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As a preface, I'm in the Northern Virginia area, Fairfax City to be specific. As I mentioned in the roll call thread, I'm in the market for a 2006+ sc430. Am looking specifically for one in Matador Mica Red. Their don't seem to be a ton floating around, but they are around.
I'm not in a hurry, have cash available, so can pull the trigger quickly. I've come across a couple of candidates, but most seem to move very quickly. One was here locally, and didn't even have a complete listing in AutoTrader, and it was gone in 3 days before I could even get to look at it. I'm not even certain it was a real listing. Another one was in Williamsburg, and same thing. Gone in less than a week.
I've found two in New Jersey that have been for sale for some time. One is in Linden, and the price is fair, but the car needs a bumper refinish. Otherwise it's a fair candidate, with the price being a tad high. The other one I found on Facebook marketplace, and as best I can tell it's an individual. The pictures are exemplary, but the price is low at < $20k. I'm exceedingly leery of this one. Very well maintained, but the price worries me.
I'm not adverse to travelling, but how does one go about vetting a car from a distance, and then completing the deal? It would really suck to pop for a train/plane ticket and then get to the car and find it misrepresented. If you do travel, do you plan for the worst and book round trip?
Appreciate any guidance y'all can provide. This is a "last car" thing for me. I'll be 64 this year, and in all likelihood this will be the last automotive purchase I make, so I want it to be the right car.
Well first of all, let's hope that it isn't the last car for you. Hopefully you'll have another 20 or 30 years left in you. You can use the VIN to research the car on Lexus.com to at least determine how much has been done at a dealer and if it has any records of being in a wreck. Talk to the owner, if possible, to see if they will tell you what problems it has (hopefully they will be honest with you). Be sure to read the stickies at the top of the forum, there's lots of information there to tell you what items to look for when buying a SC430. Good luck!
LOL. I tend to keep cars a long while. My daily driver is an '05 Pilot that I inherited from my Father-in-law in 2010.
This car will be a hobby of sorts for me. I'm an inveterate tinkerer, and this SC430 will the the focus of a lot of my tinkering. I'm an electro-mechanical engineer, and will share my adventures here for all in the process. I've been actively absorbing the threads with entertainment systems updates, and suspensions mod's etc. Should be fun, once the right car is in the garage.
There will be other cars for my wife and I, but this will be the last car for me. Prolly should have worded that better.
I had found the Lexus website and that's great info as it seems a lot of owners of these car use the dealerships for service. I've noticed a number of candidates having had service contracts. The car in Williamsburg had over 50 service intervals listed.
Maybe you find somebody on this site who is local to the car you are interested in and you get them to scope it out in person to save you making a wasted trip? I saw your post and did a quick check online here in Knoxville and found this car that isn't too far from me ..... https://knoxville.craigslist.org/ctd...355530663.html
Unfortunately it's a 2002 so not the 2006+ you're looking for or else I'd be happy to go check it out and give you my opinion on it's condition .
Maybe you find somebody on this site who is local to the car you are interested in and you get them to scope it out in person to save you making a wasted trip? I saw your post and did a quick check online here in Knoxville and found this car that isn't too far from me ..... https://knoxville.craigslist.org/ctd...355530663.html
Unfortunately it's a 2002 so not the 2006+ you're looking for or else I'd be happy to go check it out and give you my opinion on it's condition .
That's a nice car. Thanks for the offer, but will hold out for a 2006+
I just picked up a 31k mile ‘02 myself, was aggressively looking for about a month and wanting a low mile really clean example. Had cash on hand too, was looking for a few color combos specifically. Was willing to travel about anywhere in the country for the right one or ship.
The first one I was going to fly out to, I gave the lady my credit info for a deposit, an hour later she called me back and said it sold.
The next one sold before I could send a third party inspector out on the same day.
The third one I put a down on, talked to the dealership during the week frequently, had inspected, drove over two hours there on my first chance, and they were literally sitting at the desk selling it out from under me when I arrived…
The fourth car I got, and I think Im happiest with this one overall.
I think the market is just aggressive right now like housing.
I just picked up a 31k mile ‘02 myself, was aggressively looking for about a month and wanting a low mile really clean example. Had cash on hand too, was looking for a few color combos specifically. Was willing to travel about anywhere in the country for the right one or ship.
The first one I was going to fly out to, I gave the lady my credit info for a deposit, an hour later she called me back and said it sold.
The next one sold before I could send a third party inspector out on the same day.
The third one I put a down on, talked to the dealership during the week frequently, had inspected, drove over two hours there on my first chance, and they were literally sitting at the desk selling it out from under me when I arrived…
The fourth car I got, and I think Im happiest with this one overall.
I think the market is just aggressive right now like housing.
Wow. So, my experience is not unusual. Appreciate the feedback.
The plus of all this is I'm not in any hurry. The right car will come, but it's clear when it does, I won't be able to hesitate.
There are plenty of third party inspection companies out there, just google. Though ive found you have to be ultra specific on what you want them to look at and report on because these are people who are usually looking at family cars and just checking basic reliability. I found they just didnt give me the info I wanted unless I typed out long specific instructions. They arent used to inspecting for “car people” or “enthusiasts” from my experience.
and my plan with flying was just to get the one way ticket, tickets are still fairly cheap right now.
The dealership will walk you through an out of state sale, they want that cash out of state sale, they dont even have to deal with registration, and they know they wont see you again. Paperwork had to go between us a few times, just used fedex 2 day.
There are plenty of third party inspection companies out there, just google. Though ive found you have to be ultra specific on what you want them to look at and report on because these are people who are usually looking at family cars and just checking basic reliability. I found they just didnt give me the info I wanted unless I typed out long specific instructions. They arent used to inspecting for “car people” or “enthusiasts” from my experience.
and my plan with flying was just to get the one way ticket, tickets are still fairly cheap right now.
The dealership will walk you through an out of state sale, they want that cash out of state sale, they dont even have to deal with registration, and they know they wont see you again. Paperwork had to go between us a few times, just used fedex 2 day.
Do you have a list of specific instructions that you could share? That would be awesome.
Just things like:
please take lots of pictures under the car, the amount of rust is very important to me, seeing the suspension assemblies and subframe mounts and pinch welds are important.
Please note any flaws, chips, tiny dents, marks on the interior.
Please closely inspect panel gaps and paint for signs of repair. I need to know this car hasnt been in an accident that wasnt reported.
Please look for signs if the car was smoked in. Please note any unusual smells in the interior or when you turn on the heat or a/c.
I specifically said: This is a 19 year old car with 31k miles. Im looking for a car that presents like a 31k mile car and not a 19 year old car.
Cool. Make sense. Thanks. There was a local car that was very good, but it was a smoker and it reeked. They had tried to cover up the smell with a deodorant which just made it worse.
Coming from a guy who has owned 4 SC430, I can tell you the SC if it is clean
Low mileage, it will sell for over KBB dealer price even with private sales.
Each time I sold my SC, buyers came from 350-400 miles including flying into buy my car.
I think I sold my car within 1-2 days and the ad never lasted more than a few days.
The SC has a cult following and personally I would recommend you pay a bit more and
get the right one or you will regret it . I was never planning to sell my SC’s but I had the
feeling I can now move on and each time I regret it after I sold my SC.
My current SC is pearl white and depending on the color, the three stage paint will
never match if the car was repainted.
I just bought a 2006 from 1400 miles away. I figured if the airline ticket cost me $400 RT it was an investment of less than 5% and sales tax was more than that. I talked to the owner for a couple of weeks and we became friends. I felt I knew him even though I had never met him. We both developed a trust in each other so that there was never any doubt that the sale would be completed when I got there so the airfare was only $200. You have to read people. Some are so flakey you wont want to invest in the plane ticket and others are so clean that you dont even buy the RT ticket like I did. My trust in him was absolute and when I got there he even put me up in his spare bedroom for two days while we got several things ironed out. I drove it home without a hitch. He, his wife and his kids are friends now an I plan on visiting him in the future and he will be welcom in my home anytime. I would have stayed longer but he is an airline pilot and got called for a flight so I left the next morning....though I didnt have to....he and his wife would have been happy for me to stay till he got back.
The main thing is to cultivate a friendship so that you will both trust each other. If you cannot do that in the first hour on the phone, then drop the deal and hang up.
Put a deposit on an '07 SC in Matador Mica Red with 45,000 miles on the clock this morning. It's a locally owned vehicle and has been well maintained. LOML and I did a prolonged test drive and everything was fine. It's got a fairly new set of run flats on it. Carfax and Lexus maintenance records are spotless. Car has been sparsely driven in the past 5 years with only 4,000 miles in that time period.
Once the money gets transferred from my investment account to my money management account I'll complete the transaction. I'm told 3-10 business days....
Anyway, once she's in the stable I'll post some photos. Don't want to jinx it by saying too much....
07-25-21, 05:27 AM
Buying strategies
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