gjperry

Does anyone know where I can obtain information regarding the paint (exterior) finishes offered by the factory with respect to the 2003 SC 430 models. In addition, with respect to any particular exterior finish, what were the available interior leather finishes for the seats, etc. ?

tfischer

The exteriors were all finished in a glossy enamel with clearcoat (although there seems to be some differences of opinion as to whether black Lexus cars had the clearcoat -- I think they did).

But if by "finish" you mean color, then the car came with 8 exterior colors and 3 leather/wood interior combinations: Black leather with "Burled Walnut" (dark red/brown); "Saddle" Leather (brown leather, but darker than tan with a hint of orange), which also came only with the Walnut wood, and "Ecru" leather (an eggshell or off-white) which came only with "Bird's-Eye Mable" (yellow-brown with conspicuous grain). Not all colors were available with all 3 interiors; the possible combinations are:

Silver ("Millennium Silver Metallic"), which came with all 3 interiors;
White ("White Gold Crystal") which came with Ecru or Saddle only;
Black ("Black Onyx"), which came with all 3 interiors;
Bronze ("Egyptian Sand Pearl"); which came with Ecru or Saddle only;
Very Dark Purple ("Twilight Amethyst Pearl" [really]), which came with Ecru or Black only;
Red ("Absolutely Red") which came with all 3 interiors;
Very Dark Green ("Midnight Pine Pearl"), which came with Ecru or Saddle only;
Dark Blue ("Indigo Ink Pearl"), which came with all 3 interiors.

I think these combinations remained the same until the '06 models; but I'm not positive about that. Current models come in 9 colors, some of which are the same (white, Amethyst, black, Indigo) and some of which are new (Matador Red, Granite Mica (grey), Tigereye Mica (hard to describe -- kind of a brown metallic); there is a 4th leather interior, camel, which is tan, and I believe the Bird's Eye Maple is a thing of the past. However, you can stop in any Lexus dealership and pick up a brochure with all this information.

There were some special editions from time to time, such as the Pebble Beach Editions and the Nieman Marcus Edition, which had unique colors and interiors, but you can find out about those by searching this forum. Those were limited runs and those cars are pretty rare (by design).

JCtx

I was under the impression ecru was replaced by camel. And the bird's eye maple wood is gone indeed... so my car went up in value .

tfischer

According the '06 brochure, the "Ecru" is not only still available, it is available with all of the 9 colors.

The Wood trims are these two: Walnut, as before, and "Espresso Bird's Eye Maple" (which looks almost black with dark brown grain) and which is available only with the Camel Leather. The Ecru, Saddle or Black interiors all come with the Walnut wood trim only.

Bye-bye, bird's eye.

JCtx

Thanks for the clarification. It's a shame no ecru with bird's eye anymore; I think it looks phenomenal, as well as unique.
I don't like the '06 ecru with that dark wood. The best '06 interior is the camel IMHO, but not as good as my ecru . Later gang.