chuckb

^^^ agreed

educk

So, I called a Lexus dealer, and he said the last "service" call was the 20K in 1998. But, the car has been in for various warranty repairs and he told me that he has actually spoken to/knows the owner, and agreed that apparently he takes all his Lexus to Jiffy Lube (the tone in the guy's voice was one of "I don't get it" and "that''s just how the owner is..."). He said he thinks he recalls the Jiffy Lube was very close to the guy's house, whereas neither local dealers were within 45 minutes drive.

He said all the warranty work was typical, no red-flags or notes.

So, basically, I am kinda still where I was last night.

Anyway, I am off to see this car at noon. Wish me,,,luck, I guess. LOL

educk

Well.

Actually, visually, it was not a bad car. Some blemishes, I mean it is at least 8 years old nowadays, but not terrible either. I figure the worst was a crack in the front bumper by the passenger wheel well, where the owner parked too close to a curb and then backed out and caught the bumber. And a few bad paint touch-up jobs with touch up paint in the rear bumper...But no biggies.

The interior was...dirty. Not cluttered, but dirty, not filthy. Makes me wonder when you can't wipe down the interior of your car occasionally. The steering wheel was relatively worn on the left hand side near the "paddle shifter", I don't think I have ever seen that before on any car.

The car drove well, great pick-up and response.

Tires were old. Oil looked to be old.

So that brought up maintenance. Yup, Jiffy Lube, but he said that the local Jiffy Lube was not even fives minutes down the block from where he lives, so it was very convenient and he knows the staff. Okay, fine. He also claimed that he was "fortunate" to have a couple of "Lexus guys" who did work for him on the side, and that he did EVERYTHING that they asked him to do. I asked if that included coolant and tranny fluid changes..."Whatever they said to do..." Didn't answer my question, did he?

How often was the oil changed?

"Whenever the indicator said I needed to change it." You guys would know better, but doesn't the indicator say "You're screwed, get the oil changed" and not "Hello, 3500 miles, please change"? So, having already determined that this guy knows zilch about cars, I figured he was changing his oil about every 9K miles...

Anyway, I took a few pics, and we parted ways, I told him I would get back to him.

On my way home, I stopped by the local Jiffy Lube, and flirted with the nice old lady behind the counter. I told her I was thinking of buying this guy's car, and he said he took it to his JIffy Lube, but I was not sure and didn't want to get ripped off...She ran his records. From what we can tell, in over 8 years of ownership, he took his car to his Jiffy Lube, the one down the street, 7 times. Twice in one week, but SEVEN times total in 8 years. About every 11K miles he had his oil changed.

So, I guess I'll pass on that. I don't have the bandwidth to deal with repair issues brought about by owner negligence.

Sigh. My search will go on.

Thanks for all the help.

chuckb

there is no "time for an oil change indicator light" only a dummy light that would come on if oil level or oil pressure was very low.

aliti19

Good lord! I feel bad for whoever buys that car off that guy.
Keep on looking! I'm sure you'll find something a lot nicer & well maintained.

Good luck!!

aliti19

Here ya go... https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=229986

This was just posted on the classifieds. Spectra Blue (rare/hot as hell color) 151K miles, and synthetic oil changes every 3K. He's asking less than $11K.

SoCal_VIP

My suggestions would be to take the car to a local dealership, Lexus of course. Pay the $450 (I beleive) to have the whole entire car inspected. I did this on my car and all my previous cars as well as family members cars (when buying used of course). Its a little costly but well worth it if you want to find out the condition of the car. Good luck!

educk

I saw that, actually. I am keeping my eye on it, thanks!

Something else the service guy from the dealer said this morning (the one that knew this owner, sort of...) I asked about bring the car there for a pre-sales inspection, and he said that costs $95 and can take up to two hours. Then I asked what the 90K service cost, and he said "for that car" (or something like that) anywhere between $1100-$1300. And he said that even if I did the pre-sales inspection and the 90K, there was no way they could guarantee that the car would hold up like it should, only because as far as he is concerned, the car is neglected if he didn't have access to the records of what was done elsewhere...

While I was driving to look at this 400, I began to wonder if he was warning me, or just talking to talk the big talk?

I've thought about this all night, and I think I am comfortable holding out for the right car. I'll continue to save up, so I can potentially get a "newer" car with less miles...and a black one.

GWELEX

He was just covering all the bases and he's right. He doesn't want you coming back if something was seriously wrong with the car, screaming "I paid you find this stuff out before I bought it." I agree that the preventative maintenance wasn't done as it should of been but I also get the impression from you that the currernt owner didn't race the car every Friday night bouncing it off the rev limiter and running it into the ground. With that said, the Spectre Blue looks pretty good.

mole

iTrader: (3)

I think your doing the right thing. Don't be impulsive and buy something because your so wanting it, trust me, that is my biggest downfall... if you wait, you'll run across a perfect example of a well-maintained Lexus either from some guy who was religious about reciepts and maintenance or someone who knows the car so well and has taken great care of it.

I bought an Infiniti G20 once and the owner had all of the reciepts, in chronological order, every spare part ever taken off the car and spent at least 20 minutes telling me about before he would let me drive. I almost felt like I was being interviewed, which I think I was. Wait it out, 2006 brought the new body style and some guy will be offloading his "precious ride" soon enough.