New member introducing myself...
 

I hope I've got this right and I'm not barging in. Just bought my 02 GS430 which was a 3 year quest looking at all sorts of iron. I wasn't in a hurry.

I'm a Japanese man for cars and a reformed ole time domestic car guy and gearhead.

Like all of you I looked far and wide and cross-shopped of course. The 540iA was the top of the list but its "money pit" reputation put me off quickly. Same with the E class MB. Volkwagen... same thing.

I needed a runaround car to give me a break from my company Ford Escape, and boy did I find it!

I can't afford anything brand new and I'm not worried about buying new right now.

Sooo... I'm the new/old owner of a Michigan GS430 with 104K miles/167km on it.

It ended up with me after a large round trip up north via Manitoba, into Alberta through three or four owners, where it's found a new home after about 7 years here in Canada.

It's got the leather/wood combo including the steering wheel. And where did Toyota get that amazing, amazing V8?

It needs fixes but nothing major or alarming. Styling? Meh, but it's growing on me. Performance? Oh yeah! I can't believe how quick these cars really are.

No I don't like the numb steering but that's ok with me considering what I would have paid to get a Bimmer or Merc.

So no buyer's remorse here.

Welcome to the club bro, post pics when u get the chance

Thanks, sure will. It's the burnished gold with chrome rims and the 17" factory option. I love the info here. I looked up a lot of stuff here too before I plunked down the cash.

Welcome to CL. I went from a BMW to my GS4 and the GS blows it away in my world

Yeah I agree. Lexus has it rockin when it comes to manufacturing tolerances and quality. And there is simply no way to talk about 300 hp, 5 sp auto and rwd without grinning and smirking!

I got the Mark Levinson stereo so that's a new thing for me too!

The Bimmers are nice but when you worry about the "what next" scenerio, that was a big factor for me.

I'm finding that a lot of drivers are not messing with me that much, but that's comparing my Escape of course :)

Welcome to CL...

hi, i am in alberta too. throw up some pics when you can.

Oh cool. I'm in Southern AB. I took a couple of pics yesterday so I'll put some up soon.

hi welcome to cl there are lots of mods you can do to the gs be sure to check them out

A couple of pics up now in my album.

Welcome! I really wanted the 400/430 but they are so hard to find and I just found a mint 300 that I love. Awesome that you were able to get a V8, congrats!

Thanks. It seems like Lexus was always on my mind. I looked at an identical gold one with the six cylinder about two years ago but didn't have the dough and there were a couple of things wrong with it.

I didn't know then that it was a Supra six that sits in there and found it quite peppy, and you'll probably find it a snappy handler with the six.

welcome to the forums! post up some pics of the car!

Awesome car great miles youngn still welcome!

So the car had been making a kind of squeal on the first cold start of the day. The previous owner covered this up by warming it up whenever I checked it and that did make me suspicious as I've seen this done before.

Luckily he may have thought that it was a bigger problem than it was, since he told me lowballers were offering him way less than what he wanted. So he must have gotten sneaky and decided that subsequent buyers wouldn't hear it if he warmed it up slightly.

It got slightly noisier on cold starts during the first 200 miles I have had it but no problems fully warmed up.
But very worrying even as the temp needle came up to where it was supposed to be. It sounds really loud when you first hear it, almost like the water pump or something else is about to go.

Looked up the DIY sticky on a squealing noise and found out that it's the serpentine belt even though it doesn't look worn, cracked or glazed. Like others, I too assumed the worst, pulley or alternator etc.

So $45 dollars later and about 20 minutes of messing around, I installed the Goodyear Gatorback and no problems on that score. Really happy!

Now the check engine light and codes next!