I had an old ES300 with over 300k miles, and it was as smooth as butter. The only concern I would have with that vehicle is the convertible motors and peripherals. If the seals are in good condition, and the motors are not making noise, then go for it.
I mean the electric motors that are actuating the convertible top. Listen for whining, screeching, or much of anything really because they should be pretty quiet. The car engine should be quiet too. Almost shouldn't hear it inside the car. It's really hard to go wrong with Lexus.
It's getting harder to find hardtop convertibles, especially four-seaters. My next one will be a soft top... not because I prefer the soft top, but rather it's the only one available in the model I want.
My Chrysler couldn't be easily fixed. The dealer got it working, but figured it may cost thousands to fix it permanently. The cause would be difficult to trace and require parts and labor. As soon as it was working, I traded it. For another HT convertible, but brand new.
My mom has a Volvo hard top and the mechanism pulled the headliner down and it’s not covered under warranty. They want 6k for a new mechanism and headliner.
Looking at the shape of the car, I'd be investigating rear visibility. I have a coupe, I love it but rear visibility is limited, I knew that buying it and decided it was ok. 3 years in, it's gotten tedious having to be extra careful reversing even with a backup camera
It's a lovely car! Listen out for anything vibrating/rattling inside the car when you drive it too. People often don't notice that kind of thing until later but once heard, cannot be unheard and sometimes quite expensive to troubleshoot and fix
1. Is it diesel? If yes, it might be failing the clean air zone requirements in many cities.
2. How many owners? 3 or more means it wasn’t worth their time to keep, so it might not be worth yours either.
3. What’s the MOT history on this thing? Is it failing most of its tests, and failing badly?
I would definitely check the inspection history and service history. And hope for a bit of luck too! I bought a car that ran fine in the beginning, and then I had to scrap it because the diesel fuel injectors were failing and those were worth more than the car itself FML.
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2. How many owners? 3 or more means it wasn’t worth their time to keep, so it might not be worth yours either.
3. What’s the MOT history on this thing? Is it failing most of its tests, and failing badly?