I am looking to buy a 2005 Lexus ES 330 with 124,000 miles. I have made VIN checks on NICB, NHTSA, Poctra, and run vehicle history reports on this particular vehicle, but nothing suspicious has turned up. I would like to know if anyone had major problems with the 2005 Lexus 330?
Appreciate any feedback!
It's basically a luxury version of the V6 Camry. Not a lot of inherent faults reported, but it is 19 years old so age-related problems are to be expected.
Of course buying a car that old and expecting a lot more reliable life out of it is a gamble to say the least.
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Lexus/ES_330/2005
I can't afford a newer car, so I'm stuck with buying an older car. But I noticed for a 19 year old car, the mileage is not too high - 124,000. What kind of tests should I definitely have the mechanic do on the pre-purchase inspection? I appreciate your advice!
I can't afford a newer car, so I'm stuck with buying an older car.
Just setting expectations. It might run another 10 years, or it might crater after another year or two. It will almost certainly need repairs along the way. I've been playing that game for a long time. Sometimes you can be surprised. In 2011 I bought an old high-mileage (over 200K miles) car for $1500 figuring that maybe it would last a year or two. I'm still driving it.
What kind of tests should I definitely have the mechanic do on the pre-purchase inspection?
Any good mechanic will know what to do. Certainly a full system scan with a fancy scan tool should be performed (as shown by Scotty many times in his videos), as well as a thorough physical inspection.
Thanks again. I did read through the car complaints provided by the link you gave me. Vehicle speed control had the most complaints.
There were 59 complaints; the problems most often cited was when the driver was driving at a low speed, then the car would accelerate rapidly, even when the brakes were applied. Other complaints were when driving, the car would accelerate rapidly without notice. Almost all resulted in the car being totalled, but fortunately no fatalities. This is the kind of thing I was afraid of!