Hi Scotty. Looking at a 2013 ct200h with 215k miles for my daughter. He wants 8k for it. Private party on Craigslist. Don’t have any service records but he said it’s one owner. Thoughts about the car with this many miles and price point. Would it be more trouble than it’s worth?
thanks so much in advance. Love your channel!!!
I would stay away. Craigslist cars cannot be trusted. Lexus are good cars but without a service history there is no way of knowing if the car was taken care of. That's a huge red flag that something as simple as that isn't available. The hybrid batteries in these cars last anywhere from 80,000 to 200,000 before they fail and or need to be replaced. If it goes it cost a lot to replace. I think it's cost 1,500 just for the battery alone.
Thank you
No problem....
It’s basically a Prius underneath all the luxury stuff. If it met this criteria, I would consider it:
1) It checks out by a mechanic.
2) The going price of that specific car is less than to the market price + new battery of a comparable car. (You may be able to find better deals for ICE cars, although this market is tough, so this hybrid may be a good deal.)
3) It is a legitimate one owner listed car. (I personally don’t trust craigslist. So that alone would negate me from buying the car. But maybe if you found it from a friend of a friend, I would consider something like that.)
I think $8k for a car with such high mileage is too much. Saying they don't have any service records is a red flag especially on Craigslist. If you want to spend $8k then look at Honda or Toyota so you wouldn't pay for the luxury name of Lexus and can get something lower mileage.
If so inclined you could always pay for and run a carfax report and see if it is truly a 1 owner car and if there is any other valuable info on the car, which I have my suspicions that it isn't. I'd pass on this one, there's too much risk.
Carfax reports are about as useless as Consumer Reports. You might as well go and set $30 on fire in your front yard. You can never hold Carfax responsible for anything they tell you. Read the disclaimer.