. You have forgotten a few additional vulnerable areas. Oxygen sensors, rear subwoofer on ML systems, lower control arm bushings, radiator failure at the upper seam, and door actuators.

 

I had zero problems with my 01. I bought an 04 last year. Soon after purchase, I was refilling the gas tank. Click. Fuel shuts off. I spent 5 minutes holding the handle to 1/2 speed, turning it vertical, etc. It was a very slow refill and a real PIA. I usually refill when I have a 1/4 tank left. I ran a large bottle of Duralube fuel cleaner thru the system. For the next month, months, most refills were trouble free but the SFS (slow fill syndrome) happened a couple of times. Now, it hasn't happened in several months. Zero problems. In this case, doing regular refills (and maybe the fuel cleaner) seems to have solved the problem.

 

how about rear sunshade, I think that's another that is cost prohibitive to repair, gel in autodim sideview mirrors, missing toolkit, keyfob issues...all of these could add up. Next time, seller, if new car dealer, deducts! Luckily they took care of front brakes and front driver door actuator.

I also have had that gas fill issue on the BMW. Never experienced it until then. It's a 2007. Come to think of it, it's been rare that I pump gas myself as I work in NJ. Even with the 23 cent tax (well actually < 23 cents was passed onto premium which surprised me, elastic again), it pays to buy premium in NJ. but I no longer take my wife's car once/week to NJ to fill, so she does it herself, in PA or DE. I've never had the pump stop prematurely on an attendant in the LS430, which I have many many times in the 335i.

 

Never heard of a high percentage of owners having problems with O2 sensors or door actuators.

ML subwoofer is right; another reason to buy a base and avoid the obsolete NAVI system that is in ML and UL.

LCAs (and associated ***** joints) as well as plastic radiators are wear and tear parts that will need attention in any car once the age/miles add up. I would not say those things break in LS rapidly compared to other makes/models of the same era.

 

Missing tool kits and key fob issues aren't really wear items, John. The sunshade, on the other hand could be an expensive item to repair. The sideview mirror is one of those things that may or may not fail, regardless of what car it's on. The mirrors on my '01 are fine. I had a Park Avenue years ago that failed at about 5 years of age.

Well said Texan, well said..

 

I dunno fellas, seems like to say this and that do not count as things when the OP is "Possibly considering A 2005 LS430" is rationalizing.

As far as I know, the door actuators absolutely is a known given expensive if you don't DIY item ($860 at dealer).

If a sunshade costs north of $1k to fix, if a mirror glass is $400 list (31% discount is the best you can do online, if you can do better, please post the dealer, other than eBay that is), that a tool kit costs north of $200 and is usually stolen from used cars, it's kinda like turning up the radio when the chevy don't drive. my .02!

LCA is a $1400 job at the dealer, common as the sun coming up, and it is NOT something people routinely do on every car brand of car. Never did it in 18 yrs on the Nissan, no play or vibration. Ye gads, on a BMW with forged aluminum arms (not stamped steel), the arms are $296 including the bushings.

Replacing the two longer arms, which BMW often calls the thrust arms, is the equivalent of replacing the lower control arms of the LS430. You can buy the BMW parts and hold onto the two uppers, and the $296 includes bushings already.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...e-e90-e90kit-l

 

You, your BMW and your Nissan. Rather confusing statement made with an authoritarian opinion but contrarian points raised in doing so. BMW parts for $296 are not the OEM cost from a dealer, just a DIY alternate for the Lemforder (which is OEM to BMW) parts. The LS just does not have a large dealer alternative because this is a slim market opportunity for such. Most owners take their cars to dealers. An alternate isn't needed. As the cars fall in value, new owners tend to get cheaper. And use or want cheaper fixes.

The LS is going to be expensive. Period. There are bits and pieces of this car that CAN be DIY but most everything else shall remain costly.

 

sunshade in my 04 has been up and down 1x to check during test ride.

 

Hi Guys,
This car got put on hold back in February because I thought the price was a bit high. Well it resurfaced again a few days ago and I am planning on going up to drive it by the weekend. I can not lie here guys, some of you are scary to daylight out of me with what kind of problems come up with this car. Speakers, sub woofers, navigation screen problems, door actuators, tranny leaks and more. And at the prices? Holy Kielbasa...
I did happen to drive a 2003 this past Saturday. It was supposed to be in excellent condition but when I got there, it almost looked like it was in a smash up derby. But anyway, when I put the looks of the car aside, we took it out for a drive. I was very... impressed with the ride of the car. Yes it was quite and it can be compared to the Lincoln Town Car ride. Completely... maybe not but very impressive. I loved the interior of the car. From the layout of the dashboard on how it is laid out. Gauges were very easy to see and read, the steering wheel went right in to a very comfortable position for me and the armrests were at a very good position for me. All of the buttons were very easy to see and read. Especially looking out the front windshield and both front door windows. Very very roomy and comfortable. I was very much impressed!
Now as for the ride. First off I drive like an old lady so I do not beat on my cars. I do not care how long it takes me to get some where, but as long as I get there having comfort. I wasn't able to get the car on the highway because unfortunately, we went to drive the car around the busy time of day, but I was able to get the car up to around 45-50 MPH. Very soft, smooth and quite. Of course it did have Michelin Premier's on her. The same tire my dad has on his 2004 ES330.
It was a shame that this car was pretty abused, well... abused as far as my standards. A scratched rear bumper along with both passenger doors resprayed along with a broken passnger front door mirror body. I could here the motor spinning when I started the car and when I shut her off. How the hell can someone do this to a car? And the worst thing of all, sit down guys... it had a soft top on it. Oh boy did that really kill the car. Now I do have to say that my Town Car had the soft top, so I am a bit used to them.
This guy is asking $13,500 for this car and I held back buy not saying that I thought the guy should really have his head examined. $13,500 for this? To me, even with 41.000 this car is no where near worth that kind of money. When I looked up the value, I put the car in the fair to maybe good condition. It might be worth maybe $7500. I did tell me sweetheart, that maybe if I offered him $7000 and he took it, it might be worth having the top removed, the rear bumper resprayed and the two doors and mirrior repaired. But then I said... no way.
Now I can find a 2004-2007 Town Car for a lot less then what these LS's sell for and after reading about what kind of repairs develop, the Town Car sounds like a better deal price wise. Granted, I put some repairs in to my Town car, but no where near the prices that I see mentioned here.
My gutt feeling is that if something pretty major came up, I could put myself in to the poor house.
Now when I go up and test drive the 2005 LS430, what should I look for? When I spoke to the salesman yesterday, I was told that the timing belt, water pump were changed by the privious owner and the brakes and rotors are new. I was told that I really wouldn't have to do anything to this car for two years. So my next question is, what comes up in two years, a regular scheduled maintenance?

Thanks guys, Kielbasa

 

Just missed an 05 Sport w/ 68k. CA car, original owner, all maintenance done, synthetic oil since new, etc. I called the day it was listed for 12,500. Sold that morning. Moral here is move quickly or, if possible, find one before it's listed.

 

Better yet, spend $6-9k on a well-kept 140-160k car and you'll save thousands over the lower-mileage cars and you'll probably spend comparatively little of that difference towards repairs.

It's "miles per driven year" which matter, IMHO.

 

Pretty much everything you need to check for is in this thread. Just make a list to check out all the things like tilt, door locks, stereo, etc. If anything is wrong, counter offer the difference. That's what I did when I bought my '05 about a month ago. It mainly needed door locks, tires, and headlight restoration. I did some other things to get it to where I wanted but they were minor IMO.

Try to get the VIN prior to going to see the car. Go onto the Lexus service site and look at all the service work done by the dealer to see how it was taken care of. Again, something I did on all the Lexus I was even thinking about.

 

I would say find one before it's listed. Once it's listed at that price with those miles and it's a "real" car, you just won't be able to get to it fast enough. Too much competition.