saw the Escalade thread and figured i owe this forum a write up, since i read a lot here before i joined.
in may we bought a 2024 Lexus TX 500h F Sport Performance, Caviar black, 11,300 miles, on a sealed bid through m&a auto sales. the lender had it parked at a yard near Rockford, so delivery to Naperville was free and took 13 days. we paid $56,400. a new one with similar options stickers around $78k, and the cheapest dealer used one i found nearby was $64,900 with 9k miles.
the TX 500h is the 2.4 turbo hybrid, 366 hp, 6-speed automatic, all wheel drive. it is quick. my husband thought he would miss his old Audi, he does not.
three things that were annoying, so nobody thinks this was perfect:
first, the Lexus app. the truck was still linked to the previous owner's account, which means somebody out there could have seen where it was parked. the dealer removed them and set us up as owners, but it took a phone call to Lexus, a copy of the title and a week.
second, Illinois wants a front plate and the truck came with no front bracket. $28 at the dealer parts counter.
third, the Secretary of State facility wanted the lien release letter along with the title. the title was clear, the lender had released it, but the clerk wanted the letter too. i emailed the m&a people on a monday and had the PDF wednesday. second trip to the SOS, done.
the app thing is more common than people think, and it applies to any used Lexus or Toyota, repo or not. good on you for chasing it. people forget the garage door opener too, the HomeLink buttons in the overhead console keep the last owner's codes until you clear them.
also worth doing on a 2024 TX: check for open recalls and software updates. there have been a few on the TX since launch. any Lexus dealer does those free.
new here. how is the TX third row with a car seat? we have twins (4) in forward facing harness seats and a 7 year old in a booster, and i keep reading that third rows have "tether anchors" but not lower anchors and i don't really know what that means for us. we are thinking about bidding on something from a bank repo too, which is why i am reading this thread.
hi! our TX is the 6 seat version, captain's chairs in row 2, and i believe every TX 500h comes that way. our 5 year old rides in row 2 in a harness seat with the lower anchors, and the 12 year old has row 3 to himself.
i did try the 5 year old's seat in row 3 once. there are tether anchors back there and the manual has a chart for which seat positions have what. read that chart before you buy anything. it is different on every vehicle and sometimes different between trims.
13 days from Rockford to Naperville is about what i got from Columbia to Greenville. the M and A page says about 14 days, so mine was a day late, yours a day early. glad the TX worked out. that lien letter thing is good to know, i'm putting a copy of mine in the glovebox.
the TX is built on the same platform as our Grand Highlander, in the same plant in Indiana if i remember right. how is the real mpg on the 500h? the sticker number for ours has been honest, curious if yours is.
sorry, back to school ate my life. mpg: 24 to 25 around town with a lot of short trips to swim and school, 27 on the highway to my sister's in Milwaukee. the sticker says 27 combined so it is close. it is a performance hybrid, it is not trying to be your Grand Highlander.
would we do it again? yes. the only thing i would change is i would have asked m&a for the lien release letter up front, before the truck even arrived, so i could do the SOS in one trip.
