An almost GS owner....questions for buying
04-21-12, 02:01 AM
#1
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An almost GS owner....questions for buying
This is basically some general questions some of you may have the answers to for California purchase of used car at a dealer:
Im going to be checking a GS out this weekend, but had a couple questions I hope you can answer before I get there.
1. Sales Tax - Is it based on the city tax where the car is sold or based on residence address?
2. Do they usually let you take it our for inspection or prefer you get a mobile mechanic to inspect the car? I think I have a pretty good ear when it comes to this, but my mechanic is 45 mins away. Is it worth it to look for a local mechanic to have come and check it out?
3.. Lexus service history and carfax look pretty clean, so can I trust that? I found this entry on the service history and was wondering if it is the valve spring replacement:
PERFORM ALE CAMPAIGN, REPLACEMENT OF ENGINE VALVE SPRINGS ON LS AND GS WITH V8 E
4. Wish me luck....Im hoping this purchase works out and if it does, Ill have some photos up over the weekend.
Thanks for your time.....
Im going to be checking a GS out this weekend, but had a couple questions I hope you can answer before I get there.
1. Sales Tax - Is it based on the city tax where the car is sold or based on residence address?
2. Do they usually let you take it our for inspection or prefer you get a mobile mechanic to inspect the car? I think I have a pretty good ear when it comes to this, but my mechanic is 45 mins away. Is it worth it to look for a local mechanic to have come and check it out?
3.. Lexus service history and carfax look pretty clean, so can I trust that? I found this entry on the service history and was wondering if it is the valve spring replacement:
PERFORM ALE CAMPAIGN, REPLACEMENT OF ENGINE VALVE SPRINGS ON LS AND GS WITH V8 E
4. Wish me luck....Im hoping this purchase works out and if it does, Ill have some photos up over the weekend.
Thanks for your time.....
04-21-12, 02:37 AM
#2
i used to do sales @ Spirit Honda & Wondries Toyota in LA for 3 years
1. From what I vaguely remember I know for at least Los Angeles County. Sales tax is 10% 8.25%+1.75% So a little more lessRoughly. So you buy a car for 20k its gunna come out to 22K.
2. if you buying from a dealship (Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Lexus, Etc.) You can always bring someone with yout o check out the car but they wont let you take the car off their hands and take it to his shop. He can do visual and test. I know over when i working a mechanic wanted to use his OBD reader but the dealership wont allow it just incase of tampering. Dont know how they would do it but that was the dealers excuse. But Private dealers will sometimes let u inspect it thoroughly but most private dealers are douches.
3. if the owner took it to a certified toyota/lexus dealer and kept track of notes and on top of that Dealers and even lube/oilchange spots all report to DMV so its pretty accurate as far as maintenance. Though any person can avoid a crash report to carfax/dmv/so on and so on.
4. Gluck
1. From what I vaguely remember I know for at least Los Angeles County. Sales tax is 10% 8.25%+1.75% So a little more lessRoughly. So you buy a car for 20k its gunna come out to 22K.
2. if you buying from a dealship (Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Lexus, Etc.) You can always bring someone with yout o check out the car but they wont let you take the car off their hands and take it to his shop. He can do visual and test. I know over when i working a mechanic wanted to use his OBD reader but the dealership wont allow it just incase of tampering. Dont know how they would do it but that was the dealers excuse. But Private dealers will sometimes let u inspect it thoroughly but most private dealers are douches.
3. if the owner took it to a certified toyota/lexus dealer and kept track of notes and on top of that Dealers and even lube/oilchange spots all report to DMV so its pretty accurate as far as maintenance. Though any person can avoid a crash report to carfax/dmv/so on and so on.
4. Gluck
04-21-12, 11:19 PM
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The sales tax on an automobile purchase in California is based on the county that you reside in and not where the car is purchased. I purchased a GS350 last month in L.A. County but the sales tax was at the Riverside County rate.
04-22-12, 09:51 PM
#6
Driver School Candidate
I bought my GS 460 from a Toyota dealer.
I also have a clean Carfax and all schedule maintenance documented in the Lexus service history.
After I signed the paperwork and drove the car away, the dealer gave me 24 hours to bring the car back if it failed inspection. I took it to the nearest Lexus dealer, and my car passed with flying colors. So I kept it.
If you do something similar with the dealer, make sure you have it in writing. These cars are pretty bulletproof in general, so if it's well cared for, you can rest assured.
I also have a clean Carfax and all schedule maintenance documented in the Lexus service history.
After I signed the paperwork and drove the car away, the dealer gave me 24 hours to bring the car back if it failed inspection. I took it to the nearest Lexus dealer, and my car passed with flying colors. So I kept it.
If you do something similar with the dealer, make sure you have it in writing. These cars are pretty bulletproof in general, so if it's well cared for, you can rest assured.
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