steedls400

Hello, I am considering parting ways my 1997 LS400. I'm moving from AZ to CA and have a few locals interested in purchasing. I may just keep it but can use the $ during our transition... I will be purchasing another Lexus in the very near future if sold.

I'm looking for some advice on the sale; tips, price range, etc... any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm very honest and upfront, I like to be as transparent as possible. It's currently at 248k, mostly stock, all scheduled maintenance, every 3-5k oil changes and major repairs as needed (listed below). It's In the shop now getting a new electric fan, thermostat, water cooling housing and flush. Soon as it's out we're heading straight to Discount Tire for new tires, I have in mind Good Year Eagle Sport All Season 225 /60 R16 98V SL BSW (good choice?). It has a Kenwood DVD player installed (still have stock cd/radio), interior is 8/10, driver and passenger seat shows wear though. A little squeaky in passenger rear (suspension) but still rides like a cloud especially at freeway speeds. Paint is great, wax/polish every 3 months (AZ is brutal). Below is all the repairs I've had done.

Service & Repairs:
05/2012
radiator, lower hose, radiator cap, thermostat, radiator upper hose, water pump o-ring, idler pulley, front camshaft seal, front crank seal, camshaft idle pulley, camshaft tensioner pulley, timing belt tensioner pulley, camshaft\timing belt, spark plugs, spark plug wire set, hose babe, PCV hose, PCV valve, camshaft rear seal plug set, spark plug tube seals, valve cover gasket set.

08/2012
Fan pulley bracket, fan clutch assembly, air intake pipe assembly.

01/2013
Replaced Front struts and r&r passenger inner & outer tie rod's

05/2013
4 New Tires Fisk Classics/discount tires Tempe (@211,700 miles) currently 7.5/10

08/2013
A/C recharge, new high side a/c line

04/2014
New alternator

06/2014
New Catalytic Converters ( clean/pass emissions)

08/2014
New power steering pump

11/2014
Timing belt and water pump, timing belt kit, pulleys, tensioner, cam position sensor with harness, cam sensor connector housing, cam sensor connector terminal, thermostat gasket

12/2014
New wire harness beneath dash for electronics

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

it's a high mileage car but it sounds like you kept up with the maintenance and general upkeep like wax/polish. share some pics and maybe you can find a buyer here. even with new tires, and a fairly recent timing belt change, depending on color, and condition of the interior, the car is worth around $2-2.5k I would say.

seanl

I just sold my 166,000 mile cream puff for $3500...that's probably $500 below market but it went to a friend. Car had new Bridgestone tires (500 miles!) and new brakes less than 5000 miles ago.

Losiracer2

i purchased my 97 back in October for 2700 w/ 253k, negotiated from 3k, so pretty much right where you're at.

Previous owner replaced about $1000 worth of things prior to me getting it though (tires, brakes, pad wear sensors, strut rod bushings, radiator, alternator, hood struts, limo tint, cabin filter, rear muffler delete with nice 3" vibrant dual tips ($100 online)....sounds nice and throaty but not loud or droney when cruising.

But one thing that was neglected was the timing belt/cam/crank seals. Less than a month after buying it and 2k miles, the crank seal blew and ruined the timing belt. I had no choice but to do it, even though he said it only had 50k on it, those seals were probably original and close to 20 years old.

my Diamond White Pearl paint is immaculate, along with the body being almost perfectly straight, front bumper is chipped at the bottom though. I would say start at 3000 and see where the market is at.

It's good that you have all the documentation for the major services, that'll help keep your value higher and the car more desirable to buyers. I only received about 5 receipts for the past year the guy had it but was luckily able to research the VIN through lexusowners and found out it was dealer maintained through 120k miles and was a Certified Pre-Owned car at one point.

steedls400

Thanks seanl! I've posted it on CL at $3k and haven't any bites yet. Mean while, I am throughly enjoying the new ride!

steedls400

$3k sounds about right, Thank You! I was also fortunate the previous owner had kept documents as well. The nice thing about the repairs done from the prior owner is that they were under the same warranty program my mechanic takes part in.

Superfast1

For $2.5K to $3K & if the car is in great shape & you still like it then I think you should keep it unless you're going to buy a much newer one. If you're going to buy a similar one at about the same age not knowing the past history of it, you'll end up paying more than $3K when you factor in what haven't been replaced.