Just came back form the library (I know...pretty exciting dude huh..). Anyway I pull up and park next to this great big sleek white car - looks really elegant - I'm thinking..must be one of the giant older Mercedes. But no its like a 2002 LS. Wow I think I like the looks of the 2001-2003 style better than the 2004-2006 version. Small changes but I stood there and compared the two cars front and back and in real life I have to say I like the older version better. Very weird experience because in pictures and computer screen the newer version looks better to me. I am still happy to have the 06 as I wanted the latest version but I wish they had left the styling changes alone. btw - wife thinks I am nuts she could not tell the difference between the two cars.

 

I also think that LSs of the same generation look quite a bit different when comparing dark v. light paint.

BTW, my wife also thinks I'm nuts focusing on tiny differences in cars. Anything beyond color is just static to her.

 

It's a personal preference i like the 04-06 better

 

i like both. lol i want one

 

I think the '04-'06 with the non-tear drop fog lights and LED tail lights make the car look more modern and "aggressive" if you will. The tear drops and the wider tail lights in the '01-'03 make the car look more "doughy" like it's bloated of sorts.

In terms of looking like a Mercedes, I think the more angled and sharp cuts of the '04-'06 tail lights make it look more like an MB than the earlier LS430.

JMHO...

 

maybe i'm biased but i like the 04-06 better (i own one of these). i think the UL front of the 04-06 is the best looking front of an LS of any up until this point.

i haven't seen them in real life yet to compare (parked next to each other) but i think i like the 07-09 better than the 10+ ls's. maybe again i'm biasing myself because when i do decide to upgrade this will be my price range and not so much the 10+, ya dig.

i like the small rectangular fogs on the 04-06 much better than the old 01-03 design, but in terms of putting in hid's the 01-03 was a better design functionally. in a perfect world i would replace the bumper all together with one that had dual round fogs on each side like a brabus style benz.

there is a lot i do like about the newer 07-09 ls's but there are a few design ques that i don't like so much and need to overcome in order to ever switch. the front looks a little to much like an avalon to me and so does the 01-03 ls from certain angles to me as well.

 

Great big sleek white car??....this is hard to believe but the new honda accord is actually about the same in the overall size as the ls 430...I know i have owned both

honda accord 194.1L 72.7 W==14111.07 sq inches

lexus ls430 196.7L 72.0W== 14162.4 Sq inches

LS is 51.33 sq inches bigger...thats how oversized the accords have become.

The 08 accord is long gone...bought back under the lemon law act and the lexus ls is mine and the ES 330 that replaced the accord is my wife's. both are absolutely great cars.

 

I can see your points. Unlike the fellow members above, I personally like the overall styling of the 01-03 better too with some adjustments. I may be biased as well, since I own an 01 LS, but I have done some little things to "modernize" the style somewhat toward the 04-06 style. I have the non-LED red/clear taillights (huge difference). I have a chrome grille, chrome door handles, have a "fin" antenna (to sort of mimic the LS460), etc. Little, subtle changes, but I like the overall shape (lenses, body, etc.) of the 01-03 generation. There's a small number that would prefer the older to the newer, but that's just my two cents.

 

the 01-03 doesn't have traditional tail pipes sticking out though does it? they are sorta hidden and stick down and this is my biggest grip about the back profile of the car, well other than the tail lights... and of course the shorter chrome trunk chrome trim strip thing.. so yeah these 3 things i prefer on the 04-06 over the 01-03.

 

How did you return your Accord under the Lemon Law? My g/f has an 08 Accord and the brakes are retarded. Fronts were serviced free by the dealer since they just came out with a service bulletin to address grinding. The rear pads drag on the disc as well but Honda wanted $200 for JUST PADS on the rear. I used to be a Honda fanboy but this is awful. We also brought it back when the rear-seat latch broke when I tried to use it. When did Honda become a joke?

 

I'll let you know next week. For grins, I'm going to drive this on Monday:

http://apps.dealerconnection.com/dea...ownedImg=false

 

LOL That is the real-world case with 99% of the population -- they've never even noticed that there are two different versions of the car. Mostly just people such as us on this site who obsess over the differences in appearance, but in reality, there isn't really much. I've actually seen someone post something to the effect of, "the '01-'03 is fugly, but the '04 is beautiful." Laughable, IMO.

I like the looks of the '01-'03 just fine when compared apples-to-apples with the same wheels, color, etc. Much of the time, people compare an early model with the 16" wheels with a later model with the 18" wheels which dramatically change the looks, IMO. The main reason that I switched from the '03 to the '05 was that I wanted the Flint exterior color and I wanted a black interior, AND the overall performance of the 6-speed transmission (this latter was probably 50% of the motivation, if not more). My brother has my '03 and I see it once in a while, and I sometimes think it looks more muscular. Sounds strange, but that's the thought that pops in my head. <shrug>

 

I really like how my car looks, but I have to admit feeling like my car was a little like the homely younger sister compared to that bone stock crystal white 03 LS I saw this yesterday afternoon. Wow what a fine looking car. Per the tired old cliche, I guess beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. My wife just shook her head at the crazy man.

 

The changes made between the 1st and 2nd series 430's are minimal at best even tho the changes did give the car a different demeanor IMO. The 1st series was never ugly or undesireable to begin with but Lexus had to update its flagship to keep up with MB's updated s-class at the time. If you noticed, the S-class received clear-lensed projector headlights as an update in 03/04 so of course Lexus had to follow suit. They just went a step futher: hopped on the LED bandwagon with the tailights, gave it clear-lensed,rectanglular fog lights, and freshend the rear end a lil. Lexus was perfectly clear on what the target was then(S-class). Only making a move when the enemy made his first was there strategy then.The fact that virtually nothing on the main body and interior was touched other than technical advances goes to show that the car was near perfect and the masses agreed then and still do to this day saying that the 430, even though it resembles the older s-class in some ways, was the the best looking LS design. Although not ugly by any means, Lexus lost points with the current LS when they switched there focus to BMW. Anyway whatever series 430 you look at will impress you none the less and having an 05 myself, i still look at the earlier design with amazement and say i love the cars. Always wanted a LS car since i was 19 and always will as long as Lexus don't switch there target to Buick who is now targeting Lexus.

 

I can remember sitting in one of the first LS400's at the New york Car Show in 1989. It was a black one and they had the dash board lights on. Wow was i impressed thinking i could never own one of those. In 08 I bought my first lexus (LS 430) and will never buy anything but Lexus...I absolutely love to drive the car. I even put a trailer hitch on it (dont flame me) to pull my 5X8 utility trailer with the motorcycle on it. Last summer I put 4000 miles on the car pulling the trailer and it performed flawlessly. People down here in Florida call my car the LEXOLINER and I call the girl in the Nav "Lucy".