Yeezus

Hello, I am in the process of potentially purchasing a ES350 from craigslist. Is there anything I should look out for with this model? Exterior and interior is in excellent shape, clean title with two previous owners. 50K miles for $13K. Carfax shows that it was also well maintained. Thanks in advanced to any prompt replies! Carfax in comments.

Yeezus

08/29/2011

• NICB

• Vehicle manufactured and shipped to original dealer

09/15/2011

• Lexus of Manhattan
• New York, NY
• 212-977-4400

4.5 / 5.0
176 Verified Reviews

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869
Customer Favorites

• Vehicle serviced
  • Pre-delivery inspection completed
  • Vehicle washed/detailed

09/29/2011
5

• New Jersey
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Deal, NJ
• Title #BG20112720168

• Title issued or updated
  • Registration issued or renewed
  • First owner reported
  • Titled or registered as personal vehicle
  • Vehicle color noted as Gray

04/19/2012
4,316

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

favorite
2,249
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• Vehicle serviced
  • 5,000 mile service performed

11/29/2012
9,737

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

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2,249
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• Vehicle serviced
  • 10,000 mile service performed
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  • Brakes checked
  • Fluids checked
  • Oil and filter changed
  • Tire(s) balanced
  • Tire condition and pressure checked
  • Tires rotated
  • Brakes serviced

12/12/2012

• Inspection Co.
• New Jersey

• Inspection performed

07/15/2013
13,648

• Pep Boys
• Ocean, NJ
• 732-531-7800

4.7 / 5.0
40 Verified Reviews

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413
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• Vehicle serviced
  • Tire pressure monitoring system serviced
  • Tire(s) balanced
  • Tire(s) mounted

03/06/2014
17,885

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

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2,249
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• Vehicle serviced
  • Maintenance inspection completed
  • Antifreeze/coolant checked
  • Air filter replaced
  • PCV valve replaced
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  • Cabin air filter replaced/cleaned
  • Fluids checked
  • Oil and filter changed
  • Tire(s) balanced
  • Tire condition and pressure checked
  • Tires rotated
  • Brakes serviced

02/05/2015
22,392

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

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2,249
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• Vehicle serviced
  • Maintenance inspection completed
  • 20,000 mile service performed
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  • Fluids checked
  • Oil and filter changed
  • Tire(s) balanced
  • Tire condition and pressure checked
  • Tires rotated
  • Brakes serviced
  • Four wheel alignment performed

07/31/2015

• New Jersey
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Deal, NJ

• Registration issued or renewed
  • Vehicle color noted as Gray

08/31/2015

• New Jersey
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Deal, NJ

• Registration issued or renewed
  • Vehicle color noted as Gray

03/24/2016
27,147

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

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2,249
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• Vehicle serviced
  • Maintenance inspection completed
  • 25,000 mile service performed
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  • Brakes checked
  • Fluids checked
  • Oil and filter changed
  • Tire(s) balanced
  • Tire condition and pressure checked
  • Tires rotated
  • Brakes serviced

08/11/2016

• New Jersey
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Deal, NJ

• Registration issued or renewed
  • Vehicle color noted as Gray

02/09/2017
31,758

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

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2,249
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• Vehicle serviced
  • 30,000 mile service performed
  • Air filter replaced
  • PCV valve replaced
  • Brakes checked
  • Cabin air filter replaced/cleaned
  • Fluids checked
  • Oil and filter changed
  • Brake fluid flushed/changed
  • Tire(s) balanced
  • Tire condition and pressure checked
  • Tires rotated
  • Brake pads replaced

07/21/2017

• New Jersey
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Deal, NJ

• Registration issued or renewed
  • Vehicle color noted as Gray

08/31/2017
34,933

• New Jersey
• Inspection Station

• Passed emissions inspection

02/02/2018
36,106

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

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• Vehicle serviced
  • 35,000 mile service performed
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  • Tires rotated
  • Brakes serviced
  • Key(s) (re) programmed
  • New key(s) cut

07/19/2018

• New Jersey
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Deal, NJ
• Title #ER20182000671

• Title issued or updated
  • Registration issued or renewed
  • Duplicate title issued
  • Vehicle color noted as Gray

03/15/2019

• New York
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Saugerties, NY

• Registration issued or renewed
  • Titled or registered as personal vehicle
  • Passed safety inspection

Owner 2
Purchased: 2019
Personal Vehicle
Date
Mileage
Source
Comments
04/02/2019

• New York
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Saugerties, NY

• Title issued or updated
  • New owner reported

08/20/2019

• New York
• Motor Vehicle Dept.
• Saugerties, NY

• Registration issued or renewed
  • Titled or registered as personal vehicle
  • Passed safety inspection

03/04/2020
42,661

• New York
• Inspection Station

• Passed safety inspection
  • Passed emissions inspection
• View what was inspected

01/21/2021
49,160

• Bay Ridge Lexus
• Brooklyn, NY
• 718-680-2200

4.3 / 5.0
300 Verified Reviews

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• Vehicle serviced

ESh

Based on Carfax you can’t go wrong with that car.

tronimrich

My only concern is that with low mileage vehicles you get sporadic service records

This car has gone a year in between oil changes at one point, and 5 months in between at another.

Even if you don't drive the car for 5k miles, it is still recommended to get oil changed at 3 mo intervals

I say this because I spent months looking for my ES before settling on a higher mileage car (150k miles for $9k), and one thing I KEPT seeing is lower mileage cars having problems.

Wilson2000

If using full synthetic, quality oil and not operating under severe conditions, one year change intervals are acceptable when driving less than 5K/yr.

The only thing I would be concerned with is if the low miles were due to a major accident that required the vehicle to sit in a body shop for a long time. Check the paint and body work thoroughly! Carfax doesn't show all accident repairs.

Zereldo

Like mentioned above, carfax (or Carproof here in Canada) doesnt show the entire picture. In case of Carpropf, an accident is only documented on the report if an insurance company or dealership was involved with the repair. For instance, many leasers go to a third party shop for body work prior to handing in their lease, they go for the cheapest possible solution and that reflects in the work. In some instances, owners do not want to involve the insurance company in an attempt to keep the premiums low; again, getting the cheapest possible job.

As far as maintenance is concerned, I recommend getting a pre purchase inspection via Toyota/Lexus dealer or a trusted private mechanic.

The mileage is relatively low which can be good or bad. Based on what I've learned: 100,000 highway miles > 50,000 city miles. This is just an over exaggerated example and may not be entirely true.

See how the car is optioned. Since 5th gens are old, a high spec example will be more or less the same cost as a base model in the used market.

$13,000 USD...thats about $17,000 CAD. I would not pay that much for a 10 year old ES 350. That is not to say that car might be excellent and outlast newer American or European cars. The maintenance is very reasonable, fuel economy may not be the best compared to more modern engines. It's a steel bodied car from New York and so rust is inevitable.

This is the same response I gave to another gentleman here on the forums looking to purchase a very low mileage 09 ES 350 for around this price. These cars can be had for much less, you will need to pick out a better example is all.

I purchased a 2010 ES 350 from a Lexus dealer with 130k KM (80k miles) for $8,750 CAD (~$6,800 USD) early 2018. It is a base model that was cosmetically in decent shape. No prior accidents/paint work (confirmed with my mechanic and later with a dealer). Brakes were new, the interior needed some TLC and the exterior needed some polishing.

At the time, it was a good deal, and the car has been trouble free since. It's presently clocked at 166,000 KMs.

Sorry about the long and poorly formatted post.

Good luck!

Yeezus

The body looks super clean from photos, but I guess looks can be deceiving. Haven't got the chance because NYC is doing bad with the snowstorm right now, but this is the craigslist ad.

https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/c...266230365.html

Zereldo

Clips appears to be lose or broken.


Possible rip or just some dirt.


Seats worn from frequent in and out. This is to be expected, but I'm pointing it out anyway.


The rear bumper may not be sitting flush against the rear fender. It could also be dirt, but I doubt it.


Colour appears to be mismatched and large panel gap.


Paint chip front loading in luggage. Could be dirt.


Paint chip atop the hood. Front bumper (below the lower grille) is cracked. The state of the front licence plate (appears bent in each corner) indicates a front end collision (most likely a fender bender) and the front bumper was repainted hence the contrast in shade of silver.


The chrome trim is reflecting differently b/w the front and rear. Could be just the lighting, but the perfect cut off at the seam leads me to believe that the trip may not be at the same angle. Paint chip on front right fender. Mismatched paint. Front bumper is most likely repainted.


Scratches in the airbag cover. Could be from jewelry or nails. I guess people make frequent use of the horn down in NY.


Please note that I'm not a mechanic/body shop tech or a car salesman. I'm highlighting what I see and it could very well be poor lighting or dirt/dust. So take my "assessment " with a grain of salt.

Best you can do is to see it in person.

Yeezus

Thanks for your responses Zereldo, but what do you think? Would you have purchased this car? I was going to try to get him around 10K, 50K miles is still pretty low, even with the little cosmetic issues. Idk lol.

Zereldo

I like the paint colour. I like interior colour. I like that it's more or less loaded, appears to only be missing the panoramic/ double moonroof.

The condition is clearly not perfect, especially for $13k USD.

I wouldn't be confident in buying a car older than 4 to 5 years that isn't a Toyota/Lexus, but for that price, you can do much better. A newer 6th gen ES should fall in the $13k mark. Newer Toyota Avalon is another great choice. A newer Camry might be a good choice depending on options. I'm basing these options based on you shopping for an ES: a reliable mid-sized luxury sedan; othereise, Toyota highlander, Lexus GS, LS (slightly less reliable and more expensive to maintain), Hyundai Genesis (or G80 under new Genesis mark) among other great choice in that price range.

To answer your question: no, I would not buy this car for $13,000 USD. I would buy it for $7,000 USD.

Market prices differ from region to region, but I reckon Toronto (Ontario) and NY should be very closely matched. I would expect US cars to be cheaper based on the population, hence more supply.

Yeezus

ES models is NYC to be exact cost a bit more for some reason, I believe 12.4k was his lowest. I def made a mistake not putting the brightness up on my laptop lol, I will look at your other suggestions. Thanks.

Zereldo

The 5th gen ES seem to be holding their value at $8000 to $10,000 CAD here. 07/08 can be had for as low as $4,000 CAD, while some low KM 2011/12 ES are at $12,000 CAD.

I recently sold my 2015 Jaguar XFS Supercharged clocked at 68,000 KMs and with 1 year CPO warranty for $20,000 CAD. Its not nearly as reliable as the ES, but only thing it has common with the ES is that it's a mid-sized. More power, more option = less reliable. Just based on that, the XF offers far more than the ES does with a price difference of $4,000 b/w this Lexus and my old XF.

Sharing this to give you a better visual of bang for buck.

No, I'm not recommending buying Jaguar on a Lexus forum. I could be hanged for this!

tronimrich

THat car was clearly in some kind of damage or accident

THe paint on first look has places where it looks mismatched

The front hood and rear bumper look misaligned


I'd walk. That's because I would never buy an accident vehicle when this model ES are becoming more available.

Davidli

dude,
I was looking at the same exact CL post 2 weeks ago. I did looked through the same car, but decided to get a 2017 Lexus RX for my wife.
My recommendation: go check out its condition. But be wary of this car because it has been up for 2 weeks, and it has been sold yet.
This car has mostly city mileage. So expect bad suspension parts (structs, sway bar links, ball joists etc). If I were you, I will check it out in person first. If you like it, take it to a Toyota dealer, and pay for Pre-purchase inspection.

I do own a 2010 ES 350, and I know all the good/bad about this car..