This Looks Good But What Is It Worth?

[jpjsavage]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/lexus-ls400-only-47850-miles/1074979491

1 owner, 47k miles, full history, but what's it worth?

[Malc]

A 15 year old car, well, possibly £2500 !!

Auction price ............. maybe a bit less........ £1500

Malc

[Lexmanic]

Looks great & good history I would expect I to sell at a premium, but I see he's open to offers. I would suggest making a sensible 1st offer of say £2,750 to £3,250 & see what happens. However I would certainly be prepared to pay just under his asking price or evne his full asking price for a ONE owner, low mileage, well maintained LS400

[Lexmanic]

A 15 year old car, well, possibly £2500 !!

Auction price ............. maybe a bit less........ £1500

Malc

I don't expect you'll find a one owner, low mileage FSH being auctioned

[Rooster]

Very nice looking car. Satnav and heated seats too. As suggested, make a reasonable offer and see what eventuates.

[goldtop]

Best LS400 Mk4 to come along for a while (at least during the time that I've been looking). Most expensive, too (moreso than the 57000m one in lford, which does need a cambelt).

I've already paid a deposit on a Mk4 (which I should pick up soon). If I hadn't and if this one really does have the FLSH which the old chap kept going properly for 15 years, I'd be all over this one trying to buy it for £3000.

Of course, not everyone likes green (it looks like dark gree on my screen!)

Good luck. :)

[GEN]

Looks great and I would be tempted also. The only question mark for me is that the seller is selling his father's car (the LS400) as well as his daughter's car... It certainly could happen but it just has me wondering...

[jpjsavage]

Best LS400 Mk4 to come along for a while (at least during the time that I've been looking). Most expensive, too (moreso than the 57000m one in lford, which does need a cambelt).

I've already paid a deposit on a Mk4 (which I should pick up soon). If I hadn't and if this one really does have the FLSH which the old chap kept going properly for 15 years, I'd be all over this one trying to buy it for £3000.

Of course, not everyone likes green (it looks like dark gree on my screen!)

Good luck. :)

Yep, green isn't my first choice of colour but I guess I could learn to live with it. I've dropped him an email with a list of questions and will give him a ring shortly too.

[jpjsavage]

Looks great and I would be tempted also. The only question mark for me is that the seller is selling his father's car (the LS400) as well as his daughter's car... It certainly could happen but it just has me wondering...

I wasn't too bothered by that. It does seem that there is enough in both ads to make them genuine?

[ambermarine]

Hi Jonathon

I paid for my 19k miler two years ago 3750 the private owner had it on eBay with a reserve of 4500 but I got him to take it off on a deal to buy for cash.

You don't have that luxury but do have a couple of bargaining points ,the paint job will cost 500 to be done professionally, the hubcaps are not matching ,this is probably because the wheels have been refurbed with paint from the original brushed steel finish.There will be other bits and peices that may need attention like the washer bottle float etc.

I have been more than satisfied with my mint purchase and have taken the mileage up to 26k, seems ridiculous but age does'nt age these cars and good examples are rare so grab the oppurtunity as you will find it a decision you won't regret.

[GEN]

It just struck me as odd but the LS400 has LFSH so well worth looking at. I personally wouldn't pay more than 2500. In a sense what is special about this car (without having seen it) is the low mileage and that is a two edged sword. Of course its real money value will be what the buyer is willing to pay for it. Certainly if I was looking to buy I would look at this car.

[GEN]

Ambermarine I'd be really grateful to know how you solved your washer bottle float problem. Mine had seemingly resolved itself but had just reappeared. Sorry to go off topic.

[ambermarine]

Gen

The float over time gets saturated and therefore lies the problem it does'nt float.it is made from some type of aereated plastic Take out the float mechanism from the bottle .It is located at the bottom of the bottle acsessed from under the drivers side engine cover side section just remove the screws in that vicinity and lever gently down and wedge it so you can get to the float mechanism .This held in place with a rubber grommet, disconnect the wires ,then push and pull it out ,it will be stiff so persevere.

Place the float mechanism in the airing cupboard for a week to dry it out.test it out in a basin of water and check the float works.dry it out for a day so you are sure it is perfectly dry.

Get a tin of lacquer and brush it on to the float surface making sure you cover all the float surface, not the mechanism body.

When you re-insert the float body into the tank put the grommet onto the float mechanism body first and insert edges to hole in tank otherwise you will never get it back in.

Quick and easy a new float mechanism will cost £50 from Lexus.

[jpjsavage]

Gen

The float over time gets saturated and therefore lies the problem it does'nt float.it is made from some type of aereated plastic Take out the float mechanism from the bottle .It is located at the bottom of the bottle acsessed from under the drivers side engine cover side section just remove the screws in that vicinity and lever gently down and wedge it so you can get to the float mechanism .This held in place with a rubber grommet, disconnect the wires ,then push and pull it out ,it will be stiff so persevere.

Place the float mechanism in the airing cupboard for a week to dry it out.test it out in a basin of water and check the float works.dry it out for a day so you are sure it is perfectly dry.

Get a tin of lacquer and brush it on to the float surface making sure you cover all the float surface, not the mechanism body.

When you re-insert the float body into the tank put the grommet onto the float body first and insert edges to hole in tank otherwise you will never get it back in.

Quick and easy a new float mechanism will cost £50 from Lexus.

Great fix. I did that on my previous LS400 and it worked a treat.

[BarneyTT]

Looks and sounds like a great car but I would check with Lexus that the correct services have been carried out as it's easy just to get stamps in the book for oil changes alone, if it has documentation/bills to back it up even better.

Depends how much you want it and if you are willing to pay a premium for the car, I paid top money for my Sportcross because it was low mileage and it had a checkable history but I still had a few expensive niggles, but at the end of the day I'm really pleased I paid the extra and got the car I wanted.

To be fair, how many LS400's are out there for sale with that sort of mileage.

Good luck in whatever you choose Jonathan.

[jpjsavage]

Just phoned the guy. Really good conversation but, sadly, there is someone on the way from Cornwall (by train) to look at it this morning. He seemed very sure that it would be sold to him before I got the chance to look at it.

[BarneyTT]

Oh, not good news especially after the conversation went so well, sounds like the other chap is serious as well. Keep us posted and fingers crossed.

[ambermarine]

Jonathan

Sorry to hear that,as I have already stated if anyone is looking for a good example of the Mark4 they have to act very quickly. This car is becoming a must have outside of the usual Lexus community as its reputation for what we all know spreads into the wider world.Any example with low mileage is going to warrant a premium price and normal price guides go out of the window. So if anyone thinks they can get them at knock down prices based on year they will fail as there are people prepared to pay a premium.My car was best book price £2000 for 14 year normal mileage I paid £3750 but the car had 19k on it with an owner who put 9k on it over 13 years.Underneath was factory finish and the paint was as new,it was £50k new and it was still new and thats the point I am trying to get over.The quality lasts a very long time and the previous owner does'nt take it away with him when he sells it.I remember people complementing me regarding the condition of one of my previous yachts,my response was I am just the custodion of this wonderful boat keeping it nice for its next owner.Its a bit like that with the Lexus Ls400.

[Bluesman]

Jonathan

Sorry to hear that,as I have already stated if anyone is looking for a good example of the Mark4 they have to act very quickly. This car is becoming a must have outside of the usual Lexus community as its reputation for what we all know spreads into the wider world.Any example with low mileage is going to warrant a premium price and normal price guides go out of the window. So if anyone thinks they can get them at knock down prices based on year they will fail as there are people prepared to pay a premium.My car was best book price £2000 for 14 year normal mileage I paid £3750 but the car had 19k on it with an owner who put 9k on it over 13 years.Underneath was factory finish and the paint was as new,it was £50k new and it was still new and thats the point I am trying to get over.The quality lasts a very long time and the previous owner does'nt take it away with him when he sells it.I remember people complementing me regarding the condition of one of my previous yachts,my response was I am just the custodion of this wonderful boat keeping it nice for its next owner.Its a bit like that with the Lexus Ls400.

You will always pay extra for low mileage cars. I would and not worry about it. To get a car like yours with only 19K on the clock apart from time itself its a brand new car which when new cost around 50K.

Any brand of car when put up for sale with such low mileage will always attract a lot of interest and with that many people who are prepared to pay over the odds, in some cases the manufacturer have been known to buy in very low mileage cars for prosperity and pay a handsome premium to acquire it. Mike

[ambermarine]

Yes Bluesman, agreed although I doubt Lexus will be calling me anytime soon.

[Malc]

And sadly the insurers will take very little notice of the mileage with such an age car when it comes to prang / write-off time !!

Personal bitter and battling experience, but hey, it enabled me to get the one I have now ok.

Malc

[jpjsavage]

Agree about having to move quickly. I saw the ad yesterday for the first time (late evening) and rang around 8.30am this morning. I could have viewed the car today and paid up but that was too slow! Shame, as it did look nice. Still, I'm not in a rush and something will come along.

[Scribe]

I drove more than two hundred miles to look at mine (plus another one) on the day that it was listed on eBay, and wondered at the time if I was mad. Fortunately it was worth the effort, and I didn't bother looking at the second one, which would have involved a detour on the way home. There are even fewer around now than there were then, and so what seems like very high prices for low-mileage examples. But there are no market values, as such, for cars this old.

When average-mileage examples go for £1500 or less, £3-4000 seems a lot, particularly as high mileage doesn't seem to affect them much. But ones like this don't come along often. Unfortunately Malc's right, because to the insurers it will be just another old car that they'd write off after even a small bump. That's something that all 400 owners face...

[goldtop]

"He who hesitates is lost, Rodney!" ;)

I'm reminded of the time a ridiculously cheap vintage guitar amplifier was advertised in the days of the Loot free classifieds. The advert said "only call after 9am". Muggins here respectfully did as instructed. To find at one minute past nine that it was already sold ... to someone who called at 8am.

[Scribe]

If nothing else, it shows that we won't have trouble selling our cars (not that we want to, probably).