Sister wants this Lexus...thoughts appreciated

Hey everybody, my sister is looking to buy a new car and I am trying to help her out as much as I can. Really trying to find her a nice FJ with low-ish miles, but it has been a struggle. Anyways she found this...

http://www.prestmanauto.com/used/Le...ake-City-b41d98f90a0a006530c7fc1c642634f8.htm

So I have a couple questions for anyone willing to offer up advice:

How is Lexus for reliability? I know it is Toyota owned, so I have pretty high expectations, especially for their cost. Has anybody owned this particular model or something similar? Never really talked to anybody who owned a Lexus so looking here for experiences. Also, she will be in southeast Idaho where there will be nasty winter roads, but I'm thinking the AWD will be good enough for that. Is there anything specific to look for if we decide to go take a look, it's about a 3 hour drive so it has to be worth it to go check it out. Any thoughts in general would be most appreciated. Thanks!

 

branded title is bad news. means it was in some sort of crash and insurance sold it off and some one fixed it thats why the low price. Lexus isnt too bad but its expensive to buy and usually means expensive to fix. every car will have problems eventually. I think you are on a good path hunting for an FJ.

 

branded title could also mean it was reported stolen at some point. regardless, it hurts the resale and can make it difficult to insure. the is's are great cars and ride nice, just not this one

 

Pic's of the sister is needed before we can confirm/deny the Lexus for you.

 

geez, I didn't even see that! Thanks for the heads up everyone. I still want her to get an FJ anyways, they are damn expensive though. No pics of the sister, lol

 

boys are dumb

 

BAN

 

Good thing there's men here.

 

mhmmm

 

dealer has for the most part all BRANDED titles, I think that's his speciality.

 

I would call them and ask what the title is branded as. As other people said, it could have been salvaged or been in a flood/fire, reported stolen, etc; those ones I would stay away from. It could be as simple as it was once a transportation vehicle (unlikely due to type or car), or it was a warranty buy back at some point in time too. For me, it would solely lie in why the title was branded. Lemon law and such can affect title, but it give the dealer ample time to fix the problem before reselling.

Also like others have said, insurance could be an issue. But find out title issues first, then call insurance if still interested to see if they will accept it.

 

Dealer plate says "I practically stole it from prestman auto" I see what you did there..

 

And it just depends on what damage was done to the car to get the branded title. I got a nice BMW back in the day with a salvage title because it was stolen and someone was shot and killed in it. Threw in a new seat and some carpet, paid $5,500 for a BMW that KBB'd at 20k. Not one person would buy it due to some brain matter in the carpet. Turned around and sold it for 15k.

 

I dunno...
I've been here for almost 2 years now, and I haven't seen many yet. Lots of Manchildren, though.

 

agreed

 

I guess these clear title Lexus cars are better some how? OP, if you need some solid pointers about what to look for if you decide to see that car, let me know. I have a good amount of experience. There's shit cars with "clear" titles too, like the cars pictured, so you gotta look out for yourself either way. PM me if you need help.

PS: I've never had ANY problems stemming from the repaired damage on any salvage/branded/rebuilt title car I or any one in my family has owned.

 

I would stay away from it!Lexus's are top notch though!Used to work for a Lexus dealership and was in a management position so i had the perks of driving a company car for free and drove a RX and IS.

 

So when dealing with "branded" title cars it's fairly easy to find the history of the car now-a-days without even doing a car fax. Just copy and paste the VIN in to google. Almost all salvage vehicles are bought and sold thru the internet. A simple google of the VIN on the car for sale can find some nice pics of said car, before it was patched back together.

Exhibit A: http://www.selenaauto.com/index.php?pid=203&carId=172545&vin=JTHCK262792032097

 

Exhibit A is all this jury needs to know that I would not want that car in my driveway. That is a substantial amount of damage to have been repaired. It could be solidly put back together, but every time I heard an weird noise or if the car acted a little strange, that picture would pop up in my head.