curt248

I just graduated school and am in the market for a new car. I own a 1990 LS400 with 244000 miles on it now. That car has been very good to me.

I drove a SC430 two days ago and loved it. I even compared it to my dream car that I test drove today (2001 LS430) and I like it a lot more.

The color I fell in love with is white. I can only find one white SC430 in the chicago area in my price range (2002-2003 model years or up to $23000 max).

Ok here are all of the problems that I noticed with this white with ecru interior 2002 SC430 with 72000 miles.

The one I drove is a white one with 72000 miles on it. It has its fair share of rock chips on the hood (but the paint color and shine are very good). The driver side mirror will only move side to side (not up and down). The antenna is either missing or not working. I couldn't hear the sound system well to see if it was damaged because I didn't have a cd and the FM quality is poor without an antenna. I will bring my own cd to test it. It fairly clean inside, but isn't perfect (it's a private owner not a dealer). I think I may be able to get it perfect with some elbow greese. There is a spider crack on the upper part of the rear bumper about 5 inches in diameter (not thru the paint but with many very light cracks almost like scratches). The rear back up light glass does not fit perfectly in the bumper housing (i think I may be able to just snap it in but I'm not sure). The hard plastic behind the driver seat (with the L on it) has some scrapes or marks on it (not perfect).

He is asking 21000 for it and has had it for sale since the beginning of summer (3-5 months I suppose). He originally had it for sale for $24500 but didn't sell it. Because of the problems I pointed out he was willing to drop the price to $19000.

We were very impressed with the look of the car. It's very good looking. The paint has a metallic quality like metallic flakes. The white is very uniform (not yellow or different colors anywhere). The top performed wonderfully. The navigation worked well. The car drove well. The tires are in good shape except for the rear tires that look more worn on the inside of the tires compared to the outside (otherwise they look to be close to new). The interior looks great (outside of being not perfectly cleaned). It seemed to run well. It would screech the tires a bit if floored from a stop. It braked well (no pulling to one side).

Should I go for this car at the lower price of $19000 and fix the problems with the money I'm saving (I think this is a low price tell me if I'm wrong). I will probably buy new wheels for it right away and try to fix the antenna myself. I will probably leave the mirror as the up and down wasn't needed for me once it was adjusted. The paint chips may be able to be refinished for 1 or $200. The rear bumper spiker crack will be more expensive to fix. I'm thinking it will need the entire bumper to be repainted. I think that will cost about $1200 (same as for my ls400). I may or may not fix that. Maybe I will wait for someone to hit the back of the car first and have ins fix it.

I also found a white 2003 in MN (where I'll be going at the end of the week) at a dealer with less than 50,000 miles for $26000. I wonder if it would be in better condition or if I should just go for the one here in chicago.

Thanks guys for your input.

curt248

This is the car.

aquanuke

Wow shes a beauty

Nice car as well

intdiamond

iTrader: (2)

Why not take the car to a Lexus dealer or good mechanic and have it checked out thoroughly? The problems you've listed don't seem more than cosmetic, save maybe a little bumper-crunch, and if it's sound mechanically, it sounds like a good deal for under $20K.

curt248

Yeah I already have an appointment setup with the local lexus dealer for a once over. They said it would cost $130 for a 1 hour inspection. Does that sound right? They will hook it up to a computer, check brake pads, check for leaks etc. (no compression testing or anything like that).

It seems like that is something they would do for you at jiffy lube with your $25 oil change. Plus a visit to autozone for a free computer hookup.

What do you guys think?

curt248

hey aquanuke. How much were those coil overs to lower the car? Do you need 20inch wheels to make it look good (like yours) or can you get different amts of lowering.

I was thinking of buying some 18 inch wheels and using the current tires on the stockers and then buying 18 inch snow tires for the stock wheels. That way I wouldn't have to buy all new tires for the new wheels and also buy snow tires.

What do you think?

Oh yeah, she is a beauty. Thanks for the compliment.

Lexiss_sc430

iTrader: (2)

yea take it to the dealer, 130 sounds right. They will do their whole inspection and give you a final report of their diagnosis, but make sure you pay attention also, their might be somethings the dealer might not catch.

aquanuke

Go atleast 20" if you wanna keep up with the guys on CL

Im not the best person to ask about prices as Im on the other side of the world, I paid £1100 for my coilovers (about $2k )

curt248

I noticed that the 20 inch wheels (35lbs) are much heavier than the 18's (25lbs). Can this be felt from the driver seat? I suppose it should dramatically increase the unsprung weight making the suspension less compliant.

Does the handling improve a bunch from the larger tires?

CAMAracer

iTrader: (1)

18" wheels that weigh 25 is considered lite...so which ever ones you're considering,

Our stock 18" wheels weigh 58.5 with the run flats...so the rims alone is around 34 pounds.

My 19" rims and tires weigh 44.7 pounds together, and yeah, it makes a subtle but noticeable difference in handling.