JKarger

IT COST TO BE COOL. Weather it be the ride or money you may sacrifice something to be cool. Some are willing to pay the price. Choose and be happy with your choice. Dont badger the willing people that choose to. There was a time when there were only black cars too. Some painted them other colors. This is what the manufactures look at to stay ahead of other manufatures to have appeal. OK Big Brother try to be original and not fit in. There are followers and there are leaders, which do you think you are? I mod because I CHOOSE to, to be diffrent then others. Take a step away from the masses or the heard, try to origanate something

GS430X6

If this car (see pic below) was mine every time I walked up to it I would grin and feel like I'm on top of the world. In my opinion it's a sign of accomplishment. I would also feel awesome when people told me how nice my car looked and it's a great chance to meet people who would otherwise never approach me if I had stock wheels, etc..

Guess my problem is at 48 I've yet to grow up and probley never will. I'm enjoying life and not worrying about why people do what they do or what they think. Different strokes for different folks. Live your life the way you see fit and stop concerning yourself with others life style.

Good Day!

P.S. I GOTA GET ME ONE OF THOSE!!!!!!!!

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I'm guessing there is a point in ones life where the smooth luxury ride is preferable. I always thought the Lexus ride was much too soft though. I may grow out of that, but I had BMW's before my first Lexus so that could be why I like the stiffer ride and firmer steering. I remember when I got my first SC400. I searched the forums for the location of the power steering ECU and disconnected it At speed it made the steering much closer to BMW, but at low speed it was much firmer. Too firm for my wife. Ended up selling that car. With the LS, I can barely feel the road. My wife likes that smooth drive though. Between the both of us we either take the BMW or the Lexus LS to work on any given day of the week. The two cars are totally opposites. The BMW has lower profile tires and BMW Sports Suspension package. I still prefer the BMW ride and when I get into the Lexus it just feels too soft. That is just my preference where I'm at right now (mid 30s). I had some 18" rims on the Lexus and I actually like the ride better. I sold the rims because I'm selling my LS to a friend in January. At that point though I was planning on selling the 18" for 20" rims anyway.

I guess part of my problem yet is every car I've owned I modified since my first car in High School. I drove a lowered NSX with 18/19" rims for a full year as my daily driver and loved it. Now, my son is 4 years old and getting to the age where he likes to help me work on the car. It this point, it is not only about me modding my own car, but spending time with my son working on the cars. If this keeps up I can't see myself stopping, as the next logical move will be to help my son mod his own car when the time comes, and hopefully he will return the favor an help me out as well

Some of my best memories is working with my dad on my car. All the while him telling me what a waste of money it is to to put new rims, lower the car, spend thousands on audio. Still, what I remember most was him teaching me how to use the tools, and working with me.

Modding cars means something different for everyone. Don't knock them doing for doing it. If it is not something you do, don't worry about it and let them be.

ironhorse

ck6, I could not agree more with you, I grew up without a father so when I became one, I really enjoyed the time I spent with both my boy and girl, we have built 3 cars in all a 67 GTX, 67 Charger, and now my son and I are working on the LS. We picked the car out together and he found the rims we will be adding and he looks at this site all the time. My kids are 12 and 14 years old and someday when they look back I know doing this together will bring a smile to their face as it did mine...........

P.S. My son is into the drifter cars, which I hate, but thats ok with me to each his own.... He still wants the GTX for his first car, we tease him all the time that he will never drive it...

marshmallo

I agree that the LS needs less modding than the other cars in the lineup,
but a new set of wheels is pretty much mandatory if the car comes with
those 18's... Personally if I got the LS600hL 7 spoke 19's on a LWB I
would be satisfied. I think the car looks THAT good stock.

As for bodykits I agree with you only because I don't believe fitment and
paint finish will ever be flawless in the way that a Lexus car is. The body
kit experience is not without some ups and downs and headaches given
some of the ridiculously unmatchable Lexus paint colors.

Stoks

Well, I'm pretty sure after reading through all of the pages in this thread, that I'm squarely in the minority here. I completely disagree with the OP's approach and the way he stated his opinion, but I definitely do not get the whole "mod" my ride routine. At least not on the LS460.

Let me state that I have no problem with anyone that does mod their car. I figure if you're gonna lay down enough jack to buy the LS, you damn sure better massage it to whatever state brings you bliss. And, if slapping 22's or 24's on your ride is what you like...more power to you.

However, for me...it just doesn't work on this car. It's apparent to me that THIS car has had an incredible amount of engineering invested in its design, and to me, slapping on new this, or new that, does nothing but degrade the vehicle from the near perfectly engineered state it arrived in.

I don't want to have to play mind games in order to justify why it's worth putting up with a significantly crappier ride, just so I can occasionally dig seeing myself in those 22 inchers driving by store fronts. It strikes me as similar to the Vatican deciding they need to "spruce" up Michelangelo's painting in the Sistene chapel by adding flourescent highlights to make it more appealing to "today's" generation (I know, that example was over the top...but you get my point).

Let me finally say that, I have all the respect in the world for someone's right to mod their ride. It's your money, and it's your perogative. Knock yourself out. It's all about being happy with YOUR ride anyway.

Just understand that, the TYPICAL buyer of this vehicle is not going to see your heavily modded LS460 as anything other than a Frankenstein. As one of the previous posters pointed out, if you intend to sell the car in the future, you're gonna pay for all that extra jazz on your ride a second time.

Just my .02 cents. I hope you understand I gave it with all due respect for the opinion of other posters and the wide variety of opinions we all possess.

JKarger

@ Stoks

Very well stated

ironhorse

I agree that everyone has right to do what they want to their cars, I will only change the rims out and that works for me, very well put stoks..........

Rocman

Let me say that I can not stand the new MTV generation. Most of them are morons with no taste that just rice out there cars.

That being said, I modify all my cars, no matter what they cost me, including several 130K+ AMGs, Porsche Turbo that had $80K in mods, and my former Ford GT. Car price has nothing to do with it. It has to do with wanting it your way, not the way the factory wanted it. What does it even matter to you? If you are happy with your car stock, then that is fine. I wonder why there are no threads asking why people leave their cars stock?

BTW, my LS is not modded yet, except for the lowering. Wheels WILL be coming soon.
I don't care for the VIP look, so you guys will see something totally different.

llamaboiz

ROFL the same can be said of modding a civic... cuz after all is said n done, its still a civic right?

There are 2 kinds of guys in the world, those that tinker with their rides and those that dont. Doesnt matter what type of car, either you do or you dont. In the late 80's Konig modded ferrari's, ever hear of his twin turbo WITH supercharger 800hp 512TR?

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

Why would you want to drive a car that is identical to someone elses? Youve got to mod it to make it fit your personality. Ive not seen a LS400 on the road with LS430 rims and monotone paint. Pretty soon ill have a wald kit as well

Nospinzone

Its been said that there are no two identical Harley Davidsons in the world, and I believe it. Even though the factory produces thousands of identical bikes, once someone buys one, they personalize it in some way. I have a very limited edition factory custom and even though I have seen several of my year and model on the road, not one of them is identical to mine, nor is it identical to what came off the asembly line.

Its all personal tastes. I don't judge what other people do to their vehicles. I do what makes me happy, and others do the same. Personally I don't care for most of the mods I see pictured here, but if they like them, by all means do it and enjoy.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I'm guessing the typical LS buyer isn't really concerned with other peoples LS. I think they are too busy with their own lives

As for paying for it in the future, I don't see why that would be the case. At resale time, just return the car back to stock, or give the buyer the option. It only hurts those that don't keep their stock parts. I always keep my stock parts for that very reason. If someone happends to like the mods I've done and wants to buy the car that way, great. If not, I just return it to stock.