That sounds right for rear bumper damage rear bumper cover plus plastic brackets etc Would be $3000 if done at a dealership.

Also the one starr reviews are probably because they bought a used luxury car thats crap and when things brake and they cannot afford to fix them. So if everything checks out and your gut is telling you go for it I would buy it.

This is a picture of the rear bumper components not listed is parking sensors.

 

LOL that almost sounds like what I am doing! Just kidding, I can afford to fix anything reasonable (maybe not a $3,000 bumper, though!)

 

This reminds me, I bought my LS430 used, at a new car dealer. When it turned out that the brakes pulsated (my bad but I never got a chance to really open her up on the Saw Mill), and the driver actuator door was broken from the get go, they ended up fixing it for free. Brakes were Lexus OE, don't know about the actuator (1 1/2 yrs. later no probs). So they did a good job. I did find it odd how the salesman never once returned a call or email, though. I went directly to the service mgr. the following Monday, when I bought the car on Saturday.

When I checked online reviews, there was a one star that said, "That f** used car salesman Mike ******** was totally useless." I burst out laughing, he is, but it's kind of sad for people to say that about you.

 

A normal body shop would do a rear bumper for $300-$1200 most dealerships just replace and repaint parts to avoid bodywork less of a hassle.

 

NEWS! Good or bad depending on your outlook:

I went back down to the dealer today to do the paperwork and everything, and lo an behold there was a new spot of rust on the wheelwell! Turns out, between Sunday and today the paint (which looks original, btw) came off on a small area about 2 inches long.

Salesman wasn't there (only finance guy was there) so I just said I would call the salesman tomorrow.

Either I am incredibly unlucky to waste time on a car with this issue, or I am very fortunate that I was made obvious to me only minutes before signing the papers!

 

Well everything happens for a reason...that's good news....on to the next, and you take what you've learned so you'll end up with something better! (I think my dad told me something like that when a girl dumped me in HS, and it wasn't at all true, but it's true in this case lol!!)

 

Bigger whales in the sea, that's what my dad told me when I was dumped!

 

My dad was so cool and collected, like he didn't understand that at 19, my entire world had ended! lol Amazing, isn't it?

But with this car thing, getting a better car, is almost a sure thing!

 

torn/worn leather on the armrest, for me that would have to be replaced immediately.

 

So was the car purchased or not?

 

I walked. I am confident I can find an LS with no rust for a similar price (I have actually not seen any other with visible rust at all). The salesman didn't bother to negotiate, and I doubt I would have accepted any terms he could have stated anyway.

Sad thing is the dealership will now paint over that rust spot and try to pass the car off onto someone less lucky than me.

 

The 2005 that I saw, AT A LEXUS DEALER, had black paint slashed on the rear right rim, and the plastic lower trim, and the salesman said maybe it was hit, you know best. Cars these age can have clean Carfaxs with accidents not showing, they're old cars.. The paint even showed on the dealers' online pics! And yes, the car was gone 1 wk later. There are many people who simply go along with what they are told (dealer paperwork showed car had 4 new Dunlop SPs, and it did not, had 4 knock off tires). I guess all that we're saying is really nothing new in car sales. My wife had a really uneasy feeling when the car would not start (come back Sat. we'll have it started for you, but let's get the deal done tonight lol)

 

Funny, this car needed a jump before I tested it, then I shut it off after the drive and it wouldn't re-start. The salesman had the mechanic replace the alternator fuse and battery, which solved the problem (I was sure to check with my multimeter). It was a good thing too, because that caused me to leave and come back a few days later to complete the deal, and during that time the paint on the wheel well flaked off and exposed the rust.
I don't know if you have seen my other thread, but I had already tested and bought another LS430 that overheated on the drive home (didn't do that during the test drive, somehow). I returned it on a 5-day return policy, and that dealer called later to say the headgasket was bad and they were going to auction the car instead.

 

It makes me wonder when the LS' for sale have issues--they wouldn't surprise me at all on a German or American car of the same age, but these really do seem reliable, how do some of them end up like that? Meaning they're not overly complicated, so not really anything an owner could do to abuse or break them imho.....since you are in FLA should be some nice ones within a 2 hour drive no matter where you are in the state...mine was from Naples and many nice cars I see online are in Tampa. My buddy says avoid Miami/Ft. Lauderdale at all costs, just pretend any listing there doesn't even exist....

 

It's a promised land for old-man cars. However I have noticed that my area (Orlando) isn't nearly as well-stocked as those down south like Fort Myers or Palm Beach County. I have so far been resistant to long drives, since I have a young child and don't want to anger his mother by doing too much "Car stuff".