warminwisc

Bocatrip

Johnhav430

My other cousin is wealthy, but smart with his money too. Not only did he buy his BMW M5 on eBay and flew from Boston to Rochester to inspect/purchase it, he waited until he had a business trip in Rochester so he wouldn't have to pay airfare/hotel and could kind of have a week to decide. The car was like 4 1/2 y.o. at the time so I guess he didn't care about FLA car etc. And this was a $35k purchase, not the $80k that the car cost new (at the time).

I am not wealthy, and I try to be smart with my money. When my boss said can you go to Chicago (on short notice)? I said well I'm going there anyway July 4th (2015), so can it wait until the week before the 4th? He said sure. Got my co. to pay my airfare for the Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well shows in Soldier Field that year. My boy was like 1 1/2 at his first/last Dead show. He'll never remember but we can show him the pics. He was dancing to some dudes playing Sympathy for the Devil in the parking lot.

Romanova

I just recently test drove an LS430 for a member here who was looking at an out of state purchase and I just happened to be local to the vehicle. The car was from a reputable dealership, though it had numerous flaws, most if not all that were not disclosed in the pictures on the listing for the car. None of them were deal breakers, but I would have hate to have gotten that car and then found out that it needed some minor repairs all over the vehicle. If buying sight unseen, I would want one of us to examine the vehicle first, or have an independent mechanic of my choosing do a PPI before purchase.

lexslexus

I'm a business travel agent and just checked the fares for getting from Jersey to Lincoln in my computer system. Couldn't find a way to get around the high fares for you. Here's your best scenario. First, get a pre-purchase inspection. If you get the ok to purchase it, you could fly out to a major city nearby (Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, or Houston), drive to the dealership to test drive, and then drive the car back home. This would cut your fare in half.

TriC

The East coast seems to have a large concentration of LS430s. I found mine in Delaware by religiously checking Craigslist daily via 200 mile searches from NYC and DC (among other cities). Whether offered by a dealer or privately, quality cars sell very quickly.

Little

Tric,

I'm exhausted from looking lol. Been on the hunt since i believe september. I literally check every car site everyday, using filters such as latest listings first etc. I also check ebay, tempest, craigslist nationwide. I even have my parents, who live in florida keeping an eye out for me. Both my parents and wife think i'm just crazy for looking for such an old car hahaha.

Bocatrip

As our cars age the search and finding a "real one" gets harder all the time. It was much easier 9 years ago for me to find my car.

Johnhav430

Things seemed to have changed a lot since fall 2016. It seemed like lots of cars were available in the 60k miles range, just that I thought I would go 80k to save a few $. Now many cars seem to be 120k miles....in a way it's not that relevant since these are long lasting cars, just that there is some sweet spot where you can take over as a 2nd or 3rd owner, where regardless of how it was treated, it's not too late...seemed like my indie likes 80k...(for example they said zero chance of harming tranny by draining and filling)

JetCat

Hello Little .... I hope you are doing well ..... I cannot help but throw-in my two cents worth on this ..... I bought my first LS400 from eBay sight unseen ... got it shipped out to my home ... felt like I got a really fair deal on it. Well ... for me, it did not go so well ... just sayin'. I still have the car and now it is 12 years later. I love the car and I do not mind working on it ....... however, may I share with you what was not disclosed on my great deal on eBay? 1) someone had spilled a very large cappuccino drink on the passenger side / front at some point ... they cleaned it up pretty good, but some of the smell remains all these many years later. 2) it had some body damage on the driver side / rear ... they did a good job of repairing it .... however ... it was not disclosed to me. If you know body work, it would have been easy to spot [in person]. 3) It did not have a good service history which was made evident to me when I learned more about transmissions. I was able to fix the hard shifting ( another hidden thing not disclosed to me ) with a total system flush and upgrading to full synthetic fluid. It has been 12 years and my trans shifts perfectly .... but the most disturbing thing that I only recently figured out is .... 4) it has a blown head gasket !! Now keep in mind it runs perfect. It has all this time .... but I did a major cooling system flush which uncovered the real truth of this problem. .... [it's a much longer story, but I am trying to keep this on the short side] ....

At this point in my story, may I share with you how to find the truth on any cracked block / head gasket issue ..... take an engine oil sample and have it tested to see what is going on. I did it 2 times (after I owned the car for a while and learned you can even do this sort of thing) and both tests showed very small trace amounts of coolant in my oil. The oil looked perfect and I was changing it more often than most do. There were no conventional indications of a head gasket issue. And ... like I said ... my car ran perfect. I have learned a lot about cars over the last 10 years and now I do my own work pretty much .... so my knowledge level has changed quite a bit, you know : ) Sooooooooooo .... I'm just telling my story on how it went for me. ( oil can be tested at Blackstone Lab ... you just mail in a sample. They will send you a free oil test kit to get things started )

Hindsight: back when I bought this LS400 years ago, I had the chance to have bought a local car ( same exact year / model Lexus ) that would have cost me $3,700 more which had a complete documented service history from the dealer and it was a one-owner-car ... I thought I was smart to get the eBay car for less ....... live and learn .... right? Lexus owners are a certain kind of person, and one thing I have noticed is that when one of us has really been fastidious on maintenance ... we tend to boast about it. So when I see this one element missing in the car sale profile [ regardless of make/model ], it makes me a little nervous ... especially as a Lexus guy .... you know?

I have decided that since I am a retired guy now (far more time than money), I am going to try to turn my lemons into lemonade .... I think I might make a YouTube channel all about the 95 LS400 ... and how to fix common things. If I happen to do the head gasket repair, it just may turn into a YouTube first .... ! : )

These cars are really cool ... I love the way they are made ... and I really like being a "member of the club" so to speak .... it just makes me feel good, even though I know that the real truth is ... I am more of a Lexus Hobo than anything else ..... but hey ... my car looks and sounds ok on the surface ! : ) Sooooo ... this is my honest story on how buying one of these cars sight-unseen went ..... as a final touch I hope I may be able to pass on one of my favorite videos from a guy called YourCarAnglel ... this is classic car buying wisdom at it's finest .... I hope you might enjoy it -----

be well ... and best of luck, cuz I really hope you can find a Lexus you can enjoy like the rest of us do .. .. .. ...

JetCat

Hi again, Little ... just want to pass on another more simple and very fast way to determine a head gasket issue ... again by our friend over at YourCarAngel .... this is very fast and effective method ...
take care ... .. ..

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val1200

I don't like the idea of buying car without inspection either. I think the only way is to fly there and check it.

imdking

iTrader: (1)

I was in the same predicament last summer when i bought my 2006 LS430. Luckily, i was able to find someone who knew a guy in Houston (I am in Ohio), and he went to test drive the 2 cars i was looking at. He dragged his feet on the second car, so by the time he made it there, the first one (silver), was gone. Anyway, i sent money and he had a pre-purchase inspection done at his indie (on the flint mica). Got the thumbs up, negotiated on price, and had the car shipped.
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He found the passenger side mirror glass loose, which the used car dealer had not mentioned. And a few dings and a scratch, but these would have been surprises i couldn't have discovered through pictures.

Little

I am about to change what I am looking for. I found a 2005 blue on beige that is within 2hrs of me. It is a little high on mileage at 127,289 but after running it though my owners site, its been fully maintained including timing belt and water pump at its scheduled time. It has had new rear struts installed, and new oxygen sensors. It is a one owner. Car has been fully serviced by one dealer throughout its life and its last service was within 2 months ago at the same dealer which included all new brakes. It has had some minor hiccups along the road but nothing major. The price is a great deal in my opinion at $6691. I may be giving them a call today.

On a side note, I drive very little miles per year as I have a company truck and my wife has a new Kia Sorento Limited that we use mostly including trips so mileage is not of a concern. Id say i put on less than 3000 miles a year if that on my car i drive after work.

imdking

iTrader: (1)

Go for it! It's not gonna last long!