dfrosch

Back in 2006, I got the itch to buy a LS 400. Looked at a few, but settled on a '98.


She was gorgeous. Gold with beige interior, Nakamichi stereo. She had 113K miles on her, but looked like half that. Smoothest car I'd ever owned. Said on several occasions that she was smoother at 100 mph than my truck was sitting still. Paid $13K and have probably put another $7K in repairs.





Nine years and 80K miles later, she's not quite as charming. I've driven the paint off the hood and bumpers. If I drive her hard, the smell of burnt oil tends to linger around her. The leather on the drivers seat is worn and torn. The dash has cap issues. Temp and gas gages ride higher than they should. The tach and speedo sometimes have trouble waking up, especially on a humid day.


Keep finding myself looking at LS 460s. An '07 with Nav and ML stereo can be had for $20 to $27K depending on mileage, maybe less if I bargain hard.


Yeah, I could put a fraction of that in paint and repairs. Could mount a Garmin and a XM receiver, but that might look a little... cobbled.


Gonna spend the next few days test driving and haggling with salesmen. It's not a done deal yet...

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

I say go for it. I've been having the same thoughts but I'm not getting rid of her yet. I've been looking at some GS 350s for the wife though.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Welcome to Club Lexus.

As well in your search, the 460 forum hasa wealth of info available in the decision process.

dfrosch

Thanks RA.


Been lurking around for a while. Lotsa great info here.

dfrosch

Checked out two on Saturday.


The first was gold with a beige interior, very similar to my LS400. It had a little over 52K miles. The Car Fax was clean, but it had mismatches between the front bumper and both side body panels. Had a couple paint touch ups that looked really bad. The leather had quite a few rub marks. Didn't even test drive this one.


Next was a silver with gray interior. It has about 54K miles on it. The interior trim looks almost like granite.
http://www.roncarterhyundai.com/used...BL46F975047641
No obvious defects, but listening to my Nakamichi on the way there made me very critical of the sound system(it wasn't a ML). The dealer tried tacking on a few grand for window tinting and paint and leather protectants. They came back with several offers, but we never even got close to making a deal.


Gonna keep looking...

dfrosch

Pulled the trigger. Here's a link:
(link removed, no longer works)


Will post more pics when I can.

CSTU93

Congrats. It looks great!

dfrosch

Thanks '93. It actually looks better after they detailed it. Well, the tires do, at least. The wood veneer has a satin/matte look to it. That's the first I saw that wasn't glossy.


Couldn't find a decent '07 at a reasonable price. All the '08s I looked at had some sort of damage. Saw one today that wasn't too bad, but they were asking $30K. This one was just a little more, but came with the 3 year/100K CPO warranty. Kinda thinkin' about extending that a year or two.

dfrosch

Here's a couple more pics...

cobalt91

Congrats on the new ls! Thats a nice color.

dfrosch

Thanks, I'm rather fond of the color too. Notice my Chevy truck in the driveway? And the Chevy behind my '98?

GH5T

Did you trade in the 400? If so did you get a fair amount for it.

CSTU93

Wow, you're right, it is even more beautiful! I noticed the matte look.. huge fan.

dfrosch

A friend was offering two grand for it. Told him that I'd sell it to him at the trade in price. They gave me three, the friend declined.

Legender

Good deal on the car and looks great. Still not sold on the body style. Old school here... but willing to read your ownership report and review over the next view months to see if I can be convinced that it's that much better than my LS430. Enjoy the ride.