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This is my 11th Toyota since my first car in high school, a 1989 Toyota Cressida. Recently sold my Crewmax Tundra to get rid of a car payment when I found this ‘03 from the second owner here locally in Texas. It has 120K miles and was in fairly good shape, just in need of a detail in the interior and some paint correction.
So far here’s a list of things I’ve done to get it right where I want it: timing belt, serpentine belt, upper and lower radiator hoses, water pump, thermostat, tensioner, spark plugs, power steering reservoir, and the valve seals with tube seals. I used Mobile 1 high mile synthetic for the oil change. I thought it drove like a dream before, now? This thing is dead quiet and rides like a cloud, never feel or hear the transmission shift - couldn’t be happier.
As for cosmetic changes, I bought 18” 5 spoke chrome replica wheels from Stock Wheel Solutions, made a huge difference. Went with 245/45 Yokohama Advan Sports for tires, also made a huge difference in the ride quality. Put on a tan and sand eurotone Wheelskins wheel cover and swapped out the stock leather/wood shifter for a walnut shift **** off Amazon, looks and feels way nicer. Also chopped off the rusted tail pipes and put on 3” rolled, chrome slant tips, you can tell it has dual exhaust now and it matches perfectly.
Lastly, I did a three stage paint correction on the paint, from 5 feet I’d say it looks brand new. Almost can’t tell what color it is under bright lights, the mirror finish turned out so well. Inside I steam cleaned the carpets, door panels, speaker grills and headliner. Cleaned and reconditioned the leather, made a huge difference.
Future plans are to repaint the navigation bezel and replace the leather with saddle leather the it’ll be all done for me.
Welcome! Looks like you have a pretty nice LS on your hands. 120k is pretty low miles for an '03. You should have plenty of life left. BTW, I'm South of Denton in the Flower Mound/Highland Village area.
Rims look great! I would consider changing my wheels to the 18s, but I only have 5,000 miles on my Michelins and would rather hold on to the money for any future repairs which in the long run will probably appear.
Welcome! Looks like you have a pretty nice LS on your hands. 120k is pretty low miles for an '03. You should have plenty of life left. BTW, I'm South of Denton in the Flower Mound/Highland Village area.
Thank you, I’m hoping there’s plenty left in her. I only NEED 10 months to break even from my Tundra, anything after 10 months is straight savings 👍
Originally Posted by Romanova
Always looking for more Houston members. Enjoy your LS!
Thanks!
Originally Posted by Bocatrip
Rims look great! I would consider changing my wheels to the 18s, but I only have 5,000 miles on my Michelins and would rather hold on to the money for any future repairs which in the long run will probably appear.
That was my dilemma, it had Douglas (WalMart) Tires on the Stock 17” rims. I figured if I was going to get tires, I’d go for the chrome 18” 5 spokes. They’re impossible to find without paying $1K+ minimum OEM. IMO these are too classy for aftermarket rims, almost nothing looks right. Scored a replica set for $760 shipped so I went with it, really happy with how it all turned out.
Originally Posted by 2KHarrier
Good looking LS. That paint correction stuff really works!
And welcome to the club!
Thanks! It definitely does work, just takes time and patience, emphasis on patience lol
You'll be making money then in no time. Congrats on the find. How did you find it? I'm in DFW area and rarely see them come up for sale this clean. Thought I'm not looking for black, moonlight pearl would certainly satisfy the itch. Saddle interior wrapped in a UL package would seal the deal.
Thank you, I’m hoping there’s plenty left in her. I only NEED 10 months to break even from my Tundra, anything after 10 months is straight savings 👍
That was basically my plan when I got my first LS. I picked mine up from a friend who was going to trade it in and I was only going to use it to get by for maybe a year and then get something else. LOL....that was almost 5 years ago and I don't see me getting away from an LS any time soon. I might move to an LS460 but the LS just seems to work well for me.
You'll be making money then in no time. Congrats on the find. How did you find it? I'm in DFW area and rarely see them come up for sale this clean. Thought I'm not looking for black, moonlight pearl would certainly satisfy the itch. Saddle interior wrapped in a UL package would seal the deal.
Thanks!
An ad popped up on Craigslist, the owner actually didn’t load any photos. I texted within an hour of the ad going up, got pictures texted to me and went to see it that evening. By the next morning we agreed on a price and it was a done deal. I knew it was a gem when I pulled up.
Ive always been a pearl white guy myself, my wife has always had the new, low mile SUV (4Runner, Sequoia, now a GX460) where we could be picky on getting the color we want. For me, I take whatever I can find that’s clean. I have to say though, this black cleans up really, really nice - especially with the chrome rims.
I’ll be swapping the ivory leather to saddle leather in the next few months once I have more drive time and ensure nothing else is needed from a maintenance/repair aspect. My wife had the redrock interior in her Platinum sequoia and it was beautiful.
Good luck with your search! A 2005 pearl white sport, one owner with 88K miles popped up at Park Place Plano for $11.5K the same day I got mine, just couldn’t justify the extra $5.5K for a “to and from”.
That was basically my plan when I got my first LS. I picked mine up from a friend who was going to trade it in and I was only going to use it to get by for maybe a year and then get something else. LOL....that was almost 5 years ago and I don't see me getting away from an LS any time soon. I might move to an LS460 but the LS just seems to work well for me.
I’ve always preferred trucks, but have always had my eye on the LS430’s. Now that I’ve had this one, I don’t know if I’ll ever want to drive anything other than an LS - and of course it has to be one of the most expensive Lexus’.
I’m definitely keeping this one until the wheels fall off, just such a timeless design 👌
Got a link to the shift ****? Good looking car by the way!
It’s made by Shiftin, I think, the link is below. I went with Walnut, seemed closest to my wood grain and I’d say it’s a 99% match - maybe just a TAD darker? Only someone that stares and knows it’s not stock would notice, otherwise it looks like it came from the factory. It’s slightly taller too, which I actually prefer.
2003 LS430 - New Owner
