Lexus ES Puns

Hey guys, I know the argument of this being the first gen es, but this car drives so well, is extremely quiet, has nearly no rust, etc. ONLY thing about this car is a small rip in the seat. All service history records have been kept up with at a Lexus dealership and the thing looks freakin new. This market sucks I talked him down from 10,995 to 10,600 out the door. I know it’s probably high, but I don’t see ANYTHING really wrong with it. I’m hoping you all willl agree I should get it. Market sucks, at least I probably won’t have to do major repairs for a looong time. Also sold my 02 CRV for $3000 and originally paid $5000, so at least I got some money from that! Let me know thoughts?

Listing: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/share/320258054

I just noticed in my area that the used lexus es 350 are, on average, selling below KBB by couple of thousand of dollars.

The new and used ones don't seem to be affected by the supply chain issues or do you guys notice in your area as well?

I'm conflicted with this topic. I'm still making payments on my sonata and it's running well but I could potentially get an older Lexus with incredible reliability and luxury for a cheaper 3 year loan. I'm also open to other Lexus options as long as they're not older than 2002. The main thing is saving a bit of cash cuz my wife and I jus had a kid. I know I'm posting to a biased subreddit but it's all good!

Heya folks,

I'm 28, residing in the capital region of NY, currently have a lovely, reliable '09 Sonata with 104k miles which I recently loaned to my mother since her car broke down. Given the circumstance, I'm thinking of getting another car soon. Working with a $50k budget and would like to buy my first brand new car, something that's very reliable but also fun to drive and a cross between classy and edgy. Plan on keeping it for the next several years - indefinitely. I work remotely and typically drive around town for errands and essential shopping. Occasionally like to go out on weekends and take a few day trips throughout the year.

Originally wanted a Subaru Legacy or WRX but I think a Lexus would suit me perfectly. After hours of online shopping I'm split between the 2022 ES 300H and IS 350, F-Sport editions for both models. Haven't test driven either yet, but based on what I've read so far, here are some personal pros and cons for each.

IS 350 Pros: AWD, more compact size, THE CIRCUIT RED INTERIOR, higher ground clearance, 302 HP, and did I mention the breathtaking CIRCUIT RED INTERIOR??

Cons: 19/26hwy MPG

ES 300H Pros: 43/44 MPG , beautiful looking car, more spacious

Cons: Only 215 HP, no AWD option, ground clearance looks pretty low, slightly bigger than what I need, red interior w/black contrast doesn't look as nice as the E350 red

Still the 300H seems like the most practical option. I'm pretty frugal and I'm salivating over the fuel economy, especially with the cost of fuel lately. I'm typically not a fast driver, but I'm finding myself drawn to the allure of the 350's stronger engine and HP, just hearing that engine rev up on the road sounds exciting. The AWD may also be more helpful during NY winters compared to the 300H's FWD. Though I love all the older used cars I've cycled through, they were all for affordability and practicality reasons, and I don't want to regret not buying a fun ride while still in my 20s.

Appreciate any insights!

Edit: Meant to put IS* 350 in the title

I would assume the NX infotainment (or some version of it) will cascade to other vehicles, but currently the outdated interior is my biggest hesitation for leaning toward a Lexus over an Audi or Genesis. Didn’t know if there was any news/info about this.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePageModel&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=m37&zip=21740#listing=318977464/NONE

I recently acquired a 2003 Lexus ES from a family member and drove it from Indiana to Philly, 138k Miles, near mint interior and nice exterior for a 20 year old car. Literal single owner old man car. I am selling my Porsche to save on insurance while Im saving for a house.

Since I won't get quite the thrill of getting into the Lexus, I thought I should at least add some quality of life upgrades without breaking the bank. I had a decent system in my car back in 2011 that makes me partial to Rockford Fosgate and Pioneer. I wanted a decent SQ build for under $1000.

Here is my Build log thus far:

Rockford P600-4 Main Amp
Rockford t16-s Components for Front Door
Rockford t16 Coax for rear doors.
Combo Set $450 - Marketplace

I purchased the above, New in box, from FB Marketplace for $450 as a set. I was looking at Focal, RF, and JL front speakers but the deal above was too good to pass up.

Pioneer Deh-p500UB $106 Ebay Shipped Used

Main reason was that this was the same head unit I had back in the day. I always trusted pioneer premier and it had 4V Outs. I was really considering getting my grail head unit, the p99rs (or the carrozzeria version which came up cheaper) but I couldn't justify it given the budget build. Maybe some day.

Wiring

This was the biggest shock to me was how much copper has shot up. I wanted OFC but considering I'm not going to be pushing crazy power I decided to go with the KnuKonceptz Kandy Kable 4GA CCA that was on closeout for ~$0.90/ft. It came in and looks fine.

I also went with 100 ft of their 12 GA OFC Speaker Wire as I was convinced that would have more of an effect on the sound overall. I opted for a new battery terminal as well and some eBay crimp connectors.

I also purchased 2 sets of Rockford RFI -6 RCa cables and an RFI-16 for the sub.

KnuKonceptz KCA-N4-ORG 35' $28
Kord Ultra flex 12GA Speaker wire 100' $54
Misc Install Accessories, grommets, terminals, crimp rings etc. ~$25
2x RF RFI-6 RCA Cables $21
Fuse Blocks $25
RF RFI-16 $14

VVME Sub $0

I have an eBay knockoff VVME 12" in a ported box that's been in my basement for a while. I was thinking of using that until upgrading to a JL 12w3 or something similar if I can find a good deal.

Rockford Fosgate Classic T4004 $75 on FB Marketplace

I bought this because it was on marketplace and I scooped it up before I bought my other 4 channel. I was thinking since I

I studied statistics in the 1970s. Regression analysis lets you create a model that predicts something based on its attributes. One of my first post-grad-school jobs was building regression models to predict the price of houses based on location, size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc.

I thought it might be fun to try to find good deals on a Lexus ES 300h using regression analysis. I wrote some code to scrape data from cars.com, ending up with 321 300h's for sale in the US. I used Excel to do the regression. The results are here.

First, the regression model is very good in the sense that it explains nearly all of the variation in prices (first image).

Second, the model looks like what you would expect. Trim level is defined as 0 for Base trim, 1 for Luxury and 2 for Ultra Luxury (there was only one of those). The price goes up $2457 for every year, i.e. a 2017 would be priced $2457 higher than a 2016, other things equal (like trim level and mileage). Price increases $3131 with higher trim level. Price decreases 0.08856 for every mile. Drive your car a mile and it's worth 9 cents less. (Second image)

Third, the regression model identified a bunch of cars that were priced cheaper than the predicted price. The residual is the difference between the actual and predicted value. For the top row in (image 3), the actual price is $27,298 and the predicted price is $33,884. Subtracting the actual from the predicted yields the residual $6,586, implying that the actual price is $6,586 lower than it should be. It's a bargain. The data is sorted by residual price so all of the cars shown in (image 3) are bargains.

I tried to corroborate the model by looking at KBB's estimates. The KBB price is what I found given the 300h's year and mileage (I couldn't figure out how to account for trim level). The KBB estimates are labelled "KBB Price" in the third image. The rightmost "Discount" column is the difference between the asking price and the KBB price. They pretty much correspond to the model's residual values, e.g. for row 2 the residual is $6,346 and the discount is $6575. It's interesting that for the older cars in table, the last 3 rows, the discount is considerably less than the residual, implying that the dealers listing on cars.com do a better job of pricing older vehicles.

I'm not sure how practical this exercise is. It's based on a nationwide search. Maybe it makes sense to fly to Orlando to buy a car that's priced $6

Is this car worth it? Found one for 7800 with 98,000 miles on it. I read there are some transmissions issues with this car, but thoughts? Is it better than an 07 camry?

Hey! Is it possible for me to replace the headlights with a triple beam? Will this cause all the functions to mess up?

Hey all👋,

So Im in the process of buying a car with $40k in budget. Found a nice and clean loaded Mercedes E300 2018. But looked at the lexus ES 250 (lowest trim) and it looked nice as well.

Considering the luxurious of Mercedes, but it’s used and maintance would be costly plus it’s an older look. On the other hand, lexus is reliable and efficient, latest model and look, but basic trim

let me know what’s your thoughts

Note: Prices are a little high, but Carmax is offering a crazy amount for my trade plus I won’t owe taxes bc my trade is worth more than both vehicles

2020 Camry XSE - $33,998 -18k miles

• 1 minor accident listed as right side impact with another vehicle, no airbags deployed
• Driver Assistance Pkg (360 cam, Rear cross traffic, ventilated seats)
• Navigation pkg
• Panoramic Sunroof

2018 Lexus ES 350 - $32,998

• 24k miles
• No reported accidents
• Blind spot/ rear cross traffic package
• Parking Assist package
• Premier Package
• Wood/leather steering wheel package
• Trunk May & cargo net package

About me:

• 2 kids - 1 RF and 1 HBB
• WFH and mostly drive in town for drop off, pick up and errands
• Top priorities are reliability and resale value
• Open to other suggestions (Accord market here is not good) including value options that I could buy outside of Carmax that would be worth having to pay taxes on - not that many of those exist right now.

Hi,

I am looking at purchasing a 2007 Lexus ES 350 tomorrow for about $8.5-9000. It has 142,000 miles and according to auto check the previous, single, owner took it in to get serviced every 5,000 miles at the same dealership. I am going to have the car go through a pre purchase inspection before I buy it, however I wanted to hear any and all bad things about this model year.

I’ve only seen very vague comments about this year being the worst for the ES 350, but not too much detail. Any insight is appreciated.

TLDR: Tell me everything that is bad about the 2007 Lexus ES 350. Why shouldn’t I buy this car.

Thanks in advance!

Hello. Yesterday I went to a dealership just to get a car appraisal. However, one of the mistakes I made was referencing only what Carvana would pay for my car, instead of using other sources such as Edmunds and Kelly Blue Books.

The offer they gave me was very low. I saw on KBB and Edmunds that my Camry 2021 LE with only 11k miles in excellent condition would go for $23k-$29k. They offered only $21k.

Like all dealerships, they usually will try to not let you leave if you show interest in the vehicle. And they kept trying to focus on the monthly payment and asked me what my monthly payment I am aiming for, but I knew not to fall for that.

They also tried to convince me to avoid Carvana because they don't inspect, or check their vehicles. The sales guy even brought his manager to come talk to me, to try and sell me the car which was listed for $45k. They added a bunch of bullshit accessories (which dealerships don't?), and after all the required fees, taxes, would put me at $52k.

I knew going in, my main focus was to get the appraisal and I made it clear I was not intending on making a sale today. However the total time I spent at the dealership was roughly 45 mins to an hour. The sales guy even showed me a pre-owned vehicle which was a 3 year older version of the car I wanted.

In the end, after the manager spoke with me, I went home. However, after looking online, I realized I was going to get a bad deal if I agreed to trading in my car for $21k.

Carvana - $24,886

Edmunds - $23,027

KBB - $28,137

Looking at CarGurus graph, the value of Toyota has gone up a lot this year. Even used cars on Carvana sell for a lot right now. I remember back in March, Honda Accord Sports and Toyota Camry LEs went all the way up to about $35k.

What should I do now? I do want to trade in my car for the Lexus, however, it is not something I am going to do if it means getting a bad deal. There are only a few other Lexus Dealers here and I'm considering just going to those dealers and trying to start over. I know this is part of the process and buying cars require lots of patience. Should I bother calling the dealership I went to and try to reason with them by showing them the stats I found about my car?

Found this ES300 for 8,000$ is it worth it?

Hi,

I am contemplating purchasing a clean title 2007 Lexus ES 350 with 160,000 miles on it for $8000. I am from MA and the car is being sold by a dealership in NH. The car literally looks brand new, aside from non-OEM rims. I will be purchasing an Autocheck Report when the seller sends me the VIN tomorrow, but I just wanted to get some general advice and guidance about this car. Do you think this is a good buy? What should I check for when I go and inspect the vehicle in person?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I found a pre-owned 2019 ES 350 & New 2022 Lexus ES 350 Premium at a local Lexus dealership.

Lexus ES 350 2019 has Navigation and Sun Roof

Lexus ES 350 2022 has premium features but no navigation.

Thoughts?

Hi,

I am looking at purchasing a 2007 Lexus ES 350 tomorrow for about $8.5-9000. It has 142,000 miles and according to auto check the previous, single, owner took it in to get serviced every 5,000 miles at the same dealership. I am going to have the car go through a pre purchase inspection before I buy it, however I wanted to hear any and all bad things about this model year.

I’ve only seen very vague comments about this year being the worst for the ES 350, but not too much detail. Any insight is appreciated.

TLDR: Tell me everything that is bad about the 2007 Lexus ES 350. Why shouldn’t I buy this car.

Thanks in advance!