I have the opportunity to buy a 1997 Lexus ES300 with 30,000 miles on it.
Would anyone care to comment about how this car holds up over the long term?
Is there anything I need to be especially careful about having checked by a mechanic?
Does it have any known problems?
Is the cost of repair and maintenance reasonable or am I better off sticking with a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord?
Does it have a fold down rear seat?
Thanks in advance for any insight you can prvide.
JJ
The '97 ES300 is the mechanical equivalent of the '97 Toyota Camry with an ever-so-slightly higher trim line. 30k miles seems awfully low for a 6 going on 7-year old car. Almost too low, suggesting that the car has either sat most of its life (good) or has only been used for very short trips (bad). Still there's no reason to expect more or less trouble than usual. The 97 ES300 and LS400 are both extremely reliable cars. PROPERLY MAINTAINED there's no reason not to expect 150-200k miles out of them.
If you have it "checked out" you might consider having the Lexus dealership do it. They likely have the service history of the car on their computer. Unless they find something wrong, this should be a very reliable car with a long service life.
Fold-down rear seat? No.
An extremely reliable car. I had a 1997. Son had a 2000 and now has the 2003.
I checked consumer reports online (only available to subscribers) and it is one of their recommended used cars. Almost every item they rate it on is Much better than average or better than average.
The answer is a combination of both. It was a car driven on Sundays only for a while and currently is being driven around town. It's a friend's Dad's car so I know it has been reasonably well cared for.
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