Looking For a Superior Used Luxury Car That Is Inexpensive to Buy and Maintain? Lexus Is the Answer.
A used luxury car purchase can turn into an expensive nightmare when thinks begin to break. Avoid this and buy a Lexus.
Everything is expensive nowadays and cars are no exception. From dealer markups to rising sticker prices automobiles are more expensive than ever. So that brand new LS 500 might be a little more than you are willing to spend right now. But what if you still want a luxury ride? There is always the used market. However, buying a used luxury car can come with its own set of risks. Sure, the purchase price may be lower but what happens when some of those fancy luxury features begin to break? Even regular preventive maintenance on many luxury vehicles can be prohibitively expensive. Well, if you want a good used luxury car that is inexpensive to buy and to maintain, then you want a Lexus.
Recently Doug DeMuro dropped a video on his YouTube channel discussing this very topic. In the video he chose six good luxury cars that won’t cost huge money. Two were from Lexus and a third was from Toyota. So, the Toyota corporation represented half of the list. And the three that were not a Lexus, or a Toyota all came with significant caveats. This further reinforces what many of us already knew. Lexus builds some of the longest lasting and desirable vehicles in the world.
Lexus LS
DeMuro focused mainly on the fourth generation LS which is the LS 460 for his video. And it is a great choice. It can be picked up for a reasonable price and is still an excellent luxury car even compared to the cars of today. It is also very reliable and inexpensive to maintain. What is even more impressive is that you could really put any generation LS on this list. Sure, the newer ones are more expensive. But the only reason DeMuro didn’t put the older generation models on his list is that it is simply getting harder to find quality examples. But if you do happen to find an LS from one of the first three generations you should grab it. These are also fantastic cars and with proper maintenance you can easily rack up a couple hundred thousand miles on them without any major issues.
Lexus LX
Want something bigger and more ‘off-roady’ than a sedan? The Lexus LX 470 is your perfect match. It is big, heavy, and thirsty. But it is also comfortable, reliable, and capable. On top of all that it is inexpensive. You can find quality examples for less than $20,000. That same money will get you into a new Mitsubishi Mirage G4. But between the two, we know which vehicle we would rather have. Also, with the Land Cruiser no longer available in the U.S. and a new LX 600 starting at about $90K it is unlikely the LX 470 will depreciate much more. It is not uncommon to see these with over 200K miles on the odometer. They are inexpensive to buy, last forever, reasonable to maintain, and can get you just about anywhere. What is not to love?
Quirky
DeMuro is all about quirks. So, he decided to throw a wildcard out there for the person who not only wants a good use luxury car but also wants something quirky. He selected the Japanese market only Toyota Century. Yes, it is illegal to import these into the U.S. until the car is 25 years old. So, any example that you buy will have been built at least a quarter century ago. But the car will turns heads and it has the famous Toyota reliability.
No Surprise
It should not surprise anyone that this list was dominated buy Toyota/Lexus. I think DeMuro just threw in a couple other cars to keep his video a bit more exciting. Because you could really put just about any used Lexus on this list. Want something sportier? You can pick up a nice 2014 IS F with a 416 HP V8 for less than $30K. These have also been proven to be reliable thus far. Fancy a hardtop convertible? For $25K grab a nice SC 430. To those shopping for a good used luxury vehicle we have just one word of advice. Lexus.
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