JustinK101

So took a trip down to the Lexus dealer today. I have been interested in the IS for awhile and I am fairly confident I want to purchase. So I test drove the 2004, the E-Shift is a little corky and sometimes misleading, but fun.

Basically, I’m posting wondering if anyone would be so kind as to share their price paid. I test drove a 2004 e-shift, silver, with the full leather interior, spoiler, and sun roof. Worked the salesman down to $29974 out the door. Any feedback, as to decent price or whatever would be great.

I have also been searching eBay and found a great 2003, same exact specs, silver, black leather, sun roof, spoiler, with 3500K miles for buy-it-now of $25,000. I am a little bit cautious of buying a car on eBay, especially such a big purchase, but after all it is a great deal. Thanks for all the comments and feedback. Please let me know. After I buy, expect me to be a regular with modding question. LOL

PS: I have noticed, some of the front rotors on the IS are rusted? Is this a popular thing? Covered under warrenty? Just curious, walking around the dealership I noticed, I was like, Ummmmmmmmmmmmm.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Sounds like I good deal, I'm sure others will chime in though. Any other options?

As far as brake rotors, all rotors rust when you don't drive a car for a week with the current weather. The rust will come off as soon as the car is driven a mile or so. That's normal.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

the price looks ok. which part of cali are you in? socal? if so, PLEASE do yourself a favor and give elizabeth at longo lexus a call (i will pm you her phone number) and get a price. so far from all i can tell (and i shopped before too), no one can beat her price at all with all the same options, etc...

i have a 2003 is300 5 speed fully loaded with all options (leather, nav, lsd, spoiler, graphite wheels, heated seats, etc... all you can name) for 34k out of the door. but that's back in 03, now it's 1 yr later and things are so different now

flipside909

Just give Elizabeth at Longo a call as well. I bought my 2004 MSM E-Shift with the VK Package (Leather/Alcantara, Memory Seats, Moonroof, Floormats, etc etc) back in September 03 from her. I got the best deal from Elizabeth at that time from all the Lexus dealers I contacted in SoCal. Longo will have the most IS300 colors and option packages available than any other Lexus dealer in CA.

RMMGS4 is right about the brakes. When water sits on metal it will obviously rust (especially when it sits for a while)...but as you drive, that rust goes away.

mmarshall

Rust on brake rotors, as noted, is normal in a humid climate, and can happen even without them sitting for a while. It can happen by simply washing the car....in an hour or so. I see this all the time with my IS300 ( I only wash it by hand ). It goes away within 2-3 brake pedal applications..... but sometimes with a grinding noise on the first application.
As far as the 30K 2004 or the 25K 2003 is concerned, I'd go with the new one. Yes, it's almost 5K more for just 3500 fewer miles, but in most cases you don't know how those 3500 miles were put on....and many IS300's are driven hard. If the engine wasn't broken in properly it could be an oil-burner. A new car is almost always a better and safer buy than a used one....unless you know the used car's history from day one and who owned it.
And 30K for a brand-new one with the options you state is pretty good. I paid 30K even for my yellow one without many options three years ago....back when it was a brand-new model in the American market with a lot of hype. 30K with leather and options is even better. Silver to me sounds like a rather dull color for a car like this, but if you like it...(and that is what matters, not my opinion)....go for it.
Good luck....let us know what you decide.

digger08

iTrader: (1)

The rust on the rotors will go away where the pad contacts the surface. The rust on the hub part were no contact with the brake pad is.....will not.

Every IS since 2001 has had this problem. Early models like mine were really bad. The dealer, just ends up painting them, if you complain alot.

Later models, were painted to cover this up(I believe..not sure). Water exposure has alot to do with it, but I believe the fall out damage is done during shipping.

When I selected my car every single vehicle in stock had surface rust on the rotor hubs (front and rear).

I guess the main point being, its exposed untreated metal..and prone to rust.

This will not effect the handling of the vehicle, and the only solution is to paint the hub areas if not painted prior.

Every IS owner I talk with in Canada has this issue.

Mmarshal is right ........as we have a really humid climate here and is probably related to that.

Note : this is not just surface rust..it is deep in the rotor metal. You will notice this by the swirling rust mark pattern.

Hope this helps

Digger08

flipside909

Hehe this is definitely your opinion since it probably only represents 0.5% of the other IS300 owners out there. Probably the reason why Millenium Silver Metallic is the most popular color of choice where as the Solar Yellow...quite frankly was discontinued for unpopularity reasons.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Woe! Silver is THE most popular color for cars PERIOD.

As far as rust, the original post did not specify the precise location of the rust, but rust in the hub area is not as noticable since it is partially hidden by the wheel. So yes, you east coast guys may be experiencing rust over time, but since these are new cars we're talking about, I would venture to guess that the original post was remarking on the brake pad surface area, not so much the inner hub. There may have been rust problems back in early 2k with new cars, but my wife's "04" IS did not have this issue when it came off the show room floor. Hopefully Lexus resolved this issue, if there were enough of you guys complaining about it in the past.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

that's why i didn't get silver, too common

flipside909

Hehe. I felt the same way at first. But I looked at it in a practical sense the night I purchased. I do alot of driving and don't really have much time to maintain a darker colored car. Haha...ask Liz though, the longest part of our transaction that night was about what color I wanted. MSM or GGP.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

haha really? she told me you got the car so fast she couldn't even keep up with the paperwork, hehe... frankly ggp wasn't my first choice, i wanted white. but they don't make white with 5 speed, let alone nav, so...

mmarshall

Yes, silver currently is popular......primarily because of the trendy metallic look. That is why so many new vehicles come with brushed-aluminum trim inside. This is perhaps carried to its most extreme on the Mitsubishi Endeavor SUV, with its boom-box look and shaped aluminum dash. The metallic look is one of the main reasons why the IS300 has the cog-shaped aluminum-trim climate-control *****, chrome ball shifter, and metallic chronograph gagues.
Flip has a point that silver is a low-maintenance color. ( and beige-gold hides the dirt even more). If I didn't wash or wax my car much I might have gotten it too. But in general, me-too colors like silver, burgundy, dark green, dark blue, etc....that everybody and their brother have just don't impress me. I'm just glad I got my IS while yellow was still available....and I keep my paint job like brand-new.
Fifteen or Twenty years fom now....and I just may have my IS that long, though I'm a little older than some of you guys...a yellow Lexus will be a real standout at old-car shows.
Some people laughed at the orange, purple, lime green, yellow, etc...Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars from 1969-1971. Today they're worth a fortune restored or in mint condition. Cherner Classics locally here has a spotless 440 six-pack 1970 purple Road Runner for 37K.....more than a new IS300.

sage

Justin, hope you don't mind me jumping onto your thread. I'm actually under similar circumstances and looking to buy a is300 in the near future. I'm still debating over new or used. I honestly don't want to spend $30K+ on a car at this point so I'm leaning toward used. Plus, since there doesn't seem to be any major differences b/t 02/03/04 models, it might make more sense to a buy a slightly used 03 like the one you mentioned above in the $25K range.

Based on my limited research so far, there seems to be a lot of is300s for sale which should work in the favor of the buyer. Would I be correct in saying supply is greater than demand for this car???

I am also very interested in what ppl paid for their car and what type of price i should pay for a used 02 or 03 with limited miles and normal options.

One last question, I'm looking to buy manual and wondering if that would give me any leverage in asking for a lower price? I know they don't make many is300 manuals (1 in 5 is it?) but in general i figure manual trans would be harder to resell on this car? any thoughts???

thanks...

CDE BRKR

i bought a 2004 e-shift end of november for $500 over invoice....i did have several offer me to sell at invoice....but they didnt have the model with all the options i wanted....but if you want a common/generic off the lot model....then you should definitely be able to just invoice

i had come across www.fightingchance.com....for the money i got updated sales info for the is300 model....as well as the primary negotiation strategy of how to get better pricing when buying a car....it was good insight....highly recommend it

basic concept is to fax the exact car & options you want to several (20+) sales managers within say 3 hours drive radius....or whatever is acceptable to you....the fax should also include the current information that the www.fightingchance.com website gives you for your model etc....so you can leverage it to your advantage to put the squeeze on the dealers

hope this helps,
chris

mickey513

Looks like a good price justin for OTD....