You only live once, get one, if it proves to expensive for you sell it.

Pay for a low mileage 1997+ example though, its worth it.

Ahh, grasshopper, I no make decisions like that anymore! :D

I'm a bit wiser after making that kind of decision too many times in my life. There's toooooo many 'caution flags' popping up down this path of 'what to do'. My money is too hard earned to just throw caution to the wind and go for it! If the 140 had a solid reputation for durable systems and stellar reliability (like the 123) I would be talking a different talk. That's just not what I'm gathering from reviews I've read and threads on this great forum.

Get a Lexus LS430 than. No charm but they don't break.

Those are sweet but as you say, "no charm"! :)

I have looked at the LS 400 (bit more in my price range)...

The problem with owning a high end car, is that its hard to do it cheaply. You either pay up front, or in the back end fixing them.

My friends S320 has been pretty good. I bet he has no more than $1k a year into it for repairs/maintenance. Granted he only paid $10k for it a few years ago. Far cheaper to own than my SDL. But my car is older and I paid less, right now we are probably about even in regards to total cost.

My dentist bought his 2000 S430 new, and over 90k miles its been perfect, other than maintence he only got dinged for one bad coil. But he paid a good penny for it new, still it came with a good warranty which has covered pricey items like new cat's.

From my experiance with high end out of warranty European cars, if your average maintenance/repair costs are under $2k a year your doing well.

My Brother was Product Planner, all new vehicles, for Lexus. Was there for the launches from the start, they shamlessly copied the Germans without any regard for the quality of materials and other cost-adders that make a Mercedes a Mercedes. BTW, he bought a quattro for his family, drove a Land Cruiser (and whatever Lexus calls it) for his company "car".

He talked my Father into a Lexus SC. Nice car the first couple of years, though I did have to laugh at how much more it cost for the periodic checkup / tune-up etc than the same for my Mercedes (also new at the time). Once that car got a few years under it though, stupid and very expensive things started going wrong, and the parts / repair prices on a Lexus (US name for Toyota) are NUTS!!

Woooaa! A 'bad' Lexus story is something I don't hear often - but sounds like you're pretty doggone close to one :eek:

Yeah the older LS's are scary. They bury the starter between the V of the engine so its a monster job to change. They are not ment to be fixed so every job is an expensive nightmare.

Lexus parts prices will cause heart attacks.

Lexus are no better than any other high end car. My friends dad has one of their big SUV's and the warranty just went up, everytime it goes to the dealer its a $1,200 bill. At least you can work on Mercedes and fix them yourself, parts are also pretty reasonable.