SuperCoupe400

As much as my wife admires my LS430, she still prefers not driving it. She'd much rather be behind the wheel of her Infiniti FX35. This begs a question for me. Is the LS430 more of a guys car?

I'd start a poll of male to female owners, but I already know the results would be heavily slanted because everybody knows there are disproportionately more fellas than gals on car forums.

So what are some of you peoples experiences?

Jayson

My wife would say that the LS430 is an 'old man's' country club car. I love it ,though I did buy it from my Dad who is 73! It's such a comfortable commuter car. I think I may keep it for years to come.

AlexusAnja

It's proven that the RX is the woman's preferred Lexus, while the GS and LS are more geared for male drivers. The GS and LS are just too big and boaty for most women.

Jabberwock

I live in an area in Texas with more LS430's than another place I have ever seen. It's not unusual to drive around town for 10 min and see 3-4 other LS430's. I regularly see the other 3 black cherry LS430s around town, shops, etc. even though it is a supposed rare color. My completely unscientific observation over time in North Texas is that I see about equal numbers of male and female drivers in LS430s around here. SC430's and RXxxx's drivers I see are most often women.

KING

iTrader: (1)

The LS430, to me appears that only men like the bulky size and the heavy smooth car. I've only seen one lady drive a pearl '06, I think it was her husbands car and he was just tired or something.

A tack about the styling falls under men territory, face it, bulky huge and vey big car.

Weird subject this is. Men or women, it's definitely the greatest car.

empringham

Im 20 and i have a 430. Its very rare to see another one in alberta, and whenever i do, i look to see whos driving it and its useually some guy whos old enough to be my grandpa.

randal

Both my sons, in their 20's, drive early LS400's. They think the car is really cool. Ok, I *might* have tainted their judgement a tad bit and given them Lex Fever with my LS's.

I find my LS430 just incredibly refined, smooth, powerful...yet I also find it a tad bit on the fugly side. It is not as sporty looking as the BMW's or Mercedes but the other attributes make up for the looks. The LS is a beautiful machine on the inside. Isn't that where it counts? ;-)

My wife usually won't drive my LS430. Prefers her Sienna. Go figure.

JffGRY706

ladies car

2KHarrier

I completely agree. My wife prefers the RX300 over the LS430. She says the LS is too big for her, and she likes sitting a little higher in the RX.

Fine by me..

Jabberwock

In terms of age it really is pretty much all geezer demographic driving the LS430 in my area. There is a white 01-03 LS in my subdivision that a 18 yo drives, my guess is that his dad bought him a super high mile LS because it is a safe solid and very reliable car. My 18yo likes his sporty Mazda 3 and has shown zero interest in my LS - which is good because there is no way he would get to drive it by himself : )

KING

iTrader: (1)

Geezer traffic because how much it used to cost. The more the price drops the more the younger generation gets included.

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

My girls call my LS a box or old ladies car when we all go out...and usually suggest one of my other cars if i have to drive.


my LS(s) are stock tho

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

I'm 36 and I absolutely love both my old 99 LS400 and my current 04 LS430. I'm kicking myself for wasting money in the past on total junk cars that were unrefined and in many ways pieces of cr@p. Maybe it takes time to appreciate quality engineering and unprecedented reliability. I can't imagine owning much else at this point. I will probably get a 460 next but I am in no hurry.

SuperCoupe400

I'm 44, but remember when Lexus first hit the scene in '91. The LS scored head & shoulders above everything else (domestic, German, Japanese, etc.) in both quality and value. In fact, I've even got the original Consumer Reports from that year with the write-up they did comparing it to Cadillac, Lincoln, etc.

Then when the SC was revealed for model year '92 it was love at first sight! The only 'poorly engineered' car I've ever owned was the old family car - an '86 Renault Alliance. After that I got an Acura Integra (drove to 273k miles), then my first Lexus ('93 SC400). Been riding in the lap of reliable luxury ever since.

oxonian007

A few years ago I read some demographic information about new LS (460) series purchasers. They will more likely to be male, had a median age of 50-something, and had a household income (median) of something like $350K. I just did a quick search and cannot find a link.

Oddly, for a brand that is supposed to be so "sport" oriented, the median age of the BMW buyer in the US is almost as old as the median Lexus buyer. Are these oldsters trying to be sporty without going whole hog for a real sports car?

For what it's worth, the pricing for an LS430 was relatively affordable compared to an S-class Mercedes. So it did represent a conservative purchase. A good friend who is on his second LS - the first being a 2004 LS430 which he still owns - used to change cars at the end of warranty and drove a long series of upmarket cars, including multiple S-class sedans. He refuses to go back. When he recently comparison shopped Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, and Lexus, he ended up with the LS460. It cost significantly less than a really well equipped larger BMW or Mercedes and offered a lot of luxury for the money.