JD LX279 $ Value

Hello everyone. I'm looking to replace my old lawn tractor because it's getting arthritis pretty bad. I've found a JD LX279 trade-in at a local dealer and would like some educated opinions on it. It's a 2003 model with a 17 hp Kawasaki liquid cooled engine with 520 hours on the meter. The engine is clean, starts easy and runs smooth and quiet. Seems to shift and run smoothly and the PTO works good. Other than one long scratch on a rear fender the body work is cherry and not faded. It appears that the previous owner took good care of the unit. The front tires are about 30% and could be original. Rear tires are 60-70%. The 42" single stage snowblower runs decent and looks about 70% of new. The double bag grass catcher is well used and maybe 50-60% of new. Won't be using it anyway so that's no loss. The 48" deck looks pretty good for its age with no dings or dents or rust. The pulleys and spindles are all solid with no free play and the belt looks good. It does need the two front outside antiscalping wheels replaced but the other rollers and wheels are good. The blades need replacing or sharpening if that can be done with this machine. There are 3 other sets of used blades with it that look like they only need sharpening and I'm not sure why they were included if this machine always needs new blades. It also has a new seat, good rear tire chains (no weights) and a full set of manuals with maintenance notes from the original owner. The dealer is asking $1,700 for it but will let it go for $1,600. Is this a decent price for a machine this age and condition? If I buy it what maintenance should I do right away? The engine oil was changed about 40 hours ago and no one knows when it was last greased. Any other problems I should look for? I would appreciate any input as I have no experience with used lawn tractors. Thanks.

Take a look here. These are dealer prices, and they tend to be a little on the high side.
Looky Looky

I have an lx178 with the kawasaki engine. It is quiet and a strong runner.
Only problem I had was with carb, kept getting dirt in it. (my fault) from the gas tank.
finally took tank off and washed it out and blew it dry. found out the steel pickup tube was rusty and
letting gunk into carb. Put on a new plastic pick up tube. no problems since. They are a
real workhorse of a tractor. You would be happy with it. And yes, you can get new from the box stores for a couple of
hundred more but this will outlast and outperform them. Blades are easy to take off and sharpen
pull three pins and slide your mower deck out from the tractor, turn on side or end and take off blades

little high in my area 700 to 1000 tops. 14 year old machhne

$700-1000 with a snowblower and bagger? Seriously? Wow, that's hard to believe because the tractor alone sold for $4,750 new. Guess I better look around a bit more then.