Johnhav430

I get it, can most of us here appreciate golfing at Pebble Beach, or Augusta, etc.? Can we tell that a $5000 bottle of wine, is much better than one that costs $2000 (I've heard that normal people can't tell beyond $50, I always thought Wild Irish Rose was pretty good myself)? But I'm truly sorry, if a 4 cyl turbo is satisfying to drive, because it has 250+ ft. lbs available at 1400 rpm, well, then, by all means, get a A4, or 328i, etc. I was given a 4 cyl turbo 328x drive to drive for over 4 mos. due to Takata, list price had to be 54k, and I'm not being a snob, it drove like absolute cr**. I proved that it can go 0-60 in about 5.8 sec, but it's quite a raucous....and if I'm not mistaken, Cadillac's flagship has a 2.0 liter 4 cyl standard. That's pathetic. And a sign of the current audience. Look at Lexus, seems like the new LS gets a V6. If a V8 is not modern, then I'd rather live in the past...

semar

for some time now I have a rattle in the dash. Wanted to ignore it but it continues to bother me
Sounds like a cable hitting something when going over rough road
How hard is it to remove the center vent section. Do I have to start from the bottom and remove the seat heater control, then the disc player, radio and work upwards?
Or can the upper vent be removed separately without removing the whole center?
I cannot find a diagram or instruction to remove the center dash section
Anybody who had a similar issue?

can you imagine? rattle in a LS? Shutter

2KHarrier

I agree about the V8, but the EPA has set their fuel economy standards and if I'm not mistaken, the average for new cars has to be something like 55 MPG by 2022. I may not have all those figures correct, but 1 or 2 cars with great fuel economy and an EV are not going to carry the manufacturer's EPA standards anymore. Hence the loss of the V8 in many markets. Aston Martin is moving away from V12's, Ferrari has come out with the LaFerrari (Hybrid) so I hope we don't live to see "The last of the V8's" That would be tragic...

BradTank

You can blame the EPA and ridiculous CAFE standards for why the automakers are having to put turbo 4 cylinders in their high end luxury cars and killing V8s. Also annoying features like "auto stop" where it kills the engine at every stop light. And no, a turbo 4 doesn't drive nearly as nice or effortless as a V8.

The Obama Administration set it up so the average fuel economy to be 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, which is absolutely ridiculous. A new 4 cylinder Corolla or Honda Civic averages around 35 mpgs. Good luck getting an entire lineup of cars anywhere near 54.5 for the average.

Supposedly the automakers are making headway on the new Administration to making some more reasonable goals.

I personally think CAFE should be scrapped altogether and simply let buyers decide what they want in terms of fuel economy.

Johnhav430

On my BMW forum, there were always shots taken at 325's and 328's, whenever people were taking shots at 335 owners, and of course, there were the can't we just all get along replies too. What we all have or had in common, were that our motors are inline 6's. They are silky smooth to the redline. A 4 cyl. is inherently imbalanced, and rough. That 328i 4 cyl. turbo I had for 4 1/2 mos. was a raucous. and pretty fast, 5.8 0-60 I think. But that's a number, it does not tell anyone how noisy and rough it is doing the 0-60. People are spending 55k+ now on 4 cyl. cars. One day, and not a joke, there will be 6 figured 4 cyl. cars, they're coming....

Refreshing to see today as I walked through a Nissan lot, a V8 Armada made in Japan. I know the Armada has a bad reputation for reliability, but I don't know if this 2017 is better. The label said contents 95% from Japan...

campisi

I agree wholeheartedly.

Duck05

Having both an '01 430 and a '14 460 in the family, the 460 has a few features the LS430 does not have but I prefer the 430 overall. Some of that is value based since you could acquire 3 or 4 LS430s for what you'd have to invest in a recent LS460....

That aside, the 430 just rides nice, is quiet, and is a smooth ride with a lot of amenities. Anyone that can get their hands on a '04-06 and understand the long term maintenance demands will have a nice car for many years.....

All of the "missing" tech I do not consider "must have's"....

toddmorr

dead on. I am perfectly capable of making a rational choice as to the gas mileage of a vehicle I purchase. Nor would I assume that any government bureaucrat is capable of making the same rational choice for the millions of individuals that buy vehicles each year.

jayclapp

The CAFE requirements are because of a need to leave future generations with a life that is at least as good as what we have now. When (not if) all the energy resources are used up by selfish generations with a "what's in it for me" attitude, the future generations will suffer. All current activities should be judged by whether they benefit society at large. Anything else is either a waste or selfishness. Just my opinion, no offense intended.

Johnhav430

Don't disagree, but how about financing with disadvantageous terms? Why are we driving around 10 y.o. cars with zero payments, when we could be leasing new cars instead? My buddy lives in a NBA basketball player's former house in Boston, yet he has never bought a new car in his life? Can anyone, truly, afford to drive a new car every 36 mos., let alone a nice one? One could say they're depleting financial resources not only of their own, but their own heirs, yet they keep on doing it. They don't even care about their own children, one could say. Should elderly doing reverse mortgages be shot? imho what they're doing is just awful. Yet, someone is benefiting. People selling them these products. And they would argue, caveat emptor. Or how about this, we all know what we're supposed to be saving when we have kids, for their college. Some may argue, how the **** can I pay $1200/mo. for day care, and save another $1800/mo., per child. Don't I have to eat too? But others will say, arfkm, you're saving $500/mo. for your kids' education, do the math, that won't cut it, you're so selfish. My coworker gave me that as a real number. $500/mo. from the hospital ride home through 22, is truly not going to cut it. for the class of 2032, that needs to be quadrupled. Selfish parents, need vacations, new cars, and a mcmansion!

toddmorr

i simply do not believe any human being, let alone a government bureaucrat, can accurately assess the costs and benefits of my car choice, let alone the millions of others' such choices each year, let alone assess the costs and benefits to future generations.

Johnhav430

Most of us here have a 11 yo or older LS430, some of which cost more than a 3 yo Camry. We are not typical. Conventional wisdom says get the used Camry. Some might even question why we would drive a 11 yo flagship. It may even be perceived like wearing a fake watch, or for a woman, fake handbag.

for what we do not diy, there are indie garages who are glad we bought these old cars. There are eBay sellers and online parts sellers who are glad our door handle covers fall off, our actuators break, our timing belts need replacement.

we support the above businesses. Wouldn't it be awesome if it were the case, that when we buy a $57k Audi, that we are proven to be unselfish, because it's a 4 cyl. Turbo, and not a 6 or heaven forbid a disgraceful 8...

Jabberwock

Interesting and unique discussion for the LS430 board, and as usual conducted in a very civil manner by the great folks on this forum. Gentle reminder to try to keep discussion focused on the LS430 and non political please.

Johnhav430

One modern feature that the 3UZ-FE lacks, is direct injection. I actually think this is a benefit. I think in theory, the fuel economy would be better with such. In practice, if it had been sold in 2006, there would likely be a carbon cleaning (walnut blast) procedure that we would need, and it would cost maybe 1/2 of a timing belt/water pump job, and be needed every 50-60k....I am very satisfied with the highway mpgs, and overall, this V8 gets about 1.5 mpg worse than my Nissan Maxima. Yet it has 82 more HP and 107 ft. lbs. more torque. That's substantial.

2KHarrier

Wife and I had to go to a funeral in northern Wisconsin Saturday. 420 miles round trip, so we took the 05 and averaged 26.5, which is fantastic to me.