WHAT AN AMAZING CAR. My 44 mile commute just became a first class flight. Since performing $1800 in parts alone-worth of work, the car is absolutely amazing. Coming off of an 02 (totally rebuilt) Silverado 1500 (was daily to keep miles off of the new Jetta)-hopefully after changing the fuel filter and sock-the mileage will be okay w/ premium. Nevertheless-I love it so far.

 

Enjoy it in good health. You've got a great car now and this forum is a wonderful source of helpful information by a dedicated following of enthusiasts. I've been on various automotive forums for over 20 years now and this one truly is special.

 

 

Owned, many, many, many cars before and this one sets itself apart in many ways. My only fear is the 6-speed trans and it's reliability going forward. It shifts great, I changed the filter and flushed the fluid as well. All new fluids everywhere as a matter of fact.

 

Can't understand why you have any fear of transmission reliability.

 

186K on odometer, I have no idea how reliable these transmissions are,

 

The Aisin 6-speed in these are pretty damn bulletproof. They did recall the transmission in 2004 but it was specifically for an issue with the parking pawl, which would cause the car to roll away with the transmission in "park". I'd contact a dealer to see if the recall work has been completed on your car. The service history for all Lexus vehicles is a nationwide database, so if any dealer anywhere did the recall work, your local dealer would be able to tell you. Just call them with your car's VIN and they'll be able to tell you over the phone immediately and for free.

Other than that, there aren't really any issues with the transmission itself. Lexus did release a TSB for the transmission shift logic. The complaint is "poor shift quality at low speeds" - jerky shifting at low speeds and/or hesitation. I took my '04 to my dealer and paid the $182 to have them flash the ECU for this shortly after buying the car. Copied straight from the email from them - "Performed TSIB TC006-04 ECM Calibration: Shifting Enhancement, recalibrated ECM and ECT control modules". It completely changes the shift points of both regular mode operation as well as when you hit the "ECT Power" button on the dash. It wasn't shifting terribly by any means before the recalibration, but it definitely made a big improvement afterwards... drives like a different car, in a good way. The dealer will also be able to tell you if this has been done to your car when you call about the recall. If the shift logic reprogramming hasn't been done to your car and you haven't noticed the symptoms I described above, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Leaving the shift logic the way it came from the factory won't hurt the transmission at all, but if you have the $180, I personally would do it at some point. My car feels more 'peppy' afterwards and shifts just a *little* higher when accelerating gently, and is a little quicker to downshift when you want it to. If you want see what it's similar to, put your car in "ECT Power" mode and drive around town. It's close to what that feels like, but won't hold gears before up-shifting quite as long and won't downshift quite as quickly when you step on the gas lightly... the new shift logic is kind of in between "normal" and "power". If you're not familiar with what the "ECT Power" and "ECT Snow" buttons do, it stands for "Electronically Controlled Transmission". "ECT Power" mode not only holds gears for longer on up-shifts when accelerating, but also changes how eager the transmission is to downshift when hitting the gas at speed. The other thing it does is change the throttle response. Our cars are drive-by-wire -- our gas pedal is not physically connected to the throttle body via a cable like in most other older cars (A servo on the throttle body physically moves the butterfly valve based on the input signal it receives from a sensor attached to the gas pedal). When you hit the gas from a stop in normal mode, it smooths out the first few feet of initial acceleration to minimize abrupt acceleration/jerking forward type movement. Basically it very gently rolls onto the throttle from a dead stop even if you instantly push the gas pedal down to, say, 25%. When you select "ECT Snow", it does the exact opposite. This for use during low traction like snow or ice. You can also try this out at any time without hurting anything. It'll just make your car feel very slow and sluggish when accelerating, since it veeeeeery slowly applies the throttle from a stop to try to help minimize initial wheel spin in snow, as well as starting out in 2nd gear instead of 1st.

You mentioned that you changed the transmission fluid in your car? You must already know then that there's no dipstick since Lexus claims the transmission never needs servicing and the fluid is a "lifetime fluid". I hope you did your research on this trans and that it requires a very specific type of ATF. Unlike the '01-'03 models with the 5-speed, the 6-speed does not take Toyota T-IV fluid. You have to use World Standard (WS) fluid. If you did the ATF service yourself, I also hope you did your homework to make sure you got the fluid level correct considering the absence of a dipstick. My car had 100k miles when I bought it and the indie dealer I got it from did a trans service just before I bought it. It shifts buttery smooth now, especially after getting the shift logic in the ECM flashed.

Anyway, congrats on your purchase and your car should be around for another 300k+ miles as long as you keep taking care of it like you are now. I bet it's worlds different than your Jetta, and especially your Silverado. Fuel mileage strictly on the highway should be somewhere between 25-29mpg depending on speed and terrain. On a long drive to Sacramento from Portland OR where I live, I averaged about 27mpg going 75mph the whole way, and that was up and down three sets of mountains. As for mileage around town... well that's a different story lol. There's no getting around the fact that this is a 4,000lb land yacht with a V8... I've gotten tank averages as low as 15 and 16mpg when I didn't do any highway miles and was only driving around town... but my heavy right foot is mostly to blame for those pitiful numbers. If I keep my right foot out of it, I'm usually around 18-20mpg around town.

Also, $1800 in parts alone?? What other work have you done to the car?

 

I have had my 2002 LS430 for a few weeks now and it is nothing short of amazing. My old LS400 was a great vehicle but this "new" LS430 is just WAY better. Every day I drive this thing I am continually amazed and totally content.

 

When I was flying in first class on an American Airlines 737-800 last week, I kept thinking of how much more comfortable it is to get from point A to point B in an LS430.

 

Thanks for the very good and thorough response. I use BG fluids in everything; every fluid has been changed-the BG stuff is VERY good. Yes, I am aware of the fact that the car has no dipstick. BMW also claims lifetime fluid-must be a joke. No fluid is lifetime fluid IMO. I have a master technician that did all of my work which ranges with simple things to me going overboard and changing all of the coil packs. Timing belt, WP (AISIN), crank seals, shocks, brakes and rotors (akibono)-work great on this boat. VVT solenoid, pcv valve, valve cover gaskets, all fluids, trans filter kit,drive belt, spark plugs, fuel filter and screen,radiator and hoses, struts and shocks and strut mounts.

 

I'm not familiar with BG products but I wouldn't use ANYTHING but Toyota WS in the Aisin A761

 

The detergent/flush kit is BG-flushed twice....the fluid is full syn WS

 

 

My Lexus guy helped Hendrick open the first Lexus dealer service here in CLT and he also swears by BG products.

My old LS400 got 26-27 MPG on the thruway so I hope to achieve even better with the LS430...

 

lol yeah, I'd say that's a bit 'overboard'. Unless you were having issues with the coil packs, VVT solenoid, PCV valve, brakes, spark plugs, fuel filter, struts and strut mounts; or your crank seals, valve cover gasket, or radiator were leaking, then yeah... just a wee overboard But hey, at least you don't have to worry about any of those within the next 100k miles, which is about how many more miles you probably could have gone without having to worry about any of those *shrug*. The struts specifically last a reeeeeally long time in these cars, and I've read about people replacing them at 150k-200k miles and realizing that the car rides exactly the same as it did before. Same goes for coil packs and spark plugs. I replaced the plugs and wires on my '94 LS400 that I had when I was in high school about 15 years ago because a few people told me that 200k miles was far too many miles for original plugs and wires... pulled the plugs out and quickly realized that I wasted $110, as well as the $240 I spent on the wire set, as I saw zero difference in engine smoothness, power, or fuel economy afterwards.

As for the trans flush using detergent... there's quite a few very long, long term/old threads in here that talk about our Aisin transmissions, and how multiple drain and fills is generally the least risky way of freshening up your fluid, with the inherent risks of doing a full-on flush with detergent in a high-mileage trans. Were you around when your tech did the trans work, or did he/she at least tell you about the state of the filter and magnets pre-flush? If not, did he/she get a sample of the pre-flush fluid for analysis at a place like Blackstone? Doing a flush like that with detergent is rolling the dice in a somewhat big way and I, for one, would be 'driving on eggshells' after doing it.

With the exception of the 'Vegas style' trans service, I'd say you're set up for many worry-free miles ahead of you. Sure, many of those parts were probably not near the end of their service life, but if you've got the resources to do all of that, it definitely didn't hurt to replace all of them now.

edit: I realized you didn't mention replacing any front suspension bushings. Unless you just forgot to mention them, it's highly likely that some (or all lol) of them need attention. The bushings in these cars are reasonably soft and are probably the most commonly replaced (and source of headache) suspension components on these cars, as well as ball joints. I've replaced LCA and strut rod bushings on my car. The stabilizer link/sway bar bushings also commonly fail. If you have any creaks/groans/knocking coming from the front end while turning at low speeds like in a parking lot, feel/hear any looseness from the front end when going over bumps in the road or speed bumps, or if the steering seems to wander, especially under braking, tell your tech to check out all the bushings. They can be deceiving however, as not all worn out bushings will visually present as such. Many times the rubber will look fine upon a static visual inspection, but once the car is in motion and going over bumps/shift suspension loads, the giant tear or crack in the rubber will show up.