Hey Guys, I'm looking at a 2000 LS400 at the moment and was wondering how much is a fair price for it. Its got about 85500 miles and the place is selling for $19900. Is that a fair price for the car? The car is in pretty good condition I must say. Its black with black leather, Nav, Platinum Series.

Please let me know... Thinking of buying soon, Thanks...

 

Sounds okay if its really clean, nav, and plat series. But try to talk them down to $18,500 at least.

 

They are selling a 1998 with 66,000 miles on it for $19,995 here. I'd say go for it even if you cant talk them into $18,000

 

A few questions to consider ...

How many owners has the car had? Does it have a documented maintenance history? Can you speak with the previous owner or owners? What was its original list price? i.e., does it have all or most other options? Can you verify that it has not been in a major crash?

An 00 LS at 85.5K miles is going to be due for a rather expensive 90K service soon - probably will cost well over $1K.

As a point of reference, in 2003 I paid a little less than $31K for one of the last LS400's manufactured (in June 2000) - a nearly flawless Platinum Series with 38,000 miles, documented service history, 1 year of the four year basic warranty left and with all options except Nav and air suspension - the original list was $61,770.

Nav updates are apparently no longer available for the 98-00 LS. I think the last one was in 2003.

It is all about supply and demand. Check around in your area to get a feel for if the price is right.

Here is the CPO info on the 00 LS: http://www.lexus.com/cpo/model_detail/ls/400/2000.html

 

wow that is the exact car i was looking for. except i got a 99 and mine isnt a platinum. i like the platinum because its all black instead of the grey trim on the bottom. i got mine for $20k with $85 about half a year ago. i would say get it

 

I was considering trading my 2000LS for an 04LS430, the dealer offered me $20k for a trade. I am still mulling it over, my car has 41k miles and is silver/black

 

....in the Los Angeles area (Laguna Niguel) 2 months back, for $20,650+tax+lic. It was a 1-owner in MINT condition with 44,851 miles and all svc. records (all done at Lexus dealer) - as far as options go, it has Nakamichi, heated seats and air suspension. I thought it was an "average" deal, but now looking around it looks like I got a pretty good deal.

 

Waaay to many miles. I'd just wait if you can, save alittle more money and buy a 2001 and up LS430. Its a whole different car compared to a 2000 "old" body style. If you look hard enough I've seen 2001 LS430s for around mid $20K with just under 80K miles.

btw I MAY be selling my showroom condition black on black 2001 LS430 (sport edition) with 04+ sport polished 18 " wheels, tail light upgrade, nav disk update. Transferable bumper to bumper warranty with 3 yrs remaining asking` $31,500, only 29K miles!!!
No pics available, located in Boston. See for yourself

This is just a "feeler" sale. I really don't want/need to sell it but if someone is extremely serious flashes the $$, I will probably give in and let it go.

 

Wow, Now I don't know if I should get this one or not. I'm more confused than before! lol..

JLAW - Are you saying is too many miles for this car at this price or its too many miles to even consider buying it? I know the miles are kinda high but won't it run like forever? lol... Whats a reasonable price for this car?

vicpai- Wow, looks like you got a pretty good deal I wish this LS I'm looking at got less miles. I would jump on it if it got less miles

agc- Hey why don't you sell your car to me instead of trading it in? lol

99LS400BLK- Do you have any problems with your car so far? Did you do the 90k service yet? How much did it cost if you did it?

Kansas- This car is not at a Lexus dealer and I have no idea how to get a hold of the previous owner or owners. The list price for this car is for $21900, I asked them whats the best they car do and he said $19900. Maybe I can talk him down a little more no idea thou. Do you know what needs to be done for the 90k service?


I've been reading about the nav unit on these cars and people are saying its pretty useless. How useless can it get? Is there like no point in getting the car with the nav at all?

I want to keep this car for awhile if I get it, I know the miles are a little high but don't these cars run like forever? lol.. Its really in very good condition, I'll go check it out again tomorrow, Maybe I can take some pictures of it and show you guys. Thanks all...

 

He prolly meant for the price, as these cars will top 200K easily, even more with proper care.

actually, the navi istn really useless, HOWEVER, some people ask if they should hold out completely, until they find one with navi, thats when I tell them they really shouldnt hold out, its not really worth it. But it does come in handy, not to mention the cool factor, and higher resale value. But i wouldnt wait around to find one with it though.

90K service mainly involves the timing belt, and water pump replacement (labor intensive). its a good 1200-2200 depending on what the customer requests them to do. Mine was a good $2500 bucs, but I didnt pay for it, so it was all good.

 

90k mile service costed me 900...that included timing belt, water pump, and belt tensioner. i love the black interior with navi. the navi is pretty useful. its nice to have the map showing when u drive. the cool factor is definatly a plus. i was pretty much in the same situation as you. yes take some pics so we can see......

 

JLAW - Are you saying is too many miles for this car at this price or its too many miles to even consider buying it? I know the miles are kinda high but won't it run like forever? lol... Whats a reasonable price for this car?


That is Alot of miles on a car 5 year old. Yes 90k is nothing for a Lexus but the car will probably be worth $9000 tops in 2 years with the miles you put on it and the fact you'll be two LS styles behind. $20K+ can get you alot of other cars with a whole lot less miles and newer.

 

SnoopyBQ,

If you are interested in my car let me know, I haven't decided on getting that particular 04 LS (it is dark blue and my wife and I really wanted silver) yet. I live in NJ and work in NYC if you are interested send me your contact info. Again my car is silver with black interior, 41k miles, ALL sevice records (I'm the second owner) and car is in excellent condition.

 

IMO, 85K miles is not all that high for a 2000 model year car. If it was sold early in the model year, its "in service date" could have been more than six years ago. 15K miles per year is considered about average for annual miles. 6 years times 15K miles equals 90,000 miles.

Most people don't pay much attention to when in a model year a car was made or sold. It can made a difference particularly if a car has been redesigned since the previous model year. One of my co-workers has a 99 LS -- only one model year older than my 00 LS. However, the in service date on his 99 LS was 22 months before the in service date on my 00 LS.

Something you do not need at the 90K service is spark plugs - the replacement interval is 120K on the 00 LS.

How useful the Nav would be might depend on if it has the last (expensive!) hard drive update from 2003 and how you would use the Nav. Forget it if you are trying to find addresses in new neighborhoods. But it might be useful for guiding you around major streets and highways. I noticed that the Pocket Streets 2005 I use on my PDA sometimes doesn't include streets that have existed for several years so there is probably a similar accuracy issue with Lexus Nav updates. The 2003 update for the 98-00 Nav could be accurate as of sometime in 2002.

Nav does not seem to add much to resale value. I read in an auto industry pub a while back that Nav adds less value at resale time than just about any other option - except perhaps those fuzzy dice! LOL

 

......serious advice for you. Avoid the 98-00 NAVIGATION SYSTEM like the plague!!! IT IS USELESS. It is extremely OBSOLETE today (FYI, it is a hard-drive based system )....just to give you ONE example of how obsolete this system is, the POI database does not even reach the 1 million count. There are Nav systems today with 11 (eleven) million Points-of-Interest in their database. It would be too time-consuming to go into all the other negatives, but suffice it to say that it's a wasted option, especially considering that you will not be able to get the excellent NAKAMICHI option if you go for the Nav (they were not available together)

As an "expert-of-sorts" on Navigation systems (and by this, I don't mean to brag) and having a sort of obsession for them, I can say that the Nav system in this 98-00 LS is as useless as it gets (BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, THAT IS).....Overall, Lexus Nav systems are not that great anyways (even the latest ones). Even in their latest versions,I have found several serious flaws in practical usage (such as not being able to find an INTERSECTION, unless you have the EXACT names, including prefix and suffix, of the streets in question - again just one example). The best Navigation systems in the Universe comes in Honda/Acura vehicles. They are made by Alpine. All said and done, no Navigation system is 100% perfect. They all have their pluses and minuses, but the OEM Honda/Acura system comes pretty close to perfection. That said, when comparing Nav systems in general, the Lexus Nav system is fairly good (just not the best).

This is exactly the reason why I will be installing the new Alpine NVE-N872A Navigation system with XM NAVTRAFFIC real-time updates, when it comes out early next month. This one is supposed to be identical to the one in the new Acura RL, and even has some additional features (this will be the first time that the AFTERMARKET version will be better than the OEM version. Up to now it was the other way around)