Buying Rx400H-To Certify Or Not

[yojimbo1]

I'm in the process of buying a 2008 RX400H. My friend has been leasing the car for 26 months, it has 14,000 miles and is in great shape. He has had no issues with the car.

My friend is turning the car back to his dealer and I am buying it from the dealer at my friend's residual value plus $500.

The dealer has told me that I will have the balance of the original 48 month/50K mile warranty.

I inquired about getting the car certified, i.e., part of the CPO program, and the dealer told me they could do this for an additional $2,995.

I am a Lexus newbie and I would appreciate some opinions about whether I should get the car certified.

Thanks in advance.

Jim

[richard4u]

i have a 2007 rx400h never had a repair = love the car - bought extended warrenty just in case = insurence

[LEXIRX330]

Don't by the cpo now, buy the extended warranty before the original warranty runs out. You have time and you can get a better price I am sure.

[RX400h]

With that low mileage, I would say that getting it certified is a waste of money, especially considering how reliable these cars have been.

[lemon]

Don't forget the hybrid warranty is longer than the bumper to bumper warranty as well. If you can buy an extended warranty down the road, that might make more sense after you see how the vehicle is holding up.

Others have had a problem free ownership - myself on my 2006 I have needed the inverter replaced (it was leaking coolant (and there have been several cases of inverters needing to be replaced - seems to me to be on early production models - Google to your heart's content), and the transaxle (which also uses inverter coolant to cool the electric motors in the transaxle) is currently leaking coolant.

Other minor complaints are headlamp washers that don't wash anymore (washer pump is shot) and a lumbar support in driver's seat that doesn't inflate. A bad passenger rear wheel bearing is a wear item in my mind, like brakes/tires and not indicative of poor workmanship/design.

All these things will be covered under an extended (extra care) warranty on my vehicle, which is why you may want to buy one later into ownership (if you can) when you get an idea of what's breaking on the car.

Having said all that, I still like the vehicle, and would gladly buy a 450h if I had the cash (lol).

[LEXIRX330]

Having said all that, I still like the vehicle, and would gladly buy a 450h if I had the cash (lol).

CASH? What's that... :)

[Jim Clark]

Additional $2,995 for CPO? That's insane! That dealer sounds like a rip-off stealer.

You need to do some comparison shopping. Your friend's car may be really nice, but there are a lot of nice used cars out there.

[yojimbo1]

Jimclark....thanks for your response. $2,995 seemed high to me also. I believe the car is a good deal (less than $28K), and I know it has been problem-free, so I am going to buy it.

But I will forego the CPO option.

[Jim Clark]

Additional $2,995 for CPO? That's insane! That dealer sounds like a rip-off stealer.

You need to do some comparison shopping. Your friend's car may be really nice, but there are a lot of nice used cars out there.

As someone else said, you could buy an extended warranty before the original warranty runs out. With a Toyota/Lexus product, I'd probably not be inclined to buy an extended warranty, the cars are so reliable.

BTW, I checked Autotrader and that price with that mileage is REALLY good. I'm surprised they're letting it go that cheap. Maybe that's why they wanted so much to CPO it, the price would still be good with the $3k CPO.

Your friend could have bought it for the residual and sold it for a nice profit.

[yojimbo1]

JimClark...thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, it is a very good price. My friend is a VERY good Lexus customer. Maybe that's why they agreed to sell the RX400H to me for the residual (less than $28K) plus $500.

The car has Navigation, Premium Plus package. 18" alloy wheels, several other options. It does not have mark Levinson. Original sticker was $51,155

[Jim Clark]

JimClark...thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, it is a very good price. My friend is a VERY good Lexus customer. Maybe that's why they agreed to sell the RX400H to me for the residual (less than $28K) plus $500.

The car has Navigation, Premium Plus package. 18" alloy wheels, several other options. It does not have mark Levinson. Original sticker was $51,155

You're getting a deal. Congrats, you'll love the car. Levinson is overrated, the regular sound system is fine.

Hopefully it's Matador Red!

[yojimbo1]

You're getting a deal. Congrats, you'll love the car. Levinson is overrated, the regular sound system is fine.

Hopefully it's Matador Red!

No such luck! It's Smoky Granite Mica