Sa1

Hi everyone,

I’m just a new car buyer and trying to buy a 07 Lexus ES 350 from my neighbor.
it only has 47k miles on it. It has few dents size of baseball and one of 5inch.

I showed it to near by mechanic and he said it needed few things:
1. Catalytic Converters
2. Engine belt
3. O2 sensor

could you please guide if this would be a decent buy and how much it will be worth it?
it would be great if I can drive it for 3-4 more years.
I checked on carvana it’s showing $6k.

LexBob2

Sa1, you might want to post this over on the 5th Gen ES forum (2007-2012). More drivers familiar with this generation will see it.

dknights

I assume the sensor is no big deal(not sure).

engine belt, assuming you mean serpentine looks somewhat buried but there’s probably a walk-through on here or YouTube.

catalytic converter, was that stolen? I haven’t seen one go bad on these cars yet but if you have to replace the whole system, it will be $2,000-$3,000 from what I’ve heard (from dealer of course)

also it should be noted, I heard that if you have to replace a stolen catalytic converter it “totals” the car and will have a salvage title, heard that and tried to call BS but I’m pretty sure it’s a salvage. $6K is cheap for such low miles though. So if all of that stuff isn’t a concern and you have a couple thousand extra to sink into it, you’ll have yourself a solid vehicle. Lots of ppl on here always say to shoot for the 2010-2012 years but I’ve seen many many success stories from 2007-2009 years too. Car should last much more than 3-4 years.

Sa1

Hi,
Actually it’s not stolen but when the mechanic plugged in diagnostic scan tool, it showed that O2 sensor and catalytic converter needs to be replaced.
based on my research of what it looks like on google, when mechanic put car on lift, I saw a part where it look rusted.

Sa1

Hi,
thank you for your response, appreciate it!
Actually it’s not stolen but when the mechanic plugged in diagnostic scan tool, it showed that O2 sensor and catalytic converter needs to be replaced.
based on my research of what it looks like on google, when mechanic put car on lift, I saw a part where it look rusted.

dknights

okay I had a 2005 Acura that had a check engine light: failed catalytic converter when plugged into scan tool. Also had an O2 sensor code that was related to the gas cap needing replaced or not being tight enough.
(this car was full of rust from the Midwest btw) most of the time that’s not as big of a deal as people think. Unless it’s eating holes, it’s usually cosmetic and makes nuts and bolts a ton of fun.

I read somewhere just put full tank of chevron gas (has Techron cleaner in it) and it literally fixed the check engine code. If you don’t have chevron, SHELL gas also has a cleaner in it. So get the high octane. Or tell the owner to try it, it might solve the issue. I never thought this would work for me and it did. Catalytic screens are very fine and clog easy, if that’s all that happened a tank of good gas (91 octane) from shell or chevron (because of cleaning agent) MIGHT just do the trick, also much cheaper than replacing the whole system. You can buy Techron to add to gas from Walmart or autozone or oreillys for $10 too if you don’t have shell or chevron, or you can add Techron to shell or chevron gas for even more potent mixture, and this is what I recommend. It might be that easy, like I said I didn’t think it was going to work for me but did, the check engine light was gone before I was even through the whole tank. I heard using cheap gas clogs catalytic converters screens over time. And the Techron will break down the carbon buildup in the fine screen. Hope this helps. I always tend to over explain. Also if that worked, he would probably up the price so it’s a gamble. That car in working order would probably be worth more than $10k with such low mileage. But this is me just guessing.