ncee

Hi folks. Well I have a few LS 430's I'm looking at, and with the exception of one of them, all are at Lexus dealers and all are Lexus certified.

Now I did some research and asked a few dealers, and they all said that the Lexus Certified cars go through a 150 point check, and that Lexus say's the car is worth putting the Lexus Certified sticker on it (at a cost of $3,000.00 +-)

Now the one private sale can't offer the certified Lexus warranty, and yes it's a few thousand less - so I'm thinking "Hey, these cars have a great reputation for NOT needing many major repairs" "Let's put the money in our pocket"?

I also have a dealer in NY, with an LS 430 with 17,700 miles on it, that they will sell as a One Ower, Accident Free car "As-Is" for $27,500.00 (a Ultra Edition" or I can get the extended warranty for $2940.00 more.

Again, 17,700 miles on it, sure seems like a safe bet the car is fine, and that I should put the $3,000.00 in my pocket … your thoughts folks?

There's also this one private sale - that sounds nice (although I'm not big on the Carriage roof option - anyone know of any issues with these roofs?)

-Description: 43,000 miles, Still under original warranty; extended warranty available at dealer cost 2006 Rare Ultra Luxury Pkg, with rear reclining seat, massage, and small fridge Navigation and back up camera Adaptive suspension 18" Chrome wheels All 4 seata are heated and cooled Rear windows shade package Dynamic laser cruise Rare pre collision option Air purifier Carriage roof option All service records Extremely clean interior and exterior - $27,800.00

Any thoughts on these cars? Any issues with all of these electronic extras?

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jayclapp

The only issue is what is a "Carriage" roof option? It's certainly not a Lexus option. If someone put a padded vinyl roof on this car, that would be reason enough for me to not trust a private seller!

jman-LS430

To me, it is worth the $2k to go with the 17K miles versus 43K miles. Plus, since it is a dealer, you can make sure certain things are taken care of before taking delivery of the car. You didn't include what year models these are, so that plays a big part in the comparisons as well.

GQD_GS4

if you have the extra money, peace of mind is worth the price!

ncee

Here' a link to the 2006 with the carriage roof:

- http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=260023873

The others are (17,001 miles) is a 2006.

And then there's these guys with 76 LS 430 on the lot:

- http://www.autolenders.com

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I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

My $.02 is that the $3K for the warranty will likely NOT pay off as you aren't likely to have $3K worth of trouble out of the car if it's in good condition when you buy it. However, all else being equal, I would pay $2-3K for 30K fewer miles in a second! Also, I personally wouldn't buy a car from a region of the country where the roads are $hi##y and rough, and they use salt in the winter -- I always get them from the southern region where the roads are like billiard tables and there's no salt, but that's just me.

There are PLENTY of LS430s on the market and coming to market every day, so it's pretty easy to find the exact car you want if you are patient.

ncee

I can't argue with that. Heck I've only seen 2 in the Maine area since January.

NH a few more
CT., not many more,
MA many more

But farther south A LOT more. And where I'm on the road and traveling anyways, anything within 1000 miles is fine with me.

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hoonunya

Southern cars works for me also but ncee apparently lives in Maine.

I've used autocheck.com (similar to Carfax) that gives you history of cars and will show where cars have been.

They have an unlimited reports (for 60 days) deal for $24.99. I ran so many reports that they may me confirm that I wasn't a dealer.

AlexusAnja

My two cents on the CPO and $3000 is that you will break-even at best with $3000. The CPO is 3/100K from purchase date, while factory on powertrain is 6/70K. If you are far from the factory running out during the 3 years, then without an engine/transmission blowing up costing you thousands, not really much is going to break costing $3000 cumulative. Windshield $1000, power door lock $400, air suspension $1000 each, radio $1000, are really anything "major" that COULD break, but not often. What do you feel are chances of these things breaking and do you want "insurance" against this?

mafpolo

Goes to show...something for everyone. I really don't care for that carriage roof. I would go far enough to say that many probably share my sentiment which means your resale value may be affected by this.

$3,000 is a big gamble. A car this reliable shouldn't need 3,000 of repairs. I am not you, but I would put that 3,000 in a savings account....see what you have left in the end.....if you have less than 2,000 at the end of the period, you made a nice profit.

Diplocar

Last week a Lexus dealer offered to sell us a CPO car without the certification getting activated, and knocked about $1200 off the price. They had done the inspection, detailing, etc. but were willing to drop the price without the warranty.

'97 ES330 Sold :-(
'05 LS430 CL: still looking

honeygee2

I'm going to assume that lexus dealer policies are the same nationwide. Ifd you buy a CPO car you do get a car warranteed bumper to bumper for 3 years up to 100000 miles. At the point of pruchase they offer you an extended 2 year policy for $1450. Depending on how much you drive and the mileage of the car at purchase the extended ( 5 year) warranty is a great deal. For Example i just got my wife an ES330 with 25000 miles on it and it was CPO'd. I bought the extra two years and now she has a car warranteed for 5 years and or 75000 miles bumper to bumper. This applies to all CPO cars as far as I know and the price stays at 1450. I figure for the extra amount the peace of mind is well worth it. If four years from now the A/C gives out who cares?

I highly recommend finding a CPO car from lexus only and depending on your needs and miles driven get the five year. You can go back as far as 6 years old and still get a CPO car.

tigmd99

If you're gonna get a LS with Ultra-lux package, then i would DEFINITELY get the CPO!! Why? Well, it is pretty clear from my research that the air suspension will die before 100k miles. And to replace all 4 electronic shocks, you will need to pay around $5000-6000 dollars. Apparently, these shocks will all fail at some point around 50-100k miles. So, just right there, you have made a "profit" on the CPO warranty.

If you're NOT getting the Ultra-lux package, then it is up to you on whether to skip the CPO or not. Personally, i would still get it because i want peace of mind, esp. in a LS with only 17k miles (and if you plan on driving a lot!).

honeygee2

By the way some of these southwest florida used lexus's are absolutely beautiful...most are condo cars coming off lease that have spent six months a year in a garage while the owner is up north. Cars have never seen a pothole, snow or salt. The east coast of florida cars are nice but the southwest side the cars are gorgeous. Just take a glance at Ebay.

ncee

When looking at the big picture, then YES the CPO option is one worth ever penny.

I must admit, after doing more research, Lexus are wonderful cars, but they are not cheap to keep.

Now BMW must know something, or at least not like loosing sales to Lexus, as they offer a FREE maintenance package with many of their cars, at least that's what I understand they are offering.

Not a bad idea in the scheme of things. If it's free to operate / maintain, it's a safe bet, that many of these will be worth much more down the road, making a BMW sure seem like the cars to own down the road.

Of course if you own a Lexus, and take good care of it we already know what they are worth a few years later

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