Languistic

iTrader: (2)

What's up everyone..I am new to the forum. Looking to purchase a 2006 GS300 but am contemplating on two different routes. I could search for a low mileage used vehicle or a higher mileage (50-60k) certified pre-owned vehicle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Looking for as much feedback from your experiences with this vehicle. Thanks in advance guys.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

I would go for the cpo becuase there are some issues with the gs 300, but don't get me wrong its a great car!

BinaryJay

I wouldn't even say 60K is high mileage. It's a drop in the bucket for a well maintained GS.

jtrue28

after seeing how "most" people treat their cars..."well maintained" may be hard to find. obviously this board is the exception, but how much of the general Lexus population do we make up... 0.1%?

Bambigular

I would go with a CPO I recently purchased an 06 GS 300 with only 24,400 miles. Everything was perfect and the price was under 27K. With my low mileage the factory bumper to bumper warranty still applied. I looked around forever. On regret is that I wished that I paid the extra money for a Nav and ML but no GS300 I looked at had those options so I should have upgraded to a GS350. The wiffy drives the GS so I don't sweat it that much. GL

Slamking18

I am a fan of lower miles compared to CPO if the quality of the car is the same. My brother is a Lexus tech and has mentioned multiple times that the CPO doesn't truely guarantee that the car is in any better condition than a non CPO. The only real benefit is that you get a 3 year, 100k mile warranty, although, it should be considered more of an extended warranty since they just add cost to the car for the CPO.

For example... I just bought my 08 GS460 w/ 11k miles for just over $38k used non CPO and is in perfect condition. The Lexus dealer was trying to sell me a 08 GS350 AWD w/ 25k miles for the same price with CPO. On top of that, the car I bought still has 2.5 years of factory warranty so I am really only loosing out of 6 months.

Coolpop

Very well spoken. According to Lexus's website, the CPO vehicles are supposed to be reconditioned so that they are "virtually indistinguishable" from new cars. I have yet to see a CPO vehicle that even remotely approaches that. All of the vehicles I've seen - and I've looked at a bunch - all have a lot of paint damage, scratches, dings, etc. As jtrue mentioned, people seem to just trash their cars and dog them. It's appalling. And even more so that these Lexus dealers don't fix the dings or scratches or paint damage prior to advertising these cars as CPO vehicles.

So much for the "total reconditioning."

Orzel

iTrader: (1)

Depending on where your dealer is, I'd opt for CPO. We bought our GS as a CPO, with about 38k miles. Our Dealer had it parked in the showroom on delivery day, right next to a brand new one - you couldn't tell the difference. And in our case, the car was, and is spotless, the interior, other than very light wear on the drivers seat was literally untouched, and with the exception of one very minor scratch way down low on the back bumper, the body is flawless. Dealer had all TSB's done and documented, and provided us with full history of maintenance.

jason60050

CPO all the way because of the warranty.

grondie

Or if you find a deal on a non-CPO, just add the warranty later.

niteflite

when i was searching for a gs300 awd last summer my main criteria was low milage (<40k), navigation, and certain colors. cpo vehicles meeting this criteria were priced right around $30k in my area give or take a couple of thousand.

i wound up finding a flint mica with 37k miles, navigation, ML from a used car dealer for aound $26k. it has a couple of noticeable dings, and the rear bumper is missing a bracket or something causing it to stick out slightly. this will cost me around $200 to fix, but also there is a lot of paint work that's been done that the body shop was able to point out to me. i just recently noticed a minor tear the size of dime in the leather on the divider between the two doors inside on the driver's side. i've also spent around $800 on new tires - the dunlops had some life left, but no more than 60%, and there was some minor damage that wasn't too visible unless i lifted it up. i believe with cpo you get brand new tires.

i considered adding a factory warranty but i can't justify paying $500 to $750 per year of coverage, so I'll take my chances. considering all these costs i've incurred already, i think i would have opted for the cpo had i known what i know now. of course there's no guarantee that a cpo will always be in better mechanically and conditionally, but 9x out of 10 i would assume this would be the case.

as for the car, i'm quite happy with the way it drives. i like the smoothness especially after i got the new turanza serenities installed. i plan on keeping this for at least another three years.

ingoodtime

I bought my CPO 2006 GS300 the end of January. I have been driving it and have not wanted to bring her in foran extended stay at the dealer. But, I did notice some things they obviously missed when prepping the car for a cpo sale. I did mention them to the salesman and finally brought the car in. The dealewrship has been wonderful.

1) internal scratches on windshield accross drivers view.
remedy: dealer replacing windshield.

2) One touch sunroof has no one touch setting. I was unable to reprogram it using information on this site. Dealer was also unable to get it working. Bad memory in sunroof motor. Remedy, replace sunroof motor.

3) Cold start tapping. Remedy, replace valve actuators.

4) Paint bubbling oof of wheels. Remedy: Refinish wheels.

5) Seatbelt not fully retracting: Remedy, replace seatbelt.

6) creaking from rear window: Not able to duplicate yet. I explained that the car must be left out in hot weather for the creaking to start and we just have not had real hot weather except for a day here and there and...obviously, only when I am driving! I'll have to bring it back when I hear it. My VIN does not fall under the TSB they had for this model. But, they did say it sure sounds like the same issue that the TSB for this model covers.

7) The car was on the alignment rack to correctly check for camber problems that may cause the sway at high speed I have been feeling. I don't yet know if it was out of alignment or if the problem is the loose nut behind the wheel. (ME).

So, CPO or not for you?Is it worth it or not? Does the CPO program mean anythig except some extended warranty?

I guess it is good in some ways as they are really working to make everything right and make me a happy customer and I certainly appreciate their efforts. I am somewhat bummed that all of this was not done during the certification process. Of course, I probably paid thousands more for the car than buying a non cpo product. The car does look pretty good save for mild stains on the chrome around the side windows. Probably hard water spots or acid rain spots that were not cared for over the years. But, I don't think the avg Joe will get that close or inspect the car and be as critical as me.

I miss it. They have had the car since Monday morning. I have been enjoyng a hybrid and while it is nice, it isn't my GS.

Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy it.

*Batman*

You shouldn't expect a CPO to be a better car. CPOs can often have pre-existing damage, faulty parts, etc. just like non-CPO cars. Dealers do very little to prep these days.

However, the warranty is what makes CPO appealing - if there are problems they have to fix it and there is no passing the buck in the way they can refuse to accept third-party warranties.

1STLXS

iTrader: (4)

Lang,
I went the route of getting mine from a private seller. The car only had 30,000 miles and IMO well maintained. I haven't had any major issues. I did alot of research and asked alot of questions from prospective sellers. I would do it again.

*Batman*

Cars from private sellers are often in the best shape. People look after things they own, whereas off-lease vehicles may be less well maintained - especially if they are fleet vehicles.