I just wanted to say thank you to this site for helping me in my ever-exhausting research when looking for a new car. After finally deciding that I wanted a 2000 LS400, and searching for months to find a good deal, I found a great car at a delearship about 2 hours away. I test drove it and took cash to negotiate but manager wasn't there, so we left. Before we could make it back up there, it was sold. The search continued... until I stumbled upon a 2001 LS430 ULwith 160k miles in Atlanta. It started off a little high for our budget but I kept watching it and the price dropped. So I took a day off work and drove up with my wife to look at the car and came back with the car. And I got 26 MPG on my 150 mile way home.

The car itself is in fairly good shape. Exterior has your typical road rash from years/mileage.The trunk does have a nice dent in it from the owner backing into something while having a bike rack on the car. And the drivers side outside tail light is busted. I have already done a few simple things such as replace the trunk struts and ordered hood struts. I need to get some touch-up paint and do a good clay bar and waxing. The interior is very nice. No cracks in the leather and all the buttons work.The rear buttons are a little sticky due to Coke being spilled on them but they still work. I want to do a full detail with some Leather Masters to clean it up and get it in top shape. Service was not done at a Lexus dealership but he had receipts that show the following were all done within the last year: tires, alignment, brake pads, brake rotors turned, timing belt, water pump, cam and crank seals, and spark plugs.

Now that I have a LS430, and mostly because of this forum, there is so much that I would like to do to this car to make it mine but that'll have to come with time. I will try to do a How to Guide if I end up doing something that doesn't already have a good one.

I know that a thread is no good without pics but it will probably be the weekend before I get some good pics.

It does have a couple of things I need to figure out, but I will start another thread to do that. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone!

 

Welcome! Good luck with the new ride.

 

Welcome and congrats on a great car.

 

Welcome.. Enjoy your LS430. Looking forward to your posts.

 

welcome to the ls crew hahahaha. looking forward to see some mods

 

Congratulations. It's great to know you already love your car!!!!

 

Fantastic! I know you'll enjoy it.

 

Welcome and congrats!

Post up a pic so we can all see what u got!

Z

 

Thanks for the warm welcome. Spent this weekend removing the back seats and cleaning up the Coke that the previous owner's kids spilled. That included the removal and tear down of the center console/armrest. Now none of the buttons stick when pushed and works as new. Hope to do a quick tutorial on how to do this.

 

Congratulations on your new LS430

 

Welcome!
I am looking forward to seeing your tutorial (and I'm sure that I'm not the only one).
2nd the request for pics.

 

Quick question instead of starting another thread:
I've been smelling an oil leak when driving, especially after the engine is warm and when driving at low speeds/idling. Upon inspection, I could see some oil spots that looks to be oil leaking onto the exhaust shields for the manifold. After some research, mostly on this site, I decided that it must be my valve cover gaskets going bad. So, I ordered a valve cover gasket kit and decided to try some engine mechanical DIY. This morning, I started the prep work for replacing the valve covers and when I got to the point where the bolts were fairly accessible, I thought "Hey, let's see if they're even tight." Sure enough, I could put my socket on an extension and turn the bolts very easily by hand.
All that to ask: Should I just tighten the bolts and see if that fixes the problem? Or go ahead and change the valve cover gaskets?

 

Welcome to the LS Family!! Well since your already opening the engine up might as well just for a piece of mind knowing that the seals are ok. Did you get a full service check on the car prior of purchase? I would check the belts also and maybe the water pump

 

CDJones, I have a 2001 LS430 with 76K miles on it and just had the same problem with valve cover gaskets leaking oil. I had my local Lexus dealer do the work for me as I have used the same Technician the entire time I have owned this car. It took over 6 hours to do the work. In addition to replacing the valve cover gaskets they also replaced the spark plug tube seals and the PCV valve. All these are necessary when the valve covers are removed. There was no additional labor to do that work since they have to be removed in order to remove the valve covers. And the extra parts were approx $80 in addition to the new valve cover gaskets. The entire job parts and labor cost approx $1040. The Technician showed me the old OEM faskets, which are made from rubber, which had turned hard and had multiple cracks in them. After 13 years things start to wear out. I would venture to say your gaskets are most likely hardened as well.

 

That's definitely high PCW. Walk in dealer pricing. Source the parts yourself and pay for labor only. I get quotes from a good Toyota / Lexus independent shops on labor and my dealer will match it.