1sickls430

my dads friend used to own a beautiful white 01 s500 top of the line and when he saw my dads car he was drooling and then a month later he bought the same one except with 20"rims.Then he owned that for about a month also and traded it back in for another s500 becuz he said the ls430 didnt not have nuff hp for him like the benz did.Well when my dad saw this i guess he tradin in his ls430 for that s500.I dunno i mean i like that benz that ****** is PHAT but i love that ls430.Do you guys think this is a wise choice.Considerin the s500 has a lil more hp than the ls has but cost round 20-25 more but that isnt the prob.Hows is the reliabilty on that car is what concerns me.Well any insight will be greatly appreciated thank u.

Static911

Let us understand

Your family friend traded in his LS430 for a S500 soley on the basis of power?

I guess reliablity didn't play too much of a factor. There are other threads on this board specifically directed toward the reliablity of MB, BMW, etc. Do a search on "reliability."

But otherwise, if your father likes the LS430 so much, then without a doubt, trading it in (also, I presume the car depreciated already) is a mistake.

I'm sure there are always alternatives to boost up the horsepower.

Torque converter?

Super-charger (when it comes out)

Intake?

I'm sure with a bit of $, you can find all the needs to make the LS430 >= S500.

static911

1sickls430

well he had an s500 the he got the ls430 then yeah he traded that in again and got the s500 mostly cuz of looks and power.i mean my dad will only have the car for a bout a year or an year and a half.reliability does matter becuz we hate to put the car that cost round 90+ in the servce department for ex air conditoning i mean we have been drivin lexus for a very long time and we owned all the models so far except rx,es,is.I think it would be good to try sumthin diff but i love that ls430 hehe

JBrady

Well, as a Lexus lover... a friend of mine has an S430. Reliability issues asside the big Benz cars are badass. Ride and feel is ROCK solid. The Lexus is VERY solid but the Benz feels even more so. The S430 has the same size engine as the LS430 and is heavier making it slightly slower than an LS430 BUT the S500 has a 5 liter engine making 340 lbs of torque at 2700rpm vs the LS430 making 320 at 3400. The LS430 is probably only making 290 lbs at the 2700 peak of the Benz and that rpm range is where most NON kickdown driving is done. This makes for a quicker car and one that FEELS much more powerful.

For me, give me an S55, a CL55 or my top choice a 2002 SL55 with 476 SUPERCHARGED horses.

Now, if Lexus would get with the power program and offer a factory 5.5 liter performance model... Lexus, are you LISTENING?

Beltfed

My oldman has a 00 S500, drove the LS430....they are definitely comparable- the Lexus does 0-60 around 6.3 and the S500 does it in 6.1sec. They are both land yachts, so I didn't really notice the difference.

The S and CL class AMG models are not worth the extra coin for the small difference in performance you are getting IMO (the SLK 32, C32, CLK55, E55 I can understand)....to spend $105k on an S55 do to do 0-60 in 5.7sec (vs. 6.1 sec) just seems crazy to me, thats $20k+ more than an S500.

But if your first name starts with P and ends with Diddy, whats the difference right.

VQPOWER

If he traded it in for looks, I sure don't blame him. (Hmm why did he get it in the first place?) I'm sorry but the new LS is one of the ugliest designs out there. Fabulous? Yes. Reliable? Yes. World Class? Yes. Beautiful? Um...no.