Update

[Gbneil]

...owned ls for three and a bit months now and it has never failed to start/finish a journey/impress/make me smile...I think I'm averaging about 24mpg, low of low twenties around town and high of 35 mpg with cruise on at 2000rpm...it's as cosseting as the day I bought it and nothing has gone wrong with it...I appreciate all you guys know this..you own them...but this car has been a revelation thus far....and, bit of a result, the last owner called me saying he has another one which he had bought for lpg and offered me the electric aerial for mine as he remembered it didn't work....he really regrets selling the ls and says his 430 is not half the car...contentious I know, but don't shoot the messenger...I'm gonna nip down and see him this weekend. Hope he doesn't get too emotional!

These cars are criminally undervalued. I used to buy jags and remember writing that the xj40 jags were criminally undervalued....which they are....but the lexus is in a different league....the best car in the world...for the price of a tired supermini...wow...gbn

[The-Acre]

...owned ls for three and a bit months now and it has never failed to start/finish a journey/impress/make me smile...I think I'm averaging about 24mpg, low of low twenties around town and high of 35 mpg with cruise on at 2000rpm...it's as cosseting as the day I bought it and nothing has gone wrong with it...I appreciate all you guys know this..you own them...but this car has been a revelation thus far....and, bit of a result, the last owner called me saying he has another one which he had bought for lpg and offered me the electric aerial for mine as he remembered it didn't work....he really regrets selling the ls and says his 430 is not half the car...contentious I know, but don't shoot the messenger...I'm gonna nip down and see him this weekend. Hope he doesn't get too emotional!

These cars are criminally undervalued. I used to buy jags and remember writing that the xj40 jags were criminally undervalued....which they are....but the lexus is in a different league....the best car in the world...for the price of a tired supermini...wow...gbn

Anyone reading that would think you're pleased with it!

Interesting the comment about the 430 not being half the car, because I understand that totally. However, I would find it very difficult to go back to a 400. The LS430 has a superb cabin, with a ridiculous amount of space, and although the one I have is only 3 years younger than my MK4, it feels so much more luxurious, and with the same superb engine. Anyone that's been in it always gives a comment of appreciation. I know they suffer with more problems, and I often wish it had the 430 body, but with the 400 underneath. Anyway, maybe this time next year I'll be eating my words!

[cruisermark]

i agree with phil - at the start when i upgraded from 400 to 430 i too did not like it and i even bought a mark 4 to go back to but in the end decided to keep the 430 - main reason was the ever so slightly harsh ride and a bit more road noise

BUT

now 2 years on i wouldnt go back to a 400 - it just feels so dated, unrefined and the drive is very wallowy (no offence to anybody) compared to the 430

hope i havent offended anybody - im just saying how it feels to me when going back

[Gbneil]

His biggest complaints were it wasn't much more frugal with its five speed box, amd it just doesn't 'feel' as high quality...I can't comment, never even been in a 430... I do prefer the look of the ls400, it seems lower, wider, less slab sided, but hey, neither are in the same aesthetic league as an x308 jag or the like, to my eyes...a lexus is a car to be enjoyed from behind the wheel in a manner I have never experienced in owning almost 200 cars..yeah, you read that right..

[Cotswold Pete]

Yep the 430 is more luxurious inside, but the 400 for me is luxurious enough, feels like it has more space than 430.

Also agree that Jags are undervalued, but not as much as the LS, and though Jag build quality improved still not IMHO up there with the LS, and the engine bays of Jags seem like a real nightmare to work on.

seems like the chaps at Lexus focused on the ease of maintenance (as much as one can with a 4 litre block under the bonnet) not just making a good runner in the first place.

As to the wallow, it takes a while to get used to, but when chucking around corners it seems that only M series BMW's keep up, or maybe M series drivers just know the limits of their road-holding better than your average driver!

Not been in a 460, so maybe even more luxury than the 400, but until my 400 dies, do not see any reason to trade up/across.

I guess like the original Morris Minor or VW camper, I think the 400 will be THE classic because it is the first of what was a new breed of engineering and design coming together. (I still remember my Grandads split screen Morris Minor with affection - and nothing else later in the Minor range ever appealed)

[Gbneil]

One day I would like a 600... Really for the interior more than anything....twenty yeses from now maybe haha

[mr2lad]

George...... In 20yrs time I might sell you mine

[n4chv]

I owned my LS400 (Mk 4) version for 13 years and sold it last year to a guy who like me is a huge fan and enthusiast

Whilst my LS430 ownership has got off to a rocky start due to a couple of issues (know LS430 faults), I am definitely very happy with the 430 - the cabin, extra gadgets, space and overall looks really are a step up from the LS400

But anyone who runs a good 400 is definitely lucky to have such an awesome motor for sure :-)

[Scribe]

Nach, when I was looking for a 400 (four years ago) I could have spent more on one than I did. I looked at a 99 T-reg that had done about 120,000 but I wasn't that impressed - the paint wasn't brilliant, the bonnet struts needed replacing, there was no satnav disc and no recent service history. Then I saw mine, which was eighteen months older and had done 132,000 and was £500 cheaper, and it was obvious which was a better buy. At the time I thought I could always change it for a newer one at some point, but as time has gone on I've realised that a more recent, lower mileage one wouldn't actually offer me much for the extra money it would cost. Plus there are very few decent ones still left anyway. So I'm hanging on to mine because there's simply no alternative!

[n4chv]

To be honest, my sale was a reluctant one and I sold mine as I had 2 other cars which were much newer - whilst my LS430 ownership has got off to a rocky start, there was no other car that offered this kind of luxury for the money. Older BMW 7s, Audi A8s and Merc S-Classes just aren't that reliable and cost a fortune to put right when they go wrong.

[goldtop]

I also preferred the LS430 cabin, but was put off by the unfixed problems of the LS430s I saw. Let's be honest here - it's only because the LS400/430s are now so cheap to buy that the cost of these small repairs seems so high.I didn't like it when I went to see a good car spoiled by neglect of these issues.

Of course, if there were more (any?) independent Lexus specialists that knew the gremlins and had cost-effective repair processes for the most common issues, we'd be much happier.

[Scribe]

That's true. Most cars cost a lot to fix, period. And it's often because of the cost of parts, not the labour involved.

[Titch LS]

I wouldn't part with my 2000 Mk4 even though I much prefer the 430's cabin to mine. My 400 is by far the best car driving experience I've ever had. I have to agree with George though, an x308 series XJ jag takes some beating in the styling stakes. I love the look of them but it's not a Lexus.

[Gbneil]

Iv been lucky enough to own several jags, an x308 sport, xj40 4.0 sovereign and a brace of series 3 xj4.2 sovereigns....wonderful cars, few cars, including rolls Royce for me, make you FEEL like a series 3 jag....my ls400 is nearest in 'feel' to a jag with its wonderful, cosseting ride and refinement....and it knocks jags, Merc and bmw into a cocked hat for build quality....lexus for me from now, and I am/was a huge jag fan.

Getting back to the ls430 v ls400 thing, I actually think the ls400 is a much more cohesive design...the ls430 I don't doubt is a wonderful car but it just doesn't sit on the road like a 400 for me....I can't believe I 'fell' into owning one of these wonderful cars...iv been a petrol head since I was a teenager and would never even have considered one....sometimes luck deals you a good hand I guess...