the original owners will begin to die off soon. I saw this with the LS400s some years back. same story, absolute cream puffs that are like time capsules. unfortunately cars that old nomatter what the condition don't have much value anymore so they fall into the hands of people that abuse them and drive them into the ground. most of the 400s I see are very tired now and im already seeing very ratty Ls430s being honed around. you can always tell when it was a recently nice car, when its got a bunch of body damage but the paint is still mirror glossy. one particular one I can think of that a kid owns that works at a fast food place around the corner from me. black/grey 1990ish LS400 that he has had for over a year that ive watched deteriorate over that timespan. first time I saw it the car looked like it went through a time portal in 1990 and was dropped off in 2016. first one of the factory chrome rims was changed to the spare clad one, and it never left the car. then body damage happened, crunched bumper and rear passenger door. every time I see the car it has a new dent. then a huge crack appeared in the windshield, now there is a bag tapped over the front passenger window as well as over the moonroof. ive watched this beautiful car go from a cream puff time capsule into a dilapidated hooptie in a year. the car is absolutely filthy dirty and I don't think its had a bath since its current and probably final owner acquired it. whats sad is that the paint is still glossy and shines like a diamond in the places that are not covered in filth. so sad. breaks my heart to see them like this.

anyway if you want to get a nice Ls430 the time to do it is NOW while there are still plenty of nice examples to choose from, however they are starting to reach low value buy-here pay-here car lot and $3500 craigslist territory like the LS400s did some years back. they are only getting older and time is NOT on your side or these cars side....

 

That's an ugly story about the 400. There are still some nice ones around. Saw a "time capsule" example the other day. It looked showroom perfect. Another decline in available 430's is because kids inherit them. They usually don't take care of them. Load up the car w/ friends, crank up the stereo and have fun. When I bought my 01 430 4 years ago, there were still plenty of higher priced , well maintained possibles on Craigs and from dealers. Now it's much harder to find something decent in Nor CA (Southern CA does seem to have more possibles). There's the occasional good car here, but most of the local Craigs is the marginal stuff. If a Sac/Bay Area Lex dealer lists a well kept 04 -06 w/ reasonable miles? The salespeople say it's a couple of days at most to sell. The 2 that I found sold the same day. Agree the time to buy is now.

 

I usually watch prices on the LS430's both at the dealer auction I go to (Manheim) and on sites like Craigslist and ebay. The cheapest I've seen so far for an LS430 was 2500 for a car in Chicago on Craigslist.
It was beat. That poor thing had dents everywhere, the interior looked like a Great Dane lived in it and if I recall, it had a surging problem. It was gone from CL within a few days.

At the auction, the cars that come through there are usually in good shape. They are almost always in the 3500-8000 range depending on year, mileage, condition. Every once in a while there will be a wrecked one come through with a salvage title.
I did watch a beautiful 2006 UL with 70K on the clock sell for just over 10,000 dollars wholesale

 

that's exactly what has happened to a lot of the Ls400s. grandma dies kids get them and destroy them, the few that are still left. or its the guy flipping burgers at mcdonalds making minimum wage that wants a cheap nice car but cant possibly afford to keep it maintained. I know one story of someone buying an early Ls400 that just drove it right into the ground. did absolutely nothing to it for the 5 years he had it. not even an oil change. timing belt broke so he pulled the tag off it and left it on the side of the road throwing it away like a bag of garbage and moved on to something else. a lot have met there end that way. people know they are reliable solid cars and can get away with just abusing them to death and not keeping up with them till they die, using them as disposable throw away transportation. its just sad. but when something goes on a 20 year old car with half a million miles, that's worth $500 and the repair is $1000, most will just cast it off to the crusher. real shame. the Ls430s will suffer the same way as they age, as will the Ls460s eventually.

I love my 95 Ls400. I drive my car VERY hard but I also take good care of it. when something goes on it I replace it.

 

It's rather sad to think of generations dying.....for all I know the original owner of my car died. It was in FLA for 8 yrs, and went 35k. Then supposedly the son got it and put 40k on it in 2 yrs, traded it in. Cars don't have feelings so that's just life, but if we apply the same to dogs, it makes me feel sad. Did the car ever think someone would buy it for 10k? It was so proud commanding 63k in 2006.

 

Car is sold! Just not to me. Would've been great to check it out and all, but being so far away and trying to coordinate an inspection just isn't all that simple.

 

. JM is 15 minutes from my house. Would have been interested in taking a peak. They get top dollar for their LS430s. They sell all of them even the first series 01-03 with loads of miles. Nothing goes cheap there. Many LS430s go to the staff especially the real old ones.

 

A clean low mileage LS is very hard to find. Maybe it was worth it. Wonder if the buyer knew the repair history? The cracked dashboard replaced (for heat/humidity damage) at 30k doesn't sound like a well maintained car.

If a car is available from a Lex dealer, maybe call and have them send you lots of detailed pictures. If it looks good, spend a little money and have them do a full mechanical inspection.

 

I wouldn't leave it to a third party inspection unless it was a find of a lifetime. You need to be there to see what's going on. For this car, it's gone and move on. There are many other cars out there. You may now need to work to find the trully good ones within the abused.

 

Completely agree. I just meant have it checked before flying out to see it personally. I still don't understand the enthusiasm for this car. Is it the ultra low miles? For the same price, there are still super nice one owner, full dealer service cars. Yeah higher mileage but not that much. Out here, maybe in the 70-80k range. Other than the odometer, probably couldn't tell the difference. Great so someone can afford to repair anything that goes wrong. At some point, parts for these cars are going to be harder to find.

 

I have an 05 with mercury metallic and black interior also. Unfortunately for me, I only have the Modern Luxury package. I will tell you this-----mercury metallic always looks CLEAN, and with the black leather, it's really beautiful.

 

This applies to cars that sell for millions, like when Wayne Carini is ripping off his next victim who doesn't realize what they have is worth. There are instances of relatives giving cars to relatives for free. When compared to buying a used car with cash, wouldn't that be a find of a lifetime? My buddy's mother in-law is giving their 16 y.o. daughter a 2011 Subaru Outback. Price is $0. They're happy about it, it saves them money, but it's not like they're doing cartwheels on the lawn. I'm sure there are numerous instances of people giving a LS430 away for free to a relative.