mukarram20

Thank you. You all are definitely making sense. So I guess what I hear is that there is no use of less driving for the purpose of value of the car. When I looked at KBB, I was surprised to see that 2000 ES300 with 10k miles was worth more only by $1000 compared to same year and car with 100k miles. So need to pamper the car by driving it less I guess! I should drive my LS430 more often as I only have done 3000 miles in about a year!

honeygee2

You are also going to be riding on 10 year old tires on the ES...many experts tell you after 6 years get rid of tires because of age.

http://20somethingfinance.com/blog/2...on-the-answer/

AznRacer

iTrader: (2)

just get the 90k service done and you'll be set for a long time

Jabberwock

Because of its age, at a minimum the ES would likely need new tires, a timing belt, new hoses, all fluids flushed - trans, diff, radiator, brake, etc, and also new belts. With an 2000 ES you are also trading for an even older set of airbags and a less safe car in an accident. Not a deal I would make. Pay the money to have your LS brought up to spec is what I would do.

mukarram20

Thank you for the tip and website. So I got curious to see how old my tires were. They did not have the numbers on the tire so I took it for oil change with tire rotation. The year and month was on the inner side of tires (as the video in the link mentioned) and it was whopping Jan. 2003 tires so my tires need to be replaced as they are older than 6 years! While there, I got the power steering fluid changed too as it was dirty.

Thanks again!

Danos

Sounds like you want to continue to drive a beautiful Lexus. I have an 05 LS and just love it, as well, I also have an 2001 ES and think it is a fantastic car. Go to the gentleman selling his deceased mothers car with a couple $100 dollar bills in hand, your keys and title and make him an offer; remember, a car is only worth what someone will pay for it. Have your check book near by because he may counter offer.

You are only loosing a year and although the vehicle (ES) was not driven much, it was driven regularly, and sounds like it had scheduled maintenance performed.

It does not sound like your ready to put the money into your LS (Tires, timing belt.....), but at the same time are looking to enjoy a Lexus. Print out KBB private party sales for both your car (good=$11590) and his (good=$7800) and make him an offer.

Keep us posted

mukarram20

Thank you Danos. I do need to investigate the maintenance schedule as most of the members here did stress that fact that one needs to look at that on a car. I pulled the carfax which was clean but it did not have a maintenance record. For my car, carfax showed only one Midas oil change but not the oil changes that I did personally at a Lexus dealer. I am out of town so once I go back, I will request that information from the owner before I go anywhere else with this.

AlexusAnja

Most car parts (hoses, seals, tires) are made of rubber and rubber actually goes bad faster due to lack of use than with more use. Just look at the A/C as one area of concern. It is recommended that the it be run every few weeks during the winter for a few miles to run the compressor and keep the seals sealed and moist. Dry rot is a big issue with seals that just sit and also with tires that just sit. By driving, your flexing, bending, keeping the rubber "healthy" and moving, even driving over water is good too.

Don't look at the ES and just pure low mileage as a big plus, it is not. Car value is more based on how many years, than true mileage on vehicle. Anything over say 8 years, the value drop by miles is minimal, what's more important is condition and most sites like KBB/Edmunds tell you during appraisal that most cars are never rated "excellent" because they're just not.

If you're driving your LS consistently, the timing belt and water pump can each go well into 100K, so you're not "due" for those yet at 93K. Brakes, if you can find a friend or some DIY person, they're literally 40 min. to change out all four. Get the parts online from Lexus for about $90 for all four, then pay the guy like $60 or so for his/her efforts.

I really can not see any situation to justify going down to an ES, especially one that is 9 years old. If you were to say LS430 for an '10 ES with UL package and you get $4K cash also, then I might consider it.... ha ha.

mukarram20

ALEXUNANJA..... okay. i will dream about getting 10 ES with UL package now )

I agree with you what you said and I might just go with doing with what you said. My concerns were from the 90k service, brake work, all 4 tires due for replacement and also the fact that VSC is not working so the car litterally skids in rain! We get snow in Maryland and in my 4 mile commute, I have 3 miles of hills so that is where non-working VSC will be troubling!
I did what some suggested to correct VSC (light on) but with no luck.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

its really not that hard to drive in snow in a rwd especially in the light what 3 days of a couple inch snow that we get here in md. just drive smart

Salil022

iTrader: (1)

Your VSC light on could be due to your check engine light on....I would check 0xygen sensors first...Or take it to Autozone and have them check it out for you for FREE

mukarram20

Hi
I do not have any check engine light on. Just VSC light and image of car skidding (traction?) light on. I took it to Autozone and they tried but there was no code on thier sensors.
I also tried jumping Ts and Cg as some suggested on this forum but that did not work either.

AlexusAnja

I'm pretty sure if you DO NOT have the check engine light, that Autozone is not going to be able to read anything. The OBDII is only reading for errors codes specifically relating to engine or transmission sensor errors. The VSC and TRAC are external options for the vehicle that are no monitored, so you would not get a code telling you anything. Only Lexus or your mechanic with Lexus know-how will be able to link and tell you what's up.

What was "the fix" for the VSC light that you read about? To remove the light? ha ha. That would only take the light out, not fix the problem.

I would bring to Lexus and have it looked at and get an idea what's the deal. Could be a sensor is out and maybe a quick $500 or less fix (hopefully). You don't want to drive a vehicle with anything "out of spec" because you just don't know what is wrong to risk your safety.

mukarram20

Well, foremost, thank you all for your suggestion. I thought you all deserve an update too

1. My car 2001 LS430 does NOT have navigation.
2. I did check the edmunds and kbb but I always believed that they are always accurate except in cases where you have an old car that has driven less. To give an example, here is what is a REALITY in my case.
3. 2000 ES300 is worth around $8000 for about 7000 to 8000 miles which gives only $1000 credit. I was skeptical as my car was worth more than that as some one even suggested which I kenwbut 8000 miles on a ES300 is almost a new car. It was driven around 400 - 600 miles every year as per carfax record.
4. Well, I did offer my Lexus LS430 with $1500 on last Saturday but he refused as he got another offer. Some one offered him $14,500 which he accepted.

Now, you would be thinking tha he would be lying except as I said, his neighbor is one of my best friends and he is his best friend as well. So he sold the car for $14,500.

I also talked to two mechanics after the fact on Saturday late afternoon and they told me that they themselves would have bought the car had I told them earlier. The reason being, if the car was driven 5000 miles in two years and then left standing, that would be different. However, the carfax showed mileage every 18 months or so due to state inspection that shows 400 - 600 miles added on every visit. So in both mechanics mind, that car was worth it as it was constantly driven.

Also, I got a chance to talk to some one who works on a car (for the love of it) and collects car (not old - just fancy and racing) on a dinner last night and he told me as well that it would have been a wise trade.

Said that, every one did agree that my Lexus LS 430 will do well with $2500 to $3000 worth of repairs / maintenance which I was skeptical as that is a huge % chunck of the value of the car. But in any case, I got the four tires replaced today so the repairs start!!!!

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

Despite all the woulda, coulda, shoulda's from those people who are giving you advice after the fact, I fail to see how any person who has driven a good condition LS430 and ANY ES300 can recommend trading the LS for the ES. Maybe if they can't tell the difference, or don't value the difference, between the Lexus flagship car and the entry level car... But then why would any semi-discriminating car person care about their advice anyway? IMO, you did the right thing and should be happy it worked out the way it did.