of Kumho's I have on my G35 6MT....they were cheap and came highly reco's from my best friend who is a parts manager for ten yrs. toyota/lex, and now mitsu...Ive owned conti's when I had my bimmer and oem goodyrs on my G35 prior to the kumho's. They are at the very least equal, if not beter that the oems that were more than twice the price of the kumho ecstas...Mich's are awesome just expensive! Yea I def want coilovers and rims first...intake headers,exhaust after...How much does that jet super chrgr cost?! :D Thats the dream add-on for me...Oh and what bike do you have? My boy just got an 08 CBRR 1000...that thing is sick!!

[sakataj]

i know the michelin's are expensie but i dont want a tire wearing quickly and i really liked them! the supercvharger is like 3000k plus installation/tuning/front mount etc or wjatever u wanna add! i haqve 2 2005 gsxr 1000's. oh i paid about 450 for the 90k maintanance BUT i supplied all the parts which ran me about 400 so i essentially spent 950! still cheaper than what lexus wanted!

brian

[sakataj]

so did u ever decide what you gonna get?

brian

[J Mo]

Hey all. Brand new to the site so I hope I'm doing this right. GSNOLES the GS 430 is definitely your best bet with the options you mention. My GS 430 has 147k and hasn't had any problems at all. Great ride and serious power.

Hey all. Im looking for some seasoned GS owners' insight...after about 4 months of research Ive decided im going to buy a GS...Only problem is deciding on a 2000 that looks good one owner no wrecks far as I can tell...with almost 79k mi. for about 14k.. or spending the ten grand additional on a 430 around 03 or 04. I know opinions vary on the two but Im looking for major downsides if any and just some 2 cents from informed owners. SO if you guys can warn me of any MAJOR drawbacks of going older its very much appreciated. Also is 14k a fair price for a 00 with nav, one owner with no known paintwork or wrecks? Or am I overpaying??? I plan on doing the 90k maint, but not till then of course. Its from a non-lex dealer...I also was considering one from a lex dealer that is about the same milage but its a base car, no nav..similar on price one owner, no wrecks...the 430's seem to run around 25k which is a lot for me for a used car with 50k in mi's. thanks in advance fellas.

[sakataj]

hahaha your last post says u only have 146k mileage :chairshot: .............im onto u boy u like exaggerating! :D now im just kinda breaking your balls, but sorta being serious!

brian