What Would You Do?

[lexusB022]

Hear is my predicament, I am 24 live with my student girlfriend and have a good steady job tho providing for two people can be a bit of a stretch, i have a 2005 is250 that I love! Unfortunately a recent crack to my bumper (£600 job) a rear reflector that needs replacing (£50 job) amongst various scratches and scrapes that need buffing out from over the years (£400 job) all prices from lexus by the way, if I sell my car in mint condition and under 50000 or so miles with both keys it would be worth just over 4 grand, in its current state its worth about 2k, this car could not depreciate any more if it was in bits and on fire so im wondering , because I still need a car, why dont I just buy aftermarket parts and get it fixed up for a fraction of the cost and also give it a bit of a sporty look I cant really get anything for it if I sell it so why not right?

[steve2006]

Welcome to the LOC.

There are companies which will repair plastic bumpers for a fraction of the cost of a new replacement and with the right people you cannot tell it has been done. Rear reflector either pay the £50.00 for a new one or check out local scrapyards and eBay.

For the paint repair just find a good independent bodyshop, with the age and value of the car it's not viable to use a Lexus dealer even for servicing.

I can recommend a very good bodyshop close to me in Derbyshire so PM me if interested.

[is200 Newbie]

Go for the repair - everyone will go for a bargain car if you sell it cheap enough - Having lost my old IS - was written off in local flooding last year - i was offerred next to nothing for it by the insurance company - looking back i should have kept it and not claimed - hind sight is a wonderful thing.

If you look after a car for years then its worth more to you than the actual value of it, you will know its "quirks" and how reliable it is.

Like Steve said above - shop around for the parts and it will get done in time at a fraction of the cost.

[Mouser]

As a rule of thumb, if a car's out of warranty you'd be a fool to have work done at the main dealer - they tend to have a replace rather than repair attitude IME, and charge you through the nose for mundane stuff.

Search for IS250 breaking on eBay, get the parts you need in your colour and have them fitted, and the car serviced by a high quality local trader, then give the car a good clean. You shouldn't have too much trouble selling it on then. Aftermarket parts would see you spending a lot more money, and the car wouldn't be worth as much. £4,000 is a very low estimate based on prices near me for that mileage. Cars one year newer are up for a minimum of £7k, and most are about 8-9.

[normski2]

As a rule of thumb, if a car's out of warranty you'd be a fool to have work done at the main dealer - they tend to have a replace rather than repair attitude IME, and charge you through the nose for mundane stuff.

Search for IS250 breaking on ebay, get the parts you need in your colour and have them fitted, and the car serviced by a high quality local trader, then give the car a good clean. You shouldn't have too much trouble selling it on then. Aftermarket parts would see you spending a lot more money, and the car wouldn't be worth as much. £4,000 is a very low estimate based on prices near me for that mileage. Cars one year newer are up for a minimum of £7k, and most are about 8-9.

I'd agree with that. **** I've seen ads for 54 plate is200's for 4000. Would not cost big bucks to sort independently. Can't believe yours can only be worth 2000.