I've owned (2) LS 430's. The 01 had 89k miles when I bought it. Still smooth as silk and "tomb like" quiet. Invisible 5 speed transmission. No noise at 90mph. A 15 year old car that looked and drove like new. The 04 has 103k. Same smooth, incredibly quiet but not quite perfect (yet). Of course, I'm really not actively looking for a perfect low mileage 06 (other than looking daily at Craigs, Car Gurus, high quality dealer ads, etc).....

What was an LS 430 like when bought brand new? Depends on which package/options of course. Even better? It must have been nice!

 

I did drive a new '06 at an event, in late summer 2005. And it immediately struck me as being a vault--not much feel on the steering or brakes, but silky smooth with gobs of torque--I thought if I did get stuck on the Long Island Expressway in traffic, this is the car I want.

Now, I was a young lad, single, and about 1 1/2 yrs. away from buying my first (and only? lol) new BMW. The BMW cost $46,400 list, which I thought was a TON of money. So if a LS430 listed at $62,xxx (ML package), just imagine how much that was.

I'd be curious to know what they actually sold for. Meaning if they were no longer that popular in 2006, were they like the big BMWs where 12k off list is easily had....so what were these out the door?

 

I bought a 2003 LS430 Ultra Luxury NEW. Had 5 mi on the odo I think. It was an overwhelming experience to get this car. Never had anything like it before or since. Things I remember: the quietness, the ride, the smoothness with which everything operated. Even the gearshift was refined moving forward and backward. That was so evident after driving an ES loaner. That ES gearshift was clunky and awful.

The other thing I remember is the smell. That smell. It was beyond "new car smell". I can't describe it except it was unique, quite pleasant and seemed to originate from the A/C system. I was in a 2005 UL the other day - had 99K miles on it - and I could still detect faint remnants of that same smell - even at 99K miles.

The ride was fantastic. The trip from San Antonio to Pensacola on Interstate 10 was horrible thru Louisiana due to the terrible condition of the road. It made a 13 hour trip seem like 20 hours and you just felt beat to death after you drove that distance. The first time I drove it in my LS I was stunned at how the LS smoothed out that part of the road. It made the 13 hour trip seem like 8 hours and felt like I could go another 8 hours. Amazing highway cruiser.

I let my dad (who was 74 at the time) drive it around town once. He is very discriminating when it comes to smooth quiet rides. He said it should be a sin for a car to be this quiet and smooth.

 

On a side note - I tracked down my old LS. Someone in Georgia owns it and takes it to the Lexus dealer in Smyrna. From the looks of the records, they have treated the car well and kept up with the maintenance quite attentively. As of this past February, it still only had about 86K miles. Glad to see someone is taking good care of it.

 

I bought mine brand new in 03. It's been garaged and driven the entire 13 years in California (Bay Area) so it's in pretty damn good shape. You can go underneath this car and see not a spec of surface rust on any metal surface. Even so it has some little 'niggles' that, of course, weren't there when new. A door ding or two, a few scratches here and there, rock chips in the windshield etc. It's developed a very, very slight vibe in the steering wheel at idle that I believe is due to motor mounts needing replacement. Needless to say all of this stuff was nonexistent when it was brand new - like driving a fine work of art. Other than the vibration at idle the car still drives as new.
Sadly, it's in the body shop right now. Some f'ing ahole got pissed at my wife for some reason and kicked in her passenger door with her still in the car. She was traumatized and scared of what this guy might do if she got out so she just drove off without getting any pictures or anything. By the time she realized she needed to try to get some documentation the guy was gone. So the POS gets away with it.

 

Jeepers. Sorry to hear this! Hope she's ok. The car, as you know can be fixed. My wife, I'm afraid would have gotten out and had words with the clown. (hot headed and stubborn) I hate to think how THAT would have gone...

Again, I hope your wife is OK after that experience.