coreytree

Reggie, Since our ES still has until August on the original factory warranty, I've decided to wait until then to get an extended 3rd party warranty. I'll probably go with Warranty Gold or Warranty Direct, choosing one of the plans that are most similar to the original factory bumper to bumper warranty. After a bit of investigation, I've found that the warranty sellers all seem to have a perpetual "sale" of some sort, and are flexible on pricing and available features, so be sure to ask for the real best price and mention that you're looking elsewhere for the best deal. They seem to be more forthcoming about available "discounts" (better deals) toward the end of the month when they are trying to reach sales quotas (so they've implied). Good luck, lemme know what YOU decide to do. -Corey

The car is 2-tone 'oyster', so the 'platinum/dark chrome' badging/emblems look great on there. Nice contrast. -C

Good idea to run the VIN @ Lexus dealer. I did Autocheck.com on the VIN and it came up only with registrations and inspections as public records. The Toyo dealer ran a repair work inquiry of some kind and came up with services done every 5K mi. and a few "other inspections" which look like they could actually be oil changes or something, judging from the mileages. One visit is listed as "Trunk Badge", which leads me to believe the trunk emblem was re-glued or replaced when it was about one year old. Perhaps the Lex dealer will have more detail on the service/repair history. About the prices for Certified Lexus ES 300 w comparable mileage, the closest I saw was a '99 with 39K miles for a little over $22K. Most had more miles by about 3-10K and higher pricetags by $2-5K. BTW, it does have the CD changer (missing CD carriage, but the Toyota dealer said they'd replace it or find it or swipe one from another car). Monday I'm taking it to a Lex dealer for a thorough going over before I pay for the thing. One thing I'm wondering, which I hope the Lexus dealer can answer, is exactly what options the vehicle has. For instance, it has so-called "Platinum" chrome ext. parts, actually darkly smoke-tinted chrome. It looks fantastic with the oyster 2-tone paint job, but does that mean the car is a "Platinum Series" (or "edition" or whatever). It does not have a badge that says so. Anyway, I'll find out more on Monday morning. Strange, there were a bunch of Earl Schieb reciepts in the glove box and an AK-47 in the trunk, though... ;) Thanks for the responses. -C

Thanks, SWO I never answered you Q re: cost. Cost is $19,995. 36K miles. Seems comparable with what I've seen elsewhere, but just a bit better on the mileage and price. Plus the thing is in great shape and beautiful, like I said before. -C

P.S. FYI, per warranty and capabilities of dealers to service it, Toyota dealers can do routine maintenance service, but real repairs would be done at Lexus dealers. -C

SWO3es, I'm dealing with Alexandria Toyota. So far, it seems to be a better deal than I would have gotten had I bought basically the same car from Lindsay Lexus of Alexandria, FWIW. They roll the price of the warranty into the car as part of the certification for all retail practical purposes, and the cost for the car (higher mileage) w/ warranty at the Lexus dealer totals a bit more than at the Toyota dealer, who will 'give' me 1 more year of warranty coverage. Lexus offers a bit better finincing than we can get from our credit union, but it seems to even out in the end, except Toyota has 1 more year of warranty coverage, and I like that particular ES300 better. Thanks for the tip on Warranty Gold. I'm checking that out. -C

I'm in the process of buying a used ('99) ES300 with 36,000 miles. The purchace is from a Toyota dealership. Records indicate the car has been serviced regularly. It was previously a leased vehicle (lease = often abused, I hear). The car still has a few months left in it's original 4/50K warrranty (until 8/24/03). I have an appointment with a Lexus dealer to check the car out frior to finalizing the purchace. The seat "preset" adjustments are broken, there is no owner's manual, and the CD changer cartrige is missing (salesman tells me he will find CD cartrige). I can get an additional 4 yr/50K mi. warranty from the Toyota dealer which would cover repairs at Lexus dealerships, I understand,for $1700. I have yet to ask (but will) the Lexus dealer about what,if any, arranty options I may have from them. My question is - should I spring for an extended warranty? We do a moderate amount of driving, but it's almost all city driving in Washington, DC, where the streets are pretty bad. TIA, Corey P.S. I love this car! Moving up from a Honda. :D