oops i thought it was a general "if you didnt buy the ls430, what would have you bought?" thread lol.

my mistake, do u guys get crazy snow out there?

 

1998-2000 LS400. For 6-10 grand you can get a lovely lower mileage specimen.

 

The closest thing I've found to an LS430 is the later years of the Mercedes W140 S-Class. My friend bought a 98 S420 and it's a lot like the LS430. If you can afford the maintenance I would get an S320 or an S420.

Otherwise I would highly recommend a 98-00 LS400.

 

1999-2001 Lexus ES300

You can buy one in great shape for $6,000, they really are a great bargain. Reliable and easy to repair since it's basically a Toyota Camry underneath. Also, they seem to have "elderly" owners, so they've usually been taken care of, it's like a Japanese Buick.

The later ES's aren't bad cars, but they're not as simple and they have a few issues.

Whatever you decide, don't buy a car that makes you go broke, it's just not worth it.

 

A good, used LS is a bargain ( it's why I bought mine ) If mine was wreaked and I wanted to get something less expensive, I would get a V6 front wheel drive car that runs on regular gas

The Lexus ES is a very nice car. Its almost as nice as the LS
I would consider an Acura RL or TL .... very solid but some years have odd exterior designs
and the Infinity Q37 is nice.

If you don't mind driving the same car as everyone else ... Camry and the Honda Accord are nice and practical, but not very luxurious.

 

So I'm hearing a lot of votes for the '99-01 ES300.

What's curious to me is that there aren't more recommendations for the '98-'00 GS400. They go for $4-6k as well, and seem to offer more of an LS-like experience than the ES. I'd be interested to know why you all would pick an ES over a GS for the same price?

 

gotta be careful with those years ES300, i believe those v6 1mz motors had sludging problems with previous owners not doing oil changes on time.

 

The ES should be less money to buy AND it will be a LOT less expensive to own in the long term.
There will be more available ( more were sold ) so it should be easier to find a good one.

People forget that when you buy an older car, the purchase price can be misleading ... it may cost just $ 5,000 to buy .... but when stuff breaks and you need service .... its parts are priced at the level of $ 60,000 car.

 

So the GS is less reliable than the ES? Would that apply to the LS400 recommendations too?

 

98 - 2000 LS/GS400 it has the 5 speed transmission and vvti engine. More power, better mpg, and more options. The GS400's are great too. Different style and not quite as refined, imo.

 

Sorry, but if $10k is too much of a hit to your wallet and the LS doesn't seem like a safe bet, then I'd say invest in a nice pair of sneakers and run/walk. You're not getting a car of any sort around $10k of any make remotely close to the 430 in quality or reliability. Jmho.

 

I'm sure the GS are nice cars as well, I just have experience owning an ES and thought it was a phenomenal car for the money. The GS is sort of Lexus version of a BMW, so it's more on the sporty side whereas an ES is more about comfort. The LS is more towards the comfort end of the spectrum.

I don't know if it's just a regional thing where I'm located, but it seems the era of GS you'd be looking at are absolutely trashed by now. They all seem to have been ridden hard and put up wet. The ES model seems to be owned by people who take care of their car, usually an older owner whereas the GS is more of a yuppie car that's gone through 8 different owners.

Just a stereotype, I'm sure there's counter examples, but I really don't think you can go wrong with any Lexus model. Just have plenty of money left over.

 

Forget about W140. If you buy one for $7K, expect to invest $7-14K in order to bring it up to spec. Neither rubber nor plastics are durable on these cars. Leather and metal are OK if the car wasn't too abused. In any case, expensive to own and operate. Lovely cars to drive though. Test drove 2008 LS600h and found my 1997 S600 to be driving just as smoothly and quietly, yet handling noticeably better.

The trick with high-miles LS400 is to replace shocks if they weren't recently replaced. That would bring car to almost new condition subjectively. Replaced mine at ~ 90K and again at ~180K. Add some fresh control arm bushings, and here we go. The car drives literally like new. Giving it to our son who is recently out of college. Rubber, plastics, leather, and metal are ridiculously durable on LS400. Replacement parts are inexpensive and easy to find. Also, a very easy car to work on - internals are very well laid out.

Worn out GSs you see were not necessarily abused by their previous owners. It is about quality of materials and amount of those materials. LS400 is built to feel brand new through the warranty period. The side effect of this is that it lasts seemingly indefinitely thereafter. GS is built to just last through the lease, yet feel a bit worn by the end of it, so that customer is compelled to buy a new car - a different business model. Test-drove a number of used GSs and was invariably shocked at how badly they aged compared to LS.

ES is an interesting case. Built like LS prior to 1997. Then Toyota de-contented Camry, mostly by replacing many aluminum and steel parts with cheap plastic. The times of cheap credit and massive switch to leasing were upon us. Unfortunately, that's what 1997+ ES has underneath. No comparison to LS in quality. Still, If you can find a decent pre-1997 ES300, it could be a good buy to tide your over.

Nobody mentioned Audi or BMW yet. The older bigger ones ride similarly to LS and can be had for comparable money. Yet they are amazingly non-durable. Used to have 2001 Audi A8. A dream car to drive, especially on snow. Yet many parts underneath are shared with A4 - a much lighter and cheaper car. Internals are perplexing in their combination of cheapness and tightness. Did not own BMW, yet their approach to design is similar: light, tight, sporty, not durable. Do not recommend as a used car.

Owned older Infinity Q45 too. A pretty good car actually. In Japanese domestic market it's been LS competitor (read on decades-long rivalry between Nissan President and Toyota Celsior). You may want to test-drive it. It is solidly built, yet unlike LS targeting Mercedes S-class, it was targeting BMW 7-series. A stiffer, sportier ride, if that's your thing.

 

I would go with the 2nd gen GS, any of them, 300, 400, or 430. They are great cars and if you look hard enough you can find some real good deals out there. I just saw an 02 GS300 with 78k miles on it for $8800

I have had 3 of them, loved them all, mostly my current one.....but thats because its a 769rwhp beast!

Im currently looking for an LS430, and they are a bit out of your price range. By the way, dont look at the stock LS as for how it looks "stock", look at it for how it can look with a few subtle mods....drop and wheels= gangster on the LS

 

Wow, so to complicate matters further, there are a ton of '01-'03 LS430's in the $7-9k range.

Seriously, an LS430 (even if in the uglier of years) for $7k... is there anything close to that much car for the money on the planet??

I like the '04+ look better, and I even like the '98-'00 look better, but bang for the buck, I seriously wonder if anything can compete. Thoughts?