Roscop

Hello everyone, I'm very interested in purchasing a SC430, I'm looking at a 2002 model with 88k, I haven't seen the car yet, but I've seen the service records, it's been maintained at the dealership the whole time except for the milage between 50k'-70k. The 90k service has already been done, so that's a big expense taken care of, overall I'm very happy with what I can tell about this car. I've read through the buyer's guide, so I have a few questions , how long do tires really last on the SC430, I've been looking through the forum and it seems like I mostly see 10-25k miles. There's no service records of the suspension being repaired, I'm concerned about the control arm bushings being worn out and causing premature tire wear. Do the tires always wear out from the negative camber, or does that only happen with worn out bushings? The motor mounts have not been replaced either, would you expect them to need replacement soon due to milage? I'm extremely impressed with what I've read about the reliability of the SC430, that's a major reason selling point to me. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me, I'm looking forward to them, along with becoming a new SC430 owner.

kevin3344

Welcome! As long as the service has been done I think you're good. Just had my SC430 with 104k checked out at the dealer and they said motor mounts, control arms and all other suspension issues were fine. Keep in mind that may vary where you live I'm in NC and it was a FL car. As for tires, I have Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 tires on my SC430 and they are awesome! Plus the reviews are very good. They tend to last a long time. Of course, tire wear may vary but I've seen little to no wear on the same Continental tires on my GS400 and I've had them a year!

I think at 88k and most of the service being done (the 90k saves you some $$$) you're good. Post pics when you have the car. You'll love it!!

Roscop

Hi Kevin, thanks for the reply. I'm really looking forward to seeing the car, and if all goes well, buying it. Those are just my top 3 concerns, (tire life, worn suspension bushings, and motor mounts), from my research, this forum is such a great resource. I know tire wear will vary, but I'm really looking for average life span in miles driven. The owner said 45k on the last set, but he's only owned it for 15k miles and just put on a new set so I will be unable to see any wear patterns.

kevin3344

No problem, I've averaged about 48k per set on the ZR rated tires for my GS. Just so happened my SC came with the same Continental Tires. If the owner is willing to give you the brand of tire, you can look up the treadwear number and that will give you an idea. The Continental Extreme Contact tires on my SC have a treadlife of 560 (similar to the ones on my GS) so they should wear very well. I once had a set of Bridgestone Potenza's that had a treadlife of 400 and those things lasted about 2.5 years lol. They were very good summer tires though. The Continentals are the best of both worlds in that they are very sticky and they wear well.

I'll let some of the other SC owners chime in as I just got mine and the tires are brand new!

Roscop

That's very good to hear, I can definitely live with that type of milage, if it were only 10-20k I think I would have to pass, thanks again!

stevemcb

I can tell you my experience at 17 K on my Michelin tires that replaced the run flat garbage at 4 K. They appear to be at around 50 percent with the 13 K. on them. The real issue is not how much tread is left on them but how the ride quality will deteriorate severely after 3 to 5000 miles are put on your tires . Once you wear out the outer layer of soft pavement grabbing rubber you get down to the harder rubber that begin to give you a rough ride. Then you have to decide do you want to ride around with that type of ride or get that smooth ride back .

Roscop

The ride quality is definitely important, I've never had problems with tires wearing out so fast. My last 3 cars were all Mercedes SLK's, with the last one being a SLK32 AMG. They've been great cars, but I hear great things about the SC430, and the reliability, with cost of ownership is a big factor. I hope this doesn't sound petty, but I would really expect to at least get 40k of quality life out of a set of tires.

kevin3344

I'm with you Roscop reliability is very important to me. I don't like spending my time at the dealership for service. That being said, I'll tell you a little about my daily driver a Lexus GS400 (which has a 1UZ-FE motor, the earlier version of the motor in the SC430). I bought the car in 1999, and in the first 5 years I didn't have a single problem except a battery. In 2004 somewhere around 72,000 miles, the throttle body assembly needed repair and I had that fixed. I had the timing belt changed at 120,000 miles. I admit I didn't take the best care of the car the first 10 years. Fast forward to a few years ago and 180,000 miles and the check engine light came on. The dealer said don't worry about it, one of your vacuum hoses came lose probably due to worn motor mounts. I had those replaced. This year I had my second timing belt change at 220,000 miles. Finally, after 17 years and 224,318 miles on the odometer I had the original OEM spark plugs changed.

Of course, I have always been a fan of the SC430 but my GS400 gave me confidence that I will have minimal problems, even at 104,000 miles. Just for peace of mind, I had the car checked out at the dealer the other day and they said the car is in great condition. They replaced a power steering hose and that was it (the previous owner had it repaired at a non-Lexus shop).

I plan on keeping both of these vehicles for many years to come!

stevemcb

Maybe you can get 40000 of life but not QUALITY life out of them on this car. This is a wide low profile tire that has a lot of rubber on the road. They are made to give you a smooth ride with a lot of grip and traction but not for that type of life. They remind me more of the type of tire I have had on my corvettes. I plan on changing my tires out within the next 4-5000 miles unless the ride gets much worse ( which I fully expect). Maybe others will have some different input.

Welcome to the forum and we hope you find the "perfect" car.

Harold57

Roscop, your mileage will vary depending on the tires you install and how good your alignment is, along with how you drive. With some of the higher speed rated tires, you'll see 18 to 20k miles on a set. With some of the other tires, you should see quite a bit more. There are a couple of threads on this forum discussing how best to do the alignment (as close to 0° as possible) to prevent the inside wear problem.

Welcome to the forum.

Roscop

Thanks again for all the replies, I really appreciate the honest answers from everyone, that will definitely help in making a decision knowing what to expect from the car. I have read the threads on the alignment issues, I'm sure that will be very helpful in the future. I'll keep you posted on the search, and will hopefully be posting pictures of a new to me SC430 soon.

Prasha

SC430 tires wear out from the negative camber, This is my 4th set on 15 years/62k miles. I have lifetime alignment free service contract, Every 5k get computer printout with the service. I have asked to go off the factory specs, but they would not do for liability issues (in support of tire industry?).

mandyfig

A lot of dancing around on alignment settings, I figured that out.

Slingshot1

I took my 06 to an Indy alignment shop and told them to take out all of the negative camber. Car drives the same, maybe not if you drive it hard. Tire wear is even and it cost less than $80.

Roscop

Out of curiosity, is anybody having tires replaced under a milage warranty?