I love Income Tax Return season!

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People lose their minds with a little change in their pockets! This 2003 Lexus ES300 was brought in for a check engine light/won't pass emissions & a oil change, Found P0420 & P0430 catalyst efficiency DTC's.
Estimate came out to @$1600 for the 2 monitored catalyst's using OE parts (We will not warranty aftermarket catalyst's on Toyota products)

The customer quickly declined that estimate!!, And stated he was selling the car & wouldn't invest more than a couple hundred in it as he already bought a new car with his tax return.....I can't believe he told me that, It's none of my business & not relevant to the conversation.
Advised him that even the cheapest repair would top $800 & there's nothing I could do to make it less. His rebuttal was....."Do you want to buy it?.....Your're a mechanic" Told him I'll call back shortly with a offer.

Looked at the repair history on our version of "point of sale", Car has been serviced religiously at our location for the last 12 years. And I had already inspected the car pretty well before writing the catalyst replacement estimate.....It will need Tires pretty soon, Along with it's second Timing Belt & Spark Plugs in @25,000 miles according to the service history.

Not needing another car at the moment & trying to finish up the Avalon build.....I didn't really want another project on my plate! So, I called him back & offered $1500 thinking he would flip-out on that low-ball for sure!!!......"Man, I really need $1800 for my car payment & insurance next month"
I really wanted to stand firm at $1500, But this car is too clean & loaded to pass-up! Part of the deal is.....He has to accompany me downtown & "gift" me the car to redeem his $300 I didn't want to pay! I'll just title it for now & worry about registration at a later date.

Has a little rash on the fascia's, Paint/Body is in really good shape otherwise. Mark Levinson audio & Nav, Rear sunshade etc. Dirty....But it will clean up!

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Forgot to mention.....Has 176,000 miles. And the Service Writer taking the day off is the only reason I was talking to the customer......
 
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Toyota/Lexus is the only thing worth considering with that many miles. Oh, wait! Gotta include the obligatory Crown Vic too. What are your plans for it? Re-sell for profit?
 
That's a good deal.

Originally Posted by clinebarger
Advised him that even the cheapest repair would top $800 & there's nothing I could do to make it less.


Yeah, but you'll be able to do it for your cost a little cheaper.

You should stand to make a little change on it.
 
Originally Posted by HM12460
Toyota/Lexus is the only thing worth considering with that many miles. Oh, wait! Gotta include the obligatory Crown Vic too. What are your plans for it? Re-sell for profit?


I'm not scared of high mileage vehicles, My 2500HD has over 400,000 miles & it's my daily driver! The interior is getting pretty bad though from year over year of Tools/Kids/Dogs. This car will probably become my daily & the truck will be regulated to truck only duties.

I used to Buy/Fix/Flip cars all the time & had a Dealers Licence, Lost interest after 2009 for many various reasons.
 
Cat's more expensive than on BMW X5. You cannot make these things up.
If someone said: $1,600 for cats on BMW, everyone would say: of course, it is BMW.
 
Paid Hertz an additional $500 last spring because I had to drop the hammer on a replacement for a wrecked Encore. Everyone was out there with their refund checks bidding up the market. I've kicked myself for giving the Feds a tax free loan on the few occasions I've mistakenly gotten a refund but those that don't know depend on it.
 
Wow, that's a nice car! Rust free Lexus with under 200K miles.

Clean it up some, new headlights and junkyard bumpers and you can make a few bucks on it this time next year.

I don't like tax return season because all of the cheap junk stuff I usually buy doubles in price until April
 
nice score !!! My brother was hunting for a deal on LS400 in DFW area also, But ended up with a '05 escalade instead go figure lol

Gotta say I LOVEEEEEEEEEEE the dallas used car market, Some CRAZY good deals out there !!!

Few weeks ago, I scored a LOADED CLEAN '01 Suburban LT, Leather, Sunroof, DVD system that was throwing a bad camshaft sensor code in Arlington for only $1400 cause the guy thought the camshaft sensor labor was gonna be $$$$$ and he already bought his wife a new equinox and needed $$$$ to recoup from that purchase lol



Dave
 
Originally Posted by edyvw
Cat's more expensive than on BMW X5. You cannot make these things up.
If someone said: $1,600 for cats on BMW, everyone would say: of course, it is BMW.

In fairness, that is TWO cats, from a dealer.
 
Originally Posted by Miller88
Wow, that's a nice car! Rust free Lexus with under 200K miles.

Clean it up some, new headlights and junkyard bumpers and you can make a few bucks on it this time next year.

I don't like tax return season because all of the cheap junk stuff I usually buy doubles in price until April


The headlights will get wet sanded & buffed/cut with some compound, The Fascia's will stay the way they are!
I've gotten to the point......Having superficial flaws in a daily drivers is just fine with me! I like the car so I'm keeping it!.
 
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by edyvw
Cat's more expensive than on BMW X5. You cannot make these things up.
If someone said: $1,600 for cats on BMW, everyone would say: of course, it is BMW.

In fairness, that is TWO cats, from a dealer.

In fairness, I am talking about dealer prices. BMW's have two cats too. Actually, two years ago I paid SCR cat (although one), that has DEF mixer, and is far, far more complex than cat on Lexus, $1250 at dealer, with warranty. For gas models, is far, far cheaper.
But Lexus, I mean....
 
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Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by edyvw
Cat's more expensive than on BMW X5. You cannot make these things up.
If someone said: $1,600 for cats on BMW, everyone would say: of course, it is BMW.

In fairness, that is TWO cats, from a dealer.

In fairness, I am talking about dealer prices. BMW's have two cats too. Actually, two years ago I paid SCR cat (although one), that has DEF mixer, and is far, far more complex than cat on Lexus, $1250 at dealer, with warranty. For gas models, is far, far cheaper.
But Lexus, I mean....


The exhaust manifolds & catalyst's are one piece, So they are naturally higher than a converter by itself......Not that I'm defending Toyota/Lexus OE part pricing as it feels like extortion at times!

Probably a good amount of parts on your BMW that cost a lot more money compared to a Lexus, Did you pay for the SCR out of pocket.....Or did warranty cover it? Your post is a little confusing.

I'm not a European marque hater.....
 
Originally Posted by clinebarger
Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by edyvw
Cat's more expensive than on BMW X5. You cannot make these things up.
If someone said: $1,600 for cats on BMW, everyone would say: of course, it is BMW.

In fairness, that is TWO cats, from a dealer.

In fairness, I am talking about dealer prices. BMW's have two cats too. Actually, two years ago I paid SCR cat (although one), that has DEF mixer, and is far, far more complex than cat on Lexus, $1250 at dealer, with warranty. For gas models, is far, far cheaper.
But Lexus, I mean....


The exhaust manifolds & catalyst's are one piece, So they are naturally higher than a converter by itself......Not that I'm defending Toyota/Lexus OE part pricing as it feels like extortion at times!

Probably a good amount of parts on your BMW that cost a lot more money compared to a Lexus, Did you pay for the SCR out of pocket.....Or did warranty cover it? Your post is a little confusing.

I'm not a European marque hater.....

Actually it was out of warranty, but dealership did everything possible to rule out SCR cat failure. What BMW does is they have PUMA process where they hook up engineers from Germany to car and run tests. So they tested new NOx sensors (pre and post cat, this is diesel, with first generation SCR system, which is troublesome in all manufacturers), DEF injectors etc. but could not rule out CAT failure. They charged only CAT and labor, $1,250 out of the door.
CAT and manifold together? Geez, I have to check that nonsense on my 2GR-FE on SIenna.
I just posted this to another forum, so far regular maintenance (brakes, that on BMW actually, well, brake), filters etc . are pretty much same price on SIenna and X5.
I also own Toyota Land Cruiser diesel in Europe, and that is barrel without bottom.
 
Super nice buy! That interior looks awesome. With the CCs fixed enough to keep the MIL off, that would be a $5K vehicle in my area easily.
 
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