Used Cars: 1st car, lexus ls400, toyota lexus

Question
Hi, i'm looking buying a 1993 lexus ls400. It's going to be my first car and it's at a good price right now. Only problem is, it has 273,000 miles on it. Is this too much of a gamble considering the transmission might need to be replaced? I know lexuses are supposed to be reliable and all but do you think I could get a year or two use out of this car if maintained well? Thanks

Answer
Hi Jeff,

Wow only 273K miles? LOL Just kidding. Believe it or not the zero point for that car on miles is probably around 165k-170k (zero point is where there is no add for miles and no deduct either)

You don't live in Illinois do you? If I were going to roll the dice with a high mile car I would do it with a 90's model Honda, Toyota, Lexus or BMW and it would most likely be the Beemer. I have a psychological problem with anything that has over 250k except a semi or a Greyhound Bus.

To answer your question: 1st off if you are paying over 2,000.00 you are paying too much. 2nd- most people who are getting their 1st car are generally doing so because they are younger and just got their license OR they live in big city and didn't need to drive much or didn't have the money to buy and insure a car and also put gas in it. This leads me to another important observation ...the LS400 only came one way (engine wise) back in 1993 and that was with a 4.0l V8...yup a V8! Despite what people think is generally true Lexus's and the larger half of the Toyota lineup gets fairly terrible gas mileage. Even the 1993 Land Cruiser had a 6 cyl engine in it.

So here is my advice: There are lots of cars out there and on this 93 LS400 with 273K the difference in book values between this one and the same car with only 170k on it is only 150 bucks...for 150.00 more I would look for one with 100k less miles on it. Repairing anything on a Lexus is like repairing something on a boat ...its expensive! I did a quick browse thru autotrader.com looking for this car and found a 93 LS400 w/ 89k for only $3500.00  

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=97201&endYear=1

If it were me I would always be a seller of any car I owned with over 200K on it and especially over 250k ... There aren't very many factors that can change that but if I knew the previous owner who had bought it new and I knew that he had every single maintenance done on time lalalalalala then I might consider it. Remember this: There is no crystal ball that comes with any used car. We do our best when we buy them but after that we all take our chances. I try not to gamble when I can't afford to lose ...if I was, then this is one of the cars I might gamble on ...but with as many other lower mile cars out there if you look for them I would NOT buy this car.

For the record my ex wife and son both drive Lexus's so its not the car ...its the age ...the miles ...the V8...the miles ...the age ...the miles...

My personal email is roadloans@gmail.com ...hit me back if you have any follow ups or any other info advice from me... I am with you on this until you are 150% satisfied so you will have no qualms when you get a survey in your email from allexperts asking how I did and you give me ALL 10'S ...MAX PRESTIGE POINTS ETC,.

THANKS!

ROGER
THE CAR GUY