Johnhav430

in mint condition, and the driver is a senior, is that us in our LS 430's 20 yrs. from now?

I mean the Camry is potentially 25 y.o. Kinda sad that 25 yrs. has gone by. I was pretty young when that car was new!

1QWKGS4

iTrader: (3)

You're Comparing an Camry 90's to an LS430.. big difference. I get the point and i sometimes think of this but I don't think so.. Those old Camry's look pathetic in my opinion. "We" Lexus people are more **** about our cars and Keep up with maintenance and keeping the car looking new, I see a lot of these seniors though their cars are maintained, they let it deteriorate, they don't know much about cars except taking it to the dealer.

I have '99 GS400, its 18 years old. When I drive it I think, what does people perceive me as, I'm in 40's but my car is modded (Body kit & wheels) and in Pristine show quality condition.. Will my car ever look dated as the Senior's cars.. I highly doubt. There's difference between people that know cars and keep them up and people that drive cars until they fall apart.. (Yesterday, I met an old friend that moved back into town, met her 74 year old mother. The mother is driving a 2002 GS300 and it was totally trashed and look like She just drove it and changed the oil only. The car looked like it was literally driven into the ground) Super nice Lady but all she knew was to change the oil and putting gas in the car, the paint never look like it was waxed and the interior is shot..) Her car is newer than mine but mine look 100 times better than hers.. so it's funny you brought this up..because we all think what we would look like 10-20 years from now in our Lexus..

We won't be like those Seniors driving 90's Camry..No way.. lol

Johnhav430

hehe I was actually complimenting the senior in that I saw one at lunch, driving very slowly, but the car looked mint. And I suppose it's a testament to Toyota Motor as far as how many of their older vehicles are still on the road today...our Lexus aren't exactly spring chickens themselves!

1QWKGS4

iTrader: (3)

I drive mine daily in the triple digits.. I guess i'll have to graduate up to exotic cars once my Lexus is older .. (both my GS's under 50K miles and it Pristine condition)

Johnhav430

It was a long time ago, but the 1998 GS400 was "unbelievable" to me when I saw them on the road. When you're young, you don't see the possibility of ever having a car that nice, well, not back then.

Are you kidding, that car could be 45k in 1998!! not cheap......

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...300-400-page-9

texan_176

iTrader: (5)

It's all relative when it comes to how an older car look in the eyes of the public. When Lexus first released their cars looked like nothing else on the road. The LS was 20 years ahead of everyone else. The SC looked like it was going 50 mph when it was parked; styling on that was just light years ahead of any car at the time. The interiors were also stunning. How the did the clusters and made the radio/HVAC buttons large and spread out was attractive and very functional.

Now when you see a first gen LS it looks cool to only someone who knows the trivia behind it how Toyota spent a fortune to develop and test the engine, how it had cooling fins on the differential, the level of detail in the leather they used on the seats, how a team of engineers was assigned to make the engine compartment better to look at by designing parts to look good, etc. To 99% of the public it just looks like a tired old car even if it is in great shape. I have a 98 SC300 that is what I consider a timeless design but it does not turn heads at all even though I would say it is in better shape than most 5 year old cars.

The styling trends for large sedans are to put giant wheels on it even if it is not made for performance, slap on highly distracting sometimes blinding bright tail lamps, and put gizmos inside that are not in place to simply enhance the pleasure of driving the car. In these ways the 3rd gen LS will become a dated car in the long term. The upside to that is that this car will be "low tech" in comparison and you can DIY many things that are impossible on a newer car. It will also be a buyer's market with them as it is for older Lexus vehicles now.

I personally think it is kind of cool to reach 300K miles with a car that looks like it has 50K miles on it then keep it going until the parts just wear so much a head gasket fails or it spins a bearing. Then it becomes a labor of love to do an expensive (or PITA DIY) repair on a car that is virtually worthless.

1QWKGS4

iTrader: (3)

$45K base actually in 1998. I had Camaros and Corvettes while in college and when I saw the GS coming out in 1998. It was such Iconic moment in time for Lexus. I knew I would want a piece of Automotive history. The GS400 was "The fastest automatic sedan in the world" at that time. Granted I didn't know that much about Lexus and me (I hate Toyota as a brand) and only like the Supra because it was a performance car. All I knew was Lexus had built one of the most technologically advanced cars in that era. I owned Corvettes and Lexus was so much nicer, ride better and was just as quick/fast as my last '98 C5 Corvette.

$50K was a lot of money in 1998 especially for a kid in my early Twenty's straight out of college, $50K then is equivalent to about $80K now. I swallow that pill and ordered my 1999 exactly how i wanted it. I never regret my purchase. I daily drove my car for a few years but when I realized how special it was, I started modding it and use it as a show car / fun car / weekend toy. I bought another one a few years back. The Lexus GS from 1998-2005 is techno marvel. I owned leased newer Infiniti's and I always kept my Lexus. Lexus was one of those cars way overbuilt ahead of its time. A good condition one still looks almost new and almost as modern today and it was designed probably 20 years ago. I had an LS430 2005, it was a tank but the tech in it seemed to me older than my GS, the driving dynamics in the GS is just phenomenal. Not to put down the LS, but it's not a performance sedan like the GS, but the LS is a marvel in itself, I never ever drove any car 700 miles in a day and it felt like i only drove 200 miles.. The LS is the ultimate highway cruiser.. the LS430 is such an amazing highway car and all-around Luxury car. (Toyota did build some really good cars in the 90's but none of them have Lexus quality from the Late 90's into the early 2000's) I met a few Lexus Master Techs that went to their Lexus college and many have said 1998-2005 was the Best cars Lexus ever produced.

SixSeven

off topic, but I still love the look of the older GS's - such a cool looking car.

DocSmith

I bought a Camry new in 1992 and drove it for 17 years. I really loved that car. And still see them with fondness on the road today. I'm happy to be in a LS430 for the past 2 years now and I think of it as an upgraded version of my old Camry.

Johnhav430

That was my favorite generation. In the mid 2000's, a coworker actually had a coupe with a stick--I said da** you should keep it, it's rare, but it wasn't feasible for him. The next gen was ok, I remember shopping for a Camry with a stick in 1997, pretty impossible. A dealer had one and it was flat black, not my favoirite, and he wanted list. I said c'mon you have to give me at least $1,000 off. He said I can't, and won't, but I'll tell you why. I don't have too many to sell, and it boils down to I don't have to discount to sell the car.

And back then, when a new Camry came out, very few on lots, buy off of a allocation, kind of like BMW coupes in the early-mid 2000's. Our value system has really changed--a person could whimsically browse for cars at lunch, and have it in the driveway by the time they get home. As you point out, back in the day, this could be a 10+ year decision. I know I got my Maxima to go 18.5 years.....if cars had DNA, I think the Camry and LS430 share some....