Awesome buy,congratulations. Welcome to the (unofficial) Flint mica club!


Justin...

 

Nice find...

 

I looked for nearly a year on autotrader, searching for an LS430 with the following specs:
2006 model year
Moonlight Pearl over Cashmere
Modern Luxury Package
One owner
18" wheels
Under 20,000 miles
Lexus service history
Driven out of the Snow Belt

Mine showed up on autotrader at a Land Rover dealer in Phoenix. 8,700 Miles. Modern Luxury with Smart-Key and 18" package.
It had been serviced at a Lexus dealer (Of course the only service was an oil change at 3,800 miles) . It had the driver side glass replaced at zero miles (something about a scratch noted in the records) and it had the battery replaced under warranty.

The dealer's story was that a son inherited the car when his elderly father passed away. The son then traded it on a new Land Rover.

I flew to Arizona from Michigan on a $250 flight. The dealer had a Town Car pick me up at the airport. The car appeared new in all ways...not even rust on the brake rotor edges. After 10 minutes I was on my way to the Lexus Dealer down the road to have the oil changed. ($74! I got a free sandwich. What a bargain. )

By 2:00pm I began a great 3 day road trip home to Michigan! I snapped the picture below and sent it to my 10 and 14 year daughters with the note that I would give them each $10 if they could identify where I was parked. Living on the internet, the way kids do these days, it took them all of ten minutes to text back "Cadillac Ranch"....A deal's a deal, but next time they only get $5.

 

I guess that's how my '05 UL will look like once I get silver 18's for the winter (currently only have chromes...luckily, very little salt this winter).

 

I'm still driving my 1997 Deville (with 130,000 miles) this winter. It's going to break my heart the first time I have to drive the Lexus on a snowy, salty day.
Hopefully I can delay winter driving for a couple of seasons, but I already have a set of 2002 16" wheels waiting.

 

How does it feel going from "Cadillac Style" to "Lexus Luxury" although comparing a 97 to 04 is not fair, but maybe you like the Caddy better.

I have a set of early model year 16" with Blizzaks on for winter and the drive from 17" to 16" I notice a difference, so would imagine 18" to 16" you'll notice even more.

Mine was bought two years ago and had 36K on the odometer and it felt new to me, can't even image what 8000K on a three-four year old car must feel like. Lucky guys....

 

The '97 Cadillac was another old guy car that I purchased ten years ago with less than 20K miles. The car was owned by my parent’s 86 year old neighbor (‘sad to think of it, but 30 years from now my family will probably be selling my car. It will be something like a Tata-Motors Dynamo Limited with fewer than 20K.)

As you say, a 1997 Cadillac is not really a fair comparison to a 2006 LS430, being a design generation and a class-level apart. However, I think comparing the Cadillac to the LS430 represents how the LS differs from any modern front-wheel-drive upscale large-sedan (such as a Taurus, Cadillac DTS, Buick Lucerne, Avalon, Lexus ES, Camry V6, etc…) That is, compared to a front wheel drive upscale sedan, the LS430 is
-free from torque-steer
-smoother,
-more powerful,
-more isolated from noise and vibration,
-and has better interior materials.

Even with 130,000 miles, the Cadillac is far from a penalty-box and drives as new as it ever did. It’s FWD so it has torque steer, well controlled torque-steer, but it still pulls side to side with heavy acceleration. The Northstar V8 isn’t as turbine smooth as the Lexus V8, and it’s hooked to a 4-speed trans, not a 6-speed as with the Lexus, so the power on a tip-in doesn’t seem as smoothly delivered, or as readily available. Both cars are quiet, but the Lexus remains quiet and vibration free at higher speeds. As far as ride, both have a controlled even ride, and the Cadillac might even have a softer ride, but it crashes into the really big bumps.

My wife just came home with a 2011 Taurus SHO...I think I'll post in the near future how it compares to the '06 LS430....

 

MDEC, you do the same thing I do. Namely, go out west to buy a rust-free car. My son and I just flew to Las Vegas last fall then took a rental car to Arizona to pick up a 92 LS. We drove back I15, I70, I80. Made a little vacation of it. Lots of memories. My friends think I am absolutely crazy to go that far for a car but they do not mind driving rust buckets either. I do.

 

Yes, the drive across country was very fun, especially in the mile-eating Lexus. I've driven the I-70 route before, it's a great drive through the Rockies, but this time I was afraid of snow. You can see in my Cadillac Ranch picture above, it had even snowed on I-40 in Amarillo, TX. Luckily, this was before my drive through and all roads were clear on my trek back to MI.

 

Very nice car. I know you'll enjoy it. I upgraded from a '90 LS to an '06 LS in '09. Still have the '90. Had the '90 since '93. Can't bear to part with it.

 

practically brand new! congrats!

 

That's awesome! It's rare to find a car that clean.