iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

I think when this was written the 430 was ahead of its' time. More and more cars are looking more aerodynamic and look more like the 430. I get more complements about this car. About 3 months ago a guy that has a G37 came up to me and asked when the new Lexus model came out. He was not familiar with this particular model. I said 2002. I do have tourmaline wheels on mine and it does make a difference. He was amazed that he had not given more attention to the 430 when he was looking for a new car for his wife. (the G37 is hers) I live in Roanoke VA and you see very few of these out here so he may not have seen one in a long time. I can go months without seeing one. Anyway, I get more comments from both men and women about what a great looking car this is. By the way, I have a Smokey granite 06 with the tourmaline wheels. Great combo!

MrVancey

Jesda, if this is such an awful car, why are you a member of this forum? With your mentality you probably drive a Pinto or a Yugo.

mrblister

This is a friendly site that welcomes all owners and future owners. We seem to have allways managed to get along. Opinons are we just what they are. A persons thoughs. I love my 2005 PB and will keep it for ever. Its the best looking car I have ever driven .I respect all our members and I give extra leeway to those that seem to speak before they think.

76210Guy

The car isn't priced to compete with anything because it's not being produced.
Great first post.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

Top Gear is so full of S##T its a joke

SC43052

Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. Unfortunately we have no other position than that of defending the SC430.

So belly up to the bar. Man up (be honest now), and give us a list of the last five (5) cars you have owned and let us play a little offense.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

I got my 430sc 4 years ago and the car is the best car I ever owned. my friend has the M3 other then fast i'll take my 430sc any day. its sound like your on another planet

SC43052

I’ll skip the lumbering Government Motors Suburban. What a boat. But you were in high school so we won’t hold that one against you.

Pontiac G8 - Ahhh, the BMW 5-series wanna-be.

It was so successful it saved Pontiac ……. Oh wait a minute, their gone now aren’t they.

Actually, the G8 was one of the better transplants from Holden in Australia. Very good power for the money, but abysmal fit and finish. The interior materials are of poor quality, the red dash lights provide a decidedly bordello atmosphere, the transmission shifts slowly and the body shakes and rattles. No better than average reliability.

You apparently decided you could make it handle more like a BMW and likely lowered the suspension, installed stiffer shocks, bigger sway bars and stiff bushings. On a glass-smooth road it must handle like a race car. But get it on the average road and the suspension is easily upset, it rides like a truck and knocks the fillings loose from your teeth.

A car is a lot of things: Performance, features, fit, finish and reliability.

Speed in a straight line – G8 is faster than the SC430, and many other cars more expensive than the G8 was. G8 is also a good tuner.

Quality, fit, finish, materials, reliability – The G8 isn’t even in the same league as the SC430.

M3 vs SC430 – Yeah, I am a performance guy (SC430 is my wife’s car). I would probably buy the M3 before the SC430. But then consider the cost of maintaining a BMW. You had better be able to turn a wrench or have a large shovel to move money fast enough once it is out of warranty.

There is no perfect car, which makes it interesting to see the wide variety that the market offers and what appeals to each person.

But the SC430 one of the worst? Not in my opinion. Comparing Pontiac's overall product offering to Lexus' (or even Toyota's) and it is not hard to see why they vaporized.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I thought the SC430 was supposed to compete with the SL500, XLR, and other hard to convertibles back when it came out? The M3 is in that price range but I never saw it as being in the same class as the SC, XLR, and SL since it's a high performance car.

The newer 3 Series do come as hard top convertibles though where as the old E46's were coupes and soft-top convertibles.

76210Guy

Manners, you remember those, dictate that I ask before ..


[IMG]Uploaded with ImageShack.com[/IMG]

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

sc430
I seen that but I didn't want to say any thing or bring it up your so right a G8 were its coming from not a bad car but not a lexus.
I think they call it a wana a be. Troll Spray great name.

grabber2

75% of retail for a Pontiac.....someone got rip off.
Who want that cheaply make interior........ I like the SC for its ultra luxury and reliability + a hard top. None of your car have these.
You might want to compare yoru G8 to a Rolls Royce since 50x more expensive and slower then our sc430.

579 to the wheel....have fun being pull over by cop

SC43052

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...erm=wanna%20be

I love to engage in conversation to learn why people make different choice about what to spend their hard-earned money on, especially cars.

But there are those who are incapable of respecting others' choices, and as 76210Guy says leave their manners at home.

For those I agree..... break out the Troll Spray!

SC43052

Calling a G8 "not a lexus" is a compliment. Toyota hasn't put out a decent performance car in more than a decade.

You are missing the marketing objectives of the two car companies. Lexus has made a conscious decision to be known as a luxurious, highly reliable automobile, not a performance automobile.

I am also not comparing the G8 to the sc. That's stupid.

Oh contraire! You are doing just that when you ask where the 400+ bhp Lexus sedan is. The G8 goes fast in a straight line – Woohoo! But then you aren’t comparing lacquered wood and leather appointments against a cheap plastic dash.

Unfortunately, the G8 is a wanna-be BMW. You compare a 6.2L G8 engine against a 4.8L 550i engine. The G8 had 29% more displacement but made at best about 10% more horsepower. The 0-60 and quarter mile times for the two cars were nearly identical. However, on a track with two professional drivers the 550i would embarrass the G8.

And oh, what a sweet ride in the 550i. Quiet as a library, solid as a bank safe, puuuuure luxury. Handles all road surfaces with aplomb. Just the Anti Roll Stabilization on the 550i sport suspension option alone is worth the price of admission, forget the advanced dynamic stability control. Pure genius.

And while I am still a fan of the E60 (2004-2010 BMW 5 Series) for a number of reasons, the new active rear axle kinematic suspension on the F10 is really cutting edge. These are systems you just don’t see on every day cars like Pontiacs.

I agree that the Chevy SS will be a lot of bang-for-the-buck. But it will still be a Chevy. Great if that is your sweet spot, but not an easy one-for-one comparison with luxury cars.

The Lexus is a different, more refined animal. Second to none in reliability. Two different products with two different objectives. Both the Chevy and the Lexus have audiences that spend hard earned money how they see fit.

You can’t spend my money and I can’t spend yours.

Thanks for chatting with me, best of luck and enjoy your G8. It truly is champagne performance on a beer budget. If I were spending what you were in 2009, I really couldn’t argue with your choice of the G8.

Solman

To each his own. I respect all folks for their decisions about why they choose the car they drive. I personally loved the SC430 from the day they came out. They were a novelty item that was often sold over MSRP. At this point, I've set my limit to the lower $40's, but like to have multiple cars, which allows me to own without car payments. That is why I've set a limit on what I'll pay. I waited until I could buy an used sc at a reasonable price. At that point I owned five cars for my wife and I. To stay without payments, I sold 3 of my cars to buy the sc. At that time it was 6 years old and had 23k miles on it for 26k miles. I also have a '12 odyssey touring for utility and carrying people and a '13 camry XLE hybrid that I bought as a novelty and am still not sure whether it was a smart move or not. I am proud that I have honed my negotiating skills over the years and with the help of the Internet got some fantastic deals. Not lest you think I'm some wealthy dude who spends carelessly, you'd be wrong. I'm a not-so wealthy dude whose wife and myself have worked hard for the last 40 years and were careful with our money. I've always tried to pay cash for my cars, but that wasn't always possible.

My '13 camry came about when I was able to sell my wife's 08 infiniti ex for high retail with the intent to buy her a used RX. When I found that I could buy a brand new top of the line camry hybrid with every conceivable option for the same price as a 3 year old rx, I chose the camry and paid only $6k more than i sold her infiniti for. I'm still on the fence about that choice. It is great having one vehicle that gets over 40 mpg and strangely enough I have a wife who doesn't care about what she drives.

If you still have kids in the house, I must tell you that once my 3 sons started their own lives and were self suffient, much more spendable income came my way. If you feel I made some stupid choices in vehicles, so be it. To each his own. My dumbest choice was a 1980 Cadillac Seville that spent more time in the shop than in my garage. Comfort was second only to my SC, but how good is it, if you can't drive it

Enjoy your choices-you have to live with them and try not to criticize others for their choices. None of us like that, unless it is constructive and given in a positive manner, which is why we don't take "top gears" criticism well-it is NOT constructive.

Got to stop-out of breath-I talk too much!!!