Hi All,
Due to economic conditions, I have had to downgrade my search for a Lexus from the '05/'06 variety to the '02 variety. The good news is that I have found a 2002 GS430 that is extremely clean (sunroof, wood wheel, and rear spoiler, but no nav, alloys, or ML Sound). The bad news is that it has 158,000 miles on it.
The car is approaching 9 years old, so the mileage isn't out of line vs. the NADA average of 15,000 miles per year. However, it's still a lot of miles for a car that will not be under warranty for me. The local Lexus dealer is selling it, but I haven't had a chance to see/drive it. Not even sure yet whether this was dealer maintained, or even has any records. Judging by the condition of it in pictures, I'd say that someone has taken pretty good care of it cosmetically.
Even if it was dealer maintained with full records, should I be comfortable buying this car for $11k? The Dealer Retail price on Edmunds is $11,700, so they are at least pricing it close to where it should be priced. I'll be driving approximately 18-20k miles per year for the next two years, and just wanted to make sure this is not the kind of car that would eat up my auto repair budget.
Any advice/recommendations you can give will be most appreciated!
-David