In another thread I got some good advice on what to look for in the air suspension. Do others have advice on things to inspect when purchasing a LS430?

Thanks!

 

I would suggest paying Lexus to do a once over on it.

 

Agree - assuming you are not buying from a Lexus dealer - get a pro inspection at Lexus before you buy it if you get serious about it. Ask Lexus to inspect mechanical and also look for any previous repaired accident damage. It will be money well spent.

Don't trust a clean Carfax on assuming no previous damage to the car.

If the seller balks at a Lexus inspection, walk away and don't look back. Get the VIN and get a complete service history from the online Lexus owners site.

 

Drive at least 6 different LS430s on 20 minute test drives. I found that good cars drove very similarly. Bad cars stuck out like a sore thumb.

Get the VIN and run the service history on lexus.com by registering the car as yours (for a while).

Aside from the air suspension, be sure the other expensive-to-fix items are all working:

- ML and above navigation, radio, and on-screen HVAC controls
- CL and above adaptive cruise control
- CL and above side windows are not fogged
- CL and above power door closers.

Good luck and don't look too excited while looking at the car. Tell the seller that your spouse still wants you to look at a used Avalon.

 

Also Check the telescoping steering wheelm volumes controls on the steering wheel, Check the mirror functions also.

 

Here is the service history. Any idea what "FRONT/REAR BODY" means? That sounds ominous, like body repair to the front or rear.

Anything else stick out?

[EDIT] Called the dealership. The Front/Rear body entries are nothing to do with damage, well, at least collision damage. The first one was a cracked headlight cover and second was due to a ring being dropped/lost in the center console (weird!)


Dealer Reported 02/21/2011 61493 031517L PROGRAM KEYS3
Dealer Reported 06/18/2008 37680 0283584 FRONT AXLE
Dealer Reported 05/29/2008 37061 0281036 WHEEL ALIGNMENT
Dealer Reported 05/29/2008 37061 0281036 NON WARRANTABLE OPERATION CODE
Dealer Reported 08/31/2007 27948 0247783 FRONT/REAR BODY
Dealer Reported 08/31/2007 27948 0247783 WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER
Dealer Reported 04/30/2007 25101 0231472 MISC
Dealer Reported 04/23/2007 24946 0230647 FRONT/REAR BODY
Dealer Reported 10/04/2005 Park Place Lexus 11606 0504386 10,000 SERVICE FOR ALL MODELS
Dealer Reported 10/04/2005 Park Place Lexus 11606 0504386 4LG REPLACE DVD - LS 430 (SSC)
Dealer Reported 10/04/2005 Park Place Lexus 11606 0504386 LEXUS SERVICE GENERAL
Dealer Reported 12/01/2004 Park Place Lexus 1064 0455406 LEXUS PERSONALIZED SETTINGS
Dealer Reported 10/23/2004 Park Place Lexus 14 0449341 PRE-DELIVERY SERVICE
Dealer Reported 10/23/2004 Park Place Lexus 14 0449341 REMOVE TRANSPORTATION RAIL DUST FROM VEHICLE
Dealer Reported 10/23/2004 Park Place Lexus 14 0449341 NEW CAR TWO YEAR STATE INSPECT

 

thats not much history.. Though some dealers dont report much.

 

I compiled an LS430 inspection checklist at https://www.clublexus.com/forums/5967509-post11.html

 

Ideally what you want to see when looking up the maintenance history are entries close to every 5,000 miles for all required Lexus services. When missing, they are either neglected or taken to an independent shop for service.

 

Front rear body could mean the parking sensors were faulty and replaced. If you check the car out yourself, I would do the following:

Interior:
1) make sure the steering wheel and side mirror retracting motors don't make any grinding/squeaking/groaning noises.

2) make sure the windows lower and raise smoothing (no looseness, esp in the driver's window since that's the one most likely to get heavy usage).

3) Press in the parking sensor button (left side of steering wheel) when going slow and in D or P and see if any warnings light up on the dash indicating a bad parking sensor (warning doesn't show if you are in "R")

4) Note how much you have to press on the accelerator. The gas pedal on the LS learns the way you drive. If you have to press a lot to get it to go, the PO was likely heavy on the gas (more engine wear).

Exterior:
5) Before you even start up the engine, pop the hood. Open up the radiator cap and make sure the coolant is clear, redish-orange in color. It should NOT be green. If so, chances are there's sludging occurring in the cooling system.

6) Check the power steering fluid. See if it's super dark (nearly black) w/ a burnt smell. Mine was dark already at only 21K mi, and the one on my wife's LX at 3 yrs old and 48K mi was black and smelled burnt. It'll also stain the inside of the resevoir, fooling you into thinking the level is correct. Replace w/ a synthetic dextron II/III compatible ATF. The PS fluid is really the only Toyota fluid I've found to be inferior to what's on the open market. The thickness (like the Honda PS fluid), is too high for all but the most temperate climates, like the CA coast. Even 40F is too cold for it, made the PS pump on my honda groan until it warmed up.

7) Visually check the brake fluid color. Fluid should be replaced every 2.5 yrs regardless of mileage, as it absorbs water (water can and will eventually rust the interior of your brake calipers, hoses, etc....this happened to a car I had a long time ago...PO didn't change the fluid in 14 yrs since it never said to in the owner's manual)

8) Check if there's curb rash on the wheels. On a 06 ML I tested, there was curb rash and the accelerator had to be pressed hard to get the car to accelerate, indicating the PO was heavy on the gas. I didn't buy that one.

9) When you test drive it, let go of the steering wheel on a straight, flat road and ensure the car tracks straight. Also note how good the braking is. I drove 3 back to back, and in 2 of the cars (both had 30K service done), braking was phenomenal. In the 3rd, braking was so-so. After I replaced the brake fluid, braking was much better. The pads were also thin, so that was a lot of it. After replacing the pads (original ones lasted 25K mi), braking was excellent, as good as the other two I tested.

10) Turn on the cruise control. Make sure it works since some of the '05 UL's had back radar ECU's. Mine did, and you don't find out until after driving like 200 mi w/ the cruise on (I always disable the radar mode). You'll get an error and it won't let you use any cruise control at all. Apparently, there's a TSB on it (software bug; mine was one of the last '05 UL's, made in June '05, so it's likely this one will have it, too, unless the ECU has been replaced). Cost is like $800, covered under CPO warranty.

11) if the tires aren't new, check the pattern to see if wear indicates any improper alignment.

 

^Excellent and elaborate list! You can't go wrong if you follow through with all that.

 

Nice is 4 and 8 true? I was told the is300 learned the way you drove I never noticed any difference. The was a change of time as the car adjusted the fuel maps to what it thought was ideal (overly rich).

Im not sure what curbing says aside from an inability to park.

 

ryan330i, what was the result? You did an inspection and found... Any pictures from the inspection?

 

What an adventure this is. I unfortunately missed the most detailed advice, but I did check many of those things.

The car looked really great, and everything works. The mirrors fold back without grinding, the air suspension felt good over speed bumps and around round-abouts without wallowing around. The brakes are strong. The radar cruise works, and the parking sensors work. Air suspension settings worked (though it is hard to detect the height difference or the sport difference, to me). Tracking was good: Flat roads the car drove straight. On the left side of the crown it would very slowly fade left, and on the right side, it faded right, maybe a little more quickly, but that might have been the road.

My only complaint was a vibration detectable in the wheel around 60mph. Passengers didn't notice it, but since I was feeling it in the wheel, I could also feel it in the seat of my pants. Very minor though. Carmax balanced the tires, said one was off .25 ounces, and another was off 1oz. For the second test drive it was rush hour and I really couldn't get it up to 60+, but I convinced myself it felt better.

On exterior inspection I also discovered the front bumper had been painted. Since this was a transfer from another Carmax, it was not clear if they or someone else painted it, but I've read CarMax often paints bumpers, and the service manager wasn't at all cagey about it. I asked him and he said "yep, looks like it's been painted" (without really looking).

I really loved the look of the car and everything seem to work and I felt like the vibration problem was something easily remedied, so we bought it.

Driving around town last night, I confirmed the vibration was not gone. It still exists around 60mph.

This morning, I open the door and was hit with distinctive smoker's car smell. On the two test drives yesterday, the car was "brought around" to us already running with the climate control running, and we didn't really pick up on any smell. Well, I did smell vinegar, however I thought maybe the saleslady smelled like vinegar for some reason, as it dissipated quickly after I took the drivers seat.

The smell combined with vibration that still exists kind of pushed me over the limit. We are headed back to CarMax in 30 minutes to return it. CarMax offers a 5day no-questions-asked, money back guarantee. If I had either of these, minor, somewhat subjective problems with the vehicle, I could probably get past it, but dealing with both, with no clear and obvious plan to address them, or confidence that the vibration and smell can be totally removed, I just feel this isn't the one for me.

I talked to my sales person and she admitted she smelled smoke too and had them "freshen" the car up before we drove it, and she said they used vinegar.

OH, and I did notice that I really had to give it the beans to get going. The pedal felt very stiff, like the mat was trapped underneath. So it sounds like this is evidence the car has programmed itself to a lead-foot driver.

...Another reason not to feel down about taking this beautiful car back.

 

No pictures during the inspection, but I guess I should take one to remember it by.

This is from my office taken right now.

...damn thing looks so good with tinted windows :-(