biosurfer1

Hey guys, just joined as I have begun the search for my 430. Me and my family have always been Toyota fans (16+ vehicles so far) but oddly have never had a Lexus. I currently drive an '08 Camry Hybrid and true to most Toyota's, it's been basically flawless for 225k+ miles now...but it's time for a change. I only got the hybrid for the 4 doors (new baby) and to try and keep some of the MPG's I got with previous 2 door commuter cars.

Those days are over. I want a big, luxurious highway cruiser that is also reliable and that lead me to the LS family. I've always liked the looks of the 430's and 460's but for a number of reason, I'm focusing my search on the 430. Ideally I'm looking for a 04-06 CL and prefer either silver, grey, blue or white.

The part that is tripping me up is, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm only interested in grey interior with the ash (graphite) wood and as I understand, this was only available on the 01-03? I'm not opposed to an early model, but for several reasons I would prefer the later models if at all possible. For me (and just my opinion), I really don't like the typical wood look with a grey interior. I did some searching and it seems like swapping all of the wood bits is a tough proposition, but may be possible?

Anyways I love the fact that this is an active forum, I much prefer to be part of forums than scour the internet bit by bit. If anyone has insight on the ash wood years or someone has a line on a well kept 04-06 CL, let me know!

TriC

What you call ash (graphite) wood was, in fact, only available with the ecru interior on 2001 to 2003 models. Ecru is not, at least to my eye, gray but more of an off-white. The true ash interior is a nice lighter shade of gray with contrasting wood that is very attractive IMHO.

The best advice that I can offer is to not get hung on colors on an older used car as you might end up searching forever. Instead, focus on finding the highest quality vehicle at your price-point. Sure, there might be some color(s) that you just can't abide. I was reluctant to buy mine due to the high maintenance required with a black exterior, but it had low mileage and a sterling history.

biosurfer1

Thanks for the info. I had not seen the graphite wood in person, just pics online and not sure if it was dirt or just doesn't photo well but the leather certainly did not come across as off white. Good to know.

I know buying a well maintained car trump's color combos but I'm not in a rush to buy and spending so much time in my car each day, I like to love what I look at😀

Ricklin

I'm in honeymoon phase with my car, I've only put 3-4 K on it so far. I too said screw the MPG's, you will be a very happy camper in an LS.

That said this ain't a Camry, and the newest LS430 is going on a decade and a half old. If colors are real important to you you may be shopping right at forever for a car. There just are not that many of them. It was a 60 K+ car back in the day, not that many sold.
History and service records, colors are farther down on the list, esp. in this case. Plus the CL cars are fairly rare to begin with. Happy hunting!

biosurfer1

I hear ya, but my Camry is a 2008 so a couple years older LS would not be like I'm giving up tons of modern technology. In fact, most stock LS's have better tech than my Camry does!

In addition to being in a better financial position to give up the MPG, my commute is 99.9% freeway so even if I get 25, it will be a hit vs. the 35 I currently get, but honestly the extra luxury of the LS will more than make up for it.

ebxgsxr

LS is great. good luck with your search.

Bocatrip

I'm fairly certain they were selling over 20,000+ cars a year after introduced in 2001. Not as many as Camrys and Accords, but that's a fair amount for a luxury car. Audi A8s had sold 5,000 cars a year at one time. However, finding an original well maintained car has been becoming a task indeed and will only get more difficult.

lev00221

iTrader: (28)

Find a car that is well maintained and then simply swap out the wood trim. It does not require much skill but it does require patience. The hardest part will be finding a steering wheel that is in good shape.

Trilkb

Ive always owned v8's with the exception of twin turbo v6's (vr4/rt/tt), and an acura RSX daily driver.

I had a truck that got 15mpg highway at the time of the ls430 purchase, The FZ1 I have gets maybe 30 because its ridden hard, the trans am I dont even calculate.

25-26mpg highway is awesome for a car this big. The pros to me are the buttery smooth engine and the look of the car.

The cons of these cars are the steering wheel shake and the fact alot of suspension parts are wearing out that you normally wouldnt consider. Not just struts and strut mounts, but steering rack bushings, control arm bushings, sway bar bushings and end links. What comes along with this is some very hard to diagnose issues with alignment as well as steering wheel shake at highway speeds. My "big luxurious highway cruiser" has never once given me a good experience on the highway. New tires, New rotors and pads, New steering rack bushings new sway bar bushings, alighment, road force balancing the front tires....My steering wheel still shakes and the car still wanders a bit.

I would look into the ls460 as well as the ls430. The LS460 doesnt seem to have as durable of an interior, but there are good condition ones out there. LS430 doesnt have alot of features your 08 camry has, but it has others that most newer cars still dont have (headlights, one touch everything)

Daspyda

iTrader: (1)

You can get that steering wheel refurbished for a little under $500 - nice leather and wood.

biosurfer1

Thanks guys...I actually found a great 2006 ML which I bought last weekend. I also sold my Camry the same day which was nice.

Been enjoying the car so far, leaps and bounds better than my Camry in almost every way except for MPG's which was expected.

There is a 2001 UL with the gray wood interior at the wrecker I'm going to check out this weekend. If the trim is in good condition, I might give it go to switch it all out. I actually don't mind the current wood as much as I thought, but having that gray wood would just make it my perfect car.

iriz

Just curious, what color combo did you end up with?

biosurfer1

Mercury metallic over Ash interior

kos

iTrader: (1)

Let me know how that swap goes. Thought about doing that myself!