Edit: I'll be updating this thread to document any changes and kind of keep a running dairy.

​​​​​​lve been on and off looking at LS430s for what seems like almost 2 years. My daily for the last 11 years was a 2005 Mitsubishi Evo 8 SSL. I was ready to finally retire it from daily duties and the list of possible daily drivers consisted of the LS430, W108 Mercedes (I gave up trying to find the specs I wanted in the price range I was willing to spend) and a Toyota pickup. The Evo is running on it's last legs and needs some major overhauling from all the Chicago winters it's seen. So for the last 3 months I have been intensely researching more about the LS430 and scouring the market in hopes of finding my next car. I narrow down that I only want a UL. And I want to avoid the cashmere, grey, and tan interiors. I was willing to fly across the country to get the perfect car.

Almost 2 weeks ago I was in contact with the original owner of a 2001 black on black UL. Living in San Diego, I had to wait until the weekend to get a ride up to the valley to check it out and purchase. The day prior to me making the trip the seller basically tells me he's selling it to a very persistent local buyer. Slightly bummed out, I go back onto autotempist and begin my search again. This time I find a 2002 black on the super rare bordeaux leather in Washington. Seller provided me with detailed videos of my request to see any blemishes in the interior. Turned out that it had more flaws than I really wanted to go into and restore, along with being over 180k miles with a reported front end accident. I tell the seller I want to rethink it over as it's not what I was lead to believe from the original sale post.

That night around 1am, I find it. Searched autotempist and clicked onto their refined link to CarGurus. That link fortunately did not filter out non "Ultra" keyword sales ads. Because as I scrolled down, I happen to see a facelift with headlight washers and radar plate. Clicked into the link and BAM!! Located at a dealership in Van Nuys and listed only 2 days ago. The interior I have been hunting for since the very beginning over 2 years ago.

2005 Black on Saddle UL 135k miles asking $9.5k

Filled with excitement and anxiety, I finish my shift at work (3rd shift) and drive to the bank. Grab breakfast while I wait for the bank to open at 9am. Then called the dealership at 10am hoping the car hasn't already been sold or spoken for. Luckily it was still available and I went ahead and made a deposit to hold it. Had some hiccups but I leave the bank just in time to get to the nearest train station and catch the train with less than a minute to spare. Take the train to LA, then Uber to Van Nuys to check out the car. It's a used car so there's some light scuffs and swirl marks. All should be buff and polishable to almost new. A cracked taillight and a peppered front bump will need to be replaced eventually but they are fine for now. Interior is in excellent condition aside from B-pillar wear on the driver side. Work out a deal down to $9k! I think I got a total steal. Anyways onto the pictures.

Korean Friendship Bell in San Pedro
Dealership Photos:

The photo that caught my eye

 

Here's some pics of the polar opposite of my LS430. You can find more photos and videos of it under #iLLViii on IG. Was mainly daily and occasionally autox and hpde.

2005 Mitsubishi Evo 8 GSR SSL

-stock tune
-stock exhaust
-stock fuel pump
-stock intake
-ets intercooler
-greddy type r bov
-muellerized ohlin r&t
-dba slotted rotors
-stoptech street pads
-ams stainless brake lines
-motul 600 brake fluid
-whiteline rck
-dunlop z2 in 265/35/18 on various 9.5 wheels
-status racing ring seats on status mounts
-status racing 5pt harness
-buschur racing harness bar
-redline goods alcantara wrapped OEM steering wheel

 

Sweet and congrats! imho the nice thing about the CLs and ULs are the less common interior colors, yours is sharp!

Imagine, 9k and the car is just getting broken in....

The beauty of these LS is that you spend so little, avoid a larger expenditure on a new car, and actually get something you truly like or love that probably will outlast your interest.

 

Nice looking Saddle interior. Good find Petey

 

Nice find on that unicorn. Thanks for sharing your story as we all love happy endings.

 

Great find and amazing looking car! That saddle leather and interior should respond extremely well to a good intensive detail/cleaning session.

 

Awesome deal I was in your same boat for awhile also, you find one then bam its sold within a few days so usually by the time you can get to it it was already sold. That's a very nice UL and that interior color is very rare and saught after. With the air suspension and all the bells and whistles its very nice. Your price is amazing I paid nearly double that for my ML a few months back here in the bay area but I wanted low mileage so I did the deal. Just keep up on the maintenance and that LS should last you for years to come! Congrats

 

Saddle with Black exterior looks great! Good find!

 

welcome to the UL club. yeah you got a unicorn all right, decent price too. It will provide many years of driving satisfaction, economically too.

never seen bolsters like that on the Evo btw, holy moly.

 

Are you going to autox the LS, too? LOL!!!

 

Beautiful!

 

Welcome and you should mod your ls for perfromance its a lot of fun to auto x with the right mods, cool evo though i was going to buy an 8 and do the 2.4 swap with built internals, shep trans, and stm 6677 turbo kit, i ended up buying and modding a ls instead lol

 

Nice color combo. Love that saddle upholstery. Looks custom

 

Thanks alot guys! Still so amazed I could get my hands on it.


Yeah, I noticed the seats could use some cleaning from the photos. It looks much better in real life but that is on my list of things to do once I get back from Thailand in February. Any recommendations on products?

Lol. The SSL package for the Evo came with Sunroof, Soundsystem, and Leather Recaros. I always felt the 8s have ugly and cheap interiors except for the SSL. The problem is during autox and hpde I was sliding all over the place so I knew I wanted to get some better seats and still retain some of the class of leather seats. My friend was selling those Status seats for less than half price so I jumped on them. They hold me in excellently, but are kind of a pain for daily use. Especially when on long road trips or picking up a curvy date.

Lol. No way. I don't even plan on putting anything bigger than 18s on the LS in fear of losing it's ride comfort. Roads here in SD are surprisingly rough, and after so many years in Chicago and SD with the Evo I plan on keeping this a comfort sled. Still have the Evo and it'll just get more and more aggressively dialed in.

See my reply above. There's no use for me to dump money into the LS to try to get it to perform. Even if I dumped almost 100k into it, it would still get beat by a stock Evo. Keeping it classy. And making the Evo even more raw performance.

 

I was about to NOT comment out of sheer jealousy, but realized nobody would have noticed my silent protest. LOL j/k

Seriously, that's a beautiful car, and I think you got a great deal! Not sure what I liked better, the pictures or your story! Well, pictures will always trump a story, because pictures simply let your mind wanderrrrrrrr!

Again, great find, and we wish you as much pleasure as we, on the Club Lexus site, have already experienced with the LS!

PS---i think the dealer needs some MORE advertising on the car! (RIP THOSE CLASSLESS ADVERTISEMENTS OFF ASAP!)