Thinking About Joining The Club... Help!

[pkp207]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I am thinking about buying a used 2006 Lexus GS. Looking at getting AWD with all the options. Just have a few questions...

I'm going to a Used Car dealership on Sunday (I hope) to look at one on sale that matches my description. Has about 35k miles, clean carfax and carcheck. The car is still under warranty for about 1 year. The asking price is currently 24k. Is this a good deal (assuming once I go the car is clean)?

What are your experiences with the car? I mean I know I'm going to hear mostly good things since its a GS forum... but its nice to hear from the ppl who have the car itself. I am looking for a car thats a comfortable/luxury ride with a little bit of power/sport in it. I'm also looking to keep this car for a LONG time.

I've read the posts... seen a bunch of people commenting on the rattles in the car... is this really a problem in ALL the GS models? Could I be making a mistake here... or is it something that can be fixed even if the car I get has it (based on the posts I haven't seem to get a clear picture)

I live in NY suburb area (Queens near LI), if there are people around here on this board... where's a good dealership to go to in the area? Will they even allow me to go to their dealership for warranty service checkups? (I plan to do this once I buy the car, whenever that is). I know there were 3 service recalls and that'd have to be the first thing I get done.

I've read about Lexus's extended warranty... seems like a good plan, but how would that work for me since I'm planning on buying from a used car dealership?

ANY and all info given would be greatly appreciated. Sorry that my first post is so long, I just really want to pick the brains of the owners and get a good idea of what it's like to have this car.

Thanks for your help everyone!

[steviej]

I picked up an 06 GS AWD from my aunt last May. Best car I have ever driven. The AWD is fabulous in the New England snow (been challenged many times this winter). I have never had any rattles, but the windshield pins were removed as per a TSB, so I can't say that I have ever heard what this annoying rattle actually sounds like. I loved my 02 ES, and I like the GS even more.

steviej

[John Stanley]

I have a 2006 GS 300 with "all the bells and whistles" except for AWD. It has 78000 miles on it, and remains an excellent car. The dash rattles a little bit in extremely cold weather, but other than that, it's a quiet, beautiful car. In ordinary weather, there are no rattles. Lexus service at Lexus of Wayzata Minnesota, where I bought it, is superb. Since Minneapolis is my wife's home town, we're there a lot, so service there is no problem, even though I live in Ontario Canada.

Stan

[John Stanley]

One other thing about my 06 GS 300 RWD, I've never had a problem in snow, in Ontario, or Minnesota. I put on Dunlop Graspics, and use the Snow Control mode and common sense.

Stan

[The G Man]

pkp207, if you are the type who hates rattles, skip on the GS. The dealer can fix the rattle sort of, but not completly. Anytime you dis-assemble the whole dash, you are asking for problem.

[pkp207]

pkp207, if you are the type who hates rattles, skip on the GS. The dealer can fix the rattle sort of, but not completly. Anytime you dis-assemble the whole dash, you are asking for problem.

First of all thank you all for the advice and comments... keep them coming! I'll take any and all info I can get :D

G man, how bad are these rattles and sounds ? I have a 93 Maxima thats mostly quiet except for when it gets pretty cold. You hear things here and there but its nothing bad at all.

I feel like small sounds and what not I could deal with if the ride is as comfortable people say it is. But Gman, what did you do to try to fix it? How many times was it at the dealer? Did it get better at least? Or still unbearable? Let me know...

Other people if you're like G man let me know too... I want all opinions and comments.

Thanks again for all of your help!

[dcfish]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I am thinking about buying a used 2006 Lexus GS. Looking at getting AWD with all the options. Just have a few questions...

I'm going to a Used Car dealership on Sunday (I hope) to look at one on sale that matches my description. Has about 35k miles, clean carfax and carcheck. The car is still under warranty for about 1 year. The asking price is currently 24k. Is this a good deal (assuming once I go the car is clean)?

What are your experiences with the car? I mean I know I'm going to hear mostly good things since its a GS forum... but its nice to hear from the ppl who have the car itself. I am looking for a car thats a comfortable/luxury ride with a little bit of power/sport in it. I'm also looking to keep this car for a LONG time.

I've read the posts... seen a bunch of people commenting on the rattles in the car... is this really a problem in ALL the GS models? Could I be making a mistake here... or is it something that can be fixed even if the car I get has it (based on the posts I haven't seem to get a clear picture)

I live in NY suburb area (Queens near LI), if there are people around here on this board... where's a good dealership to go to in the area? Will they even allow me to go to their dealership for warranty service checkups? (I plan to do this once I buy the car, whenever that is). I know there were 3 service recalls and that'd have to be the first thing I get done.

I've read about Lexus's extended warranty... seems like a good plan, but how would that work for me since I'm planning on buying from a used car dealership?

ANY and all info given would be greatly appreciated. Sorry that my first post is so long, I just really want to pick the brains of the owners and get a good idea of what it's like to have this car.

Thanks for your help everyone!

Welcome to the Club

[skillydog]

See my comments in Bold below... Let me know what you end up doing! I am picking mine up tomorrow (Sat.)

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I am thinking about buying a used 2006 Lexus GS. Looking at getting AWD with all the options. Just have a few questions...

I'm going to a Used Car dealership on Sunday (I hope) to look at one on sale that matches my description. Has about 35k miles, clean carfax and carcheck. The car is still under warranty for about 1 year. The asking price is currently 24k. Is this a good deal (assuming once I go the car is clean)?

That sounds like an "almost too good to be true" price. I would be very skeptical on buying it from a dealer that is not a Lexus dealership. I have done a good amount of research on the prices, and am picking mine up tomorrow from a Lexus dealer in the Detroit area. 2006 GS AWD 33,000 miles, no Nav, No Levinson sound system and I am paying 27K for it. I may be paying a little high, but it is in mint condition and I know the dealership pretty well. Just my opinion.. be careful and make sure you see a CARFAX report on it, and a maintenance record if possible.

What are your experiences with the car? I mean I know I'm going to hear mostly good things since its a GS forum... but its nice to hear from the ppl who have the car itself. I am looking for a car thats a comfortable/luxury ride with a little bit of power/sport in it. I'm also looking to keep this car for a LONG time.

I've read the posts... seen a bunch of people commenting on the rattles in the car... is this really a problem in ALL the GS models? Could I be making a mistake here... or is it something that can be fixed even if the car I get has it (based on the posts I haven't seem to get a clear picture)

I live in NY suburb area (Queens near LI), if there are people around here on this board... where's a good dealership to go to in the area? Will they even allow me to go to their dealership for warranty service checkups? (I plan to do this once I buy the car, whenever that is). I know there were 3 service recalls and that'd have to be the first thing I get done. If any recalls on the vehicle were not already done, this should also be a concern. If the prior owner did not get those things taken care of, he probably didn't get proper oil changes or take generally good care of the car.

I've read about Lexus's extended warranty... seems like a good plan, but how would that work for me since I'm planning on buying from a used car dealership?

It may not qualify for a CPO warranty... in fact, that may be WHY it is on a independant lot, because the local Lexus dealer that took it in on a trade-in may have determined that it wasn't up to standard for some reason.

ANY and all info given would be greatly appreciated. Sorry that my first post is so long, I just really want to pick the brains of the owners and get a good idea of what it's like to have this car.

Thanks for your help everyone!

:cheers: Welcome to the Club :cheers:

[pkp207]

See my comments in Bold below... Let me know what you end up doing! I am picking mine up tomorrow (Sat.)

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I am thinking about buying a used 2006 Lexus GS. Looking at getting AWD with all the options. Just have a few questions...

I'm going to a Used Car dealership on Sunday (I hope) to look at one on sale that matches my description. Has about 35k miles, clean carfax and carcheck. The car is still under warranty for about 1 year. The asking price is currently 24k. Is this a good deal (assuming once I go the car is clean)?

That sounds like an "almost too good to be true" price. I would be very skeptical on buying it from a dealer that is not a Lexus dealership. I have done a good amount of research on the prices, and am picking mine up tomorrow from a Lexus dealer in the Detroit area. 2006 GS AWD 33,000 miles, no Nav, No Levinson sound system and I am paying 27K for it. I may be paying a little high, but it is in mint condition and I know the dealership pretty well. Just my opinion.. be careful and make sure you see a CARFAX report on it, and a maintenance record if possible.

What are your experiences with the car? I mean I know I'm going to hear mostly good things since its a GS forum... but its nice to hear from the ppl who have the car itself. I am looking for a car thats a comfortable/luxury ride with a little bit of power/sport in it. I'm also looking to keep this car for a LONG time.

I've read the posts... seen a bunch of people commenting on the rattles in the car... is this really a problem in ALL the GS models? Could I be making a mistake here... or is it something that can be fixed even if the car I get has it (based on the posts I haven't seem to get a clear picture)

I live in NY suburb area (Queens near LI), if there are people around here on this board... where's a good dealership to go to in the area? Will they even allow me to go to their dealership for warranty service checkups? (I plan to do this once I buy the car, whenever that is). I know there were 3 service recalls and that'd have to be the first thing I get done. If any recalls on the vehicle were not already done, this should also be a concern. If the prior owner did not get those things taken care of, he probably didn't get proper oil changes or take generally good care of the car.

I've read about Lexus's extended warranty... seems like a good plan, but how would that work for me since I'm planning on buying from a used car dealership?

It may not qualify for a CPO warranty... in fact, that may be WHY it is on a independant lot, because the local Lexus dealer that took it in on a trade-in may have determined that it wasn't up to standard for some reason.

ANY and all info given would be greatly appreciated. Sorry that my first post is so long, I just really want to pick the brains of the owners and get a good idea of what it's like to have this car.

Thanks for your help everyone!

:cheers: Welcome to the Club :cheers:

Thanks for the welcomes everyone... very nice to be accetped so early haha.

So I did a little more research, and even though the carfax is clean, I ran an autocheck (anyone about to buy a used car I suggest you get this too) on the car and it was sold as a car with unibody damage... even though the car looks clean, as you said, it was too good to be true :(

So again I must go back to looking for a car at a good price... I found one at a Nissan dealership that's in mint condition and actually does check out on carfax and carcheck are clean. As of now they're asking for 28,500 or something. No idea if this is a good price or not

The reason why I'm not pulling the trigger that fast is because I have an uncle who knows the auto auction business so I roughly know how much a car like this costs... They can say all they want about the services they do, but that can only cost so much. But at the same time, it's gonna be tough to find a totally clean car for the price I'm hoping for.