psychot|K

1) Can a lexus dealer install the xenon lights in a car that does not have them installed?
2) Nak stereo impressions? Is it worth it to find a LS400 with one?
3) Price no option; which lowering springs or coilovers sacrafice none or the least ride quality? I'd love to lower my LS but I don't want to sacrafice that great ride quality.
4) What exactly does the "platinum edition" get you?

Thanks in advance... I've been wondering about these issues for months!

hlovepenn

In '96 I bought a '91 LS400 with Nak and within a year all four door speakers had gone out. On the first I considered a Nak replacement, but they were $480 or so from the dealer. I replaced with good 4 1/2' speakers and saved about $1500. I now have a '96 with the Premium set, but not Nak and it sounds much better than the original sounded in my '91. Hope this helps and good luck!

EXE.UCF10

iTrader: (3)

1) They might install OEM HIDs, but that will cost you a bundle...I definitely wouldn't recommend it. The dealer will not install aftermarket HID kits.

2) I think Nak is definitely worth it.

3) Lowering springs, Eibach. Coilovers, Tein CS.

4) Platinum edition includes Nak, maplewood instead of walnut, different leather and wheels.

psychot|K

Thanks for the input thus far!

So the xenon lights from the L-dealer I shouldn't count on? I could have swore I heard someone do this before... or maybe it's just my imagination?

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

I know Lexus of Tampa bay wouldnt do it when my friend was about to buy a GS300 back in the day.

You can do it yourself, but even if you did, you would lose out on the autoLevel feature. So make sure it comes OEM if you really want it. Its std on all 99+ and optional on 98's. I'm glad mine had the HID's and wooden **** and steering wheel from the factory.

To me, buying a 98+ LS with no HID's is like walking naked in the middle of the street

psychot|K

Hold on a second... this is news to me.

Are you saying HID's are the same thing as the "xenon" headlight?
And are you also saying that ALL 99+ cars come with xenon headlights?

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

HID's are "High Intensity Discharge lamps". They ignite the gas "Xenon" to produce the light in simple terms. So some people call them HID's, some call them Xenons. But in any case, do not mistake them with the cheapp $15 dollar bulbs that use the name " Xenon" to advertise their product. They are two different kinds of bulbs. One ignites the xenon gas using a ballast running high voltage (the real stuff) and ones that are halogen but are tinted blue (Fake ones that sell for $15).

Get my drift?

But in essence, xenon, and HID are different names for the same product.

Matters

Are you playing man?HIDs are Xenons. HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. They are otherwise known as xenons because of the xenon gas inside the HID bulb.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

I believe HID's or Xenon's, whichever you like to call them are std on 99's+ But found very commonly among 98's.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

He sounds serious.... and if you are, its cool, we were all new at this at one point in time, be sure to stop by thelighting forum and read up on the sticky's to get up to date with these things.

Horta

Everyone has different "opinions" of what needed to buy the right car. Personally when I was looking I concentrated on my Budget. I new I had XXX amount to spend, so I set out to find the Lowest miles best condition car I could get for XXX amount. My one big HAD to have was the Ivory (Tan) interior and really preferred Pearl White paint. After that I set out looking for low miles.

Point is what's more important to you a car with 40,000 miles with out Nav and HID or a car with 90,000 with Nav and HID? Also you will NOT find a car with Nav and the Nakamichi stereo that was not a combination that was available.

The Nav is definitely a kick but feature but remember its several generation old and I think can only be updated to 2003 maps (I think). They main thing to consider is Nav is a very Rare option in the LS back then. So finding one with low miles in the color you want and in good condition is going to take a very long time to find and you may pass up many many great LS in order to search for this one rare LS.

just my cents

I found my car 2 years ago and it had 24,000 single owner, Non smoking, Garage kept, and dealer maintained. It was absolutely showroom new. The dealer wanted back then $30,000 to $33,000 for any LS with less than 30,000 miles. I paid for my car $28,500 from a private person (retired rich guy in a 2mil plus house on the water and a No **** eight car garage). My LS was babied before I got it and still is.
Jerry Horta

Kansas

The standard (non-HID) lights found more often on the 98 LS are really great compared to the lights on my old 90 LS - I drove a 98 with std lights in 97 and the dealer salesman complained that all the new 98's were not arriving with HID. The auto leveling of the HID is more important to me - very nice when the car is loaded down. HID was an option in all years (98-00) but cars without HID are very rare after 98.

There were three Platinum Series variations (SE, SF, SG) in 2000. I think you can do a search here on "Platinum" and find detailed information on each version. All three versions come with HID, 2001 LS430 wheels, sunroof, CD changer, different leather, maple wood, special mats, special exterior badges including black chrome ones front and rear. The SF adds Nak and heated seats. The SG adds Nav and heated seats.

Is the Nak worth it? Well, the Nak in our 00 LS is certainly far better than the standard radio in our first (90) LS, but then the optional radio in our 98 Camry is far better than the standard one the old 90 LS. I have read several people say that the standard radio of the 98-00 LS sounds as good as the Nak in the 95-97 LS.

Horta

As far as the Nak being worth it. I had the same question when shopping. So I found two LS at the Lexus Dealer one with one with out and compared. The Nak is supposed to be more Musical for the Audiophile. To me I notice the treble was not that bright and I had to crank the treble *** to max and still not that great. On my normal LS stereo I keep the treble at the 2:00 position and am very pleased, just to give you and idea.

Yes the bass was a little stronger in the Nak but did not make up for the lack of Highs to me.

Also I forgot to mention I just bought a car for my little brother so I have an active CARFAX account for the next 20 or so days. Send me the VIN #s of the cars you are considering and i will run them for you for free.

psychot|K

I apologize for any 'noob' questions I may ask. However if anyone deserves the title of 'noob', it's me
I was debating between the LS and GS until I discovered that I really don't like cars which try and do two things. In my mind the GS tried to be a sports car and a luxury car and the PURE luxury concept of the LS just spoke to me more than the GS. Now that I've decided on the model, I then decided that the 98-00 was the most appealing series of LS, even more-so than the brand new 05's, which I also considered.
As you can tell I'm now narrowing down options on the car. So far I know I'd like Xenon's (HID's), but I'm still torn on the Nak system. I've been a car audio enthusiast for a while now and if I can't find a car with the Nak system, I'd just do something aftermarket. Do you believe an quality aftermarket system could end up sounding better than the factory Nak? Cause I know in some luxury cars, the stock stereo is the best that the acoustics can allow.
The mileage does not really bother me too much, because I've owned toyotas and they have always seemed to run just as well with 50,000 on e'm, than with 100,000. I do like the idea of the colour matched skirts of the Platinum edition. I was going to budget $25,000 for this car... any inputs on if I can find a car which fits my needs for that (give or take a few $1000)?

Thanks so much for everyone's input and patience. This is definitely a more mature forum than most.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

For $25,000, you can get a plat 2000 with >50K. You can always get a good aftermarket system if you can handle the way the dash looks. There are many great after market systems out there depending on how much you are willing to spend.
The one tone is a serious plus for the platinum edition; I do not really like the two-tone deal Lexus forces on us in the US.

Personally, I have no complaints about my premium sound system, sounds better then 90% of new cars today. So it’s a personal preference, you have to hear the premium that comes with the navi, and a nak, and decide for yourself.

We were all noobs at one point or another