Lexus IS300 sportcross??

I went and drove a 04 sportcross this afternoon. The car was garaged since new and only had 31,000 miles. The interior was basically brand new. The front bumper cover and doors had some minor scrapes. All four wheels had a little rash. The car drove nicely, but the CEL came on during the test drive.

These engines are usually due for timing belt changes around 90,000 miles. I would assume that this car would be due for one based solely on age and not miles. I am looking for a reliable DD that has a hatch. This seems to check all the boxes and is not something that you see very often.

They are asking $9.5 for the car. It seems a bit rich for a 11 year old car that is going to need some work. Please chime in with what you think would be a good price.

I think that is a VERY good price, mostly considering the mileage. At that age though, it will definitely be due for a timing belt. My sedan also started throwing a CEL around 100k for a valve cover gasket leaking into the spark plug wells. I would pull the codes and go from there.

what does NADA, KBB etc say is a fair price, what are other IS300's selling for in your area and how much worse (shape wise) are they?

Without seeing the car and not knowing much about IS's, i'd say 7-8k. Since it sounds like a weekend/spare car.

They are super hard to find without a salvage title or a ton of miles. I'd say the price is fair. I do regular searches for them and other than the PNW and NE, they are few and far between.

It is one of only 3,088 sport x's in the Us with low miles. I don't think it will last long at the price. CEL or not.

Most of them in my area are well over $6k with 250k miles and a salvage title, and that's just the sedan ones. $9500 does seem like a lot for an 11 year old car, but I think its more than an is300 is a pretty expensive car than the price being too high.

Ive got one, I like it pretty well. They are Very hard to find, that mileage is Incredibly low. That is a good price for that car, If it was in good order I think between $11 and $15 is the range for that mileage.

For me one of the most important details is weather it has an LSD, if you look in the driver's door there is a black sticker, the bottom left corner will have a B02(a-b-or-c), if it is a b or a c at the end it is a factory torsen LSD. LSDs are available from wrecking yards for between $400 and 1000 and swap in in about 2hrs with hand tools.

I have a sedan as well as a sportX and the sportX has a little more polar moment and is a little looser on corner entries. They are both very predictable and steerable on throttle. The sportX has staggered wheel and tire sizes (rear wheels do not fit the front). The sportX tends to be a little less solid feeling /quiet. The sedan I got at 90k and have beaten senselessly for another 95k, It has been resolutely reliable, has had tires and brakes for repairs and isn't even loose feeling. The dashboards are pretty fragile around the radio and shifter surround so be gentle.

Everything is the same on a sedan or sportX aside from body stuff. Check out Figs performance for cool chassis stuff and token solutions for a device that makes the trac-off button have memory so you don't have to turn off traction control every time you start the car (it is ultra intrusive)

Thanks for the comments guys. The car has been for sale for about three weeks on CL. The ad is not very well written so it doesn't easily come up in searches. It is owned by a wealthy woman and her employee is selling it for her.

Any guess what shop would charge to do the timing belt/water pump? I am having a hard time thinking about ponying up the full ask and then have to drop another grand right away.

What color is it?

Silver and it has the half leather half suede-ish seats.

The alcantara fabric is great, it isn't slippery, and never feels cold or hot due to weather. Stains pretty easy though. Mine's Black onyx with black alcantara.

I live in Oregon. Those IS chassis go for big money. I'd buy it now and worry about timing belt costs later. It is after all a 2jz engine and is therefore one of the most DIY documented engines on the planet.