I think I may have finally found my LS! It's a 2004, Modern Luxury package (Silver/black) with 36,000 miles and can buy it for $24,995 (non-Lexus dealer). How does this sound?

 

It's not a bad price for a certified one but I think its a bit high for a non certified like you're looking at and think you can do better.
The prices on these cars seems to be inching up. For example, I paid the same price for my '05 and it was a California car that was certified too. That was last January and after doing a search on Autotrader just now I couldn't duplicate that deal for an '05 but I could find some '04's that were certified with about 10K more miles than yours.
Also depends on how well it was taken care of too. Many folks here on the forum have indicated that because of the type of customer buying these cars as new that they are maintained very well and I believe that. I think it would be the exception to the rule to find an abused one.
So, unless you can get a better price on it, I would continue to shop around.

 

These were the 04-06 430's that sold at Manheim (wholesale) on Oct. 15th...of course there is no way to tell any of the trim levels or which are hoopties or mint, etc...

2004 LS430 76,436 WHITE $22,500
2004 LS430 69,137 BLUE $16,500
2004 LS430 67,854 BLACK $16,750
2004 LS430 52,745 SILVER $20,000
2005 LS430 40,168 WHITE $24,000
2005 LS430 91,920 BLACK $17,500
2005 LS430 25,493 BLACK $24,250
2006 LS430 65,772 GREY $22,500
2006 LS430 2,449 MAROON $36,500
2006 LS430 42,378 WHITE $30,500
2006 LS430 82,148 GREEN $26,000
2006 LS430 41,399 BROWN $26,250
2006 LS430 35,887 BKCHY $26,000

Hope this helps???

 

I thought it was a bit high, but not for the Philly area. I've been monitoring the pricing for quite some time now, and it seems this particular market area commands a higher price.

But thank you for your advice!

 

They certainly seem to be holding their own or actually increasing a little bit from where they were in the 1st and 2nd quarters of '09. My local Lexus dealer is having a buy-back promotion, sending out letters to owners of LS430s and other higher-end Lexus cars offering to buy their cars or give special deals on new trades. Normally I'd think this just a marketing program and nothing more, but looking at their inventory they are full of RX and IS, but have practically no LS or GS, no LX, and one GX. They have a base model '05 LS with 4x,000 miles and their internet price (which has historically been *very* competitive with private party prices on autotrader, etc.) is almost $32K. I'm pretty sure they'd actually pay me more for my '05 ML than I gave for it (tax and all) certified from another Lexus dealer back in April. <-- That is a very unusual situation...

 

Paid $17k for my 04 with 84k miles back in May 2008.
It's cost be an additional $950 to ship from Duarte CA to Richmond VA

 

^^^ A *steal* if it is in good condition.

 

Vehicle is in excellent condition. Modern Lux package. Got it cheap when gas price was $5 in CA.
Current has 110k, doing the timing belt, water pump, crankshaft seal, thermostat, and spark plugs.
Can't wait to get it back this weekend.

 

The prices were lower when the gas prices spiked.

I thought the LS430 would have a timing "chain" and not a timing "belt". Guess I was wrong. Are you having Lexus do the work or are you going to a private garage? If a dealer, would you mind let us know what all of this is running you?

 

This vehicle does have a timing belt, A local garage is doing all the work.
For a 90K service, with timing belt and waterpump, I think lexus will charged about $1500-1700.

That's is what they quoted me last year.

 

The "chain is superior to a belt" is largely a marketing angle by the companies who use chains. They say it in a "looking down their nose" manner, and many people believe it without even questioning them. The very companies who do this can't seem to build engines that can go much more than half as long as many of the engines that use timing belts, so it's particularly ironic that they imply "reliability" issues with their marketing. Aside from the fact that a belt needs to be replaced about every 150K miles if you want to keep it from breaking, or every ~90-105K (depending upon the engine) if you want to follow the safe/over-kill manufacturer's recommendations, there is nothing wrong with a belt. They even have some advantages, in fact, such as being quieter, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that they are easier on cam bearings and result in longer valve train life overall.

 

Chains aren't always the answer. Cadillac has had problems with 3.6L engine timing chains stretching and breaking in CTS, SRX, and STS cars.

 

I had mine done at a local Foreign car repair place and I save about 35-40% of what Lexus charged.

 

One thing with chains is, you have to be even more careful than normal with oil level. The chain is usually lubricated by the same oil that sits in the pan, so if you're low (or overfill too much) it will affect the chain's performance.

As for belt, who cares about changing every 90K or so. What is that, 4 times over the life of the car (if you even go 360K)... come on. You want a heavier, louder, and probably no more reliable for life of vehicle (360K)?