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We sold her 2002 SC in 2013 after 10 years of drama free ownership. She now has developed seller's remorse. This will be a fun, 3rd car and won't see heavy action.
I found a 2008 with 56K miles, great and timely service history to include timing belt replacement and no other major repairs or warranty replacements. I have not seen the car but it is reported as being in great shape considering age and mileage. SC is being sold by Lexus dealer and pre-sales inspection has been performed. Firm price is $25,000. I have been out of the SC game since 2013 and haven't wrapped my head around any dependability or inherent issues that may exist as well as the value of a now "out of production car".
So here I am requesting help from the Club Lexus braintrust regarding the price of this vehicle as well as any insight about any issues or things to look for.
Tires are at 7/32 with recent alignment
Front brakes are 5mm, rears at 10mm
Recent oil/filter change
I'm told everything works as it should
Includes ML stereo
I think it’s a little high priced. You pay a premium to buy it from a Lexus dealer though. If it’s the perfect color combo for you that’s something to consider. There are better deals out there. I picked up an 06 in CT 2 months ago with 47k for $20k needing the TBWP service but with new rubber and brakes. Heading into the cold weather in the NE so convertible sales will not be in high demand.
Correct me if I am wrong, that is not an original color, am I right? If it was painted make sure the painter is refutable and a solid warranty against defects offered. Good luck.
That is Top Dollar. That's the same here in Washington state. The dealerships demand top dollar on these cars.
I would encourage you to look more at private party. I bought a 2nd owner car from a private party. He was retiring. I saved approximately 5K verses if it was on a dealer lot.
Rayzerr's spot on. Smokey Granite Mica specifically. The white background makes it look like some kind of weird matt color but SGM is a very distinguished color and the mica refers to the metallic flake effect in the grey. Looks great in person I think. The leather is stated as camel which is supposed to be a nice brown but the pics make it look almost white, like ecru. Could be the weird lighting effect. They need a new photography and marketing person over at that dealership. Pricing does seem a little high. Do a lowball and ask again mid Dec whether they want to deal on it ? End of year, one more unit out the door - should be good for the sales manager's annual performance review. They might have a 20%+ profit margin built in as is so seems perfectly fine to squeeze a little bit if you're not in a hurry.
Thanks all
Got a call late yesterday. Car sold before I could see it.
Agree that dealers try to get top dollar but the availability of reasonably low mileage is hard to find as supported by my searches. I see some really crazy high prices out there for low mileage specimens.
I'm in no hurry so I will try to make it a buyer's market as best I can. That said, at the price point in the low to mid-twenties, a couple thousand $ either way is not a big deal. I believe these cars are "somewhat bulletproof" and should last a long time given it will be a 3rd vehicle seeing around 5k a year.
hey, just purchased a 2005 SC last year with 78000 miles and paid 22000 for it. Love the car but have had to put a little money into it, such as a new timing belt ,water pump, tensioner pulley and the like , just a little advice before buying it is to see if and when a new timing belt was installed. Mfg suggest a new timing belt every 90000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first. It will save you about 1800 dollars if a timing belt has been replaced. If not let the seller know what it will cost to do the work and have him deduct that amount from the price! Good Luck!!!!!
To be honest, I wouldn't sell my '07 with now 65k on it for $25k.
I bought my car with 45k on it from a small specialty dealership in Vienna, VA for $28k two years ago.
These cars move fast in NOVA, so you have to be quick.
My wife and bought the car the morning it was listed. When I went to pick it up a couple of days later, the salesman said he had over a dozen calls on the car that day.
One thing I found to be true of the “brand” dealerships (Lexus and others) is that they will leave a posting up on auto trader, car gurus, etc. well after the car has been sold to get customer calls. After you tell the dealer there’s only one car you are interested in the call ends pretty quickly. Good luck with your search.
I prefer to buy from private owner, as it is usually cheaper than the dealer, but more importantly gives you a chance to talk to the owner. You can soon find out a lot about the vehicle and the owner's habits that way. That's also why I use FB Marketplace often. You can view a profile that often times has sealed the deal that I want no part of this character's **** show. Best of luck to you. Patience in waiting for the right deal is key.
I've done both. Would never buy a used car from a new car dealership or carvana, etc. I got mine from a small specialty car dealership that sold most of their cars on the innerwebs.
In Northern Virginia, where I got mine, the cars are highly sought after. It took me about 2 months to find the car, amusingly enough about 5 miles from the house. Like I said, my wife and I were test driving the car the afternoon it appeared in the various listings. We had lost several others by not being aggressive. And I paid the asking price. There was no negotiation to be had. I did get him to change the timing belt and put new tires on it.
In that 2 months of very active searching there were no private sales. None.
2006+ cars are definitely more sought after, due to the improvements, but be aware there simply weren't that many of these cars sold.
Good luck. They are out there. Patience and aggressiveness will get you what you want.
Gang, having owned 4 SC 430s in the past 10 years, I can tell you the clean low mileage is starting to be like ART. The nice one is getting harder to come by as the years go by! The ones with 100K+ in mileage and damage with paint ,seats are everywhere and can be bought for a song but if you really want a nice clean low mileage SC430, you will need to pay to play. I recently sold my very clean 02 Pearl white with 52K mileage for $21,500 within 2 weeks and as soon as I sold her, I wanted another one and had seller remorse and ended up getting a 07 Pebble beach with 35,000 and it was not cheap. The SC430 as the years go by will be even harder to find the nice ones so don’t just look at the cheapest SC430 you can get your hands on.
Pay a bit more and get one you will love . After all “ you only live once”
To be honest, I wouldn't sell my '07 with now 65k on it for $25k.
I bought my car with 45k on it from a small specialty dealership in Vienna, VA for $28k two years ago.
These cars move fast in NOVA, so you have to be quick.
My wife and bought the car the morning it was listed. When I went to pick it up a couple of days later, the salesman said he had over a dozen calls on the car that day.
Do you mean SC430s or Lexus' in general?
Originally Posted by doobs
I've done both. Would never buy a used car from a new car dealership or carvana, etc. I got mine from a small specialty car dealership that sold most of their cars on the innerwebs.
In Northern Virginia, where I got mine, the cars are highly sought after. It took me about 2 months to find the car, amusingly enough about 5 miles from the house. Like I said, my wife and I were test driving the car the afternoon it appeared in the various listings. We had lost several others by not being aggressive. And I paid the asking price. There was no negotiation to be had. I did get him to change the timing belt and put new tires on it.
In that 2 months of very active searching there were no private sales. None.
2006+ cars are definitely more sought after, due to the improvements, but be aware there simply weren't that many of these cars sold.
Good luck. They are out there. Patience and aggressiveness will get you what you want.
What do you mean by small specialty car dealership? I'm in Northern Virginia also. It's my first time actually going through a used car purchase. I would think official Lexus dealerships would have more solid used Lexus'.
What do you mean by small specialty car dealership? I'm in Northern Virginia also. It's my first time actually going through a used car purchase. I would think official Lexus dealerships would have more solid used Lexus'.
They specialize in "enthusiast" automobiles. It's a small dealership sharing the building with another dealership. Lexus dealerships aren't interested in 15+ year old cars. DMV Auto Group got the car from Pohanka Lexus.
The owners name is Sam. Call him and tell him what you are looking for.
When I bought mine he had 2 others that came in that day.
11-30-23, 12:13 PM
Wife wants a do over
