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Lexus LS 400/LS 430 Prices Paid and Buying Experience
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Comments
This particular discussion is generally frequented by those who are seeking vehicle pricing & dealership recommendations. You'll get a better response to your mileage question by posting in our regular Lexus LS discussion, where those who currently own the vehicle can share their experiences.
kirstie_h
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The M is certainly sportier than the LS, but that would have been a plus from my viewpoint.
Thanks.
Thanks.
I hope potential buyers know that by just paying an extra hundred a month they'll knock off 12 months from the term, get into a modern lux with smart key AND you'd only have to fork over around $1500 to start the deal. They can KEEP the "Free" gas!!!
kirstie_h
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Of course, the dealers themselves are using the traffic brought in by the promotion to try to beef up sales, and they likely have sales goals for the month and the year that they are trying to meet, so that may help the deal. But a lot of people have found the end of every month a good time to press for a better-than-average deal. It certainly worked for me.
Thanks
Since our area dealer is the only one for 200 miles around and sells a car that is very popular in our area, they pretty much write their own ticket. I did not get the great price discount I see others post here, and had to really dig my heels in to get the price I paid by promising to 'walk' since I was willing to buy a used Lexus from a local reputable used-car dealer. The price I paid was the TMV shown here on the Edmunds site for our zip code. I cross-checked it with other dealers in zip codes 200 mi. from here and I would not have gotten a better deal. Therefore, I will always buy locally if the price is the same or close, and the seller has a good reputation.
If you can find a dealer who will accept full payment on a credit card, go for it. Any merchant/vendor is allowed to upcharge you for the discount, I believe, as long as this is disclosed before you agree on a price or pay for the product.
Usually before any price negotiating I start on a car, I tell them up front how I plan to pay for it. I don't pull punches and have always been treated fairly. If you negotiate a price and then whip out a credit card without asking their policy, you may be out of luck. . . or a new car.
Finding any retailer who will accept a CC for a large ticket item anymore like a car or boat is getting hard in this economy. Many universities & colleges now refuse CCs for payment of tuition because they cannot afford to lose at the bank with the discount.
I was allowed to put $5,000 of my purchase cost on my American Express Card at my Lexus dealership in Southern California. Surprisingly, they were quite happy to do it.
Thanks "
Usually dealers will only charge up to a few grand on credit cards towards the purchase of a car. Charging a $50K car on a credit card would cost the dealer a additional $1K to about $2K in credit card fees. That ends up killing alot of the profit they make on a car.
kirstie_h
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Texas is not the hot bed of low prices...Try California...(Longo Lexus in So. Cal) or the Mid west...
The mrs and I flew from Seattle to buy in So. Cal....the savings was about $4,000 which more then paid for the trip which included spring training in Arizonia and Brice Canyon in Utah....Sort of like buying the car and getting a free vacation..
The Lexus people were great..Picked me up at the Airport, LAX and Ontario are the two best choices....I took delivery hung around for a few days visiting friends ...Which worked out because I took the car back to get a couple of the pre-set functions changed...(The Lock and unlock of the Doors, that kind of stuff)
No problem at all with my local dealers...although the car really hasn't needed any serious service...(The 15 and 30,000 mi. checkups and replacement of the radar cruse that a rock hit)
Suggestion: ULs are very rare and Very difficult to find...Especially a nice Low Millage one...and double especially if you are stuck on a specific color... I Used, Cars.com and Auto Trader and called dealers off the Lexis Elite Dealers list. I would recommend against limiting yourself to just the local Dealer.
You will be helped greatly if you search the whole US or at least a substantual region...the problem is I think it would be a little hairy buying from a private party, If you need to fly somewhere to get the car So you will not get the super price from a dealer you can get from a Private Party...On the Plus side a nice 02 will be Certified (like a 3 yr new car warrenty with road side service and the whole deal) when you get it from a Dealer.
I thought Prices were Pretty good in the Maryland area and the states surrounding it..the mid-west had some of the better prices I saw...Lots of low milage cars in Florida..
I own a UL and am really happy That is what I bought, even though it has equipment I do not use...(all the rear seat stuff, Very nice to show to friends and relatives) ...It also has my two favorite features ...Laser Cruse and GPS...(be sure to upgrade the GPS to the 03 version, cost about $275 it has more then 5 times the data that the 01, 02 version has )
Finally these cars are so sound michanically it will be tough to find a bad one..The biggest worry would be one that it was in an Accident. Edmonds has a site (I forget what it is called) that can check any car for problems and Accidents (you need the vin #) As I recall it costs about $25 Bucks and well worth it for the piece of mind ...mandatory if you get the car from a private party...or non Lexis dealer
Good Luck.
kirstie_h
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The salesman was very cooperative and after a test drive (just my wife and myself-didn't even have to ask for this), we decided to seriously consider the LS. It is an Ultra w/radar cruise and just about everything else. MSRP is 74650 and he immediately offered 2500 over invoice. We sat down in his office and he said to wait and see if he could do even better after talking to his boss. I countered with 2000 over invoice and he came back with, get this, invoice price.
My wife and I have a policy of never accepting an offer, no matter how ridiculously good it seems, without sleeping on it. But $63945 for an MSRP of $74650 equals 14.34% off. There were seven or eight Ultras on the lot, so maybe that's why the deal was so good. But we stuck to our guns and told the nice gentleman we would decide the next day. He did not go into histrionics and claim that this was a "take it now or never" deal. He was clearly disappointed but I figure if the deal is good today, it will be good tomorrow.
Most likely, I will be buying the car tomorrow. I know it seems weird to go from a Cayenne to an LS, especially since I am 37 and my wife 31. But I know I will be getting a great and reliable car with impeccable service from everyone there. Now I just need to clear out the clutter in my garage to squeeze in another car..
By the way, the dealer is Magnussen Lexus in Fremont, CA. Easily my best experience of any car dealer so far. Hope this helps.
Just drove it home and it felt wonderful. Dealer was pretty good with financing at 5.5% for 60 months. Hope to enjoy this car until the new car bug bites me again.
I'd appreciate your buying and ownership experience of a CPO LS430. In particular, how to negotiate a good deal? Say if a 2001 CPO LS430 is listed at $38k, what would be a good target price?
Thank you for sharing your valuable experience. If this is discussed somewhere else, please let me know.
YTX
Your best bet is to use the edmunds.com website, pricing for used vehicles. I have found it to be accurate for every car we have purchased. You have to enter your zip code so the program knows what cars sell for in your area, as well as the mileage of the car you are looking at.
I think a Pre-Owned LS is a good bet. My only worry is the reliability of the electronics such as the Navigation screen which I believe is not covered in the Certified Warranty. Otherwise I can't think of anything you should have an issue with. $38K for a 2001 sounds somewhat high to me. My dealer offered me $37K for a 2002 Nav/ML with 25,900 Miles on it when I traded it. They listed it for $44.9K and probably sold it for around $40K. I'd shop around some more. The '02 has larger wheels 17" and I'm sure a newer Nav disk, but this can be updated too.
Hope this helps,
SV
I understand that the actual condition of the car determines the price. Just want to get some suggestions before I start to negotiate with the sales person.
Thanks.
I'm very impress w/ Lexus quality and started looking for one couple of weeks ago. Doing research here and there, testing, autotrader, google, etc. Looking to pay around 15K I found ES300 and they are pretty good deals. Now, my boss is selling his LS 400/96/54K. He doesn't know yet about the price, but it will be probably around 10K or so. Question here is if an almost 10 years old car like this will be giving me a lot of trouble with maintenance. I know Lexus has a very good reputation in reliability and that this car only has 54K on it, but still, it's 10 years old and I think rubbers, joints...etc, start to crack and to ask for changes. I imagine at this point I cannot buy a warranty or something, therefore, I'll be by my own on paying anything it might need. It's in very good shape, only minor things like the stereo system console is getting crazy sometimes and doesn't show correctly FM stations, and a little hit on the rear bumper when my boss's mom was pulling it out the garage. Other than that, I think it is good and it has been under good maintenance schedules.
Any help, insights and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Currently we have a RAV4 2005, which is basically our family car, or should I say, my wife's car. Now things are getting tight, and I need another car to commute and do errands.
Thanks to all, and have a great day,
K.
kirstie_h
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