slickster

I live in phoenix valley and people are hanging on to their Lexus vehicles. Always looking on craigslist just to keep track of prices (will be looking for ES330 for granddaughter soon) ES350 & es330 are getting hard to find. Today only 3 Lexus 350s on craigslist for sale by owner. Bought my 2008 for $7K one year ago, what a awesome car.

qmanman

Wife's 07 got demolished Mother's Day morning by some drunk that took off on foot. Just picked up a 2011 that is the exact same car but with much less miles and in much better condition (looks nearly brand new). Got it for $10,800 and it had been on CL for two weeks. A week ago someone put an 07 on CL and wanted $9,500 with 160,000 miles..

xjokerz

I wouldn't trust CL. I would pay a little extra and go find a low-mileage example at a dealer. Plenty all over the country.

qmanman

I'm the exact opposite. I'd never trust a dealer. I won't buy a car who's engine compartment has been detailed. This removes all evidence of oil leaks and the like. Private sellers rarely detail their engine compartments.

tolian21

Its a bad time to buy a car, used cars are in demand, especially es350 that has a good record for reliability

qmanman

Only if you don't have patience and are not persistent.

xjokerz

Which is exactly why I'm going to be picking up a super low mileage 2011 or 2012 ES in a couple months. Yeah they are going for a premium but I figure they are basically indestructible so what the heck.

qmanman

Not bad reasoning. I just picked up a 2011 ES350 with 99,500 miles although I didn't pay a premium. I've had my eye on Craigslist for the past year and this bad boy finally popped up.

xjokerz

That's pretty good and should last for many years to come.

I'm kind of particular. I don't want the screen in my car, I don't want white exterior (don't prefer the silver tone but I'll take it if I have to), and I don't want all black inside. The only interior color I like, and I've sat in almost all the different color schemes interior-wise) is the all black with the white leather and the dark wood, without the screen of course. So I may have to drive like 2,000+ miles to pick it up because there may be only one sub 50,000 mile example of one I would take. Lol

qmanman

That's funny. Ours is all black interior and exterior. My wife likes that color for some reason although it always looks dirty.

xjokerz

Yeah a big misconception is that a black car will look clean but in reality it does not. Lexus does have nice black interiors but it's not for all.

I would have considered a 330 but I can't stand that golden birds eye maple they used in the mid 2000's. That was the only wood choice if you wanted a lighter interior. Wasn't interested in the pre face lifted ones.

GrizzlyMan

White leather, makes the interior look as if for grandpa and a pain to maintain, and imo, of all colors, the one that ages the worst.

*open an account in cargurus, create save search with notification for the vehicle. I had to drive across four states to finally get the car I wanted.

good luck

xjokerz

I know it's a little tricky to keep clean. I am really clean though. I don't ever eat food in my car, I never spill drinks, and I don't really haul people around so I don't have to worry about them either. I just think that, in my opinion, that color combo looks the best on this particular car.

Which one did you get?

GrizzlyMan

I ended up getting one of its brothers, a IS350 F-Sport, 70k on the odometer as of March 2021. I did look up the ES and liked the extra space and comfort.

I had yrs ago a 4th generation white Prelude and missed a lot the enclosed cabin, cockpit style dash and interiors. When I sat on a IS, that feeling/ experience came back and that is of all things, what made me go with that model. But nothing against the ES, is luxury and comfort bumper to bumper.

I went pearl white with black interiors. If correct the F-Sport does not have the option white leather seats. My parents used to have a all white interior trim BMW and as a teenager one of my chores was to maintain the leather, gives me flashbacks, lol.