Hi Wallace,
I own a 1993 Toyota Windom myself. They are the same car as the Lexus ES300, they roll off the same production line in Japan. The same standard of fit and finish. What can be different is the trim and equipment.
The Windom came in a base-spec and the '3.0G' - which is closer to the ES300, with standard ABS, traction control, cruise control and airbag. The 3.0G also has TEMS suspension (automaticly-adjusting valve stiffness), a 'ECT-S' sport mode, and a button to turn off traction control - I'm not sure the ES300 has those, but it's no loss. The Windom drinks PULP and its 3VZ-FE runs 147kw, the locally-delivered ES300 runs regular unleaded and has 138kw.
The ES300 has two airbags (driver+passenger), the Windom only has driver. The ES300 had a 6-stack CD player standard, the Windom only had a tape deck. That said, those old CD-stackers aren't the most reliable or convenient, so that's no great loss, and after 15+ years, the ES300 leather interior is often quite worn. Leather was an option on the Windom, the cloth interior in my Windom is still good.
$5.5k is too much though. I'd expect to pay $3500, tops. The car is due for a timing belt and major service at 175,000k - check the timing belt cover to see if it's been done yet.
I paid $2000 for my Windom (93, 3.0G, 185,000k), but it has a lot of car-park bumps and scrapes on the body.
As for reliability, at 17 years old, it's a gamble. It might be fantastically reliable... but it is at the time of its life where parts need replacing. If the steering rack goes, or the aircon loses its chill, or the transmission packs it in, you're looking at repair bills that could easily be 50% of the value of the car.
Is 97 Lexus ES300 a better buy?
Yes.
The 1MZ-FE is a much-improved engine (better power delivery, better fuel economy, smoother). It's a stiffer, more responsive and safer chassis. And most likely, it'll have been serviced at a Lexus dealer it's whole life. The big 175k service will be done already, for example.
If you're looking 5 years down the line, I wouldn't hesitate to go the 97 model.
