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As crazy as it sounds, this ES sold for probably 18K.
This was a 1 owner 22K mileage car. I was tempted before
I bought my 97 ES but the dealer refuse to lower even 1 dollar
and in hindsight probably did me a favor. There were also one
panel that has a very small sign of surface rust which was the
other issue.
Would you pay 18K for a low mileage 3rd Gen ES300?
No way. I'd grab a higher mile car in great shape for an actual reasonable price.
You risk issues from the car sitting such a long time, anyway.
Only exception is if I wanted it for the purpose of putting in a museum.
Just curious for a low mileage old car what could go wrong. The engine might be in immaculate condition. I am thinking about seals. So if a car is kept for long with super low mileage like this seals do not get lubricated and can crack. I am sure the ring piston, intake, and exhaust system might be like new. Any thoughts. But yea price of the car is super high I will pay 8 K for that.
I was seriously considering buying this ES but at the end
of the day, this ES is nice but not that nice for 18K . 18K is LS money
and I ended up getting a 97 ES with 121K for 7K.
With a low mileage car, the seals will be dried out and gaskets are going to
all need replacing. I always like the 3rd Gen ES but it still is a Camry but
obviously much nicer.
Not even for 5k. I understand some people put certain cars on a much higher pedestal than I do, but $18k for a 20 year old family sedan, absolutely not.
I searched high and low for an ES with nice black interior. Never came across one that wasn't trashed. Before I bought mine I was looking for black interior and one with black paint or the dark grey.
I'd rather spend that kind of money at the dealership restoring my current 3ES . I'd imagine, you would spend closer to $22k (total) to get this example usable. Just with all of the gaskets, timing belt, rubber that has rotted, and fluids needing to be changed. I also wonder about things like the speakers... if they have been used as little as the car has been driven, would the rubber rings just dissolve the first time they are played over half volume??? Or was the oil changed often enough..? Since the car was driven fewer than 1k miles a year for 25 years, how long was the engine running with bad oil? Also, multiple short trips (like from the retirement village to church) are hard on an engine.
I was really tempted to buy this ES but at the end of the day ( no offense to 3rdGen ES owners as I just bought one myself for 7K) this is just a sedan and not even an LS or even a SC400.
The 3rd Gen ES is one of my favorite but when you are paying 22K which would have been what I ended up paying with tax and shipping, the car has to be very special.
As for parts that are worn, the speakers, gaskets are a concern at this age. And on top of it, this car is coming from a rust belt state with one of the panels showing small sign of rust. This Lexus dealer had the car on the lift and the idiot sales rep was so lame he couldn’t even show clear pics of the undercarriage was another reason I backed off.
I searched high and low for an ES with nice black interior. Never came across one that wasn't trashed. Before I bought mine I was looking for black interior and one with black paint or the dark grey.
I haven’t seen a black or grey interior ES for sale around in years. I see them driving around but never for sale. Same with finding a black or dark grey exterior ES. Most nice ones are white or gold, which is what colors both of my ES300’s were.
Originally Posted by jonas's RX
I was really tempted to buy this ES but at the end of the day ( no offense to 3rdGen ES owners as I just bought one myself for 7K) this is just a sedan and not even an LS or even a SC400.
The 3rd Gen ES is one of my favorite but when you are paying 22K which would have been what I ended up paying with tax and shipping, the car has to be very special.
As for parts that are worn, the speakers, gaskets are a concern at this age. And on top of it, this car is coming from a rust belt state with one of the panels showing small sign of rust. This Lexus dealer had the car on the lift and the idiot sales rep was so lame he couldn’t even show clear pics of the undercarriage was another reason I backed off.
That’s a shame they were being shady about the car. I would love to have an ES like that someday.
01-24-22, 05:42 PM
Would you pay 18K for a 3rd Gen ES300?
Car prices have gone to the Moon and the stock market has gone to the bottom of the ocean lol.
. Still overpriced IMO. Are those 60k lower miles really worth $8k to you?
