It's the "best" until the struts collapse and the tires are scraping the body and you have a $6,000 bill from the dealer.

Sort of like a new S-Class Mercedes is the "best" flagship car you can own until the warranty expires.

Honest question Jay, what do you plan to do when your struts go out? Are you going to convert it or go to a dealer for new air strut replacements?

 

If you know how to shop for OEM air struts - 4 brand new Toyota air stuts will cost 2400 in parts. my mechanic charges 60-70 per struts so another 240-280 in labor. Add an alignment for 60 and you're done.

2400+280+60=$2740 USD OTD

I've swapped out my 2 front ones for brand new OEM ones. When the rear ones go bad, I'll most likely replace them with air OEM ones again. If they last 100k miles I'll be satisfied. Nothing lasts forever.

Only people that don't know better would get their air struts replaced at a Lexus dealer.

 

Well, tell everyone where you find them at that price. I think that would save a lot of people a lot of money.

Sewell has them for $911 each. The regular shocks are $587 for the entire set of 4.

 

I've got a service scheduled for next week. I trust the service guys there, and I'll ask them to get the scoop on the UL and air suspension.

 

Honest answer. I'll have new air struts installed at my Lexus dealer. I'll negotiate for Sewell prices when I do it. I don't let anyone but my dealer service or touch my car except for Costco Michelin tires. I have no concern for doing anything for a future owner and wouldn't consider coil overs.

 

From this comment and your "Could it possibly be Envy?" comment in another thread, you seem to be under the delusion that you own some type of status symbol because you have the UL package on a 10 year old Lexus.

Sorry. That's laughable. The added market value is negligible at this point in time, and many avoid the UL due to the stupid high expense of the air suspension repairs. And the reality is that ALL of these models are now are worth about what a new base 4-cylinder Camry is worth unless the miles are extremely low.

The LS430 is a fantastic car, with the UL being the most expensive model, but a UL 430 owner saying that a non-UL 430 owner is envious is like a guy with a 425lb girlfriend claiming that a guy with a 450lb girlfriend is jealous because his girlfriend is hotter.

Just sayin'.

 

I have a UL and I love it, I love the auto door closer, window curtains, cooler, PCS, massage chair, cooled back seats, sports mode suspension and rear air conditioning, when and if the air suspension go bad, I will fixed it with OEM parts.

I have a Toyota Sienna and I have to replace all four suspensions before it reaches 200k, total cost more than 2,000 dollars.

 

So just why are you so upset?

 

It certainly isn't because I'm envious of anybody with a UL. I could have bought 2 with what I sold my 460L for. Nobody with any model of 430 has a reason to act like they are driving some status symbol. These cars can be had for less than the price of a base family car.

I bought a 430 because I love the car and don't care what other people think. A new 7-series, S550, or Tesla Model S Performance is a status symbol. Someone driving around in any 430 thinking that are driving a status symbol that others are jealous of is a clueless, pretender wannabe.

 

So you're happy. Do you want to talk about why you are so upset?

 

Let's just all agree that UL's get a bad wrap because of the air suspension. All the additional features more then make up for having to eventually replace the air-shocks. You can't help but love getting into such an excellent example of engineering whether its a UL, CL, ML, or base.

 

I think it's bad rap is deserved, but only because it is a Lexus and people expect perfection. It's pretty much understood with any other high end luxury car that when you step up to the higher priced option packages, you will end up with more repair bills. You gotta pay to play.

In the end, it's a personal decision. For me, the UL almost falls into the same used market as cars like the AMG Mercedes. Many people can afford to buy them, but the fear of a repair expense that would represent a large percentage of the value of the car is not an attractive scenario. If you are willing to accept that possibility, you can get a lot of luxury for the same price of a very average new family car.

 

I wouldn't trade my 04 UL even up for a new fully loaded ES350 listing at $50,00 if I had to keep, drive it, and couldn't sell it. Just my personal experience from driving new ES350. If you don't own a UL, how would you know this?

 

I'm pretty sure that most people could spend 10 minutes driving any LS430 and figure out it is a better luxury car than the V6 FWD ES350. It's not like you have to own a car to make a judgment on how good or bad the car is. You've already decided about the $50K ES350. Have you owned one?

 

To change the mood a bit, is it possible for a failed airstrut and the car to sit level? I would suppose that if a strut goes, symptoms would be car being lower at the strut's side and bottoming out in bumps much easier than the rest, right?