CarGuy89

I should add only on wide roads with good visibility and good clear weather. I only give it a bit of gas at the start and just coast it at 45-50 the rest of the stretch to cool the engine off. I did do it night a few times but then realized the huge deer problem so I wised up. I now go no more than 35 on those roads at night.

Oh and thanks for those postings. The one in FL seems like the dream buy to me (southern car, at a legit Lexus dealership). I hope something like that pops up in the area soon. I was told to be wary of 3rd party sellers. Do you know anyone trustworthy ones? I still feel my best bet is a dealership.

Also, this is a question that I should've asked from the start: is Lexus cpo warranty honored at every Lexus dealer nationwide? My dad brought this up at dinner last night and I really wasn't sure. He didn't think cpo transfers.

CarGuy89

Took a look at your last link caddyowner. I have been eyeballing that for a very long time. I love the fact that it's a Cali car and that it's basically the same as a cpo. However, I'm just not really a fan of the color. No offense to those who like the black cherry color (or owns one) but I really much prefer silver, black, dark blue, or dark grey (just my personal taste). If my deal with the dealer doesn't go through then this is a good choice.

caddyowner

Per the Lexus website, the current CPO warranty:

Transferability
The Lexus Certified Pre-Owned Limited Warranty is not transferable to any subsequent owner.

If bought in the past, it may be transferable, though. I would check with a dealer.

One thing to be wary of with private party sellers are curbstoners - unlicensed dealers that buy and sell cars and pose as a private party. These folks don't usually transfer the vehicles into their name to avoid paying tax. When you look at a car, aside from carfax, autocheck, and mechanic inspection, compare the name on the title to the sellers drivers license to verify that he/she is the actual owner. If you get the "Oh, I'm selling it for my uncle Jim" line, just walk away.

I've bought and sold a number of cars with private parties. I bought one car with a title that didn't match the seller. The guy claimed he bought the older Monte Carlo on a lark and brought it home. The story was that his wife rejected the 2-door car because they had a new baby and using the carseat was a PITA. I don't know if the story was true, but the car was for one of my sons and it turned out to be OK.

CarGuy89

Good advice there. Another reason why I am looking at a dealership. Yeah they might be a bit more expensive, but I know that there won't be anything fishy later especially if I get it in writing.

If the car itself were a CPO (warranty not active yet), would the warranty be honored at any Lexus dealer? I called about this yesterday and they said yes, but maybe you guys have some actual experiences?

Jabberwock

CPO is a Lexus corporate product - honored by any Lexus dealer - 3years or up to 100k miles total on the car. The Miles limit means if you buy the used Lexus CPO car with 60k miles on it, the CPO warranty is for 3 years from your purchase date or when you put 40K miles more miles on it (so it hits 100k total). So if you drive 20k a year the CPO would only last you 2 years.

CarGuy89

Thanks Jabber! I drive 8-9k mi a yr. Hopefully I can get that expensive 90k mile service under warranty lol

CarGuy89

Right, so I expanded my search to 500 miles (my parents probably won't want to go that far, they are already unhappy with 200 miles but just in case). There was a very nice ML car brown on tan going for 25k cpo. If they advertise at this price, I am sure they will be more likely to go down to my 23k target. Here is a link, let me know what you guys think!

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

CarGuy89

Another question (surprising right? lol), is there an optional extended warranty that I can have with a CPO? I read online somewhere that there is an additional 3 yr / 25k warranty available, bring the potential total to 6 yr/ 125k, better than most new cars. If this is true (and will be honored at all Lexus dealers), then I might require this if my offering of 23-23.5k is not met. What do you guys think?

Jabberwock

"professionally installed front and rear radar detector" - I don't like seeing that, might be fine ..but could also indicate it might have been driven hard. Its a NJ car - likely means lots of pothole filled roads and 6 years of hard winters with ice/snow and salted roads.

jayclapp

Lexus offers the Lexus Platinum Warranty with 5,6, and 7 years and varying combinations of total mileages of 70,000, 75,000 and 100,000 miles. When I bought my 04 CPO UL with 21,000 miles in 07 I purchased the 5 year/100,000 mile warranty as it allowed me to get the year and expected mileage to match up.

Worked perfect for me. Go to the Lexus site and you should be able to find a full description of the Lexus Warrantys (they also offered a Gold Warranty). It will give you suggested retail pricing for both $0 deductible and $50 deductible as well as full listing of what is and is not covered.

CarGuy89

Interesting point. I was pretty excited about the radar but had the same concern that the car was driven very hard. I also dislike the color (just a personal opinion, no offense towards those who have it). Just seemed like a decent enough deal. I might get their bottom line pricing to use as a haggling tool for the one I'm currently looking at.

I searched on google. Lexus's site gave me minimal info without pricing. Could you please send me a link of where you would find all the info? Thanks, much appreciated!

caddyowner

I looked at a car in briarwood pearl. It's sort of a gray brown, like Cypress is a gray green. I suspected I would tire of the color rather quickly (and my wife would hate it right off the bat).

CarGuy89

Yep. The color is probably one of the least important things about a car from a technical standpoint, but it really does make or break it for me. I tend to ignore the colors that don't look great in the small thumbnails on autotrader. I am at a 3-way tie between the brown, green, and gold as the colors I dislike the most.

CarGuy89

I did some reading about the extended warranty, but did not run across consistent pricing. It ranged anywhere from 800-2900 according to different threads... Does anyone here have it? Has it proved useful, or is it better just to save the money (as someone suggested) and use that + interest to pay for repairs if they do occur?

Bocatrip

When I was doing my car search almost 4 months ago, if there wasn't an available "Free Carfax", I usually ignored that particular car. I know if my car had a very strong carfax (1-2 owners with service records) I would have it right in everyone's face!