Are First Gen's going extinct?
 

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed a similar occurrence. I usually periodically check the car sales adds to get an idea of the value of our 1st gens (98-2000 models particularly). But I'm noticing that I'm seeing less and less of them out there. It has me wondering if the 1st gens (98-2000) are going "extinct" or are people just holding on to them longer now?

Has the value (desirability) of these cars increased so people no longer want to sell or you guys think nobody is buying therefore no one is selling. Just curious to get some thoughts from enthusiast on the forum.

These cars are 20+ years old in some cases. There will be fewer and fewer of them and those of us that have good ones, probably aren't looking to let them go.
LS430s, at least in the DFW area can be had for $4k or less with 200k miles on them so some would rather spend the same money for a newer model.
As a general rule across any vehicle, the older they are, the less you see on the road.

That definitely makes sense. I just thought I'd actually see more of them for sale as they got older. Mine is still in grade shape from the standpoint of cosmetics. At least twice a month I get random offers to sell it; which was one reason why I figured the demand must be high for these cars. But I doubt I'll let mine go.

Wait did you say 430s are now going for $4k or less for 200,000 miles?

A 98 to 2000 is NOT a gen 1.
Gen 1 is 1989 to 1994.
Gen 2 is 1995 to 1997

i want one of those red interior 1st gens......or id take just the interior too :D

Haha, I'm with dicer. When I read '1st gen' I thought you were talking about 90-94.

JFYI.
Below is the way we distinguish for JDM models based on manufacturing date.

Gen1 Oct,1989 - August,1992
Gen1+ August,1992 - June,1994
Gen2 June,1994 - July,1997
Gen2.5 July,1997 - August,2000
Gen3 August,2000 - August,2003
Gen3+ August,2003 - May,2006

I no longer see Gen2 running here any more these days. Those are gone somewhere.

It seems I see more gen 1's than gen 2's around me for some reason. The oldies are still hanging in there.

My first gen, 1990, only has 56k miles so shell be with me and on the road for the foreseeable future

of course, I already know that. Most people (other than Lexus enthusiast) generally consider 430's the second gens due to the more obvious change in body styles (which makes it easier to group as a different generation).

I'm not trying to get particular that's why I specifically stated the year models I was referring to which is technically a gen 2 (95-2000 but who's counting). Regardless it doesn't change the point of the question but thank you for pointing out the obvious sir. ;-)

I did a nation wide search on cargurus.com for LS400 in the 98-2000 range. Only 65 listings nationally. That's the fewest I've seen. Usually its about 100-200 over the past few years I've looked.

I didn't look at the earlier models though.

Yes, they are. One of the reasons I bought my LS400 was because there were still so many on the road. After I bought it, I would still see them regularly but more like a few times a week instead of everyday like before. Apparently, other people must not see them as much as I do because I would have people taking pictures of my car, the dealership begging me to trade it in, and someone trying to race me at least once a week. Not one person has tried to race me since I've had my LS430.

Searching for 90-94 models on the same site only returns 53 cars nationally, and it seems like prices have gone up a tiny bit since I was looking last year.

One reason I haven't sold mine is that it seems to be rare to find a black on black with all the options like mine. The interior still looks great so I hang on to it for that reason as well.

How long are you guys planning to keep yours? I want to keep mine for as long as I can, but I'm planning on retiring it and using it as just a "weekend" car or something to drive every now and then.

Anybody with newer cars that still prefer their LS400?

If I can help it I'm never getting rid of mine, it's just too good. I'm going to have a hard time retiring mine from daily use when the time comes but I'll probably pull out every excuse I can to take it out.