yadadaHan

Hello all, new to this forum and im wanting to trade in my 06 rav4 for an ls430...found a deal on a certified 05' with ultra lux package with 56k miles, dealer is asking $28000. I think this deal is pretty good considering the warranty is good up to 100k/3 yrs, but need your opinions please. carfax looked ok. What questions should i be asking the dealer and if anyone can direct me to where i can find the tsb's for that year it would be appreciated. THANKS!

miniz

You want to obtain all of the service records and have the car inspected by an Independent mechanic and body shop (unless you know how to spot paint work) prior to purchase. Do not trust the dealer, even with it being certified. I see so many cars sold as certified, yet they have paint work and sometimes even accident damage that is hidden from CarFax. The second major thing would be the price. Its too high. While the warranty does add value, its not that much. About a year ago, the car would have been worth that much.

Dez

Judging by the years and miles, they took it in for $23,000 max. Probably a couple thousand less but no more than 23. Keep that in mind. Good luck.

drpatel77

iTrader: (2)

couple of points:

got a 04 UL 1 owner clean carfax c 52K miles for $22K 2mos ago... but 04s sell for lower price than 05...but still ur price is good if CL or UL...might try to get for $26 .. $28 slightly high... lexus of kearny mesa has had couple of 05 CLs and sold for ~$27 but all mileage in early to mid 40Ks...

more importantly had a person i met who bought a gs certified and later found out car had been in a big wreck and motor involved... didn't realize till few months after, then got upset and complained to the dealer and they took it back and replaced it with a newer model gs... don't know if even trade or he paid difference... so DON'T rely on certified ..!!!

check carefully the car and history and such....

yadadaHan

thanks for all the input. how reliable is kbb's pricing? i priced it out on there and cpo value said $32,375; private party value was $28,175-exc. and $26,775-good...and then i looked up comparable ls' that have sold at the manheim auction for my location-SF bay area, but they dont list the packages on there, mainly just mileage,year and color and the prices ranged from $22k to $25k... im trying to be patient and get as much info as possible but i really want this car soon

yadadaHan

if carfax doesnt list an accident where else can i go to get a more detailed history record?

JDMUSCLE

iTrader: (1)

Way tooo much... 28k for an 05 with 58000miles is wayyyyy too much!! This is a 25k car all day long at any Lexus dealer with Lexus certification!!

IMO it's a bad deal.... Look around a bit more, my friend bought an 05 custom luxury with 28k for 30400 a year n half ago!!!!

I bought my 04 with 32k 2 years ago for 27000....

drpatel77

iTrader: (2)

even i don't know exactly.. but like carfax, there also i think it's called autocheck and can check vin # at lexus dealer and see poss service history.. they won't print it out for u... they didn't for me... and check vin # on all car parts and last maybe pay a lexus independent tech to come with u and inspect it at dealer...

hope that helps..

caddyowner

^^^
I used carfax and autocheck. (Autocheck used to have an unlimited subscription, but has since changed to only a limited subscription like carfax.) I also used the service history on lexus.com for the few cars I was serious about (registered the VIN, printed report, unregistered VIN). Bodyshop visits showed up here that did not show up on carfax or autocheck.

I ended up buying a car that had a number of dents and scrapes, but had a mechanic's inspection verify that there was no serious accident damage.

LS617

Here's a tip from forum member Tom Kirklan. You just have to register on the site and then add the VIN to each vehicle you want to check their maintenance record from any Lexus dealership across the state the owner had brought it to.

Before you buy check the vin of each car at the following website.

https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lex...-lexus/home.do

It will ask you if you are the owner of each car just say yes and look at the maintenance records. After you are done looking at each record remove the car from your inventory.

DO NOT TRUST CARFAX! My car was in an accident before I bought it and found out on this site afterwards.

Good luck

Tom

drpatel77

iTrader: (2)

so what did u decide????

miniz

You inspect the car or have someone like myself inspect it. I can tell if a car has been in an accident in about 5-10 seconds, especially if its up on a lift.

yadadaHan

thank you all for the knowledge!.... so i registerd @ lexus.com to get the service history and this LS has been serviced @ 5 different dealerships, the main highlights that jumped out at me were...
Dealer Reported 12/07/2009 Lexus of Concord 55590 0130631 ELECTRICAL
Dealer Reported 07/14/2009 Lexus Kearny Mesa 47976 0378676 DISTRIBUTOR/HDLIGHT/T. SGNL
Dealer Reported 07/14/2009 Lexus Kearny Mesa 47976 0378676 AIR CONDITIONING
Dealer Reported 06/22/2009 Lexus Kearny Mesa 45600 0375645 STARTER (REDUCTION TYPE)
Dealer Reported 06/09/2009 Lexus Kearny Mesa 45340 0374375 BATTERY/COIL SPK PLUG
Dealer Reported 06/09/2009 Lexus Kearny Mesa 45340 0374375 R. DSC 1-SD (ON-VEH)

the mileage is listed right after the dealer name and service descriptions are listed to the right but there's no detail to it. do i assume that when it says electrical that means there was something wrong with the electrical etc.?...

and carfax said it was sold from an auction twice. once at 45,332 miles and then again at 55,587

i feel that its been through too many hands from cali to vegas then back to cali and i should just continue my search but i am tempted to just email them make an offer of 25.5 and see if they accept it, what do u guys think?

Jabberwock

twice through the auction is a pretty rough way to go... exercise caution

KILLERGS4

they asking 28k, if u can get it for 25k, I thinks thats pretty decent deal for so much car. Good luck!