krschee

thanks for all the good advice. yea, after seeing a 2001 non-platinum, 33k miles, chrome wheels for $23.9, i think i'll wait. the 2000 has 43k. the salesman checked the "card" for me and said they would realistically go as low as $19.5 ($21.5 out the door)....which is REAL tempting because it does come with the CPO certification. the fishy thing is that the salesman told me "it will be certified. we did not opt to put a cpo sticker on it, but my manager said if i offer it as cpo, it will come out of my commission." i'm not a fan of the 2002 gen body. would other people also recommend the new gen over the old due to the engine gel problem? does the new gen have this problem? then there is the transmission problem to consider on the new gen... i think i will wait...the game is in my favor because if those cars sit on the lot longer, they keep losing value. one'll pop up eventually.

alright, so i've been lurking for a while, in search of my first car out of college. after looking at numerous accords, camrys, corollas, i realized i could get a used es300 for about the price of an accord ex, which includes a 3 year warranty and lexus reliability. so i was at the dealer tonight looking at a 2000 black on ivory platinum series, asking 21.9. i was never a fan of the coach/platinum edition rims, but after looking at it, i guess i could get used to it because i absolutely love the black badges. what's wrong with the car? im picky, but i know its used so i let minor dings and scratches slide. but apparently the rear bumper cover was replaced by them....i think the previous driver was pretty rough on it since i also saw an obvious quarter sized dent on the rear quarter panel, scratched rims, and worn weather stripping. yes, im picky, but looking at some other 2000 es300s on the lot, those exteriors were in much better condition. should i take the plunge? the style of the rims, i guess i can live with. the dents and scratched rims...i guess eventually i'll mess them up right? but my mom's 1998 toyota sienna is totally dent/scratch free....so there's really no excuse except for careless driving. how much should i take off for those cosmetic issues? would you guys worry about tear on the engine of a rough driver? also, all the oil change records don't show, which means they bypassed it or went to an outside shop...worry about engine oil gelling? any advice is appreciated.

nick, sorry to hear of your experience. i'm in the process of deciding which car to buy and the es300 is one of them...but also the 99 TL. you wouldn't happen to be selling yours would you? :)