so i talked to my friend today and she said she'll cosign for a car of my choice around 20K. im putting around 5K for a down payment. So far i really cant make up my mind about which one to get.

00 gs400 black on black 70K miles asking 19,600
00 gs400 white on black 42k miles asking 21,900
02 is300 yellow 72kmiles 5spd asking 17,800
00 s2000 red on black asking 17,900
03 evo red 60kmiles with 150k mile warranty asking 21,000

im leaning towards either the s2k or one the gs400's. i do like the white one but 2300 more for 28k less miles isnt much of a deal than the black one. its gonna be a daily driver so the s2k might be an annoying. plus im a bigger guy and the s2k might be a tad small. i cant decide. its frustrating. personally i wouldnt mind the evo because of the extended warranty. so bascially im asking have you own any of the non-lexus car and what do you think about it?

I obviously have a blk/blk GS preference, but a white w/ black interior is pretty rare, You also might have some powertrain warranty left on the white one as well due to the low miles. If you can get it for close to $20K, i say go for it. The GS is the best blend of power/luxury/class on the whole list. :)
I've always thought of the S2K as too small & the EVO to me, screams boy racer - not to mention it was most likely beat up by the previous owner - what's the specific coverage on the 150K warranty?
George


so i talked to my friend today and she said she'll cosign for a car of my choice around 20K. im putting around 5K for a down payment. So far i really cant make up my mind about which one to get.

00 gs400 black on black 70K miles asking 19,600
00 gs400 white on black 42k miles asking 21,900
02 is300 yellow 72kmiles 5spd asking 17,800
00 s2000 red on black asking 17,900
03 evo red 60kmiles with 150k mile warranty asking 21,000

im leaning towards either the s2k or one the gs400's. i do like the white one but 2300 more for 28k less miles isnt much of a deal than the black one. its gonna be a daily driver so the s2k might be an annoying. plus im a bigger guy and the s2k might be a tad small. i cant decide. its frustrating. personally i wouldnt mind the evo because of the extended warranty. so bascially im asking have you own any of the non-lexus car and what do you think about it?

I would go with the 00 white GS with less miles. Black is a pain to clean and keep clean. Yes it looks great when done but 4 hours later its dirty again :D I had a few black cars in the day and it was a pain cleaning them all the time. That EVO sounds like a lot of miles for an 03

Among the list you gave us, IMO the white GS with 42K is the one to consider first. It has the fewest miles and, while while is not an easy color to take care of, it is better then black...and will stay much cooler in the summer. Yes, they are asking more than for the black one, but it has a lot fewer miles....and more potential life left in it.

The yellow IS is also worth looking at. A yellow IS will really turn heads.....trust me, I had one.
It has more miles, of course, than the white GS, but IS300's have proven extremely reliable in use. Check the clutch out thoroughly, though....that could be a weak point if the first owner did a lot of hard driving.

You mentoned that you might find the S2000 annoying as a daily driver. If so, my advice is to avoid the Evo as well. While the Evo, of course, has more room inside than the S2000 and the convienence of 4 doors, it is even more stiffly sprung, sparsely equipped inside, and the ride is very harsh on rough roads.
The Evo's AWD will give a little better winter traction but this is mitigated by the dry-weather high-performance tires....and the Evo's low-mounted intercooler, under the front bumper, is prone to damage from road debris.


Now, on a different note..........if you don't have to have something as powerful, sporty, or luxurious as the cars on this list, there are many brand-new cars available for 20K ( or less ) that will serve you very well and be quite reliable. The Scion tC would be a good place to start, along with the V6 Hyundai Tiburon. Since you already have a co-signer, you can finance a new car at generally lower rates than a used car....and a new car, of course, will not have the previous-owner and reliability concerns of a used one either....and you will have a full warranty. You can also consider a lease, which can allow you in many cases to get into a more expensive brand-new car than you could afford to buy with financing alone....but with leasing you have mileage limits and wear-and-tear issues to deal with.

the evo is out of the running after reading all the replys i got from you guys. yea evo owners have been known to beat their car up plus its too ricey imo.

i really really like the white gs400. just put some 01+ taillights on it and just tint and drop it and it already looks great. the gs just really have the classy sport feature that i always loved. i mean with a 3.76 lsd and a higher stall rpm TC with the srt ecu intake its easily a high 13 second car.

only reason im really looking at the s2k and is3 is because financing through their dealership is much easier because its a mitsubishi dealership and a vietnamese dealership which has been known to have really easy financing. theres also an 03 sakuza blue s2k with 42k miles for only 19G which i think is a real bargain.

so ill let you guys know more about it after this weekend when we're gonna go check out the cars and see how much i have to down with my friends credit.

thanks once again all the replys were really helpful.

I'd go with the '00 GS White/black. FYI, some banks won't finance a car with higher miles or they will limit the length of term so your payments is high. I'm not sure where you're buying the car from, but watch out if it's a used car lot and it's "in house" financing with those super high rates. Good luck.

00 gs400 black on black 70K miles asking 19,600 - nice, but auto
00 gs400 white on black 42k miles asking 21,900 - nice, but auto
02 is300 yellow 72kmiles 5spd asking 17,800 - this is the one for you, best combo of lux/fun
00 s2000 red on black asking 17,900 - fun, but not a good DD, would this be your only car?
03 evo red 60kmiles with 150k mile warranty asking 21,000 - fun, but no lux

"im leaning towards either the s2k or one the gs400's. its gonna be a daily driver so the s2k might be an annoying. plus im a bigger guy and the s2k might be a tad small."

Sounds like you definitely want a stick, but you also like some luxury. Out of your choices, I'd say IS300. Add suspension, intake/exhaust, and short-shift kit. There you go. Plus, yellow on the IS is tight!

I suggest the GS with lower mileage.

yea asiangirl007 i have to watch out for those in house financing. my friend is pretty cool with whichever car i want just hopefully she gets approved if not ill have to wait another month til i can get a good amount of cash together and make a big down payment to get approve. but i rather make a small down payment put the rest towards fun stuff such as suspension, cosmetic parts, and performance parts. i am really leaning towards the GS' hopefully their financing wont be too bad.

I would get one of the GS too with the white one being the priority. Are the two configured the same? Nav? HID?

White GS :thumbup:

no doubt the white GS. the lower mileage is a better investment (not to say any car is a good investment) because if u plan on selling the car down the road, itll prolly get u the most.

yea my choice is also the white GS, the black GS and s2k is backup incase the financing doesnt fall through. I know for sure i can get the financing for the s2k. they're asking 21900 for the white gs4. i think imma offer them like 21500 out the door or 21000 out the door. is that low? im willing to pay up to 22500 out the door. im in socal so tax is 7.75% and about 2-400 for title and fees. i think ill just wait til the rest of my money comes and bring cash. cash talks with them dealership. no one wants a potential customer to walk away with 8000 in their hand ready to deal. i just want to down like 5000 because i have my eyes on some ssr professor but ill probably do coilovers first.

im also thinking of just getting my sister a is300 for now. Im in the process of finishing all the paperwork it takes to take over my uncle's front office for his trucking business. my uncle is lagging on me because his insurance company is still figuring out if htey want to total loss his 18wheeler or fix it. i could wait until summer and get what i've always wanted for the last 8 years. a MKIV TT 6spd.
oh what to do. or i can just get the damm GS and the supra in the summer too and let my sister drive the gs when i get the supra. :uh:

so i found out the white one has a weird odometer problem listed on the vin. i guess when they renewed the title again the 2nd time they never put the milage in. its an 00 gs but didnt get register til april of 01. kinda weird.

the black one used to be an AZ car but was bought an auction. is there anything wrong with auction cars?

another update.

01 is300 with 80k asking 16900. i think i can get them down to like 16 out the door. or 16900 out the door is fine too. its quite nice. my sister would like it. shes 19 and im almost 21. we'll share the car she has an 99 accord coupe right now.

its an ok deal but cant find cheaper. my friend actually bought an 02 is3 5spd for 16800 few weeks ago. its a sweet car.

by the looks of things it looks like ur rushing into a purchase. when i purchase a car it usually takes me months to track down what i want, and then the perfect one. as for the GS and IS, in so cal there are plenty of great buys so keep on looking weekly and ull eventually find the right one. as for the IS, i saw a lot of low mileage (20k) 01-02s for 18k when i was planning on purchasing the IS.

yea i am kind of rushing into this. i should talk to my friend first and work out all details with the cosign. i think we're going to go to her credit union and apply for a loan first. she works for the city of HB so the credit union is really a great one. her bf who is my friend is applying for a loan for a 67 valiant. we'll go together and see what we can borrow. i think around 16,000 to borrow is what ill need. you're right r4z0r3ck good deals do show up over time. like my friend who got the 5sp 02is300 for 16800. he might have gotten it off here too. the main reason im rushing is that school is starting and i might not have a car to drive because my current car is going to need to be fix to pass smog. i would like her to go to her credit union first because of the rates they offer and i think they'll lend her the money based on her credit and relationship with them instead of which cars to buy which will make it easier for me to find a car. i wont have to go through dealership and now i can look to the private ads which really has all the good deals. i mean if she can get a check for 16G im pretty sure theres a few good deals on CL for cars around 20.