TheNDUB15

I'm 37 married father of 2. I bought a 2006 LS 430 UL with 62,500 miles on it a month ago. I'm the 3rd owner of the car. . I work in the car business and have only come across a handful of these cars that I would truly consider buying. This one hands down was in the best shape inside and out of any I had seen over the past couple of years. The story behind this car is the original owner was the guy who brought Toyota and Lexus to America. I bought it from a dealer that my company has been ding business with for over 30 years, so I have no reason to doubt this story. If it is true the history would be pretty cool back story. Only mods I plan on doing are tint the windows, clear bra, grom audio kit and maybe wider tires.

Discobee

I'm early 40's, Asian, blue collar type work. Was formerly strictly into Cadillacs when it came to luxury sedans. A friend showed me his LS430 Ultra and I was like "wow!" Test drove one and immediately put my Cadillac up for sale. Since converting to a Lexus fan, I've owned two LS430 in a 12-month period - a 2001 (sold) and now a 2003. Didn't get the Ultra but what I like about the LS430 is the power and the comfortable ride. When I commute to work, I like a nice smooth ride to relax me and ever since owning a LS430 I do not want to drive any other make of cars.

No modifications for me, just want to get remote starter, tint and get the speakers all working good. An AUX in would be nice, but right now I'm using the cassette adapter and it's ok.

junkmurray

53 and 3rd LS430. Independent contractor, international tax consultant.

- 2001 Base with Nav, Blue, 2nd owner 30k miles purchased in 2006 or so, but totaled in 2011 when guy in front of me decided to stop in middle of intersection during a yellow light.
- 2002 Base with Nav, Silver, 2nd owner 50k miles purchased in 2011 the day after I totaled the 2001. Gave to my dad in 2014.
- 2004 ML, Silver, 2nd owner 31k miles purchased Sept 2016, This is a project car that I may give to my son on graduation from college. By project car I mean I'm trying to do everything myself and limit Lexus or mechanic work. I'll be posting some pictures of the bumper chrome molding replacement in a bit (lots of discussions on that but no pics). And thanks to lots of contributors to this forum I've already redone all speakers (refoam), front O2 sensors, trunk struts, passenger headlight alignment, roof drip rail retape, and chrome bumper molding. Next (this Friday) is passenger window motor replacement and power steering flush / reservoir cleaning. After that I'll be polishing the headlights.

Also owned a 2007 LS460L for a few months in 2016 (purchased and sold), but that was a stupid and costly decision...but that's another story. Conclusion on that story is that I like 430's better than 2007 460L's.

JHC828

I just turned 30. I'm a white guy, married to my high school sweetheart. No children, yet. Both medical professionals. Owned the car for about a year now. Second owner. I bought my 06 LS430 because the price was simply too good to pass up at $12k with 100k miles. The smart key did not work, that was the only problem (I got that problem fixed recently). The car had all of the service records from original owner. Always taken to Lexus dealer. Timing belt and water pump was replaced right before I bought it. This car was to replace my previous workhorse, a 2014 Toyota Camry that I purchased new and totaled in an accident, owned less than a year. I'm a car guy and enjoy modding and making them my own. I've done many things to many cars over the years but for the LS I've always planned to keep it stock. It's my daily driver and I enjoy the comfortable, quiet ride very much. I have changed all the bulbs to LED and tint the windows. I have it serviced at a local Toyota dealer, not that I can't do it myself but because I don't have the time to do it myself. I have two other vehicles currently that spend most of the time locked safely away in the garage or at my wife's office nearby. A Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum and a Mercedes S63 AMG. I must admit, the Lexus was a wonderful find. I had no idea of what a wonderful car the LS was or its track record for reliability. I've put 60k miles on it since I bought it and have recently been considering getting something newer, simply because I crave all the technological luxuries of the newer models, but this is such a smooth and reliable car and the cost for maintenance/repairs is significantly lower than a new car.

FatherTo1

Wow, JHC828, that's really saying something to own an S63 AMG and still want an LS. Also surprising to go from a new 2014 Camry to an 06 LS -- a vehicle almost a decade older. Since so many new technologies are pioneered in flagship models, I actually don't find our 06 LS lacking in too many creature comforts compared to newer cars. Sure, the screen resolution of the nav is quite low but Bluetooth streaming can be accomplished by aftermarket products. The LS has most of the latest safety features (front & rear sensors, backup camera, plethora of airbags, swiveling headlights, and even dynamic cruise control on some of the higher trim levels). I wish our 06 had the blind spot monitoring and live traffic nav but I can still turn my head and get live traffic from my phone. Care to compare/contrast your experience between the S63/Camry/LS?

JHC828

The Camry was my least favorite. I regretted buying it about a month into owning it. It was a fun idea... lots of aftermarket support and options for customizing. The ride was awful (even before lowering), very noisy cabin with both wind and engine/exhaust noise. The interior felt cheap even with all factory options. I'm a luxury car person and I had been driving Infiniti's flagship sedan for several years, the M45S with V8 and all options. I decided to go for the V6 Camry just to try something different and get a few more MPGs as I travel a lot for work. A close family friend has been driving the LS for several years and I had rode in hers occasionally and was impressed with the ride. When I got the option to buy a used LS for what I thought was a great price, I jumped at the opportunity. It was much cheaper than anything comparable for a new/slightly used full sized luxury sedan and this one happened to have all the service records with up to date maintenance. I'm still happy with the purchase, just getting a little bored with the car.

The S63 is on an entirely different level. There is no other full size sedan (in a similar price range) that has this many luxuries and that much power. The build quality is impeccable and the power is simply amazing for such a large sedan. The S-Class has long been a dream car of mine and I saved for a long time to buy one. The S-Class on its own is an expensive car but the AMG is unbelievable. I've simply never heard of such ungodly expensive maintenance. The smile on your face every time you drive it makes it worth it. I've had it for a while now and it still makes me smile every time I drive it. It attracts a LOT of attention and you simply cannot go unnoticed (unfortunately). Bone stock the car sounds amazing but as the warranty expires I'm toying with the idea of tuning. Renntech can turn up the boost a little and change the exhaust and take the power from 500's to 700's.

Johnhav430

Man AMG is sacred, congrats on that S63. Also, if you have a car like that, to like a LS430, that's saying something! And that's what I find here on this forum, people truly like/love the LS430. It isn't because the price has dropped to < $15k per se....I actually think the LS is worth more wholesale than my 335i, which I purchased new. It actually costs more to fully insure. I even wonder if many components are more expensive, like the windshield (I argued for 40 min with that lizard co. years ago and they replaced my glass with OEM BMW).

The new S550 is so unassuming, but look at the dimensions, you could drive our 3rd gen LS's into one, it's that much larger. The one thing I would say about German cars is that the components seem much heftier and beefier than Japanese. I remember years ago this pharmacist had a E55 AMG, and I admired that car....the only thing I don't like about AMGs is there doesn't ever seem to have been a manual....I am one of those who would still get a M3/M4 with a stick, oddball as that is......

To tell you the truth, I am always looking now for LS430s on the road, and I don't see all that many, where are they?

Stereorob

I still see many original LS430 owners in them but its kind of a mixed bag. 30ish folks (my generation) are starting to get them. and the early ones are now 15 years old and depreciating rapidly so sadly im starting to see more abused ones much like what im seeing with the late 400s.
old enough for some to buy as cheap transportation and as throw away cars which is sad. the drift/slam/hoon crowd doesn't seem interested in them yet but im sure its coming once they hit the $2,500 range which is not too far off. I work in a dealership so I really get to see the actual demographic of buyers.

Johnhav430

Since you're in a dealer, what's your take on body work....I have always wondered, why are there so many nice cars (new and I assume leased), where on a bright sunny day, if the vehicles are clean, you can see in the reflection that the texture of the body is not right, yet color is perfect, i.e. repaired. My uncle said that's normal, because you're not talking about $200k restorations like you see on Velocity. The name of the game of body work is to get them in, and out, there is already work backed up, time is money.

I went to see a clean carfax 1 owner no accident LS430 at a Lexus dealership, and since it was inside, with bright fluorescent lamps, and the car was onxy, I could clearly see it was painted on the rear left and mid right, with my bare eyes. They were so careless that there's a spot on the rear right rim that has black paint on it.

I didn't use a depth meter (wouldn't know how / don't have one) on my LS when I bought it, but it's moonlight and I cannot spot anywhere that doesn't look right, and I first saw it, in bright sunlight. It literally has two tiny dings and that's all (besides a scrape on the front bumper lol), so I wonder if any were PDRd before sale....

Stereorob

they exist. I don't know about other dealerships but when we get one that was in a wreck we usually wont put them out unless it was mild with nothing serious. I was in sales for awhile before service. im a LTS/VTS now but im still an enthusiast so I keep track of the older stuff that shows up. my dealership doesn't do bodywork. however ive seen several that were in wrecks but they did a REALLY sweet job putting them back together. like new. they say once a car has been in a wreck its never really the same again which is true depending on how bad it is, like frame damage etc. we wont sell salvage title cars. and if it was in a wreck we always disclose it. I know it sounds crazy especially being that mine is a very high volume dealership, and dealerships have bad reputations in general, but ours dosent. infact we are #2 in the country right now for quality, service, treatment, and guest experience. and Im being honest when I really don't have to considering im posting with a moniker. I personally drive a 95 Ls400 and I found out two years after I got it that it was in a wreck, and that was after going over it with a fine toothed comb. it wasn't reported and they did such a good job youd never know. my boss pointed it out to me. then again it happened very early in its history so all the paint matches.

as far as clean 1 owner Ls430s with no bad history showing up on our lot, we do see a lot of them because theres a lot of old folks around here that buy at day 1 and keep them till they get scared of them due to age. if you cant find one up by you, check out cars here in FL. most are local originals and never saw rustbelt roads. I even see the occasional UL package cars. this is where they are all hiding man lol. one came in about 6 months ago that was black on saddle UL with the "burnt orange" wood trim as I call it. (orange wood that looks like it has seared edges) that I was VERY tempted on getting myself! however, the 430 has just never done it for me personally. im a 400 guy. I will say this, if you want an older LS the one to look for is 04-06 models, 05 being the best. it was the most solid LS made of ANY year. the
sealed transmission is a ***** and kind of sketches me out, but ive seen plenty of 250-300k mile examples roll through doing just fine..

unfortunately, my 95 400 spent the first ten years of its life in the rust belt, and has serious cancer on the undercarriage but youd never know by looking at it. seems to get worse everytime im under it. whenever it gets an oil change I go in the back when they put it on the lift and look at it. I didn't buy it at my dealership. we really don't get that many come in that we re sell because we have an absolutely brutal safety inspection protocol for cars that are eligible for us to re sell. if there is one little thing that's not right they just go to auction. kinda sucks because ive seen some really neat stuff they wouldn't sell.

Johnhav430

It would be crazy if you're in Naples, because that's where my car was sold, and spent 8 years.....there's still a sticker on the windshield from the dealer (platinum club?) and some brochure/handout in the owners manuals....

tallcaguy

What is a depth meter? Can detect additional layer of paint? Does not sound like something you find in the local car parts store!

JHC828

I have the LS430 as a work car. It gets driven through the crap roads in all weather conditions. It's old enough that parts are fairly cheap but new enough that it has many of the new/modern luxuries and I wanted it simply because it rides so well. As someone else mentioned, it's cheap and could be considered a "disposable" car. Now I'm not intentionally trying to trash it but I use it to go places I don't want to drive the S63 or ESV. It's a great car that mostly flies under the radar, if I total it I haven't lost that much (the blue book on the Camry I paid nearly $35k for was about 10k less when I totaled it less than a year later) and I also wouldn't be nearly as upset if it gets scratched or something as compared to the S63 or ESV. The S63 is a huge car! You can't really appreciate it's size until you sit in it. It's much larger and more comfortable than the LS but we're not really comparing apples to apples. Oddly enough, my ESV is my favorite vehicle to drive. Plenty of room for anything you need, 400hp gets you through or around whatever you need and its a very comfortable vehicle. Being the Platinum edition it has every option possible and a much nicer interior than the base Escalade. I'm a car guy and I like many models that don't really compare to one another but I like them all for different reasons. I always liked the LS as a kid and knew I wanted one some day. The ESV was my dream vehicle and I've been driving them for about 7 years now. Then the S class was my dream vehicle... Now that I have one of those I guess I'll save for a RR Ghost.

Bocatrip

Most owners of LS430s have historically been old timer gray haired people here in south Florida. I am one of them. I never see any millenials driving these cars in my area. Most new owners drewl to find original owners in my area to give these cars up as they are usually meticulously maintained. My car runs like a top and is completely original. However, it's quite possible that once I sell my car it could end up modified and even lowered. . Younger owners are purchasing these great cars as depreciation has brought prices down to affordable numbers.

Stereorob

no. not naples. more in the central part of the state

my first LS was a 90. it was a local car and I still had all the paperwork for it. the window sticker, bill of sale, inspection sticker, that black credit card they had back in the day. everything! even the original dealer brochure and dealer tag bezel. was sold in October 89. 8/89 build date. vin ended in the low 1400s.