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I'm reviving this old thread as I'm once again looking for a top notch or excellent condition Modern Luxury or Custom Luxury LS430. Will consider Ultra Luxury.
2004–2006 years.
I prefer 1-owner with no more than 140K miles. I will selectively look at 2-owners but not 3.
I live in New York City and would like to keep the search within a 1000-mile ratio.
Budget is open but I'm more inclined to garage queens, clean cars that have been cared for and have a documented maintenance history.
Preferred Color Combinations:
Silver on Black
Navy blue on Cashmere
Cashmere, Designo (Orange) and Black interiors YES.
Grey interiors NO.
Buy it and ship it. I shipped a car from Tuscon for about $1k.
You have been looking for over a year. This car will be much cleaner than a car from the Northeast. The better condition and lack of potential rust are worth more than the freight cost. These cars are like lakefront property, they are not making any more. Unlike lakefront property, they are not here for eternity as they get older with more miles every day. Opinions differ but some who are knowledgeable and experienced with an LS consider the Custom Luxury package to be the most desirable.
Again, buy it and ship it.
Agree on shipping and Custom Luxury. I think it's worth looking for some of the distinctive colors too. Briarwood is pretty cool. It's worth taking the time to find the right car (one owner, full dealer service, reasonable mileage). Found one at a local dealer and bought it the day it listed. Five years later, the car still runs perfectly. It's also handy that almost 20 years later, some of the ultra low mileage examples still exist. Good luck.
In addition to a 2004-2006 LS430, I've also widened my search to include the LS460 but only for years 2011 and 2012.
If you'd like to play it safe.... Consider 2013 LS460s and newer to avoid all the issues that proceeded the earlier models. There are many issues. 2013 cars seemed to get things sorted. Good luck.
The frequency of repair data on Consumer Reports bears out the above advice to get the '13 and later models of the LS460, at least up to '15 or so, not sure about the latest generation.
Only problem with the 2013 and later are the puke stains caused by people seeing that awful grille. <LOL>
No offence to Lexus owners with that grille design, but Ewwwwwww!
BigBoomer, I get your point about the ugly grill, but as with many things in life, put that aside and try to concentrate on the positive. This is a long awaited gift to myself and I'd like to get it right. I very much like the LS430 since I'm convinced that era for car making was better and things were built to last. But there are other conveniences and updates in the 2013+ LS460 that will be very nice to have. I will most likely keep this car for a long time.
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I tell you a quick story so you understand what I'm looking for. 2 years ago I bought a Mercedes S class (W140) and sold it during the pandemic. Lovely car but drove like a tank and I was always afraid of spending my Saturdays entangled in Mercedes maintenance. That car belonged to a gentlemen who owned an armored car company (similar to Brinks) and then his neighbor, a real estate tycoon with 4 other cars, bought it from him. Both of these guys had multi-car garages built on their properties. I'm just not used to that kind of wealth. And then there's me, a simple olive oil importer from The Bronx. There was a binder with maintenance paperwork at least 2 inches thick. I'd like to find a Lexus LS with that kind of history.
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The enclosed two pictures are of that Mercedes. The first one is in the garage where I parked when I lived in Manhattan. The second one in the field is the actual car in a field in Virginia. I sold it to a jeweler who already owned 3 other Mercedes S class and was missing the W140. We're still in touch and he still has it.
Last edited by OliveTree; Mar 11, 2022 at 07:02 AM.
