Buying First Car

[Jaidyn]

Thank you for taking the time to read my post :-) Im looking to purchase my first car and I chose a 97' Lexus ES300 The owner said that it has 189,000 Miles. A fully upgraded sound system with JBL audio. a Double DIN and NAV functioning.. the one thing he said was it had a rust spot the size of a quarter under the back right tire? the leather is in amazing condition inside and the paint is pristine outside except for a bump on the hood which you can't see unless you walk by.. He said before i goto college in california ill need to get the oil changed but other than that it has new tires. and Wood trim on everything including the dashboard. i guess my only question would be am i stupid for looking into the car.. Is it a bad idea for me to buy a car with this many miles on it? He wants 3k for it but i was able to talk him down to 2,400 Dollars providing i buy it if he takes the day off of work to get the title transferred over to me. because with all of the glitz and glamour blinding me. i need to know that this car won't crap out on me in a week or a month. or even a year so long as i treat it with respect. what would you guys do? the veterans of the LOC

[denslexusgx470]

Thank you for taking the time to read my post :-) Im looking to purchase my first car and I chose a 97' Lexus ES300 The owner said that it has 189,000 Miles. A fully upgraded sound system with JBL audio. a Double DIN and NAV functioning.. the one thing he said was it had a rust spot the size of a quarter under the back right tire? the leather is in amazing condition inside and the paint is pristine outside except for a bump on the hood which you can't see unless you walk by.. He said before i goto college in california ill need to get the oil changed but other than that it has new tires. and Wood trim on everything including the dashboard. i guess my only question would be am i stupid for looking into the car.. Is it a bad idea for me to buy a car with this many miles on it? He wants 3k for it but i was able to talk him down to 2,400 Dollars providing i buy it if he takes the day off of work to get the title transferred over to me. because with all of the glitz and glamour blinding me. i need to know that this car won't crap out on me in a week or a month. or even a year so long as i treat it with respect. what would you guys do? the veterans of the LOC

Lexus is made to last up to 300k+ miles and beyond. My only concern about the 97 is the oil sludge issue. If oil changes weren't done religiously, sludge may build up in there. There's 2 ways to check for it but there's only 1 option to check for it unless he lets you open up a few parts under the hood. Pull the oil dip stick out and check for color of oil. If it's black and "sludge-like" it's likely that the vehicle is starting to build up engine sludge. If it seesms like the right color, there's a CHANCE (not guaranteeing this) that it doesn't have sludge build up.

If I were the one buying the vehicle I would definitely look deep into the carfax history and run the VIN at your local Lexus dealership to check if it's been serviced religiously. If it hasn't, it's more than likely serviced at your local Jiffy Lube.

Also if the vehicle has aftermarket items like the Double Din NAV you mentioned, I would check to see if everything is functioning correctly like speakers, no error lights or anything, etc. If you are moving to CA for college, you won't have to worry about rust issues here because hardly does it snow here (depending on where you live) for the most part.

Drive it, check the functions of everything, listen for funny noises during the test drive (test drive it with the radio OFF, and the fan turned off, if it's too hot/cold then have the fan on low only). Check alignment (in a safe driving situation). If it seems to sound and run good then go for it.

Good luck with the car shopping and welcome to LOC!

[gbhrps]

jaidyn,

I get the strong feeling that you know very little about automobiles, particularly what to look for when buying a used one.

First, let me say that a 97 ES is a fabulous vehicle. Our first ES was a 97 and it was darn near bullet proof, a fabulous cruiser. and made you feel great just sitting behind the wheel. I would have no qualms about buying one that old, and with that mileage, providing I was able to confirm that it was mechanically sound, and that the seller was not unloading his problem vehicle on me.

A first car buyer needs to buy with his/her head and not his/heart. Its very easy to get caught up in the glamour of owning a Lexus, and oversee the visible signs that could cause nightmares down the road.

You need to have this car (or any used car you are thinking of buying, particularly from a private seller) inspected by a certified mechanic who you trust to tell you the truth, before you part with any money. It may cost you $50 to have it inspected, but it may be money well spent, and keep you from buying a financial nightmare.

I'm not trying to scare you off the purchase, but you need to do some homework on this vehicle before you decide to go ahead. It may prove to be a creampuff, and you'll be glad you took the time to check it out. It'll make its ownership all the more gratifying. Hope it works out for you. Good Luck!

[Jaidyn]

Thank you for responding both of you :-) I'm bringing along a specialist to look at the cars, i ended up not going with the es300 i originally posted about as the man had been dishonest about his maintenance habits his version of babying a car was filling it with premium once a month.

Im looking now at es300 years 2000/2001 one for 3,500 and the other trying to get for 4k both are around 130k miles which i feel much more comfortable buying. the only thing that concerns me is how many 00's i see on LoC with issues.. I'm reading more on cars than i ever have in my life.. oddly enough i think I've learned a few things haha but this entire experience has me preparing to take an automotive course at my college just so I'm not completely in the dark about these things should work. i think I'm the only 22 year old guy who's never so much as seen the underside of a car on his own =/

[SW03ES]

The number one thing to look out for on these cars is the oil change history because of the slugging problem. Unless an owner can show you maintenance records proving the oil has been changed every 5k miles, I wouldn't buy it. Take your time andnfindnthe right car. Nothing different about the 2000 models that would make reliability different.

[Jaidyn]

Thank you for responding Sw03es i really appreciate the advice!