I'm considering buying an SC300 for my 16-year-old. It's a '92 with the following options (cut directly from the ad):

Red, 163k miles, cloth int, Driver Air Bag; Anti-Lock Brakes; Air Conditioning; Alloy Wheels; Cruise Control; Compact Disc Changer; Passenger Air Bag; Rear Window Defroster; Power Seats; AM/FM Stereo Cassette; Power Door Locks; Power Mirrors; Power Windows; Power Steering; Sunroof/Moonroof; Tinted Glass; Tilt Wheel;

When we talked to the guy, he said that it's been faithfully serviced with the water pump/timing belt were changed at 150k (normal service). It also has new tires and new speakers. The interior is supposed to be in good condition (haven't seen it yet) but he said that there are some cracks in the exterior plastic (no details here). The CD player is a 10-disc trunk mounted unit.

The guy is asking $5561 (don't know why the odd amount).

How does this price sound? Any thoughts?

 

sound about right my friend bought a 93 sc300 5spd w/ 145k for 5700..
try to get him down to 5000 flat.

 

Sorry about that. It's an automatic. It also has beige cloth interior.

 

If you get alot of snow and rain in OK, a rear wheel drive car might not be a good idea for a 16 yr old.

 

Lexus for a 16 year old, damn lucky boy. Price does sound fair but try to lower it to $5000, thats what i paid for my 92 with 98,000 miles.
I didnt know SC's came with cloth seats.

 

SC's with cloth seats are very rare you had to special order it from the dealer, too bad it has a sunroof that would be one of the very few in the nation that have no sunroof/ cloth seats
Lexusfiend

 

Sounds like a great price. My grandma got me the SC for $7200 after taxes (so that's around $6400 before tax). At the time I was 16. Its a great car

 

Thanks for the replies everyone! We went and looked at the SC today. It was pretty nice overall but there are a few items that need to be fixed and one in particular that concerns me.

The light on the gas gauge needle is out which is just slightly annoying as you can see it if you look closely. The A/C LCD panel is malfunctioning slightly (the lower part is hard to read) but again it's not too bad and I know it's a common problem with a 1st-gen Lexus.

The one thing that concerns me most is that the car pulls fairly heavily to the right. As I looked thru the guy's stack of service documents I see that he's had an alignment done several times in the last year (once each in March, June, September and October). They were all performed by the same place and at least one was a no-charge re-alignment. When I asked him about it, he said that they told him that nothing was wrong?!

My question is whether the company (a local, well-known tire and alignment place) can't do alignments right or if there is, as I suspect, a much bigger problem? If it wasn't for this big question mark, we'd probably buy the car.

Thoughts anyone?

 

pulling heavy towards the right, perhaps the control arms or maybe just the bushings?

as for the blacking out on needles, it is a common problem but lextech lighting can fix that for you and make it look 100x better than what it was in full functional order.

 

Hmm, now that you mention it, that reminds me of something. I called the Lexus dealer yesterday to check the service report for the car. He said that the last item on the report showed he brought the SC in after having the high-pressure line replaced at Goodyear and that, let's see if I can remember how he said it, the "steering didn't seem to start as soon as it did before" or something odd like that. The service guy seemed to think that he meant there was play in the wheel. I dunno. The important thing was that they said the bushings were worn and recommended replacing (at $1,000!) The owner declined.

Anyway, the steering seemed tight but your suggestion seems to coincide with the dealer's assessment.

Maybe, I should just pass on this one?!...

 

Well if you change the bushings yourself, it can be done for as cheap as $125. You can just buy a bushing set and install them yourself.. or buy a bushing set and get a shop to install for you. I'm not sure how much a shop would charge for a bushing install, but don't go to the dealer.

If its just the bushings, alignment, and the needles are blacking out, then I say you should still get it. Mention all of the things wrong with the car (to the owner).. and try to go lower than what he is asking for. However, if it more than just bushings, alignment, and needles.. I don't think i would cop. Bushings alignment and blacked out needles are common problems fo this car.. in fact most cars.. its just what happens after time and doesn't necessarily mean that the owner did not take good care of the car.

But, if all of these things are bothing you, I would try to buy a 97-99 SC.

 

I noticed the ad. says it has a passenger airbag.

Please keep in mind that 92 models did not come with dual airbags.

Jon

 

sounds a little high, i bought my 92 at 85k for $6000, and with leather, even though cloth is unique on a sc.

 

It could be somethin in the rack and pinion steering about to go out, that could be why its pulling.

 

Try use the power search at autotrader.com to search on SC3, SC4 within 100 miles of your area. Specify cars with price only, under 100,000 miles, the max $ you want to spend and you may find another SC with better condition. Good luck with your search.