How is your 05 ES holding up?
Any issues?
How many miles on it?

 

I just sold my 2005 ES330 recently, as I upgraded to a 2016 ES300h.
The 05 ES was in great shape and running very well. It was in the snow/ice parked outside in boston for the first 8 years of its life, so rust on the underside had taken some toll. I had a steering fluid leak due to rust damage to steering fluid pump. I had that fixed. Otherwise it was doing well. The only annoyances were that the automatic door locks no longer worked as the motors had all died. And the CD player was jamming up frequently. Minor things that I could have fixed. I just was ready to upgrade. Had 110,000 miles on it. Traded it in for $4000. a shame really, as personally it was worth more than that to me. Should have kept it around in the family. But the $4000 came in handy as trade in money on the new loan.

 

From your description, it sound like you could have go about $8-10,000 for it here in the SF Bay area.

What would you say was the average repair and maintenance cost per year, not including oil changes?

If you were going to buy a 2005 ES with 100k miles
that had only been driven in California and didn't have the rust issues,
what would you check for wear wise.

 

Well, you are correct - I could have had more. I wanted to get things over with quickly and bought from a dealer a long drive away, so the $4000 was trade in price, obviously not going to be the car's full worth. If I had fixed a couple of dings, cleaned and detailed it up, could have got more. It needed a new set of tires, but private party, I may well have been able to get $8000 or so for it had I gone that route.
Probably it got bought at auction by a used car place who will do all of these things, then list it at $8000-11,000.

RE: annual costs - tough to say repair and maintenance costs above oil changes and routine things. Some years it was literally zero. Sometimes you also have to do brake pads etc. And a few little things here and there, alternator went out one year, etc. Probably average spending per year, $300-500/year?

These really are reliable cars, so other than the usual, nothing in particular to look out for. A california ES with 100,000 miles and clean title (no major wrecks) really should be a great car and is just getting to its middle age. Plenty of more years to drive on it, many people get up to 300K miles and more.

When looking - keep in mind that timing belt service is due at 90,000 miles, so see if this has been done or not, and factor into price. Also, look at condition of the usual wear and tear things- battery, tires, brakes, and factor those in.
My car's issues were more in electronics - eg CD player (multi disc changer) did'nt work so well, and all four power door locks had failed. So try to check out all electrical items to see if they are working (most people were quoting me $450 per door to fix the locks - you dont want to miss out on this and get stuck with it)
But as for main mechanical things, these cars should be in good shape at 100,000. There could be some transmission issues I guess, so see if tranny is shifting smoothly.
Make sure the leather is in ok shape. Some people really beat their seats up.
Thats all that I can think of . Its really a great buy for under $10,000.

 

I wonder if I can still even do this on my 06 330?

 

Hey guys, I've been reading through the thread (after looking at many '03-'05 Used ES330's recently) and while the transmission issues seem to be prevalent and unfixable, I'm wondering what everyone's experiences have been regarding longevity. Are these tranny issues a cause for mechanical concern? Are they purely performance detractors? I had to replace the tranny in my '01 ES300, and it's spooked me a bit, always in the back of my mind while shopping around. I'd probably feel alright buying a used '02-'05 if the problems are purely performance related, but would want to stay away if they are known to be failing mechanically at a faster rate as well. Thanks for any help!

 

I am wondering about this as well. My mom's 2002 ES has the slipping problem. Her private mechanic said it was the transmission going out. I am wondering if it is just this issue and he is mistaken? When we had the dealership check the car today, they said they thought the same thing as well, because of the gear changing.

 

I bought a 2002 ES300 about 5+ years ago with a 100k on it. It had the transmission issues when I bought it but I didn't know it because the owner never told me, and the car was already warmed up. I was a little upset at first but it's been a great car. I've never heard of one of these transmissions failing. Mine only shifts hard, or funny the first 5 minutes of driving, after that it's smooth as silk. I have over a 150k on it, and I don't see it breaking anytime soon. My car did have the ecu fix way back in the day but I don't think it did much. I 100% will disclose this issue if I ever sell it though, I don't believe in trying to sneak stuff past people.

 

Thanks so much for the info, 99Custom! That help ease my worries a bit.

 

I’ve noticed premium gas helps a little with the annoying shift. It’s only annoying, not a mechanical thing. These cars are tanks and will last forever if you take care of it.

 

I've noticed I get better gas mileage with premium gas