dantampa

Nah, haven't waxed in once since I bought it. I had to park under a bunch of trees for the last ~4 years and I think the sap, etc dropping from the trees is what did my hood's paint in.

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

This is the Avalon that looks like ls430

SW17LS

I don't see any resemblance between that Avalon and an LS430.

The 430s are very reliable. More technology to go wrong, but plenty of people with them with a lot of miles. I wouldn't worry about reliability at all.

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

They look alike. It was one of the main complaints when it came out. That said it has one of the best back seats I have sat in. Its a smooth nice ride. And it is reliable. Just not sexy.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Mo-in-law has that generation Avalon, it's ok. Not like the build quality of the 400's. Softer ride qualities though the engine does get it along pretty good. Steering is dead feeling like old Buicks, Caddy's, etc. Trunk is huge and back seat spacious. The later gen Avalons are big and the LS's also grew in size. All the added electronics...IDK. Read through the 430 section. I check through now then and I'm thankful the 400's are simple. Nav screen going out, climate controls, door actuators, Levinson blowing. They have aging issues of their own to deal with.

dantampa

Thanks for the info and I totally agree about not seeing any resemblance.

dantampa

Hmm thanks for the info. Yeah, I'm definitely pretty turned-off by things like the in-dash nav, etc. For as much fancy electronics as all LS models have, I actually find the LS400 to be pretty minimalist in its own way. I think that is a big part of what has made the car so timeless.

dantampa

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

realkrs

As I recall I found something that showed a total of 42 ECU's (Electronic Control Unit) are operating my 2001 LS430. To me that's a frightening number of small but very expensive and confusing modules.

Given the ways of automotive development I can only assume that an LS460 contains more ECU's and an LS400 contains fewer ECU's.The less electronics the better reliability will be, IMO, however the power steering column reset each time I get into the car is one of my favorite things since I've been forced medically to forgo the luxuries of bourbon whiskey.

As to looks: I think that both the LS400 and LS430 are warmed over versions of a 1955 Checker sedan. Stodgy conservative functional lines.

SW17LS

I don't see it at all, sorry.

dicer

That is why the clear coat is no good on it. Maybe just go to maaco, and maybe a trip there every 2 or 3 years, you won't need to wax it or anything.

peterls

I imagine Yamae will have something to add to that, but from my own experience and limited knowledge, I would say that does not necessarily have to be true. When 1st gen LS was made, they did put some effort into making sure the solders would hold over time, but even with all that effort, the capacitors that were available at the time were of inferior quality compared to what we have today. And if they continued to worry about quality of soldering, I would hope they only improved on it, unlike, say, Mercedes...
Engine on LS has been going towards less weight and more power; all parts have been re-designed over and over again to be thinner, lighter, cheaper and so on, which leads me to believe - newer models cannot take as much abuse as older ones. You can read a lot about that on some other sites (like the one where they discuss how to make a 1000hp turbo LS).

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...s430-road-test

Yamae

An LS430 does not use QAS capacitors and there is less possibility of the failing capacitor issue but uses the lead-free solder.
As is written at here, "Many researchers found that thermal fatigue is more in many lead free solder joints compared to that of conventional Tin/Lead (SnPb) solder joints". We have more solder joint problems after the lead-free solder was introduced.

dantampa

Well they certainly had nice things to say about the 430. Thanks for the article.