So I need some honest feedback from all the die hard LS fanatics: I've been shopping for a clean 2004-06 LS430 for a few months now. I'm in Arizona where I've always had some variation of a silver car. My faithful and beloved graphite 2001 ES300 was probably totaled on Monday (not my fault; no one hurt).

What's your expert opinion? There's a Black Cherry LS430 available with super low miles. I want black or silver but they all have 60k+ miles. This car is just at 36k miles.

Would you go for a color you're not crazy about to get super low miles on a pampered 2004 LS?

Thanks in advance for any opinions and feedback.

 

The black cherry color isnt that bad, but to each his own. If I were you I probably wouldnt buy it just because it is low miles. You are going to be seeing it everyday and if you don't like the color then.... you get the idea. I have been searching for a good while now and have come across a good number of low mileage ls430s. Craigslist is your friend. I use searchtempest.com as my search engine to search all of craigslist. Use direct results tab. Just wait it out, good things come to those who wait. Good luck in your search

 

Never thought I'd type this into a forum but "Thanks Doodoo!". LOL

I agree but I'm car-less and have to decide sooner than later. Also a Cypress Green available. Really nice car but...it's not silver!

 

I wouldn't go for the black cherry myself, unless it was a seriously stupid deal. The Phoenix craigslist has nothing worth linking to, nothing really low mileage and the few I saw were overpriced.

I almost bought a cypress when I was looking, but came across a silver one that was a better deal. I personally dig the cypress color.


I'd offer to let you drive mine so you can compare to other LS430's on the market, but im slammed on stiff coilovers and 20's. SO, that won't help you much. lol

 

When I was used LS430 shopping, I ranked the colors into three categories:

- Preferred - if the rest of the car was OK
- Acceptable - if the rest of the car was outstanding
- Unacceptable - regardless of condition of the car.

In the first month of shopping, I only seriously looked at cars in the 1st category, with plans to expand to the second category in the next month. However, I had 5 months (or more) to find the right car. If your previous ride is wrecked, you may be on a much shorter schedule and have to compromise on color.

 

I looked for nearly 6 months for a mint cond cream puff low mile car. I am super picky on my cars and refused many cars because they were dirty and had wear on inside or outside.

I wanted white, silver, gold, or sage. Well after many months of looking I ended up with a black cherry color LS because it came on the market as CPO car with 13k miles on it and in showroom condition.

After 3 years of owning it I can say this while not even close to my favorite car color - the black cherry looked amazing after the car had been clay barred and waxed. And as long as you keep it clean it shows really well - 3 years later - car is now 6 years old - paint is still really deep glowing black cherry color. It gets positive remarks from friends.

Having said all that I would definitely prefer a white, silver or gold, or sage color car..but my priority was getting a cream puff car and its color quickly became a distant second on the wants list.

But my primary goal was to buy used car that was in virtually like new condition and these are VERY hard to find and get snapped up immediately when they come on the market. So with that goal, color is gonna be a crap shoot.

btw - in my search the only color I would have refused was black which was frustrating because there are lots and lots of black ones out there. DFW summers are too hot to be driving around in a huge black solar heat collector.

 

Black Cherry pearl all the way....

 

I found my perfect LS so can't really say if I would have waited if I had NO car to use. Color is very important so tough choice. Given your situation, I'd say if the Cherry is really cherry for a nice price, then go for it, you'll grow to love it. Maybe over time it will make you appreciate other colors...

 

You should wait until you find the color you truly want. I don't think I've seen a Black Cherry LS in person though, but black and silver can't be beat.

 

I was in a similar situation, and also in AZ. I wanted a silver/black, but ended up settling on a black/black due to miles and it was in (pretty much) in the condition I wanted. By "pretty much" I mean I am SUPER ****, so no matter what car I find there is things I need to fix for me to be completely happy with it, and this seemed to be cleaner then every car I had looked at previously.

Point is I had to settle on the color, to get everything else I wanted. That said black looks awesome, and the car is at my detailers for the weekend and should leave looking ridiculous.

 

Update: I drove the Black Cherry car yesterday and it has major issues. Significant paint and body work done that looked like my dad and I tried to do it as a weekend project. The acrylic finish was gone on some of the wood paneling which was really strange and the interior had quite a funk to it. Not quite a tobacco smell but it really stunk. It was a shame because at first glance I really liked the Black Cherry color much better than I thought I would. To top it off when I sat behind the wheel I realized that the shifter **** was turned backwards.
Oh well...on to the next one. Thanks for all of the great comments!

 

That's kinda scary considering the car only has 36k miles on it.

 

Saying "Next..." is the appropriate next step after seeing a car like that.

 

It should be a crime to treat an LS like that. I can't wait for the right time when I can get into another LS once my twin boys are grown up and we don't need the Sequoia anymore. Although I can't imagine there'll be too many low mileage LS430s out there . I don't like the 460 that much.

 

What an incredible story. It pains me to hear of an LS being treated like that. Such a shame.