Need Input In Finding My Next Car

[cduluk]

Well we bought it!! :D

The guy walked around my Rx300 and had no idea all the things i did to it. He agreed it was in good condition and took the deal my dad offered him. $20,000 plus the Rx300 which he gave us $11k for. So the final price for the 08 400h was $31,000 which i think is really good.

Only thing is i can't drive it until we get it registered on Tuesday. Since we purchased it out of state, we have to bring it to the police station, then register it at the DMV and everything...

But i LOVE it!

Upon close inspection, i noticed the front bumper had been re-painted. But whoever did it, did an AMAZING job as there are only 2 or 3 little dust marks. The masking was done perfectly along with the color match. and there was no internal damage, must have just been cosmetic to hide the 42k miles of stone chips etc.

Also, i think the front windshield has been replaced, as it only had a few chips (not consistent with 42k miles) and Lexus isn't written on it. Actually.... on the bottom right (if you were looking at it from the front of the car) it's written "united" in black ink. And right above it, it looks like there was a "LEXUS" engraved, but looks like someone sanded and polished it away (but i can still see the "wave" of the lexus letters. What's up with that??? There's also a little 'waviness" in the glass which also makes me think it's after-market. But it honestly looks like "LEXUS" was engraved above the "United" and for some reason removed and polished. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow.

And i checked the tires, they look almost brand new, Michelin's. Couldn't see the brakes but they feel fine. Car runs like a charm :)

:D

[denslexusgx470]

Congrats and enjoy! ;)

[SW03ES]

I agree, and somewhat disagree on the way a corporate car is cared for. I certainly agree the top floor guys usually get the Lexus's, no argument there. But, if that driver just so happens to not like his job, his company, and knows the car technically isn't his, well, you can see where I'm coming from. I recall as a kid, with my dad going up that corporate ladder, we had a few of those "company cars" too. They weren't abused by any means, but they didn't get the expensive car wash treatment, let it warm up a bit in the morning before flooring it, kind of care. But, you're dad is the flip side to that argument as well. Someone who takes care of the things in his possession and such. Plus, isn't your dad in the real estate game as well? I can't recall. If so, then I know he knows how important a nice, clean, car is, like you do!

You just have to make sure that the service history is there, and provided its 2-3 years old theres really not a whole lot someone could have done to it...

My dad was in sales but in the paper industry for about 40 years until he retired a couple years ago. He definately understands the importance of a nice clean well maintained car like I do though, I get that from him. His 98 LS he leased himself for 3 years, and then they bought it for him when he went to management and he drove it for another 3 years until they leased him his LS430, and they gave that to him when he retired.

His company paid for the carwashes too ;)

Congrats on the car! The windshield definately sounds aftermarket, and a repaint of the bumper isn't a big deal. Most Lexus dealers repaint the bumpers before they sell cars CPO. I'd buy a Lexus extended warranty from Toby on here before it hits 50k miles. That color is called Flint Mica, its a GREAT color, you'll come to like it. My dad's LS430 is that color. Black or grey interior?

[cduluk]

Thanks guys :)

But why would someone try to remove the "LEXUS" from the windshield? How can it be after-market if it has the Lexus name. It was definitely "removed", i could see what looked like wet-sand lines and the "waves" of a polisher. Maybe it was a reject?

And the exterior color isn't the flint mica, it's actually called "Smoky Granite Mica". Looks the same as the 04-07 dark gray "flint mica" just this one has a lot of different color flakes in it, in different lighting it looks blue, grey etc... It'll come to like it.

For the interior it's in black. At first i didn't think i'd like it, but now that i've been in it, i really like it! It seems very classy, especially with the walnut trim and silver around the console. The only other colors optional were black dash with gray seats (which would have been my choice if it were an 07) or the gray dash with tan seats, which IMO looks awful. I also think the black will age better vs the gray or tan, and i do take good care of it. Just cleaned & conditioned the leather with leatherique, it looks awesome!

Whoever owned this car took good care of it :) I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them up <_<

[SW03ES]

Could have been a reject...weird.

Smokey Granite Mica is nice too...

I'm a big fan of black interiors. Mine is black, nothing ages as well as a black interior...

[Kyle Petree]

Congratulations on your purchase!

I felt the same way about the black interior, my ES had a grey interior which I liked very much but my RX has black interior, at first I didn't know if I would like it but now I've come to love it, much better than the grey.

[cduluk]

Yeah, i am definitely getting used to the color combo :)

I figured out how to get the bluetooth connected which is SO cool... and the AFS is freaking awesome, it even raises and lowers when you accelerate and brake so you don't blind people.

Only issue is that the drivers side door sill "LEXUS" doesn't light up like the others... At least it's under warranty. Not a big deal.

And the POWER! UMPH! So much better than my Rx300. I just looked it up, the 08 400h actually has better acceleration than the 010 450h :)

[cduluk]

You're never gonna believe this! lol

So when we traded in my old Rx300, they gave us 11k for the trade, and this was last Saturday, exactly a week ago.

I just checked on autotrader today searching 2003 Rx300's, and i found MINE! being sold by the SAME DEALER we traded it into, and he's asking $16k!!

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u...;standard=false

Left the bumper guard on, didn't touch a thing. He gave us $11k and is asking $16k. Unbelievable... Just thought it was funny lol...

[SW03ES]

Thats not unbelievable. He lists it for $16k he might sell it for $13k-14k. He's got to make a profit on it, $2,000-$3,000 profit is pretty reasonable. He probably paid $200 to detail it, changed the oil and rotated the tires, by the time he pays his costs of sale when he sells it and the insurance to have it on the lot...thats not much profit at all.

[LEXIRX330]

Thats not unbelievable. He lists it for $16k he might sell it for $13k-14k. He's got to make a profit on it, $2,000-$3,000 profit is pretty reasonable. He probably paid $200 to detail it, changed the oil and rotated the tires, by the time he pays his costs of sale when he sells it and the insurance to have it on the lot...thats not much profit at all.

I think he must of made out well on the car he sold you to be able to give you what he did for your trade. I agree that is not much profit at all SW.

I think it is funny when people are amazed about the whole car dealer thing. If you would truley like to be amazed take your new car back and see what he will give you for it on a trade. Bet it will be much less then what you just paid for it. It's the same thing just reversed.

Nice car and good luck with it.

[cduluk]

I highly doubt he did a single thing to it. We just changed the oil in April, and i've kept it prestine, and washed it the day before we traded it in. And the chrome set of tires/rims on it we just put on the first of May (we still have the silver set in our garage). That car was perfect inside and out :)

Looking at the pictures, i can see it's in the same condition i gave it to him in.

It's just funny to see him turning around and selling it for $6k more than he gave us, on his OWN lot. He told us he was going to send it to auction and that they would only give HIM 11k for it. He made it "seem" like he wasn't going to gain ANYTHING on it...

What a slick salesman... lol

[SW03ES]

Ooooh...this is going to be a patented SW03ES reality check moment folks. Set your DVRs.

Even if he did nothing he's still not making a steal for the reasons I just told you. Doing business has costs...

Who cares, you got a good deal, why begrudge him the ability to make some profit? After all, thats what businesses are in business to do...make profit. Had you wanted to go to the hassle you could have sold the car yourself for more than he gave you on trade. What do you think would be a fair profit for him to make? Do you have any idea the costs associated with running a car dealership? Or any business? Or the costs associated with doing anything at all? No, you don't.

Not everybody gets two $45,000 vehicles handed to them before the age of 20. Many people...most people...work very hard their entire lives and never experience owning a luxury car...something that you've experienced and now you're on your second one! Mortgage payments need to be made...kids need braces and need to go to college. Count your blessings my friend. Making a livings not easy, which you'll figure out at some point.

I'm not trying to be mean, but its the truth. If you're going to make comments about someone else and the manner in which they make a living as if you have some concept of what a fair profit is when you absolutely do not, I'm going to call it like I see it.

[Kyle Petree]

Ooooh...this is going to be a patented SW03ES reality check moment folks. Set your DVRs.

Even if he did nothing he's still not making a steal for the reasons I just told you. Doing business has costs...

Who cares, you got a good deal, why begrudge him the ability to make some profit? After all, thats what businesses are in business to do...make profit. Had you wanted to go to the hassle you could have sold the car yourself for more than he gave you on trade. What do you think would be a fair profit for him to make? Do you have any idea the costs associated with running a car dealership? Or any business? Or the costs associated with doing anything at all? No, you don't.

Not everybody gets two $45,000 vehicles handed to them before the age of 20. Many people...most people...work very hard their entire lives and never experience owning a luxury car...something that you've experienced and now you're on your second one! Mortgage payments need to be made...kids need braces and need to go to college. Count your blessings my friend. Making a livings not easy, which you'll figure out at some point.

I'm not trying to be mean, but its the truth. If you're going to make comments about someone else and the manner in which they make a living as if you have some concept of what a fair profit is when you absolutely do not, I'm going to call it like I see it.

I agree with you Steve whole heartedly. I work closely with the upper management at my company (a small manufacturing shop) so I know the costs involved in running a business. Put yourself in the position of the car dealer management, if you were to sell the car yourself you'd try to get the most you could for it... so are they.

I consider myself extremely blessed to be offered the job that I have and make the income that can pay for my cars.

Let me ask you cduluk... do you work? Do you have an income? Or do your parents just buy you these cars with nothing expected in return? If the latter is true then I would consider myself very lucky. I'd give everything to not have to work, be able to focus all my time on my education, and have the car I drive now paid for me.

I as well as Steve don't try to be insulting or mean, I'm just trying to make a point. If you ran the dealer you'd do the same thing, so don't blame her/him for trying to make an honest living.

[LEXIRX330]

Let me ask you cduluk... do you work? Do you have an income? Or do your parents just buy you these cars with nothing expected in return? If the latter is true then I would consider myself very lucky. I'd give everything to not have to work, be able to focus all my time on my education, and have the car I drive now paid for me.

I as well as Steve don't try to be insulting or mean, I'm just trying to make a point. If you ran the dealer you'd do the same thing, so don't blame her/him for trying to make an honest living.

We have been over all of this with cduluk before in some of his other post. Nothing insulting or mean at all with what you are SW have said. The other post that I am reffering to was about insurance fraud that cduluk and his parents seemed to consider acceptable. In case anyone needs a recap of that... us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53613&st=75

cduluk- I know you are 20 you and you are still in school. I am happy that your parents can afford to buy you nice things. When my son is 20 I am sure that I will buy him nice things too. However I would not pay for one thing for him if I though that he would turn out with the values you have. I have worked extremely hard to be successful as most people have. I am not mad that I have had to work hard. I am happy, it has given me something to be proud of. I have a nice home, great family, nice cars, nice motorcycle...money in savings, and retirement building. My parents helped me with my school and cars and car insurance, I was not homeless and I did not come up with out. But what my parents taught me that I am not sure yours have was to work and the value of money. I worked after school, summers, every chance that I got. I saved my own money that I earned and I learned to pay for things myself. There is something about going out and buying things on your own. When I was 20 I did not want my parents to pay for my things. I am not bitter because of this I am a better person. Even though you are 20 life to this point should have taught you a few things. You went on and on about how good a deal it was on this Lexus that you were getting. Then the salesman even met your number on your trade for you old car. What else could he of done for you? You said that it was a great deal. So what magic number would be acceptable for you, what should he be selling the car for? Maybe he should just sell it for exactly what he gave you for it on trade?

See where we are all coming from. He can't he has to make money too. He has to pay the girl to answer the phones, pay for health insurance, his bills...and guess what he may have a little spoiled brat at home that he wants to have nice things too. You just don't understand because you have not been in a position that you have to "pay" for anything.

[SW03ES]

Man, I totally missed that...what a trip.

After I posted my response in here my wife and I went out for dinner and were talking about this very subject. I had nice things when I was a kid, got a nice car (Mom's hand-me-down, but nice), didn't HAVE to work. I started my first business at 17 and operated that and another business until I sold both a few years later and started doing what I'm doing now, but I didn't do that out of neccessity. I went to a very affluent high school and had many friends that were as fortunate as me without the same ambition or drive.

Now that I am older and I look at where I am in my life and where they are...I start to see some issues with how we were all raised. These people are deadbeats...all of them its quite remarkable. Many of them still live at home and work very sporadic jobs...have little direction and I am married, have a successful business, own a home, invest...its an incredible difference. What was the difference? I was given nice things, but I was always surrounded by a strong work ethic and a very strong sense of responsibility and they were surrounded by a sense of entitlement.

I really think that parents that raise kids this way are really doing them a huge disservice. For one, the sort of lifestyle this kid leads is simply not one that is going to be sustainable when and if he finally does move forward and start to stand on his own two feet. Most 20 year olds can't afford to drive $45,000 cars and order $800 bull bars for them on a whim from England. It creates a generation of people that are just indictrinated to live outside of their means. Life is tough my friend, trust me. You get out there on your own and try to live this way and tell me its not. I've been there...I know.

I think it also robs the child from the sense of achieving something like owning a car like that. Like I said, most people work their entire lives to be able to afford to drive a car like that, and thats something that he's been given twice right out of the gate. When you're living like that, driving around in a handout Lexus with daddy's gold AMEX in your pocket...what is there left to achieve?

I actually feel kind of sorry for him...

[cduluk]

Jeesh... all i was saying was that i was surprised to see it at the same dealer when he said it was going to auction...etc.

If i found it in another state with another dealer for $16k, i'd understand that more. But i do understand dealers have expenses etc, i've just never heard of this happening before, that's why i mentioned it.

iye... Didn't think this would get so "personal". There is no need for anyone to feel "sorry" for me, i find that insulting...

[SW03ES]

You've never heard of this happening before?!? How do you think dealers make money? Where do you think used cars on lots come from? Even if he sold it at auction he would sell it for more than he paid you for it...otherwise he wouldn't have bought it from you. Why do you think trade in value is less than retail or private party value? to allow for a dealer to make a profit. Dealers don't buy cars for fun...they buy cars to make a profit with. You say you understand...but obviously you don't. Don't be afraid to admit that you don't understand something...people will be more apt to help you. Its your attitude that you know everything that got you this response...as was the fact that you didn't understand why insurance fraud was wrong in the other thread.

You shouldn't find it insulting at all, someone can't feel sorry for you unless they care about you at least in some way. Life's tough...its been easy for you in the past but should you ever be required to get out and fend for yourself its going to teach you a bunch of lessons real fast, trust me. Now, I don't know you so I don't know if you will ever need to fend for yourself, but you are missing out on actually achieving buying these things on your own...

[cduluk]

I know to make a profit you need to sell for more than you buy, i was just surprised to see it at the same dealer- that's all... lol.

I guess it was just weird to see my car on autotrader too. Thought if it went to auction (like he told us it would) it'd end up in Afghanistan or something...

It was just the initial "shock" seeing it, that caused me to post...

[nc211]

CD, I understand how you felt when you saw your car on autotrader. You had a personal connection to that car, with all of the upgrades and tweaks you did to it. I also understand that initial "you s.o.b, you ripped me off" feeling when you see the price they're asking. You go through so much haggeling and bickering when negotiating a price, and they tell you all sorts of things "I'll have to ship it to auction, I'll have to do this, do that, ect", only to see they didn't do any of it. I know how you're feeling. It doesn't go away either as you get older. That first initial feeling of thinking you got a bad deal, or seeing what you could have gotten for it. But, what you "could" have gotten for it, and what you "were offered", is the difference between your willingness to go through the hassle of selling it yourself, or switching it out for something else on the spot. One has an investment value, one has a conveinence value (or cost). Those guys are on the "investment" side of the equation, and you're on the convienence side.

The same initial feeling hit me too when I traded my 07' Mazda 3GT for my current GS. All the haggling, which ended with me taking my check off the table, getting into the Mazda and headed home, only to be called on my cell phone "which I gave to them early in the negotiatoins for this exact reason" to come back and pick up my new car. They gave me payoff, which was about $13k. They gave me the whole auction thing too, which I said "if you can't sell this car on your lot, then how are you going to sell all of these others?". The next day, on auto trader, my Mazda, for $16,900. It sold within 2 days, for $300 over the asking price due to a bidding war. I learned this a few weeks after the transaction while picking up my Illinois tags from the dealership. Told the guy "wow, that's great man!", and I meant it too. Although he gave me the whole song and dance routine, at the end of the day, he too has to grab his things and go home to his wife and kids. And I for one, take a lot more pride in knowing that I played a part in those smiles around his kitchen table when he tells his family that he made a sale, just so long as the following is true, which was true for me....

The question that you must answer, regarding your new set of wheels, is are you happy with what you came out of pocket for (cash)? That's the question, and the TRUE cost of buying a depreciating asset, like a car. The "value" of a car falls every day, with every mile. So being upset about the price of your old car, isn't the issue. It's the price of your new sweet honey chasin' ride. Once you've found comfort in that, then the rest is just business. The whole depreciating asset aspect of cars, is exactly why I will only buy a car if I can get 6 year financing for it. Because the gap between the value of the car vs. the balance on the loan, is always smaller the further down the road you are. Give me 100% for 6 years anyday "on a used, already hit by initial depreciation" car.

Not to defend you completely against my fellow amigos on here, as they're right about many things that you'll probably face in life. But, one of the biggest suprises I've found over the course of my first year of being a dad, is the joy I get from buying things for my son. It's a selfish sense of joy, but one of accomplishment that I feel for myself, a sense of pride to be able to do so. The balance however, and this is where I completely agree with SWO, is where I set the bar for my child to reach when it comes time for him to step into the shoes of self sustainer/provider. Just remember, one day the weight of that ability to walk into a dealership and buy an expensive, adult, luxury car will be upon you too. So, see beyond the things, and seek the oportunities that your blessings grant you. I, like SWO, grew up in an affluent life style as well. I grew up in the nicest areas of Miami, Birmingham, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Indiana. I, like SWO, had many friends in that environment too. And, just like SWO, can honestly say that most of them haven't turned out to do a damn thing worthwhile with their lives. That's because, as we grew up, they focused on "things", not "methods to things". Life only "invites" you to come out and play once, maybe twice if you're lucky "I was". If you're not prepared to answer that invitation, then life just gives you the leftovers.

So, I say enjoy that fine skirt chaser ride amigo! But, keep your eye on the ball and keep that nagging voice in your head that one day you'll have the opportunity to do for you and your family, as your parents have done for you. Keep that focus, and "things" will simply be as they are meant to be, "things". Allow your "things" to define you though, and you too will face the real probability of becoming like those SWO is talking about. A person who missed the invitation because he/she was too busy trying to angle someone else for that next big "thing".

PS: I haven't read the insurance fraud thread, but I think I get the point judging from the others' comments. Rule #1: Play by the rules, because Karma is a !Removed!, and will ALWAYS get even. Just ask Wall Street. I'd rather work myself to the bone for $100, knowing nobody can ever take it from me, than wiggle my way to $1,000 that will require me to always look over my shoulder for that nasty little monster coming to collect, called Karma.

[SW03ES]

You'd be wise to read this instead of getting insulted by it...thats some pretty good advice above.

[cduluk]

Good points guys :)

[LEXIRX330]

Good points guys :)

Hey enjoy your ride. I am not trying to bust your balls. We all are just sharing our points of view. I am sure that you are a good kid and I bet you will do great later in life. SW and I have gotten in to it a time or two about things on here and I don't agree with everything that he says on here but I still have learned quite a bit by reading his post. Sometimes you can learn the most from people you disagree with.

:)

[SW03ES]

What LEXI means is that he has always been wrong, and I have always been right. ;)

[LEXIRX330]

What LEXI means is that he has always been wrong, and I have always been right. ;)

:D

[nc211]

Man, what is that smell?