Hello,

I'm a current CL member and own a 16 gs350 f sport so most my time has been in the 4GS section. However, I'm interested in getting an SC430 and wanted to seek some thoughts/advise from fellow owners: Is there a year I should avoid OR is there a 'best' model year for this car? What are some of the major components/maintenance I can expect or that you've replaced on your cars?

Saw a 2002 silver with 79k miles for $13k
and a 2005 silver with 79.5k miles for $15.5k

If all things being equal, which would be the better buy?

Thanks guys.

 

I would look for a 2006 or newer. They have the 6 speed vs the 5 speed. The face lift was done on the 06's and up and there were a few electronic upgrades.

Dennis

 

Check out the stickie at the top of the SC430 forum page regarding what to look for when buying a SC430. It has a bunch of useful information.

There are no lemon years that I'm aware of. All years of the SC430 should provide similar performance and reliability, it is just that some are older than others. They are all 10 years old or older, so keep that in mind. The engine pretty much remained the same throughout the years. There were slight suspension & (head and tail) light changes in 2006 and, like Dennis mentioned, the transmission changed from a 5 speed to a 6 speed. In 2005, Bluetooth was added to the radio. There were upgrades to the NAV over the years also.

So as with any car purchase, it will come down to a number decisions on your part:

• How much are you willing to spend?
• What color combination do you want?
• Are you willing to do some work to bring a car up to your standards to obtain a car at a lower cost?
• What features are a must and what features are a "would be nice to have"?
• The older the car becomes, mileage and age become similar factors to be considered when parts need to be replaced or can be expected to fail.
  • For younger cars, mileage and how they were treated are very important.
  • For older cars, mileage, how they were treated and where they were stored when parked (indoors or outdoors) are very important, not to mention were they driven in salty conditions (like roads in the north during winter or on ocean beaches).
• For the two cars that you listed, I'd rate them about equal, but I don't have a good feel for their actual worth.

 

Thanks for the info.
Will be looking into 2006+ models.

 

Correction: Bluetooth added in 2005+ just for phone functions. No good for the radio.

 

That is correct. I should have been more clear on that. My bad.

 

Definitely read the stickies. I did. A few times. Took my gamble and am very happy w/ my 09 Pebble Beach, even though I overpaid. It was pristine w/ 21K mi.
But I did have battery issues from the get go. Went through three conventional Interstate batteries in a few mos.
Got a battery tender & eventually an AGM battery. Shouldn't have to do that, but I went in w/ eyes wide open. At least now I can leave it off the tender for a week & not be worried.
It seems to be just pure luck if your car w/ have battery issues. Some do, some don't. My mechanic could never pin point a huge unnatural draw on power. These cars do have a lot of electrical draw, especially for a car produced back then.
This forum is amazing.
Good luck to you in finding your perfect SC!

 

J. You did not overpay for your gem. Yours is practically new. Consider how much you had to pay if you’d bought it in 2009. I paid $29K for my 07 and I have no regret.

 

IIRC I paid $65K for mine in 2002. You did well.

 

I have just got mine a couple of months ago. If, like me, you are looking for a project car with great motor/transmission and a hardtop convertible but easy to customize otherwise then I would argue that earlier cars (pre-2005) may have an edge. They are cheaper of course but also some components (e.g. some exterior light housings, like license plate lights IIRC) got more complex and harder to deal with on later versions. Not to mention the fact that most gen2 SC430's were sold early on so in some rare cases replacement parts from a junk yard or used parts suppliers may be easier to find (the vast vast majority of parts are the same though for all years). In my recent experience, even repair manuals are easiest to find on ebay for 2002/2003 cars.
Regardless of year, to make this car tolerable for modern drivers, you will probably want to add a backup camera (~$250), remote entry/ignition($400-$600), Nag screen bypass with your audio input of choice - this car does not even have AUX (~$100), upgrade all lights to high lumen LEDs (varies but say $100), and add a cell phone holder/mount (nice ones ~$50). You will also most likely run into an issue where stock TPMS is not working. Lexus made battery replacement in TPMS sensors hard and compatible replacements are ridiculously expensive so many people have put generic nipples in and disable the TPMS to avoid dash light nagging you (many then use external TPMS). There is an entire sticky on that here. Disabling the TPMS is trivial but adding the external one will likely cost a bit (~50). So all told, about $1K plus labor (the latter applies rather obviously only if you do not do it yourself). If you have a spare $2K-3K, you would probably want to add lane assist and collision radar.
My personal impression is that SC430 has a weird shape where rock chips graze it worse than most cars on the front (not the windshield - the front). So if you plan on getting a car bra, consider getting a black car. Car bras for SC430 only come in black as far as I can tell. Would love to hear otherwise but not holding my breath.
My impression is that unless you trust previous owners, do all fluid flushes immediately (oil change, transmission fluid and break fluid). It's usually a good idea with any used car but for me with SC430 it was like a complete change in character of how the car drives.
The last thing that you can find on this forum (including the sticky) but is not often emphasized is that used SC430's come in two versions - those designed for runflat tires and those where nearly all space in the trunk houses a spare tire. Understand the tradeoffs and be on the lookout for the SC430 type you are after unless you want to hunt for a conversion kit later.

 

06 and up as mentioned have a stiffer chassis, steering headlights, lower gears to go with the six speed, different taillights with a higher mounted backup light built in.

bought our 08 Pb in 2016 for $30k with 19k miles and a unexpired transferrable Lexus platinum warranty.

Long list of mods in my signature line.

shocks and sway bars and 45 series tires made it turn and ride very well.

pioneer radio woke up the ML stereo amp and speakers.

headlight bulbs made the beams whiter instead of the yellower oem ones and greatly increased their reach.

scary ride at very high speeds on a large bump highway.

Ignore the barge feel. It’s fixable. As are the shocks and soft springs.

where else are you going to find a hardtop convertible that is easily capable of 400k miles that is very reliable.

the cabriolet wind blocker helped the cabin at speed.

make it yours once you find one.

was a fun project to source things over the last few years.

Ceramic brake pads increased the woah. Very strong and progressive now.

almost fast enough. Not bad for 261 cu inch.

Chevy 265/283/327 firing order motor. 1,8,4,3,6,5,7,2.

extremely sophisticated reliable car.

Cool drive.

Way different with the known issues addressed.

we bought ours on a whim. Well worth it. A keeper

 

I would look for the ever elusive 2010 model.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

 

Thanks for all the info guys. Really appreciate it.