cokezero

Hello,

I'm glad to have found this forum...I'm thinking of buying a 2007 IS250 AWD with Navi @ 73K miles internet priced at $20493 at a dealership in Maryland...any thoughts or advice? Clean CarFax and AutoCheck but would this be risky/potentially much more expensive than $20K? Car was leased in Colorado and regularly serviced at Lexus dealership there -- lots of tire repairs and oil changes but the only maintenance listed was at 9K miles -- and then it magically made it out to Maryland. Would have liked to get a CPO but the ones around the DC area are too far out of my price range -- I can spend $23-24K max and I'd also be financing...they just dropped the price on this one $1K this morning and I do need a car sometime before I move to Miami in June...I guess I could also get one there but I would also like to see whether dealer financing might have better APR than what I currently have and have another week or so within the 14 day window for all those inquiries to count as one...also am not planning to buy unless I can get it off on my own and go to an independent mechanic to have it inspected -- that was super easy to do at another dealership but the reviews of this one are not great -- but the prices are better...any input would be greatly appreciated

Second2Non

Hey first time post here. I live in nyc and I bought my 07 is350 for 20k...brought it down about 2.5k. Everything except ml sound. And only 58k. So that price seems a little high. Do more research first. Autotrader is your friend.

MyIS350G

iTrader: (6)

Too high! you can get a 350 for that price with that kind of mileage!

cokezero

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, it is about NADA clean trade-in value, several thousand higher than rough trade-in...but every single IS I've found at any form of dealership in the area is the same...several thousand at least overpriced, usually nowhere close to trade-in value...and no one will move because they say they are pricing comparable to or lower than everyone else in the area, which is actually true as far as I've found...and they're still selling these cars (I've been looking on and off for months and more intently for the past month, and the inventory definitely changes)! Though the best was a 2009 with 50K miles, CPO, sticker price $31K, internet price $29K and they didn't move far off of that (this is also the first car I've ever tried to buy...). Would I be better off waiting until I get to Miami to buy a car? Or anyone have any thoughts on the local used car micromarket in and around DC?

comcongen

iTrader: (2)

I just bought my 2006 is350 for $21k with navi and ML and it has 70k miles

Nikon

iTrader: (2)

just bought 2008 is250 with 29k miles for $25,500.

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Bought my 2007 IS350 CPO with 56k miles in MD for $24k. The price on yours is too high - there should be more than only a $4k price difference based on the difference in mileage, fact that mine's CPO, and yours is a 250 vs a 350. Keep shopping.

Also, what dealership in MD? Reason I ask is there are a few threads on here about nightmare experiences at a particular MD dealer. I actually bought mine from that dealer and had many issues as well. Would want to save you the trouble.

Lastly, one more recommendation. I don't know why, but I've read quite a few threads on CL of people buying a car from a dealership that had a clean Carfax, etc but turned out to have been in an accident and had serious damage hidden. I didn't know that at the time I bought my car but had I, I'd have told the salesman that the one condition of buying the car is that they remove both the front and rear bumpers so I can take a look to ensure everything looks OK (those are the two most common areas for hidden damage, and the areas people often find it after the buy the car). It's a 30-minute job - if they balk, what I'd say is I'll cover the half hour/hour's worth of labor costs (~$100) as part of the purchase price if there's no damage and everything looks good. If there is damage/problems, then they cover the cost and you can walk away.

This is a tip that applies probably to all cars from dealers, but I've just read a bunch of stories on CL about it happening and wanted to share the tip.

509IS350

iTrader: (5)

Lexus holds it value. I got mine last year. It's an 06 is360 with navi ml and lux package for 27900. They wanted 31900 for it. It had 31000 miles on it. GL with buy.

meangene

iTrader: (10)

Seems high I would keep looking around for deals. If you're moving to miami you can also check out the dealers down here. Not sure what the price difference would be between states.

cokezero

Hmm...prices at dealers in Miami don't seem to be much better...and I think I'd be on a tighter schedule to buy a car once I'm there.

The car I'm looking at is at Lexus of Rockville. I think I saw some of the nightmarish threads you're referring to, and they have no so great reviews on dealer review sites, yelp, etc...but they also have the cheapest cars in the area, maybe that's why? I looked at a CPO car in Silver Spring, 2009, 50K miles, navi, $31K sticker, $29 internet price and they weren't going to move far off of that. I've also looked around at other non-Lexus dealerships but they also price far above value, just below the Lexus dealerships...

Thanks for the input though. Besides the price, how much of a risk would I be taking on buying a car (yes a Lexus but still) with 73K miles, assuming neither I nor a mechanic see any damage? I'm also thinking about buying some form of aftermarket extended warranty from AAA or something like that.

viper522

I think the prices are better down here. There are lots of 2008 IS250 RWD coming off lease right now with low miles, many CPO. Check AutoTrader or Ebay in a Miami zip code, the dealers list them there.

I personally wouldn't buy a Lexus out of warranty.

meangene

iTrader: (10)

Check the service history on the car. Register at http://drivers.lexus.com and put the VIN in and check it. If you really want this car make sure it has a good service history.

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Even the Lexus.com service history (where you put in the VIN on the website) may not show everything, particularly if the previous owner never reported the accident.

And yes, Rockville is the one. The "CPO fraud" thread (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...o-fraud-4.html) is about a guy who thought he got a great deal on a 250 from Rockville and it turned out to have been in a major accident and should never have been CPO'd, and the GM of the dealership is basically being a ***** and refusing to make it right, forcing him to go through Lexus corporate (who agrees with him, not the dealership). There are multiple other similar experiences listed on dealerrater.

I bought my IS350 CPO from Rockville a few months ago. Soon as I sat in the car for the test drive, the dash began rattling like crazy. Ended up having to take it back to them to get 2 TSIBs for dash rattles fixed on 5 separate occasions. Also had to bring it back to them for cracked windshield molding, spoiler coming loose, and fuel pressure sensor (soon as I drove the car home from the dealership it started smelling like gasoline - the fuel pressure sensor failed, this was 2 weeks before the recall was issued). Luckily they addressed all these things free of charge, but the car should NOT have been certified with all these problems - they erroneously checked off each box on the 161-point checklist as satisfactory when many (no noises, squeaks, rattles, for instance) were clearly not. It's actually to the point where this weekend I'll be removing the bumpers of my car to ensure my car wasn't in an accident either.

I have to absolutely recommend you NOT purchase from Rockville, given the experiences I, other CL members, and other reviewers on dealerrater.com have had. They have the lowest prices in the area for a reason.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

You don't need an AWD in Miami.

is250cpo

iTrader: (1)

Calvin pointed me to this thread.
I purchased my is250 from Rockville.
I also started the Lexus CPO Fraud thread, because it turned out that my car was in a previous accident and now I am going through Lexus corporate to try to settle this because the Rockville general manager will not work with me.

Here are their practices… in the general manager’s own words
"To be frank, if you want a car without accidents, you better buy new".
"We are not required to disclose these things to the consumer" (re: Accidents)
"To be honest, I don't think we owe you anything" (after admitting orig owner admits to car accident for a car they sold as certified)

Regarding pricing I don’t know if this is BS or not… but supposedly one dealer mentioned that in 2008 there were not a lot of leases for IS’s in and other similar cars 3 series, C classes or overall ‘luxury’ cars in general due to the economy. As a result, there’s a slight shortage of cars coming off leases right now so the supply for used cars currently are low so the prices are slightly higher than late last year. I don’t know, if that’s true or not, but if the car’s not moving off their lot you should still be negotiating
However your price still seems a tad high for 73k miles.

I don’t know the other dealer’s in VA such as, pohanka lexus and how their used car sale practices are… but I did remember they were more expensive when I was looking compared to Rockville. Learn from my mistake and others as well, take it to another mechanic/body shop or bring someone knowledgeable when you buy.. especially from Rockville. Overall, I would not recommend them though.