Regarding the price of the UL electronic air strut:

MSRP is $1060 each. You can buy them online at wholesale price for about $850.

But each dealer can charge whatever they want, corporate Lexus have no contol of that. My particular local dealer want $1290 for each strut. They want 2 hours of labor to install each one, $105 per hour. So for my local dealer, part+labor+tax comes out to be about $1600 for each strut. This is why they give you brand new ES350 as loaner car, free donut and coffee and drinks, very nice lounge to hang out in

 

The leather comes from different cows, so not all the same LOL Could be the ones with the holes come from the cows that were used for target practice by rookie speed trap cops.

 

you are funny!

 

I actually pulled out a national from dealer daily (toyota's webiste to track cars, view inventory etc). In this website I can pull any window sticker provided I have the VIN number.... Upon running my friends CL car.. it did mention SEMI- ANILINE leather... but when I pulled mine (ML)... no mention of that...

If you guys ever want to see your window sticker and view the options it came with and see which dealer sold and when... just go to your local Toyota/Lexus dealer and request for a national on your car... they will know what you are talking about!! (go to the podium at the dealerships, sales guys wont have access to this in most places)

Most interesting part of this thing is the original MSRP and the INVOICE numbers...

 

I know what you mean about the invoice numbers. Retail on my CL+smart key+18" chromes+semi aniline came to ~$66,600. Dealer cost was ~$54,450.

Definitely a good idea to get your build sheet with details on what options your car was originally ordered with. Looking online for details on the various option packages it does look like the Semi Aniline and Napa leather packages were "extra" items - even on the UL models?

 

Ok, i am confused now...so semi-aniline leather is OPTIONAL on LS with UL packages???? I am talking about 2004-2006 models.

 

It was an option but it was a required option. In 05, you had to select either black semi aniline at $2100 or ecru or saddle at $1460.
This was true for Ultra Luxury or Custom Luxury packages.
I have an 05 Custom Luxury with Saddle plus Smart Access (option on Custom Package, standard on Ultra). The Utra includes everything in my custom plus air suspension and rear seat stuff.
Here is a link to specs page for 90-2005 LS
http://www.lexus.com/contact/model_s...ricing_ls.html
Mine is an 05. If you go to that years link, the options and prices are on page 3.
Those numbers match the numbers on my car's original window sticker exactly.

 

Ahhh, i see. Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction!

So, with UL package, it is best to go with BLACK interior to get the best leather.

Thanks again everyone!

 

Wow, didn't know they charged extra for black. I would've been happy with saddle or ecru.

Regardless of the trim, lexus uses the best leather
My 99 GS had about 145k miles when I sold it-not a single crack. It did have a couple of pipes around the edge broken though.

 

Lexus/Toyota is very smart... they know what people want in terms of colors and charge extra for them. They just cant get the idea that people want a sports car from Toyota for some reason!!

 

I looked up my original window sticker:

My 05' UL came with:

Interior package with comfort leather trim for $1460, I got the Ecru interior.

 

Hooonunya's link is a good one to see what was offered in the various packages and combos. It can be a bit confusing and the offerings changed a bit from year to year in some cases. I've done a LOT of comparing of leathers and seating changes lately as I was shopping for another LS. There is actually a good bit of difference in the look and "hand" (feel) of LS430 seating. In addition to the info in the aforementioned link, here are some random points that came clear during my comparisons on actual vehicles:
-- All '04+ are perforated -- prior to that only the cars with the *air conditioned* seats were perforated. '01-'03 UL had AC seats, but they were also available in other packages such as the NL package on the '03 model.
-- Some seats in the same year model are upholstered more snugly than others and therefore *give the impression* of harder leather or different amount of cushion under the leather. I've had '05's sitting side by side on the same car lot and you'd swear that the seat leathers were different, yet the cars were equipped with the same option packages. However, in reality the leather and cushioning are the same -- it's just the way the seat was upholstered. You can see this in photos on the internet -- some seats have the leather drawn relatively tight, more like the German cars, while others have wavy leather with "excess" material that is gathered at the seams. I thought it unusual that there would be this kind of variation, but there is.
-- My '03 perforated leather was softer than any '04+ leather that I have encountered, and was also upholstered more "loosely," the combination of which gave an impression of a very high quality feel and finish.

 

I think that's called big butt or REALLY BIG BUTT. Just like a leather shoe, it expands with flexing and use, so the more you flex, the more it stretches.

 

Nope. I'm not talking about an individual seat or seat bottom that may have been stretched. What I am talking about is a uniform difference in upholstery style throughout the car on every seat bottom and seat back, front and rear -- and even on the door panels where there is no wear or stretching. I've seen the characteristic across perhaps 25 cars in person in addition to the internet photos.

 

Good observation!

I just buy a UL and be done with it, I am lazy

With my very specific color combo with the UL package, I don't have the luxury to choose how the leather was done anyways

The softest leather I ever seen in a Lexus was in a 2000 LS400, boy that was so soft, thank god that car was sold, I would have consider trading my LS430 for it!!