As most of you know, I have a 2003 Egyptian Sand SC430 with the pie plate wheels. I have the chance to purchase OEM chrome twisties in mint condition with the gold lexus logo for $400 for the set. I am on the fence as to whether or not they would look good with the Egyptian Sand color or not. Should I pull the trigger on these wheels?

 

Absolutely. First of all, the gold logos will go nicely with the paint, and real pie pans would be an improvement over what you have on there now. You can't go too wrong when your baseline is zero, and the upgrade to the appearance of the car will astound you.
Do it!

 

IMO-Chrome makes everything in the world look better!

Only other considerations are that you can get the twisty center caps for about $120 in non chrome and just convert your wheels if you just hate the dinner plates and want a new look---this would be the most economical approach if you don't like the chrome. I've never seen a SC that chrome rims don't look good on!

HECK YEAH! Is my answer. See your car...

 

I say yes on the chrome wheel too. Sort of partial to the look myself with my chrome tourmalines.

Have they been inspected? It's hard to tell from the photo, if that's a low profile tire, the potential of having a bent wheel increases to the number of pot holes in your local roads.

I'd make the the deal CONTINGENT on inspection, mounting and balancing at a reputable tire shop. If the seller balks at that offer, walk away.

 

Pardon my ignorance, can someone explain these wheels to me? I currently have the "Pie Plates" as shown in the first picture. The car also came with a set of the "twisty center caps" as shown in the later picture. They all have the lexus logo, and as far as I can tell, they are all plastic. Which were the original caps (2005 model), and which were options. What are "real" pie plates as compared to what I have? If I replace the pie plates with the twisties, will I then be going down the slippery slope and want to paint the calipers, etc?

 

The so called pie plates covers are the original wheel design. I suppose in response to feed back from customer, Lexus added the option of the twisted star design, initially in silver to match the wheels. Then came some special modifications for certain cars like the limited NM edition, e.g. chrome or a darker silver. If you have lots of time (its a purposely slow website) you can go to http://www.toyotareference.com/lexussc#SC and see the sales brochures for all years, 2002-2010.

Of course there have been aftermarket vendors who have made knock-offs, they usually don't have the "L" lexus logo on them, or just violate the copyright. If you do go to the Twisted Star cover, you'll probably not need to do the calibers...but it really just a personal choice. I chose to go with another Lexus option, Tourmalines, chromed. Then, do to the open design of the wheel, I added caliper covers, mainly to keep the brake dust down. But no matter how hard I try, I still can't see my caliper while I'm operating the car.

 

The above history is correct. Pie plates, plastic, were standard at the start (I got one very early on). There was much negative feedback, and then the plastic replacement star caps were introduced. I bought a set and upgraded. New car purchasers at that time could get either version from the dealer, but few went with the originals, unless the dealer "sold" them the star caps as an extra cost option. Eventually, the whole pie plate cover was dumped from the car, and the star caps became standard, and then later some real spoke wheels were put on the car. Those pie plates and star caps from Lexus are a high quality plastic with some flexibility so they do not crack. They are expensive at about $400/set. Some aftermarket sets are chrome, but I know nothing about that, as I jumped at the chance to upgrade the look of my wheels as soon as possible, without having to actually buy new wheels. I am quite pleased and have no regrets, even though I paid full price at the time.

 

...I would jump all over them !!!...pretty sure you will love the end result !!!

 

I agree with all. The twisties will look better. Is it just the twisties that are for sale or an entire wheel with the twisties on them. I also agree with scdroptop that chrome wheels and chrome twisties are the better combination, of course, I'm a little biased on that account.