Lol no, the drivers of them are old overwhelmingly. They sure don't look like the fifth owners, lol. Now the LS400 before it, yes... You see a couple of those all modded out driven by a younger person.

Most of them were bought new and kept. They just don't stop or even slow down, there's no reason to get rid of one if you don't like car payments and do like ridiculous luxury and refinement, and a great V8 engine. A well-kept LS430 is still just as refined as virtually any car on the road. Remember, I live in a fiscally conservative area. People hang onto good cars around here.

 

I do not agree with that. I see lots of people in their 40s driving i7 and S cars all over.

 

Ask them what a Lexus LS500 is and if it was ever in their radar before picking up their current ride.

 

And that's part of the problem with Lexus and Toyota products in general. For one reason or the other their non-TNGA products were essentially buy it 4 life friendly, great for the 1st through 10th owners, but terrible for the mfg bottom line. They need that constant upgrade cycle or folks who will buy it 4 life more then once. The RX, NX, UX and IS enjoy that upgrade cycle. An RX owner is a very loyal bunch and will upgrade like clockwork if you pay attention to those households, some who have done this since their very first RX in 1999.

IMO alot of the TNGA products focus on making sure Toyota is the primary beneficiary in the consumer market. This is a tangent, but look at your LX/LC. Their new car volume was very limited, and after the new car sales purchase, whose funds benefit Toyota directly, the rest of its lifetime an 200 gets resold multiple time by speculators who charged exorbitant amounts to folks who are willing to fork it over for the chance to own a legendary nameplate, none of which benefit Toyota. Some folks were, have, and still pay $60k for a 10 year old truck with 50-60k miles.

Toyota aimed to change that, and now we have an LC250 thats more affordable and makes sure every dollar a person spends on the LC nameplate goes into Toyota's coffers.

 

That's just the Land Cruiser Prado, which has always existed alongside the regular Land Cruiser globally. It's just now that they discontinued the real Land Cruiser in the US and replaced it with the cheaper Prado, because no one was buying the LC here.

 

Basically they made cars that were too good lol. I’m telling y’all, there are bookoos of LS430s still around. They just don’t stop… ever.

For example….

I stole the keys from my spouse to the Denali and he drove my LS430 the other day. And was like “whoa, this car is/drives/feels the exact the same as it was when we met”……12 years ago. Not even a car nut,
but appreciates them way more since being with me.

 

Folks were buying and appreciating the full size LC, just not directly from Toyota as its 1st owner. Instead it was the used car market enjoying it. The LC Prado is trying to recapture that lost $$$ by naturally being a lower cost entry and being very very aftermarket friendly from the get go.

 

...........But they are not necessarily in the used car market by choice. Lexus is just neglecting that market, and not building any sedans like that anymore. As many here have pointed out earlier, you cannot really compare the latest LS500 with the superb LS430.

 

Yeah but the problem is the 250 ain't THAT much cheaper than the 200 which is vastly superior. At least IMO.

 

People who are looking for a $20,000 used LS430 (if even that much) are definitely not the same people spending $100K+ on a new flagship luxury sedan.

 

I guarantee you the vast majority of LS430 owners around here are original. They're all old AF. There are two in my neighborhood alone that have been there for the 8 years we've lived here. One guy has left his parked outside its whole life it looks like, it's always outside and never garaged. Power folding mirrors still appearing to be working, they're always in when I pass by.

 

I don't think a new LS will EVER be as successful as the previous ones nor will it ever beat the S Class or the 7er/i7 but is still important to have as a flagship model in the lineup. LS should be model that sets Lexus's styling and technological direction and trickle it down to all the other models. But at this point in time the LS probably has to be full EV, I'm sure Lexus has given up on the GA-L platform and Toyota can't justify making another RWD platform for anything other than their upcoming sports cars.

 

Make it EV only, it's dead for sure.

EVs are dead, have been for years. We don't want them. People are rushing V8s back, lmao.

 

While I agree with that, Lexus would have to develop a brand new platform likely from scratch and new engine platform which would take another 4-5 years. I don't think they can justify this without other models in the lineup to share this platform/engine (GS, RWD SUV, IS, etc) but Toyota has stated that Lexus will be leading EV development iirc.

 

I just don't see it. This is just anecdotal guessing based on cars you just...see driving around.

There's no army of loaded LS430 owners that bought the cars brand new and have kept them for 25 years just waiting to buy a brand new LS if only it returns to the LS430 format. There might be a few, but the vast majority of flagship luxury buyers traded those things in for the next hot thing after 2 years of ownership. They're driving German flagships now, or luxury SUV's.