sweetpeax

I am new to this Forum & I have no idea what I'm doing yet....I just posted above that I just bought a beautiful 2004 LS 430. I'm female & no guy helped me buy this, but I think I got a great deal. This is what I posted, & I answered someone's question b/c I don't know how this works yet:

2004
Black/Tan
120,000
UL
$12,800
10/17/12
Excellent except for one thing: passenger door has to be manually locked
Complete Records from 1 Owner
Private Party
1 Week
Rolling Hills, CA
Auto Trader
Had mechanic check it out & all is well except for electrical on passenger door. Passed smog check, no prob. Did I get a good deal???

Maybe someone will see this & tell me how much they think it will cost to get the electrical fixed on the passenger door....all the other doors work. I just have to slide the key out to open the front door.
I actually began looking @ 3 months ago & prices were a LOT higher. The guy I bought it from was the original owner & I have all the records. He wanted only $15,000 (I think he needed the $) but we settled at $12,800. Everything works: Navigation, CD, & there is SO much to learn about this car & I'm just getting started. I love it!!!! So, DID I get a good deal????

svt5150

Seems your door lock actuator is out. Easy $5 part fix, Lexus will want $$$ but you have have it done alot less. There is a thread about replacing them.

svt5150

Year: 2001
Color: Mystic Gold Metallic
Mileage: 70K
Package (ML or UL) ML
Price: $10.5K
Date Purchased: 11/15/12
Condition: Excellent 1 owner
Complete Lexus Service Records? Yes
Private Party or Dealer: Private
How Long Did You Search? 1 month hard
City & State: Sacramento CA
Source (eBay, AutoTrader, Cars.com, etc.) Word of mouth

Gene01

Congratulations on your new toy!
I am not an expert on pirces, but I think you did very well.
Just so you know, these cars don't break very often, but when they do, it is rather expensive to get them repaired. The door actuator motor is indeed a $5 part, but it takes some time to take the door apart, then remove the actuator, replace the motor, and re-assemble & test everything.
A dealer would charge well over $1000 to do this (actually, they would just replace the actuator - a $700 part).
There are several shops recommended in the CA forum that would probably be quite a bit less.
Welcome to club lexus!

masterff

suprising how much more these are over in the states compared to here in the UK, probably because there cheaper to run on fuel for you guys. what svt5150 paid would be over half that cost here.

theres one on autotrader over here with 70,000 miles 2000 model full service history, less than $6,000 UL Spec



crap wheels tho.

this 2004 LS430 UL spec 84,000 miles $11,100



just to give you guys an idea of what the prices are like here.

zindallas

Masterff,

Those are some amazingly low prices compared to here in the States. Is that generally true for older used luxury cars there or is it something particular to the LS?

Z

masterff

all luxury cars are cheaper here from what I can see compared to there.

a Last of the LS400's made ( 2000 ) with 80,000 miles here is $4300, older ones with similar mileage are cheaper again.




This bmw 2003 745 LI with 45,000 miles is $11,000

But alot of the biggers cars have over double this mileage, but mileage doesn't really mean jack as long as it's been looked after. Over here some people are put off cars with 100k + mileage. Obviously the issues with expensive cars like these to start with is when things going wrong ( electrical ) it's major bucks.




My Old Audi A8 4.2 LWB 2003 with 93,000 miles on the clock cost me back in early 2009 at todays rates 15,000 now it's worth probably less than 10,000 here.





It looks better than the LS but man it's is no were near as quiet or as refined as the Lexus, the Lexus is built by superhumans compared to the audi.

Mekare

I'm no global finance specialist, but I believe UK currency is worth about fifty percent more then US right now. An eleven thousand dollar car in the UK is the equivilant of a sixteen thousand dollar car in the US. This is all aproximate of course and based purely on products for sale in UK currency online, with a US price of just shy of fifty percent more.

LionsGate

If the price in the window of that gold LS is any indication, I'd say he is talking converted dollar amounts.

LionsGate

While I'm here...should post my LS.

Year - 2004
Pearl white and tan
Premium version
Bought in September
Found local to me on CL
Less than 10,000 miles
One owner, all records from Lexus
Price: $23,000

zindallas

I think it has more to do with the price of gas. If you're wealthy and can afford the high price of these luxury cars new the additional cost of the gas is largely irrelevant, but as the car ages and prices come down, it starts to appeal to those of us who are more cost conscious, and cars that soak up the petrol depreciate more quickly as a result. That effect is clearly more muted here in the US than it is in the UK where gas prices are higher.

Sounds like a golden opportunity to get in the car export biz in the UK! ; )

Z

zindallas

Audi does make a good looking car, especially their interiors, but talk about depreciation! You need to take on a second job to keep an older one running! ; )

Z

masterff

Correct I am.

masterff

after 3 days of having that audi, the computer changed to german instead of english, It cost in excess of $1500 to get fixed, thankfully the warranty paid for it at the time. It cost another $1500 to have a Authorisation module replaced and fitted aswell as coded, because the car sparked when I correctly jump started the car. ( module was under the passenger seat ) I had to foot this bill as the warranty ran out ( cries ) lol.

This is why I love the lexus, it's no were near as electrically complicated as the audi's / bmw's of that time.

That Audi had so many ECU's it was unreal and alot were put under the floor carpet, talk about dumb.

zindallas

I feel your pain! I used to have a '98 Mercedes CL 600 and even with an extended warranty it was nothing but trouble. I have a '05 BMW convertible now and just dropped $900 on it yesterday to deal with a few issues. They are fun cars to drive but you sure do pay for the pleasure.

I'm about a month into owning my LS and so far so good...no problems and I love how it drives.

Z