im planning on getting a gs300 this weekend. price is good and from what the dealer said the car is clean. but you know how that goes.
they show a carfax that was run for the car and nothing came up.
but i was reading another post and someone said to check the vin sticker on the doors,hood,andfender?. anyone know any speicifics and what else to look for? thanks in advance.

 

things I check when I check out a car...

places for vin:

+ under hood
+ bottom outside corner of front doors
+ outer edge of rear doors
+ behind carpet on trunk lid liner
+ on door sill of driver's side door
+ stamped on the firewall facing the engine bay
+ inside lip of front fenders along the rubber strip that shields the engine from the elements.

check each piece of glass to see if each piece has the toyota name on it. if it doesn't, it may have been swapped with a cheaper replacement. of course - it could have been replaced but if it's with factory glass - great. don't forget the moonroof.

check the AC and blow the hot air full blast to see if it smells. maybe the previous owner was a smoker?

check the cabin filter to see if it's been changed, see if you see any mildew...

tire wear, cupping? uneven wear?

spare tire? is it different than the rest of the wheels?

is the metal under the carpet in the trunk a diff color than the rest of the car?

you can pull up the rear seat w/o making a big fuss and see if there is anything suspicious under it... water damage, odd welds, diff paint, etc... coins.

gently close each door and see if the door closes nicely and almost by itself. this will help to see if things are not aligned properly.

if you can - test drive it and have someone drive behind you to see if the car is driving properly down the road - no doglegging (where the rear wheels don't follow the front wheels properly) if it does dogleg, you're riding in a car with a bent frame.

test EVERYTHING. naturally.

ask for all service records, check the vin with local lexus and toyota dealerships. maybe they have records.

that's all i can think of now.

 

^^ He covered pretty much everything. If you can have it checked out in and out by a local Lexus dealer. Cpmression test, electronics test, EVERYTHING! It's pricey but well worth it.

 

damn thanks..you helped out alot..like i said they ran a carfax but if anyone has access to a free carfax the vin number is jt8bd68sw0006292. thanks again cliffud..

 

He gave you good info but he forgot 1 thing get a GS400 or a 430

 

hahaha..that funny...if i had the money i probably would but this car is too good to pass if everything checks out fine.

 

lexusdream get a SC TT SC>GS3 and GS4/4.3

 

hey cherplex...give me back my sc then...

 

Ha ha let's go on pinks then.....

 

haha....you beat me to it. I was gonna say check for a V8........

seriously though, he's right.

 

There's a reason he's getting the GS3 lol ok I said enough....

 

Check for body damage.

 

if i turn the heat up full blast and smell smoke from the previous owner, is there any way to get rid of the smell?.

 

hopefully the smell will be coming from the cabin air filter. you can easily change that and it's located behind the glove box.

1) open glove box
2) remove rectangular piece on the back edge of it.
3) pull back rectangular piece of plastic that has cylindrical handles
4) pull back light grey rectangular tray towards you. There's a little tab to grab on to and it should slide right out.

Change it out and and throw an air freshener in your glove box and you'll be ok in a month.