SinIsSick

I found a great deal as a second car for my wife on a 98 GS300 Pearl White. The car is in nearly mint condition inside and out, but it does have a salvage title. The guy showed me pics of the front where the accident happened, but said no frame, engine, or airbag deployment. He has 60K on the car and wants 8k for it. Besides that the car looks new and he is one of those guys who just loves cars and knows how to take care of it.

What do u guys think?

Just wondering what should I look for and what are the pros and cons of a 98?

DAVD305

Salvage title is bad news,tell the person selling you the car to make it a clean title and then your good(which is a mission),but salvage title is bad you cant even register the car,this is great if you are going to get the car to transfer parts to another lexus.Dont give this guy no money.

510 gs300

if you do go look at the car bring a tape measure ask him to open up the hood.. measure the lengths from the front rite of the frame to the back left and do the same from the front left to the back right if the car has no frame damage the numbers will be identical..if its off even a little bit bad bad news.. if you look long enough you will find a great deal i just got my black 98 gs300 with 120k and clean title in excellent condition for 6,000 cash. took me about 6 months of waiting tho..Good luck

4ntvings

iTrader: (6)

salvage =

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

X2! It will NEVER be perfect again

UncleRay

iTrader: (2)

I agree with everyone. Why take the hassle of fixing a salvaged car, when you can purchase one with a little bit more miles, has more maintenance on the vehicle, and probably has better upgrades? I would be patient, and wait for another classifieds on a 2nd gen =]

bee0818

iTrader: (4)

In addition to the problems that everyone has already listed, resale is going to be a joke on a salvaged car. There's a reason why they are always so cheap...

SinIsSick

I had a inspection done on the car and everything checked out. Just more cosmetic that was replaced, so no idea why its salvaged. Everything was replaced with OEM parts.

Anyways for 7k its good for a second car and its really clean. Will post pics in due time.

Thanks for the responses fella's.

FrankT

If I plan on keeping the car, I would not turn down a salvage tile, especially if the previous owner has had the car for 60k miles.

I would defiantly have the car check out at a good body shop.

Still, IMO, a salvage title should only go for about 40% to 60% of blue book.

Good luck with the car...

UZ214

but for 8k its not even a great deal, i have seen gs300 01+ go around 10 with around 75k miles...i would just get a 01 with couple of grands more. its a salvage title + with the old gs you would have to replace ball joints and etc..

werewolf

A car with a Salvage Title is worth 50% or less than the same car with a Clean Title plus it affects your insurance rates

That said the market for a salvage title is pretty small.

FYI I got a clean titled 1998GS400 with 113K miles for 11K so 8k is not very exciting.

VipDout

iTrader: (4)

+1 if keeping ... but just remember so much more work If you decide to sell it ..and no one knows the future