LugarLex

Hey y'all. I was hoping to get some opinions on what a good price for a 1995 es300 would be. It's in good to very good condition. Clean inside and out. Some small tears in the front seats but still pretty good. 2 owners with no known mechanical issues. 143,000 miles on it. They are asking for $1800. Is that a reasonable price to pay?

LeX2K

The car is worth $1500 IMO. Great cars but at that age unless it has been meticulously maintained you'll be replacing at least some things like seals, suspension bits etc. One thing to watch out for is reverse gear going out, pay close attention when shifting from park to reverse and into drive there should be only a very short delay.

Richardsr

“2 owners with no known mechanical issues” is misnomer for any car this old (24 years) and you should be more concerned with scheduled maintenance instead. Waiting until something breaks to fix it vs. scheduled maintenance info isn’t a good path to take because it will be your baby soon and who knows what that will bring? Like L2K said, $1800 is a bit pricey and things do wear with age, so be prepared for some future repairs and updating the maintenance scheduling of your car if you decide to buy.

I can’t speak about L2K’s advice about the transmission, but he’s been around Lexus far beyond me, so be sure to check his “tip” out because transmission repairs are very costly and not something you want to look forward to or have in the back of your mind. If you buy the car, one of the first things to do is pull the transmission pan and clean the sludge out because this car has been driven less than 6K a year/500 a month and short trip/neighborhood driving is not a plus for a transmission. The brakes (Master and wheel cylinder seals) are also something to consider for much the same reasons. And as an added note, exhaust systems in cars that are driven in the same manner are also prone to moisture left in the system that tend to damage Catalytic Converters and the piping.

Cheers