Gronemus

I drove down to one of the suburbs of Chicago today to look at this UL for sale: Click here

I wasn't necessarily in the market for a different LS430 but this one caught my eye for a number of reasons:

• Low miles
• Briarwood Pearl exterior color (I have never seen this color in person before)
• I really prefer the lighter interior shades and this one had an Ecru interior if I'm not mistaken (code: LA08)
• I wanted to drive a UL with low miles to see how it compared to my ML with 126K
• Looks like the car was very well maintained at one dealership. There was even a little round Lexus preferred service customer sticker in the upper right hand corner of the windshield.

As you can see by the pictures at the link provided that the first thing that stands out is that the wheels must have been recently replaced. I asked Tim (one of two people that sells car there) if they had changed them and he said that was the way the car came in. When I looked at the spare tire in the trunk it looks like the original wheels that came on this car were the 5-spoke chrome version. So I suspect that the chrome was either starting to flake off badly or that there was some significant curb rash on them.

I was able to take my time inspecting the condition of the car before I took it for a test drive and this is what I found:

• A little bit of cracking in the front portion of the drivers seat leather.
• A small 1/4" tear in the rear passenger leather seat. I suspect that someone's comb got caught there when they rose to get out of the seat.
• Passenger outside door mirror wasn't adjusting while using the switch. I believe the contacts just need to be cleaned.
• The pop up headlight washers didn't work. Or at least nothing happened while I pressed the button. Oops, just found out that the lights need to be on for this to work.
• There was no buzzing or rattles when I turned up the sound system so I'm pretty sure that the speaker surrounds are all intact.
• There was a lot more surface cracks on the steering wheel than there was on mine.
• When I pressed the High height switch the indicator on the dash came on but I wasn't sure if anything happened. I thought I might have heard a compressor turn on but the ambient noise level there was too loud to be able to hear anything distinctively. I also don't have any idea how long that process would take.
• I noticed that the front end was covered with that 3M paint protection system. It seems to be working OK as the front appeared to be relatively free of rock chips.
• Overall paint condition appears to be pretty good although it was hard to get a good look at it since the car was pretty dusty.

I only took the car for a short test drive because I didn't really know the area that well and I wasn't going to get on the tollway to get it up to decent speed. I was able to bring it up to 55 mph for a short time though which gave me a change to evaluate the amount of wind noise this car has compared to mine. One of the last things that I need to resolve on my car is that I feel that there is too much wind noise coming from the top of the windshield area. And my short ride today in this car confirmed that.

Two things about the test ride stand out. First: The tires that are on the car are loud. I forget the brand that was used unfortunately. Second, and really the reason why I wanted to start this thread was that while I was driving the car down the road, I had the sensation that the rear suspension was bouncing up and down. Not very much mind you but it was enough that I felt that I was bouncing in my seat. This certainly can't be normal can it? The road was fairly smooth concrete that did have rain channels carved into it which explains part of the reason why the tires were noisy. I never did get the feeling that I was floating on air. It makes me wonder if one or both of the rear air shocks might be suspect? After I left the lot I drove down the same road with my car and didn't experience any of the bouncing that I had with UL.

I think I'll pass on this one for now even though it has lots of promise...

e60bmw

iTrader: (1)

The chrome wheel in the truck was the stock wheel, those are not even Lexus wheels. The chrome peeling can be a problem, I had it on mine which resulted in leaking, it has to actually be grinded down. I had a shop do this and no more leaking. The slight cracking in the seats is normal, and can be repaired if you wanted to DIY. The steering wheel has the same problems in mine. I plan to refinish the wheel, you can sand that down and get the cracks out and then refinish it. To test the height switch I would turn off all air and listen for the compressor. It should run for a while. You will notice the car raise, as a test you can bring a tape measure, measure all tires from ground to top of fender to see if they are even or off. Now raise the car to high position, they should all raise up. If the heights are off in normal position it could be sensors need to be adjusted, which is pretty much just raising them up and down. However if you don't see changes on each side there could be a sensor problem, I know because I just replaced mine and a air strut. I do not have the bouncing on mine from the rear, it should be pretty smooth. It ran alot rougher when my strut was bad and my height sensor wasn't working. The high point of my sensor it was registering was actually setting my right rear about 2 inches lower than left rear, I ran like that for over 2 years unknowingly realizing the fix required.

Tires can be a big difference too and wheel size. The cheaper wheels are cast also and can bend very easily if they slammed over a pothole, it can effect the ride alot too. I know because I had some cheaper wheels on another car and ended up having to replace 3 of them because of bends. If you have techstream you can hook up the computer and see the heights of each sensor and run tests. Worst case is that you swap them out for struts and springs which you can get for around $1200 or maybe less. If you are serious about the car you can address the air suspension problems with them. Let them know each strut is over $1000 each OEM and each sensor is $350+, not to mention how much a compressor would be. You might be able to knock some more down from that. If you have a bluetooth/wifi OBD you can connect it to the car and download a app like torque to get additional information on it. Or if you are really worried take it to a Lexus dealer and see if they will do a pre purchase inspection like BMW does.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

Something is up with that car one headlights a hair clearer than the other and the shift **** is screwed on crooked, good call avoiding it.

e60bmw

iTrader: (1)

Thats honestly nothing imo, headlights fade over time and the shift **** just needs to be tightened a turn.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

I know that but the fact only one headlight was clearer that to me means one was replaced due to something happening the person has enough for a $60,000 car they have enough to get it fixed without the insurance company knowing.

Also the shift **** thing i have had 3 ls430's and the **** has never spun by itself it just looks like someone was poking around underneath that panel, that and the non stock wheels give me a weird vibe about that car it just seems off.

e60bmw

iTrader: (1)

Good point on the headlight.

Gronemus

The headlights are fine. What you are seeing in the picture is caused by the sun pointing at one side of the car. As far as the shift **** is concerned, I didn't even notice that until I got there. I bugged me enough though that I had to move it back into position ...

Gronemus

Thanks for your reply. If I was really serious about buying the car I'd go back and ask them to put it on a lift so I could check out a few things in a quieter environment. There is a repair shop located in the same business although I don't know if it's run by the same people. I do have a copy of Techstream available but I'm going to need to have it reinstalled on an old laptop running Windows XP in order to get it to work consistently. I wouldn't buy another Lexus without connecting it up first using Techstream. I'd want to verify that the shocks were operating normally and if not, negotiate a better price and repair it myself later.

I guess I should have been clearer in my original post. Yes, the wheels that are on that car are not Lexus rims except for the wheel in the trunk.

As far as I can tell, I don't believe that the car has ever been in a collision. The other item that I wasn't able to test was the radar cruise control since I didn't take the car out on the freeway. I think that this car has potential to be a great car for someone. It's just going to take a little bit of effort...

demark1

When I got my 2005 UL in 2009, geight button did nothing. No message, etc. Turned out to be height sensor, not sure how, I had warranty. Also my radar cruise went bad quickly at arounf 50k miles, a common problem then (the computer needed to be replaced). I agree about avoiding the air susp if you can.

semar

2001 UL, now 142k miles. Bought the car from one owner in 2015 and drove it 800 miles home. Was not impressed with the airsuspension compared with my old BMW 735i. removed the airsuspension and replaced it with Bilstein coilovers. and lowered the car 1 1/2". Now it rides beautifully. . Checked the previous owner's repair record and noticed he replaced both rear struts and the right front strut already at ca 50k miles. Dealer cost in Canada $2200 each plus labor..
When seeing the comments on the forum about the airsuspension most recommend it replace it with normal shocks and springs to avoid the horrendous costs.
My driver side seat is now showing leather cracking, otherwise the car is mint
Oh, yes, I got some 17" Lumarai 5 spoke wheels, using the original chrome Lexus wheels for winterdriving. They also leak now due to rust on the rims. Needs to be taken care of in fall
Had many high end German cars - Lexus is the best