Jay's GS430 | Black/Black | ML | NAV | L-tuned | Tein

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12-28-13, 03:01 PM

JayGS4

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The time has come for me to make my own build thread for my 2003 GS430 I recently acquired. I have wanted a 2nd generation GS since they were debuted in late '97 and I was in grade school!

Well now was my opportunity to own one. I have come from various BMWs in the past and currently own an E46 M3, but wanted something more friendly for my daily drive commute. My criteria was a mid-full size sedan or wagon, reliable, decent looks, and decent gas mileage (mid 20s on the highway), and preferably AWD (to get me through the midwest winters). I was looking at G35 sedans, E60 5 series, B7 A4s, and GS430s. In the end, I've decided a RWD would be totally fine for me as Ive driven my E46 M3 in the winter last year with dedicated snow tires. In addition, I figure I would try something proven to be reliable, and Lexus came to mind.

Although I have not had any major issues with my previous cars, it was always nice to try something that can possibly reach 250k miles with proper maintenance. Given I am looking for a car reliable enough to rack up the miles, the GS430 would be a nice option. Especially after hearing from my father that his friend has put over 300k miles on his LS400 (purchased new) without any issues.

So that starts me with my search for a GS400 or GS430 (I wanted black on black with NAV and premium audio). I've been searching for a 98-00 GS400 or 01-05 GS430 for some time (early spring 2013), but the ones in my area were not in the best condition especially given the budget I had set for this car (under 8k). Either the exterior was in unpleasant condition or the interior was heavily worn. Given the age of these vehicles, it was difficult to find a clean example, but I knew a bit of patience would pay off. I had originally been interested in a black on black 98 GS400 with 154k miles in pretty good condition. Many maintenance items were complete at the local lexus dealer, but the interior was a bit worn out. The owner was asking $4,000 for the car but apparently they received more interest from potential buyers than anticipated, so they raised the price to $5,000! Even at $5,000 it was a great deal, but the principle behind it didn't work well for me. This had lost my interest in addition to the fact that the owner mentioned it had no prior accidents (single owner) when both carfax and autocheck noted an accident in 2005! I had to steer clear as something didnt seem right.

But at the same time, I felt I wanted something a bit newer and cleaner with less miles.

Another couple months go by, and still can't find the right GS. I looked at several GS300s as they were cheaper and there appeared to be more available. However, I was not convinced by the power and I had no plans on adding a turbo, so it had to be a V8 GS.

Then one day, as I'm scouring through autotrader, I find a slightly modded 2003 GS430 with 88k miles and well maintained with the exact color combo and options I am looking for. The car was listed for more than I wanted to spend for a car, but still very reasonable given the condition and options on the car. The car was located about 400 miles away but I thought it was worth it to take a look and test drive.

The next week, I drove up to take a look at the car and it was clean and everything as described. The car was enthusiast owned, had a pile of maintenance items completed (all from lexus dealer) with invoices and receipts for every recommended lexus service interval. On top of that, it came with a many goodies here and there (3 sets of wheels, stock and aftermarket suspension and many more):

Black on black 88k miles
All services to 88k miles performed
Lexus remote start
19x10 & 19x8.5" AME Shallen CX with 275/245 Toyo tires
L-Tuned Side skirts
L-Tuned Front Grille
Stock Grille
Stock Side skirts
Stock OEM shocks and springs
Tein CS Coilovers
Cross drilled rotors and Axis pads
Stock 17" chrome 7 spoke wheels with Bridgestone S-03 tires
16" Mille Miglia winter wheels with Bridgestone Blizzak tires
iPod connect

Overall, the car was in excellent condition and the interior was mint and still smelled new! Took it for a test drive which went well. Only concern was the upcoming 90k service so the seller knocked off a good amount for that. All in all, I was impressed! We made a deal, loaded up the two cars with 2 sets of wheels and headed back to Illinois! The car performed flawlessly on the way back and I was very happy with it. It was definitely nice buying from an enthusiast who took great care of the car. Although I have spent more than my budget, I figure if I put this car back to stock with the parts the seller included with the car, this would be a just a bit more than the 98 GS400 with 154k miles I was about to buy! Given this car was 60k less miles than that, is A LOT cleaner inside and out, and is 5 years newer, it definitely was a great purchase!

Anyways, here are pictures of my GS430. So far, I've lowered it even more on the Tein CS coils, tossed on the OEM stock wheels, and added clear corner lights.