sebastian0

I'm looking at buying a 2000 SC400. I'm a little hesitant for two reasons from the Carfax:

1) It was registered as a corporate fleet vehicle when new. Should I be worried about that? I figured it was probably a perk for some executive, but I'm worried that the car may have been driven exceptionally hard. But it was probably also well-maintained.

2) At one point, after a sale of the vehicle, there was a total of 400 miles put on the car's odometer over a period of four years. Obviously this is very atypical. Theoretically, someone may have decided to store it and keep it as a classic or something, but they bought it at 30k miles and 3-4 years old, which would seem to be an odd time to get a car and keep it like that. But is it even possible to roll back a digital Lexus odometer?

Should I be worried about any of this?

Kaydee

pop the hood to see if timing belt change sticker is there, that could be an indication of how old it is...and YES, you can change the odo...not by rolling back, but by changing the cluster

EyeKutr

iTrader: (5)

is someone is going to roll back the odo, they probably wont change the timing belt.....does it have an electronic odometer or a mechanical one?

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

That means absolutely nothing. Several states do this if a business owner buys it and uses it for his "business" vehicle so he can write it off at the end of the year.

sebastian0

Electronic

Baoser

either barely driven, or changed cluster...98+ have the gated shifter display in the cluster, unlike a pre 97 which is just a straight line...

sebastian0

The salesman said that the car was traded in by one of their regulars, an elderly man who owns like 12 cars and barely drives most of them. Definitely an odd story. Not sure if I'm buying that (or the car).

felixsc300

iTrader: (5)

I say pass it. Better played out safe than sorry.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

First, salesman are full of %^&*(

Second, it is entirely possible it was owned by someone with a few cars. I have 4 currently and have put less than 300 miles on my SC in 4 years, but have managed to put 50K on my Benz in 2 yrs.

RolxuSC400

Another option is to pull the service history through Lexus of the car. It might give you some missing information or maybe fill-in the blanks of odometer change or maybe let you see inaccuracies in mileage or the stories and give you a maintenance history to boot.

Its definitely possible. I owned 6 cars at one point and now down to 5. My Benz and Lexus are parked more than they are driven. If the guy truly owns that many cars (12) its not unlikely that it could happen.

matrixgts

iTrader: (1)

check it out well and then make your decision

BCP43002

Check the DOT code on each of the tires. I believe the last digits will be the year the tire was made. See how the year on the tires match up with any service records and your estimate as to when the miles were put on the car.

kyoso23

I'd say look into it a little deeper, that's a fairly rare car simply because of the model year and with that few miles it would surely be like new. Keep us posted and if you pass on it, PM me the info.

sebastian0

I'm curious as to if there is a way to tell if the gauge cluster has been replaced / mileage has been altered in any way. Any pins or seals that would be broken or OEM parts that would be replaced or something.

sebastian0

Didn't think of that. Good thinking. Won't necessarily tell me anything, but it may tell everything. Obviously if they are six year old tires with a lot of tread, it tells me I probably shouldn't be worrying.