Hello all, I love the pro look of the forum. I am seriously considering buying an older lexus, early to mid-nineties, somewhere in the $4000 dollar range. I wanted to do a little research before buying, however. What I wanted to ask all you nice, knowledgeable folks is:

#1: Do Lexus cars from the mid-nineties have relatively low maintenence costs and parts availability compared to other cars like Honda Accords?

#2: What would be a good Lexus to start out with that has good fuel economy for a Lexus? I would love to have a 4 cylinder Lexus but it looks like there aren't any. What is the most fuel efficient Lexus?

Thanks everyone, I look forward to your responses.
Micah

 

Since you only have about 4k, that leaves you looking at es300's, unless someone is giving away a car. I think they are pretty reliable....

this should probably move to the general section though

 

no older lexus's get good gas milage.
You might be able to get a 1st gen gs300, not a bad car at all,
but accelerates slow as hell lol
GL

 

What do you consider good gas mileage? The V6 ES300 gets a couple gallons more MPGs than the V8 in the SC/LS. My 94 ES300 used to get about 20-21 MPG while my SC400 and LS400 used to get about 18 MPG gallon for the generally the same travel routes. Of couse, the LS400 had 290HP while the ES300 had about 176 I think.

Parts for any Lexus even the older ones will be a lot more expensive than the Honda Accord. Major maintenance like Timing Belt and Water Pump as well as general 30K interval services will also be more expensive. If you think BMWs have expensive parts and are expensive to maintain my Lexus parts generally cost just as much routine maintenance costs were about the same as well.

Also, for $4-$6K you should be able to find some high mileage ES300 and up to around 95 SC/LS400s.

 

I forgot about the LS400..
Id deffenitly pick the LS.

 

Hey Rockworthy

I started out in a 94 ES300 about 6 yrs ago, bought a CPO 03 GX470 2 yrs ago and just recently ( this week ) traded my ES300 for an '02 GS430.

I've been a Toyota nut for the longest time so naturally Lexus is the only way to go IMO.

Any hoot, I loved my ES300, I paid $9K for one with 60k on the odom. I put 60K miles on it before I sold it and invested about $3,000 worth of maintenance i.e. tune up, belts, suspension, regular oil changes, air filter, brakes, tires, etc. over the course of the 6 yrs.

I sold it for $2,500 so do the math $9k + $3K - $,2500 = $9,500 over 6yrs = $1,500 per year in maintenance/wear and tear. That's not bad considering your driving a luxury car.

That's my $0.2

Good luck finding something suitable. There are deals out there, so do what I did...LOW BALL!!!!

Ken

 

ES 300 for best gas mileage out of all.

 

Not really...1st gen GS, SC, ES...quite a few options for that price range.

OP...just test drive these cars and get a feel for what you like...now is the best time to buy and take advantage. GL

 

Most of the 1GS you can find for $4K need about $800-$1000 in maintenance done since that has been deferred in most cases. The same is true for the rest of the Lexus lineup. $4K gets you an old, high mileage car in fair to poor condition that needs work. If I had $4K and was looking for a used car that's reliable and fuel efficient, I'd probably look at Hondas.