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Yeah he had three, this one that was in his 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, and then he moved it to his 90 Lincoln Continental, and replaced it with a new one which he moved to his 95 Cadillac STS. They put this one into my mom's 87 Ford Aerostar, and then when we got the Explorer in 95 we got a new phone for it. They were SO expensive you had to keep them for multiple cars lol. The 98 LS400 came with the Lexus one installed in the armrest.
Speaking of the Explorer, I have that temp tag too! I inherited this as my first car in 1997.
Ran a Carfax on that too, and sadly he is no more. His name was Ted:
Your loss lol. My LS460s were the best Lexuses I ever had. I have a soft spot for the 98 LS400, but liked both 460s much more than the 430.
I totally agree and I have flipped on that 180* after owning both, the 460 utterly outclasses the 430. The 430 however is the better engineering example....
You and anyone else can tell the XF40 is simply a higher tier car, I think it's the best car Lexus has ever made outside the LFA and true F cars but those are totally different intent.
460s weren’t as smooth, noticeably. Too many issues for a Lexus LS.
My 460 is smoother, quieter, more seamless, and more composed than my 430(s) but to be fair I did replace all wear items on both to make the comparison fair.
The 460 simply degrades faster and hides flaws worse than the 430 and this leads to the illusion the 460 is the worse car. The far more simple suspension in the 430 and steel parts absorb and compensate for wear in bushing far better vs the dramatically superior all forged aluminum suspension and subframes of the 460. When the two systems are working at peak performance and new (all new shocks, arms, mounts, engine/trans mounts, tires, bushings, flex disks etc...) it is no contest. The 460 is superior without even bringing handling, sharpness, stability, confidence, directness, and outright speed into the equation.
The only actual issue the LS460 has is the 8 speed has a 2-3 shift bump on the first shift in the morning due to how the ravigneaux gear set works with cold fluid. However it makes up for it in spades with response, gear holding in corners, adaption to driver, and insane smoothness when warm. The only trans I have ever used that is better is the ZF8, the PDK is also insane but that's a pure performance unit.
460s weren’t as smooth, noticeably. Too many issues for a Lexus LS.
I'm not in the minority of people who have actually had both, and in any event I've had both and you haven't. I can't speak to the earlier 460s but both of my 13 refreshes were great, way better cars than my LS430. Especially my 17. Probably better than the 400 too but the nostalgia of that wins out for me.
Only way the 430 was superior was in powetrain smoothness.
Had I kept them all for 15 years I might feel different, but buying new and driving them to 50,000 miles, 460 was far superior. Like I have said before, out of the 4 LSs we had, the 430 was my least favorite.
The LS430 is the better engineered car overall. LS460 they cut more corners.
Very true but the 460 is the better car not the 430, the 430 is the better engineering example.
Very different way of looking at them and as someone who looks at his cars both ways the easiest way I can describe it is the better car is one you actually want to drive all else being equal. All the flagship tier cars are amazing and very capable as a given, but certain ones just have more "pull" when picking keys for the day. The keys of the 460 "pulled" me far more than the 430 ever did but none of them have can compare to the irresistible gravity of the German keys.
I like them so much and the W12 in particular that I drive it when I KNOW it is going to rain and even to work to the point I'm using it to go to work nearly as much as the Jeep. It's just so so so good I don't care about the extra effort needed to keep it clean/perfect.
I'm not in the minority of people who have actually had both, and in any event I've had both and you haven't. I can't speak to the earlier 460s but both of my 13 refreshes were great, way better cars than my LS430. Especially my 17. Probably better than the 400 too but the nostalgia of that wins out for me.
Only way the 430 was superior was in powetrain smoothness.
Had I kept them all for 15 years I might feel different, but buying new and driving them to 50,000 miles, 460 was far superior. Like I have said before, out of the 4 LSs we had, the 430 was my least favorite.
Yep. I was very much in the other camp at first but the 460 grows on you like few cars do.....a short rear drive isn't fair to it.
It's kinda like how someone's SL500 rapidly became the favorite despite being "imperfect" and not as solid lol!
Very true but the 460 is the better car not the 430, the 430 is the better engineering example.
Thats a good way of looking at it.
Originally Posted by Striker223
Yep. I was very much in the other camp at first but the 460 grows on you like few cars do.....a short rear drive isn't fair to it.
It's kinda like how someone's SL500 rapidly became the favorite despite being "imperfect" and not as solid lol!
I would say the LS460 is much more Mercedes-like than the LS430 (for better and worse), it does grow on you I agree, as I felt the LS400 did. I just never loved the 430, never liked the look of it or the feel of it. It felt devoid of personality which I didn't think the 400 did or the 460s did.
Very true but the 460 is the better car not the 430, the 430 is the better engineering example.
Very different way of looking at them and as someone who looks at his cars both ways the easiest way I can describe it is the better car is one you actually want to drive all else being equal. All the flagship tier cars are amazing and very capable as a given, but certain ones just have more "pull" when picking keys for the day. The keys of the 460 "pulled" me far more than the 430 ever did but none of them have can compare to the irresistible gravity of the German keys.
I like them so much and the W12 in particular that I drive it when I KNOW it is going to rain and even to work to the point I'm using it to go to work nearly as much as the Jeep. It's just so so so good I don't care about the extra effort needed to keep it clean/perfect.
I think the LS460 has better performance..for sure. And awd drive. More advanced powertrain. But the LS430 is just better engineered, better put together as well. The LS400 even better (2nd Gen)
I would say the LS460 is much more Mercedes-like than the LS430 (for better and worse), it does grow on you I agree, as I felt the LS400 did. I just never loved the 430, never liked the look of it or the feel of it. It felt devoid of personality which I didn't think the 400 did or the 460s did.
Couldn't agree more. The 460 leaves an impression on people and is called special, amazing, and an experience. It sticks in peoples heads and they bring it up to me unprompted even if they aren't call people, they all say it has a "feeling" to it that they have never felt from other cars.
The 430 gets "nice car" or "very quiet" comments, it doesn't ever make its way into peoples heads as a landmark experience for them. The 460 has done so for enough people of different types/background/interests I know it's not a coincidence or people just being passively nice. It gets in peoples heads and sets a new standard for what they thought a car can be to them.
The 430 never has.....and many of these people experienced it first before the 460 and had me trash talking the XF40 in their biases already. I used to make fun of it for being unreliable but the more I actually got hands on with it the more I changed my tune to say it's actually insanely reliable considering what you are getting!
I think the LS460 has better performance..for sure. And awd drive. More advanced powertrain. But the LS430 is just better engineered, better put together as well. The LS400 even better (2nd Gen)
But not as enjoyable a car to have and drive despite being put together better. Like my S560 is not put together as well as an LS460 but its a more enjoyable car. Some flaws here and there aren't always a bad thing, it gives the car character. Thats really what it is, the 400 and the 460s felt special to me and the 430 never did.
