Just turned 200k this weekend. 2005 bought in 2013 with 80k miles. Timing belt and water pump. Front struts. One passenger door lock actuator motor. 3rd set of tires. 3rd battery. Oil changed every 5-6k miles. It's been the best car I've ever owned. Been flirting with buying a 460 but just can't pull the trigger yet. Part of me wants to see how many miles I can put on it.

 

Nice story, because I bought mine at 81k in Oct. 2016...congrats! I will follow in your footsteps...

Did you service the tranny along the way? How did you discover a pass. door actuator to not be working....did your ability to touch a door handle to lock/unlock stop?

When I got my car, the driver door actuator was already broken--I never tested the smart key (DOH). Once I realized that, I also found the door handles did not work. To my relief, when the dealer replaced the driver door actuator (free whew), everything worked on the handles....

 

I have never serviced the transmission. I take my car to an independent and he has said from day one to not flush or replace. He says if it's shifting good then leave it alone. I have trusted him with all my cars over the years. He may be wrong but at this point I think it's ok.
The passenger door wouldn't lock or unlock if manually locked. The door sensor wouldn't work either. I researched the problem here on this forum and fixed it myself by replacing the actuator motor myself. To my joy it worked after the motor replacement.

Good luck with yours and enjoy.

 

Thanks for the GREAT post, may I ask at what mileage you replace the front struts? Do you have the air suspension? I also have an 05 I bought it in 2016 with 86k+ miles, now I have 107K+ and I am think changing the front struts, do you use OEM? or after market. Thanks in advance.

 

Awesome, great to have real world experience that is parallel to one's own situation....I swear we will be bored with our LS430's before they quit on us. I hate to think how much I will have aged by the time my car hits 200k (from 102k) lol

My bet on your car is you can see 300k if you want to...

 

I believe the air suspension necessitates headlight washers, which OP doesn't have...

Hey on my car, right off the bat (at 81k) the dealer said need new struts, need new front lower control arms, need timing belt and water pump (my head was spinning the estimate was over $5k). Indie said you don't need any of it, but you should consider the timing belt due to age, and also we are recommending a rear output shaft seal because you're weeping, and if you fix that, a drain and fill of the tranny.

I asked could this drain and fill ruin my transmission, and is it a flush? To that I was told it is a drain and fill, we never flush, and at your mileage, there is zero chance of ruining the transmission...so I let them do it 3X (they did 2 on one trip but charged me for one, plus two extra qts. of WS, since they were testing/driving the car for a knocking sound from the front end--they recommended to reinstall missing brake pad shims). According to that chart, would have left 17% old fluid. At this point, the tech also said if I were you, I wouldn't do it again, I've done 3 and that's sufficient. He even set aside the fluid for me to see, upon #2, and it was dark. Again, imagine a shop that tells you not to overdo things....which is why I respect indies....

edit ps if I were to do the front struts I would get the OE sport version which are supposed to be cheaper than the non sport...I don't like aftermarket such as Monroes, they were awful on my Maxima fronts...

 

Thanks for your input Johnhav430, I did the tranny drained and refilled 3 times, 2 quarts each time within the 1.5+ years I own the vehicle. The 2nd owner did the timing belts/pump at 60k miles and 2 rear struts, I did changed the LCA bushing and the 2 front ball joints, that improved the driving and handling a lot. My next upgrade will be brakes...previous owner or dealership put on those crappy aftermarket rotors and pads, now the I can feel my bottom swaying during braking, may be the rear rotors are warped.

 

Nice looking car for 200,000 miles. I'm approaching 182,000 and should be at 200K within a few months. What is your schedule for the timing belt?

 

Hi, I'd like to improve the handling on my 06 as well - very disconnected and sloppy in the steering department (struts are in good shape - had them checked out by a trusted mechanics) Can you tell me what you were experiencing (handling wise) prior to replacing the LCA bushings and ball joints?

Thanks!

 

The steering wheel shakes, vibration on the seats at highway speed from 55 mph and up...! So far these issues are gone after the replacement, I still have a little vibration during the 1st few minutes drive, it could be tires?! It could be struts, tires are new Primacy Michelin tires, after 5 minutes on the road the vibration seems disappear!!! It's very smooth ride now.

 

OP, do you think you're going to push your car to 300k and beyond?!

My car vibrated too at a certain speed when I got it, and LCA bushings did not help. Although it was a moving target, because the indie rebalanced my online snow tires/rims (free he took it upon himself). I feel that a 4 wheel alignment helped my car, every setting was red when it went in. It's been smooth ever since, and on both winter and summer rims...

 

I am not sure I will go beyond 200k before I change the car?! Who knows what will happen in the car industry may we all driving EV or hybrid. I also have a 2011 Prius which is my commuter car and so far it's doing good in the pass 7+ years, I average 42-45mpg combine, the LS is my weekend car, back to the subject...I did 4 wheels alignment the week of owning the LS, my brother is a Honda master tech and he did the alignment for me at his work dealership, the vibration issue still exist in my LS but I can live with it for now. I still think the issue is the front struts...when braking the front end dipped and bounce back more frequently than before, but tires didn't show signs of uneven wear...so I keep driving.

 

Struts were replaced at around 110k. My passenger side started leaking and eventually bottomed out when I would hit a bump. Replaced with aftermarket. Not sure of the name.

 

I won't make it to 300k but the car probably will. I'll have a 460 by then. I'm getting the itch now. It's all I can do not to scratch it.

 

if I don't sell it or trade it by 210k I'll put another timing belt on it. My first one was around 100k.