iloveGS300

I am considering buying a 2005 SC430 for my wife(although I would be driving it too ). Just a few questions for you SC owners.

1)How much off MSRP can I get? I know there is a $8,000 difference between invoice and MSRP. I also know the SC has been out for 4 years so I assum the demand is not too high? Can I do 1000 over invoice? (7,000 off msrp) I live in SoCal if it matters.

2) If you could change one thing about your SC430 what would it be?

3) What is your favorite feature? (besides folding hardtop)

4) Why did you choose the SC430 over other automobiles in its class?

5) If you could rate your car 1 through 10,(10 being absolutely no flaws) What # would you give it?

6) Should I go with Saddle or Ecru? (black exterior)

7) Daily driver, or weekend Cruiser?

Thank you all for your time, its very much appreciated

Robert

Johnny3

I'd say the cities in the North would come off sticker the most in the winter months.I have no changes I would want made,the most common complaint I've read about is the run-flat tires,I'll go to convential tires if I finally wear these out (mines a pretty much W.E. car only ,a 04) The lush & beautiful interior is my favorite feature, I had a SLK 320 retractable be fore this 430, it was a nice car but can't compare to 430 but it was $20k less. I chose Lexus because they are most well-made car on the market, I have 2 other Lexus cars & they have never been back to the dealer since new (96 SC-300, 00 ES sedan). I rate mine a 10 absolutely. I went with Ecru, mines black ext. also, I was afraid I might get tired of the camel but it's just a personal choice, black on black seems to go the highest around here as they are hardest to find. I did replace the Ecru floor mats with black ones(OEM 430's) added contrast & looks much better IMO. I got the TRD wheels with mine, much sharp & classier looking, just my opinion tho.

Umbo

1)How much off MSRP can I get? I know there is a $8,000 difference between invoice and MSRP. I also know the SC has been out for 4 years so I assum the demand is not too high? Can I do 1000 over invoice? (7,000 off msrp) I live in SoCal if it matters.

There were a few previous threads addressing this. I think that the SoCal folks were able to snag an SC fror $59K

2) If you could change one thing about your SC430 what would it be?

Run flats and Antiswaybars and Auto Tranny (too sluggish for spirited driving), Oops that's 3 things.

3) What is your favorite feature? (besides folding hardtop)

No single feature. It's the package. Beautiful design, comfortable quiet ride, powerful engine and awesome interior. It is also one of the most reliable cars ever made (consumer reports). I also like the fact that I has an original look.

4) Why did you choose the SC430 over other automobiles in its class?

I knew I wanted an SC the first time I saw it.

5) If you could rate your car 1 through 10,(10 being absolutely no flaws) What # would you give it?

9

6) Should I go with Saddle or Ecru? (black exterior)

I have Ecru and like it but it gets dirty quickly.

7) Daily driver, or weekend Cruiser?

Daily

tfischer

I also have a black/ecru, which I have driven since April of '01, as soon as they came out.

Why this car? I had an SC400 for almost 10 years, but was looking for a convertible, but could find nothing that was both the right size and well made, plus I did not like the high noise from canvas tops at high speed. As soon as I found out that Lexus was going to make a convertible, and a folding hardtop (like the SLK, the only other one of those at that time -- a car I rejected as too small and too light) I signed up for the SC430 waiting list. Eighteen months later, almost at the top of a list of 150, I got one of the first several in town.

I would change nothing, although the hard ride is noticable on rough roads, but the better handling comes with that. And it would be nice if it had a bluetooth interface for the radio, now that I have a cell phone with bluetooth in it. (They may have that in the new ones, I'm not sure; I just know I love the wireless headset, and would like a handsfree speakerphone built into the car audio system, which I understand works pretty well and is available on some cars. There's always something . . . .)

I looked at all the dark colors, but the dark green and the dark blue were pretty rare back then. I looked at the 3 different interiors, and rejected the black interior because on a black car it was too much black, and the "saddle" was a bit too much on the orange side for my taste. I like the black/ecru a lot the first time I saw one (side by side with a black/black)-- with one of the dark colors it, and the light wood, make a bold fashion statement, and is well worth the slight extra effort to keep it clean (once you find the right stuff to use).

I don't know about pricing, but compared to the MB, this car is a bargain at sticker.

Happy motoring.

JCtx

My opinion on your main point. I think you can pretty much forget about $1K over invoice buddy. I paid $59K for mine, which amounts to $5,300 off MSRP. You could maybe pay a couple of hundred less, but that's about it. And it was one of the first '04s, back in Oct 1st, 2003 (wasn't interested on an '03, due to the seats not sliding back as much).
More important than price to me was getting the car right off the truck, which I did. I also had to buy out of town, so plan on that if you want the best price. I traveled 270 miles (each way, to NM) and saved over $3K, so the day ride was worth it. If only local dealer was more reasonable, let's say $1K difference, I'd have bought it there. They refused to deal, even with a written offer... and after buying 3 new Lexus from them in the past few years. I was never impressed with their service either, as they're the only alternative (and it shows), so I made the right choice in my mind: not supporting an arrogant dealer.
Interestingly enough, I had my best dealer experience with them when I took the SC for its only visit so far: to fix the door rattle. They'll probably take me more seriously next time; thought they had me on the sack. Don't worry about service issues if you don't buy the car there; they know better than that.

Anyway, you can go wrong with this car; go for it, and keep us posted.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

1) forget about it. this is not es300 or is300 (not trying to offend anyone), this is the high end lexus we talking about here, you don't get little over invoice. right now the market price in socal is about 60k before tax and fees. it was about 58k back this summer. it's more costly now coz' of the demand (still a lot of people buying) and there are a lot less sc430 coming in lately (every dealership is getting maybe 3 or at most 4 sc430).

2) if one thing to change, it would be one touch hard top

3) better throttle response like that on the 04 LS430

4) m3 too stiff and loud, with bad reliability and resale value. used sl500 still too expensive. 911 turbo used still too expensive.

5) 9.5 i would say

6) i would get saddle. ecru is just way too much to handle.

7) if i have the sc430, of course i drive it every day. even if i heavily mod the sc430, i would still drive it evrey day. no reason to keep it behind the garage door

and please check pm

Joe Peters

1. Bought mine Pre Owned Certifed 49200.00 with non runflats
and got them to include a spare tire and tools.

2 6 speed auto with lower gears in the rear for more low end responce
and better gas mileage my 99' vette got 29-30 on the road and a remote
top button on the key fob (OK thats 2)

3. Mark Levenson audio system

4. Folding hard top & 4 seats I have had convertiables since high school
(1963) this number 15 and the best ( I do miss my Fule Injected 62' Vette)

5 I rate it a 9

6. Saddle interior with dark wood. I don't care for the yellow wood (sorry)

7 Daily driver

Good luck

LeslieRC

To the extent you're looking at pricing models to determine where you might come out, I paid $59K (before taxes, tags, etc.) for my `04 SC430 in May 2004. The `04 is my second SC430 (I traded-in my `02). In response to some of your other questions, I rate this car a 9.5 (nothing's perfect); the only changes I think Lexus should make on the car at this point is doing away with the run-flats and putting a clear bra on the front. The latter (installing a clear bra) is something you MUST do!

Gojirra99

rcf8000

My wife's SC430 has the ecru leather, which I think looks a lot better than saddle. I don't think the amount of cleaning that is required is objectionable. The other thing I would recommend is to not get the run flat tires. My wife's car came with them, and I replaced them with conventional tires. Yes, we don't carry a spare, but all the driving is in-town. If she were doing any highway driving I'd want her to carry a spare. I also replaced the wheels, which are ugly and heavy, imo. As far as I'm concerned the SC430 is much to be preferred over the competition.. The car is 3 1/2 years old and has required no repairs. She loves it.

tfischer

Speaking of wheels, if you don't like the standard wheel covers (called the "pie plates"), you can opt for the new wheel covers which have cutouts and sculpturing which make them resemble 5 spoke wheels. You get the same wheels, so you still have the tire pressure sensors (which don't fit all replacement wheels), you get a very different and more sporty (I think) look, and although the option costs more than it should ($400 or so), it's still a lot less than new wheels.

If negotiated at the time of purchase, your dealer should throw those in, and save you the trouble of storing the originals in a box forever, and he keeps the originals for his own customers who need a replacement. This takes care of the ugly part of the "ugly and heavy" criticism. The heavy part does not bother me as I don't carry them around much myself, and when they are on the car, the V-8 does all the work. Besides, they are round so you can roll them. Some people think the weight of the wheel affects performance, but that can't be true -- I think it's just car talk.

There are pictures of these optional wheel covers on many posts in this forum, including several of my very own car itself.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well i don't know about other states, but here in cali, there is no way (unless you special order which the car will then be at msrp) you can get non-runflats. here in cali, there is no options for this car, you get it fully loaded every single time

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well all the 05 come with the 5 spoke wheel plate already i believe (again, at least here in cali), so that's "fixed"

tfischer

Do you mean the pie plate wheels are dead?

Rest In Peace.

Gojirra99

Not here in Canada