blaznsc4

looking to buy a car for my brother so that he can use for college. one of my coworker has a 98 es300 with 130k. she's selling it for $5500 but i think i can drop it down to $5k flat. its in pretty good shape and maintenance is up to date. do you guys think i should take it or pass?

Limen

I would say that is a decent deal. I think I may sell my 97 ES300 with 130K miles on it for 4K to my girlfriend.

Choas

Sounds like a good deal but pics would help.

mcelligott

I would buy it.

kphu

iTrader: (8)

You can't just go and buy a car based on looks, mileage and price. You gotta test drive it and make sure nothing funky is happening. I've always gone with my gut instincts with cars and the 1 time I didn't do that I paid it for it.

The engine should start up easily and listen to it when it idles. It should be smooth when accelerating and the shifting should feel seamless. Smell the antifreeze in the radiator it shouldn't smell like something burnt. The car shouldn't shake or rattle. It should brake easily with out steering right or left.

Good luck!

Pheonix

take it. 5500 is low for a 98 ES at 200,000 miles. (kbb.com says yours is 6500 private party)


that means you get to do a grand worth of replacement / maintenance for fee

13loody

130k isn't all that much nowadays. $5500 is a pretty good deal to me, but $5000 is obviously a sweeter deal especially if ALL the maintenance have been done ie. the 120k maintenance. You might want to verify that the timing belt and the waterpump have been replaced, or that will cost you quite a bit to get done. Other than that, I wouldn't expect any problems for years to come assuming you keep up with normal maintenance.

Choas

Really so what do you say mine might be worth in immaculate condition at 205k?

13loody

I got different #s from KBB for a 98 ES300, 130k miles, stock checkmarks, zip code of 92126, and private party values:
$7950 Excellent
$7275 Good
$6375 Fair

What I do is take KBB Good value and take off $2000 to use as my absolute highest amount I'll pay. There are exceptions for cars that are in higher demand/lower supply but the ES300 isn't one of them. I've actually always gotten cars that are WAAAY below KBB.

Choas, I don't know how much your car is worth, but I'd probably offer $3500-$4000 mainly because of your mileage and the fact that you're in NY. Cars generally sell for less on the east coast. However, seeing how you're a CL'er I'd make the assumption that your car really was in excellent condition and probably offer another $500 on top of that.