Originally Posted by biosurfer1

All of the LS 430's have timing belts. I sure hope at 206,000 miles, yours is not on the original belt!

Originally Posted by boatpix

Lexus ls460 2007 206k miles
You might be better of with my later version for 6k. Timing chain and not belt. 561-346-2816

Originally Posted by joeshannon

Hello all, this will be my first post. I have been a lurker for a while and am quite impressed with the quality of this community thus far. Anyway, on to my plea for help. I am in the market for a winter/daily (I have a C5 Z06 for the summer and when I feel like blowing off some steam lol). I live in the Chicagoland area and have been looking for something relatively affordable, comfortable, and reliable. To preface this, I am handy enough with a wrench to do brake, suspension, and top end engine work. I take pride in working on and maintaining my vehicles. I came a across a vehicle in my area that is basically all of what I am looking for and then some. It is a 2005 LS430 Ultra Luxury Package. As the car sits, it currently has 200k miles. The information that I have gathered so far is as follows:

-It has three owners (me being the potential fourth).
-The car has spent all of its life in the Midwest.
-The air suspension has NOT been replaced. I do not see any sag in the photos. The seller states that the height adjustment functionality still works and there aren't leaks. I plan on riding it out until it dies and replacing it with coilovers (which I can install on my own).
-Timing belt, water pump, and thermostat were replaced this summer and the seller has the accompanying documentation.
-Carfax shows that the vehicle was damaged in the rear earlier this year. Seller states it was minor and the damage was fixed by a local body shop.
-All electronics work on the car aside from the parking sensors. Not sure how much parts would cost but I see it as more of a minor inconvenience than a deal breaker.
-Comes with a set of winter tires which is key for my climate.
-Comes with both keys and owner's manual.
-Seller states the vehicle drives the way an LS should. I drove a clean example a while back at a dealership so I know what a sorted LS should feel like.

I ran the carfax and the Lexus vehicle maintenance history on the Lexus website. The car was serviced by Lexus until 2013 when the second owner transitioned to an indy shop. I contacted the indy shop and they were able to give me some good feedback about the service history from 2013 on. Shop seem to have an excellent reputation to boot. It was brought in for at least an oil and filter change every 5k miles almost religiously. These servicing intervals continued from purchase to the present. I feel very good about this but I am looking for some general feedback on the car before I proceed. What else am I missing that I should be looking for? Does the maintenance history seem conducive of a potentially long life? And ultimately, what do you all feel the value of this car to be? For context the seller is asking $6,000 even. Thanks again to anybody that is willing to provide feedback. I am going to post a few photos below to give you an idea of what I'm looking at.

Originally Posted by joeshannon

Thank you for the replies. I did state in my initial post that the car spent its life in the Midwest. It's pretty much a given that any car around here is going to have rust at that age. I'm so conflicted because its slim pickin's in my local area and this example appears to be well taken care of (regardless of current issues). I guess at this point though he'd have to make me an offer I couldn't refuse. I'm a big interior guy and this one looks ridiculously clean. I'm not an indecisive person so I hate this!