cwy

Hi & thanks for taking the time to look & advise a newbie CL member (and just about to be first time Lexus owner out in LA/OC area).

We're about to purchase a very clean '08 RX350 w/15K miles (base model, FWD, no Nav, no ML, does have heated seats) from an independent dealer (so no Lexus CPO, but it's still well under factory 4/50K warranty).

• Breakwater blue/ivory int.
• Carfax is clean and today's test drive went fine (alignment required as it pulls to the right which the dealer said they would do).
• Michelin tires are worn so they'll need to be replaced likely within 5K miles.
• Blemishes include a couple of nailhead sized paint chips on hood, tiny ding on gas door.

Negotiated price is right at $30K which comes out to $33K out the door. I've checked several used car sites (Cars.com, Autotrader.com & others) throughout SoCal & even out across US and think this is a good deal.

Agree or disagree?

As for the vehicle, is there anything to be aware of?

I searched & searched several resources, but couldn't find any recall notices nor any reliability issues so I feel very confident that the RX350 will be a great vehicle for us.

Again, thank you for any advice!

banjo

Sounds nice...But I would want to talk to previous owner..Also 15,000 miles the tires should still look very good...I wonder why so worn ?

benzo555

iTrader: (11)

Personally I wouldn't pay more than $28K for a base model. Plus SUVs have a harder time selling now that summer is coming up and the fact the 3rd generation is out as well. If you feel 30K is a good deal then by all means at least get them to throw in new tires.

arima

$30k is a bit high for an 08, no? I picked up a new 09 with NAV in Aug 08 for 39,500. you might want to check why an 08 with low miles is sitting in an independent lot and not a certified car at Lexus. When I was looking, Lexus kept saying they only keep the cream of the crop for themselves.

lamar411

I bet you could find a better deal if you keep looking

968racer

LOL That's a nice sales line. They have no control over auctions or if someone traded it in at a indy dealer.

cwy

Just got home after making the purchase. My wife loves her new car!

The ad had a mistake about it being FWD. It's actually an AWD so that adds a bit more value in the final price. Also, they replaced the worn tires with new ones and fixed the alignment issue as well.

Time to get it nicely washed and take some photos.

Thanks again for those who posted replies!

daryll40

While you can't get CPO, I've had VERY good luck with WARRANTYDIRECT.COM. I just bot one for my LS460. I had three of these over the years on various vehicles and they pay WELL. It's about as close to bumper to bumper or CPO that you can get. In some way it might even be better than CPO because you can take it to ANY certified repair shop (although since they are paying, you might as well use the dealer)!

They pay any certified repair shop directly by credit card over the phone. My wife's old Explorer had almost $5000 in claims between 50,000 and 80,000 miles and they always paid easily. (However, the unreliability of that vehicle is why she's drivin' the RX330 now!)

(I have no affliliation with them whatsoever other than being a satisfied customer).

cwy

Thank you for the recommendation on the extended warranty! I'll definitely check it out. I plan on getting one as the factory warranty runs out.

daryll40

I'd check it out sooner rather than later. The warranties cost a bit more if you wait. They make money off the time value of your money.

benzo555

iTrader: (11)

Excellent! I knew you could pull off at least the new tires. No point in sweating about how much you paid anymore. Just enjoy it! The only neg side about AWD is that you'll probably have to do an extra maintenance on it and 1 mpg loss.. but its not a big deal imo!

tromly

You're right, and with gas prices creeping up to $3.00/gal the prices for all used SUV's will drop. Remember last summer when the dealers could not give them away!