FitDesiGuy

Hey guys, I'm new to this website so please bare with me.


I am a college student with a normal college student job and am looking to purchase a fairly decent condition 2000-2001 Lexus Es 300.

I have searched and bumped into a few cars which have sparked my interest somewhat.

The first one is a 2001 Lexus Es 300 with 76000 miles in gold. I've gone to drive the vehicle and it seems to drive very smoothly and is a very quiet car. The only issue is that it is a salvage title car and that I would only be able to have liability insurance on it. The accident that happened on this car was a front hit. The guy who owns a dealer that repairs and sells vehicles like these showed me pictures and it seemed to only crumple up the engine hood and bumper, without any engine damage. I was very interested in the car but the guy is selling it for $4950 and will not go lower on the price. Book value is $7000 for a CLEAN title, however with it being salvage I took about 40% off, which is normal, leaving it to be around $4000, which is my final offer for the car. I'm wondering whether or not you think I should even buy this car if he accepts $4000.




The second lexus is a 2000 Lexus Es 300 with 182000 miles on it. Yeah the mileage is quite a bit so I'm a bit skeptical on it. The guy did say that there is a new timing belt,water pump, belt tensioner and Idler pulley just done which does make the car appealing to me. It is listed for $2800 but I am leaning to offer only about $2000-2200 based on how much mileage there is. Physically the car looks very immaculate in terms of leather being clean and everything else. Haven't driven the car yet but may go and see it sometime soon.





So all in all, what do you guys suggest I make an effort to look at further or consider purchasing based on the information I gave you?


Thank you!

pholness

Keep looking. Check eBay, Craigslist, (reputable) dealer. This 2001 is already 14 years old and will never sell for $7000 even without the accident. The 2000 is about average in mileage for that age. For $2000 you could drive that until your financial situation improves and you can finance a 6-8 year old IS and keep moving up from there.

My 2 cents

VicSWFL

Greetings:

I would definitely forget the car with the salvage title. A severe impact can do damage that is not yet apparent. If you're on a tight budget and you don't have time to look further, the higher mileage car sounds okay. I did the Carfax report on about six cars before I found the one I bought. Also you can find some vehicle history on the Lexus drivers site at:

drivers.lexus.com

I was able to determine that my car, a 2003 ES300 had an oil and filter change every 3,000 miles and all service was current except the timing belt and water pump (I bought the car two months ago with 91,000 miles). I felt confident that I was getting a car that would be reliable without any surprises.

Good luck to you,

Vic
Fort Myers, Florida

FitDesiGuy

Okay thank you both for your responses, I really appreciate it. I'm leaning towards the one with higher mileage now, but I'm curious to know how much you guys think I should pay for it. I have some pics here along with the vin:

JT8BF28G1Y0284348 (If you guys have free access, I'd appreciate a quick peek for the options and making sure no odometer rollbacks occurred).


























Thank you!

VicSWFL

The VIN decoder on this website:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/vin...inDecoderFarea

will show you the basics about the car. Carfax claims to have 30 records on this car. You can get the Carfax report for $39.95 or spend $49.95 for 5 Carfax reports. I lost count of how many Carfax reports I got before I found my car, but it's definitely worth it.

Good luck,

Vic
Fort Myers, Florida

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

I sold my '01 with 152k here in Canada for ~4400$

My car was a salvage, and another accident on file during my ownership. You'd never know... same with my current car...

I'd pay the asking, as it is fair DUE TO LOW MILEAGE... taking into account the title.

Btw, the "clean high mileage" actually isn't;
http://www.chilsonwilcox.com/autoche...BF28G1Y0284348

^just plug in the VIN of any other candidates you're looking at, FREE


If it were up to me, I'd take it to a Lexus dealer to have them look at the smashed one, if they can't tell it was done, or if they can AND it checks out, go with that one. Lots of life left @76k.

The 00-01's still SELL close to [and over] 10k on eBay for low mileage, southern state cars...

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

I think as cars get older, salvage title means less, especially on cars like there where parts are extremely expensive. For example minor damage that would get fixed on a 5 year old car would total most Lexus from this period. You've seen the pictures of the damage which is huge, at least you have an idea. Would it hurt resale? Yes, but in your situation Id probably go with the salvage one assuming it all checks out. The reason I say this is that they wanted to total my ES300 when someone backed out of their driveway into my rear quarter panel because I had 230k miles. The damage wasn't bad at all, but the car technically wasn't worth very much. In the end they didn't total it and fixed the damage for $1500, but. I hope you understand the point im trying to make.

FitDesiGuy

01LEXPL, how do I enter other VINs for auto checks? I'd really appreciate that. Thank you everyone else for the responses, I'm leaning salvage but planning to wait it out and hope that the price lowers more, because $4950 still seems to be a bit too much for a salvage 01 imo. I'm looking to pay around $4000-4200, wondering if you guys think that is reasonable?

Thank you!

OceanView

Mileage is not that big of a deal as long as it was maintained well.
Ask for records and test drive it. If it feels right and you can get an indy mechanic to verify its condition, go for it.

Chocolate

Quality Post.

I thought you said you were a college student?

Replace the VIN in the link with the one you want to run.

NC00ES300

I would definitely be all over that 2000 burgundy ES300. The mileage is not bad and if taken care of they will go for 300,000. From the images you posted that car was definitely taken care of. The main thing I would look for is oil changes every 3,000 - 5,000 miles and you said water pump and timing belt just done so you're good to go another 90,000 miles just off that.

I think the only thing as far as maintence with that many miles would be bushings and possibly struts and shocks.

Here's something I did when looking for my 2000 ES300 -

Go to the Lexus.com website - http://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/home

See on the left there is a service history button. Logo with a clipboard on it. You have to create a user name and password. The cool thing is under service history you can plug in Vin # and it will give service records from dealership. I guess the only thing it won't show is if owner did service or oil changes somewhere besides the dealership. But most owners took their Lexus into the dealer.

Good luck and know you will enjoy this car for years to come. It drives so smooth and the seats are so comfortable.

Here's my 2000 ES300 that had 152,000 on it with 8 pages of service records on it and water pump and timing belt changed just before I bought it. It drives great and not a single problem so far.

Let me know if you have any questions.

NC00ES300

Here is first page of history with that vin #. Stops at 89,802. Get a car fax as well.

Here is first page of history:

Service History for VIN: JT8BF28G1Y0284348

Sort By:

1 2 3
SERVICE TYPE DATE SERVICE PROVIDER MILEAGE REPAIR # DESCRIPTION
Dealer Reported 07/17/2006 Lexus of Wayzata 89802 0207298 CHANGE OIL AND FILTER CARS AND RX MODELS, INSPECT FLUID LEVELS,CHECK TIRE PRESSU - CHANGE OIL AND FILTER CARS AND RX MODELS, INSPECT FLUID LEVELS,CHECK TIRE PRESSURES,INSPECT BELTS,RESET MAINT REMINDER LIGCAR WASH
Dealer Reported 07/17/2006 Lexus of Wayzata 89802 0207298 AIR FILTER OK FOR NOW - CHECK AIR FILTER
Dealer Reported 10/07/2005 Lexus of Wayzata 80361 0175726 REPLACE FRONT BRAKE PADS CLEAN AND LUBE CALIPER SLIDES RESURFACE FRONT ROTORS CH - VIBRATION FELT WHEN BRAKING - HAD BRAKES DONE ELSEWHERE
Dealer Reported 10/07/2005 Lexus of Wayzata 80361 0175726 REPLACE FRONT BRAKE PADS CLEAN AND LUBE CALIPER SLIDES RESURFACE FRONT ROTORS CH REPLACE REAR BRAKE PADS CLEAN AND LUBRICATE CALIPERS RESURFACE REAR ROTORS CHECK
Dealer Reported 10/07/2005 Lexus of Wayzata 80361 0175726 MOUNT & BALANCE TWO TIRES ON VEHICLE - REPLACE REAR TIRES
Dealer Reported 10/07/2005 Lexus of Wayzata 80361 0175726 CHANGE OIL AND FILTER CARS AND RX MODELS, INSPECT FLUID LEVELS,CHECK TIRE PRESSU - CHANGE OIL AND FILTER CARS AND RX MODELS, INSPECT FLUID LEVELS,CHECK TIRE PRESSURES,INSPECT BELTS,RESET MAINT REMINDER LIGCAR WASH
Dealer Reported 05/20/2005 Lexus of Wayzata 71240 0160960 REMOVED INSPECTION COVER TO INSPECT REAR MAIN (DRY) VALVE COVERS (DRY) OIL ON SU - CHECK OIL LEAK
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320 COMPLETED ROAD - FORCE BALANCE AND FOUR TIRE ROTATION AND CHECK AND SET TIRES TO PROPER PRESSURE AND CHECK FOR WEAR
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320
Dealer Reported 10/09/2002 29680 0030320
1 2 3

lsiberian

If you give me the license plate and state I can pull a car fax for you. Do not get a carfax account it is a ripoff. Get an autocheck one it has unlimited VIN pulls.

I would not get a 2000 with less than 100k miles on it. That odometer has almost definitely been rolled or the car has been neglected which is actually worse.

I suggest you look for one with around 130k on it.

You will need to do a thorough inspection of the vehicle and get it inspected by a mechanic and body shop person. I suggest sticking with private owners and reputable dealers. Be sure to take a jerk with you that will keep you from buying something you shouldn't.

I recently got a 2000 lexus es 300 and it's a great car, but I ran into 3 rollbacks on the way to getting it. When in doubt it's probably been rolled back.

FitDesiGuy

NC I'll give you $3500 for your Lex, it's in very good condition. Props for maintaining it religiously.

lsiberian, I am interested in the salvage Lexus with 76k on it, here is the vin for it: JT8BF28G310340263


I'm wondering how much I should really pay for the car considering it's a salvage? I test drove it and it is super quiet and ran very smoothly, only thing was that the tires would need almost immediate replacing and it needs plates as it was brought from out of state. The guy is giving me a 3 month engine warranty as well. Right now it is listed at $4950, but imo that is a bit too much. I am looking at $4000-4200 to buy it. What are everyone else's thoughts?

Thanks!

lsiberian

Get it inspected by a reputable body shop and mechanic. That takes out the guess work. How low are the tires. A quarter and a penny can be used to see how much tread is left.