Hello all - just wanted to introduce myself. I'm the proud new owner of a 2004 LS430 sport with 37K miles. Color is black with tan interior. It has the Nav - but no laser cruise. It was a two owner car - but the seller had owned it for the last 12 years and put the last 27K miles on the car. Full service history at Lex dealership with clean carfax. Interior and Exterior are both spotless. This was a second car for the seller and she stated that it was never driven in the Cleveland winter.....which was clearly evident by the cleanliness / rust free exterior. Price was $11.5 - which I though was fair for the entire package. The prior owner liked the 17 inch chrome wheels - which I wasn't a huge fan of - but the wheels were in perfect condition (not even any curb rash). The tires were original Michelin from 2004 and I've already swapped out the wheels / tires - electing to go with the 18 inch OE wheels and the Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S Plus tires. The 17 inch chrome wheels will probably turn into my winter set-up.

This is actually my second LS430 - as I purchased a 2003 back in 2009 and put almost 100K trouble free miles on the car. I reluctantly sold the car when I changed jobs and purchased a new 2014 diesel gate Passat TDI. Whoa - 50 miles to the gallon....but we all know that story and I recently sold back to VW. Since then, I've been lurking on Cars.com / Ebay / Craigslist - looking for another LS430. During the many month search - I found myself frequently looking at those 460s and thinking maybe I should bump up to the newer model? I'm glad I stuck with the LS430. Actually, the sport is a nice happy surprise for me - just a tad bit tighter than my 2003 base LS430.

I want to thank the many contributors to this site - I've come away with a lot of excellent information - wheels and tires being the first! I've confirmed that the TB / WP service has not been done - so I'll complete in the near future. Everything else is super up to date.

Its nice to be back into the LS430 - I have not found a car at this price point that even comes close.

 

Good deal. You obviously knew what you were looking for and you found it. There are gems that can be found in the Rust Belt.

Where did you end up buying your 18" rims from???

 

Welcome to CL. Congrats on getting a great low mileage car. The Sport version is hard to find so you lucked out. The tan interior looks classy. I had an 01 Base with the legendary comfortable ride. I now own an 04 Sport and like the "luxury firm". There's really not much difference but it does tighten up the ride. Per discussion in here, the P7's sound like a good choice. I've driven a Sports w/ "race car" Super Sport tires. Not pleasant. I've ordered the stiffer 19mm rear sway bar (stock sport is 14mm). I'll report back when it's installed. That's interesting that your new car has 17's. I thought the Sports version came w/ 18's (mine did). Hope the car works out well as you put some miles on.

 

Purchased the 18 inch wheels from OE Wheels....which I found based upon searches here on CL. They are the Hyper Black. Super quick shipping! I was able to find a $25 coupon from an on-line search....less than $600 out the door. Free shipping. No tax!

 

Yeah - I was surprised to see the 17 inch chrome wheels on the sport. The seller actually had the 18 inch wheels swapped out for these 17 inch chrome OEM wheels...12 years ago when she purchased the car. When checking the recommended tire pressure sticker on the door panel - it only has the 245/45 - 18 tire size listed. It would have been nice to have the original OEM 18 inch wheels....but not in the budget. These wheels got me 99% of the look I wanted - and they were an exact fit.

 

Congrats and welcome back to a LS430

 

Maybe she decided she didn't like the "firm" ride of the Sport and swapped wheels? The 17's (depending on tire) make the ride a little more cushioned.

 

Congratulations on the new ride. Now you gotta tint it to keep the leather soft. At least 35%. And keep it off the road in the winter. That means finding a beater for the winter. A $1000 front wheel drive with working heat should pull you through the winter. I got my 2006 Flint mica base from Houston (just before the hurricane), and im gonna put it up for the winter. No need exposing it to snow and salt. No sir!

 

Congrats! especially on the sport suspension!

lol my LS430 is my beater, but the irony is, it's worth more wholesale that the car it's keeping off the road! (for whatever reason not retail) My buddy says it's a crying shame, you take a garaged LS430 from FLA, and now you use it in the northeast ungaraged and driven in the winter, oh well....such is life....this is another reason I will not buy any new car, until we have a proper 3 car garage, and that may just be never with the way the prices seem to be rising around here...