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New Boy Asking Questions Re A 430


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Hi all,

I am a very new boy, and my interest in Lexus's started with a ride in one to Oxford & back; that was a 400. That was it we are hooked!

So, at the moment I have a Toyota Picnic, that is due for a renewal, and there is no like for like car available now. I am thinking about a year 2000 or so 430: I am retired and would expect to do about 7000 miles a year. No commute runs a few little runs otherwise it would be 100+ miles at a time or so. Just muyself & wife driving, the picnic is an auto, and I would not be without one. Due to my & my wifes age it is likely to be my last car!

So the questions, given the above (& the need to fit 3 granchildren in the back, they are 7 and down at the moment), how much are spares, do they need them often (say a 30,000 or so mileage), and with such a big engine it has been suggested that they needa motorway run weekley to keep them (in the engine) clear of muck. In short what sort of running costs as these are the real costs, buying is the easy bit, but with 430's it will be difficult to find one - not many about!

My toyota has been good, I would think the Lexus being a super Toyota derivative should be hopefully better. The service costs are about comparable with a small £200+ service, then (with aircon refill) a large £475, one the next year. Driven gently, whsat is their tyre life like? I got 44K from the front tyres on my present car, and it stil has the as bought brake shoes etc. I am not a 'rush about' driver as you can see!

Yours Peter Bunce.

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Just traded my LS430 in for a GS so can give you my thoughts (it's for sale from Bracknell if your interested :) )

Economy - short journeys I got around 17 mpg but if you do longer journeys 28-30 mpg was common on a long motorway journey. It's an 85 litre tank so range is huge.

Servicing every 10K - minor service was about £190 and I think major service is about £350.

Tyres - I got 25K out of the rears before replacement.

Generally bulletproof quality but be aware that the LS has LOTS of electrical toys so check them all (seats, mirrors, sun roof, self closing doors, steering wheel etc). It is also worth getting a new Battery fitted if you buy one.

Also be aware that the LS is a heavy automatic so get brake pads and discs checked.

Only problems I cam across during my time with LS was a sagging drivers seat (many are used as chauffeur cars) and mine went through a few front parking sensors. All of this covered by warranty.

Overall, a great car that you won't be disappointed with!

Good luck

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Hi all,

I am a very new boy, and my interest in Lexus's started with a ride in one to Oxford & back; that was a 400. That was it we are hooked!

So, at the moment I have a Toyota Picnic, that is due for a renewal, and there is no like for like car available now. I am thinking about a year 2000 or so 430: I am retired and would expect to do about 7000 miles a year. No commute runs a few little runs otherwise it would be 100+ miles at a time or so. Just muyself & wife driving, the picnic is an auto, and I would not be without one. Due to my & my wifes age it is likely to be my last car!

So the questions, given the above (& the need to fit 3 granchildren in the back, they are 7 and down at the moment), how much are spares, do they need them often (say a 30,000 or so mileage), and with such a big engine it has been suggested that they needa motorway run weekley to keep them (in the engine) clear of muck. In short what sort of running costs as these are the real costs, buying is the easy bit, but with 430's it will be difficult to find one - not many about!

My toyota has been good, I would think the Lexus being a super Toyota derivative should be hopefully better. The service costs are about comparable with a small £200+ service, then (with aircon refill) a large £475, one the next year. Driven gently, whsat is their tyre life like? I got 44K from the front tyres on my present car, and it stil has the as bought brake shoes etc. I am not a 'rush about' driver as you can see!

Yours Peter Bunce.

I'd think the 430 would be a bit 'overkill' myself. A 400 Ser 3 or 4 (95-8; 98-00)would do the job MORE than adequately, with dosh to spare to maintain it! You can get a mid mileage (60K miles?) LS400 for £5-8K. A 430 will cost ?£15K-20K? And reliable is one thing they certainly ARE!

I'd drop in the fact that I'm selling a 65K miles Ser 3 here, ....but Maneesh wil die laughing!!

Maintenance is not CHEAP, but manageable. And engines seem burstproof, so it's only wear and tear stuff like any other car, except it's BETTER than any other car!

MPG is high 20s on run. Peace of mind and enjoyment factor HIGH!!

DEFINITELY a good choice, 430 OR 400.

I, like you, bought it to retire with, with similar useage (But no grandchilden!)

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Well, If money were no object and you want to be in the latest greatest, the 430 is king. If you have a sense of value for money. the Mk4 LS400 is fully equiped (sat nav etc...) and has very up to date looks. Available from £5k and will last 10years at 10k per year easy! if you buy right (65k on the clock) you will avoid a major service that with your mileage, won't be due again for 9 years! so you can look forward to £250-£350 services maximum.

Get it bought!

Shaft

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Get the LS430 with the 6 speed gearbox from 2004 onwards..

why? what was it about his stated driving requirements that makes you think that would add value to the proposition? :blink:

Hi Shaft, The 6 speed sounds good; I guess thsat has double overdrive? But being a late intro only a year 18 monts ago it is a bit expensive!

The pre 2004 auto box has what in it please? 5 speed perhaps one of them being an overdrive; I confess that generally I leave the Picnic in O/d all the time except on steepish hills.

Another point in general, the exhaust is £1700 I am told, and is stainless stee; so what sort of life are those expected to have please? I am thinks of a car that will at then end of its life have possibly 100k on it or so, that is why I am looking at for 430 instead of a 400 really.

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Get the LS430 with the 6 speed gearbox from 2004 onwards..

why? what was it about his stated driving requirements that makes you think that would add value to the proposition? :blink:

Oh, I assumed he had the cash to go for a late model. Anyway, the 2004 onwards are quicker at downshifting than the old 5 speed, and more airbags, and a few suspension improvements, and a few more gizmos.

Another point in general, the exhaust is £1700 I am told, and is stainless stee; so what sort of life are those expected to have please? I am thinks of a car that will at then end of its life have possibly 100k on it or so, that is why I am looking at for 430 instead of a 400 really.

Expected to last the life of the car. I haven't heard of any owner on this site that's had to change the exhaust. I had a 12 year old car with 170k and the exhaust was fine.

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I think a good low miles series 3 too....and spend the saving on a little put aside for servicing and the rest on a nice long trip over to France and through Europe and do what this car does best....covering big miles with no effort in complete opulence...[ or try the Lake District ]...get yourself some great memories ....stay in some nice hotels and live it up a bit with what you saved on not buying a 430 ...it sounds to me like you dont really need it.... :D

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I think a good low miles series 3 too....and spend the saving on a little put aside for servicing and the rest on a nice long trip over to France and through Europe and do what this car does best....covering big miles with no effort in complete opulence...[ or try the Lake District ]...get yourself some great memories ....stay in some nice hotels and live it up a bit with what you saved on not buying a 430 ...it sounds to me like you dont really need it.... :D

I guess we all have to remember that someone coming'new' to Lexus is still thinking along the lines of OTHER cars, that tend to break down/wear out etc at 70K miles.

Lexuses, in this case, the ultimate Lexus i.e. the LS series, are built to exceed ANY other equivalent car. So you have to learn that these cars last MUCH longer and better. Stories of 250,000 mile cars are not that rare, and certainly well into the 100Ks is NO problem. Talking to head mechanic locally, and also a mate who worked on them for a long time...they both said that they'd NEVER had an engine problem to work on (how boring for a mechanic!) This included Toyota too!

So; unless your keeping-up-with-the-Jones sense means you want a new-ish car, definitely go for a low mileage LS 400? Your logic seems the same as mine. That you use it only occasionally for -say-8000 miles a year. Get a 60K mile car and in 10 (?) years, you'll only have reached 120K miles. There's one here in Bristol (a '90 car) that's stored outside all year and done quite a few miles, and shows NO sign of rust, or wear! (so buying a garaged car, etc.....not a problem.

(Get a nice conservative grey one...... :D )

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Hi Chris,

Thanks for the thoughts, I chose the 430 as they are newer, and over my use of the car it should therefore have a possibly better chance of staying the course without needing a lot of work, (10 years?), agreed there will be an easy life for it. I have looked at the mark4 series 400's and still cannot make up my mind. As the car is really an american design it is built for long distance work, which gives it the comfort bit. Our roads do not have the long distance so the comfort is more the reason, no commute means it will hopefully not be getting the stop/start wear that accrues.

To finish, do the big v8's need a motorway run regulalrly to clean them out? (BMW's usewd to, don't know on the modern ones though.

Yours Peter Bunce.

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Hi Chris,

Thanks for the thoughts, I chose the 430 as they are newer, and over my use of the car it should therefore have a possibly better chance of staying the course without needing a lot of work, (10 years?), agreed there will be an easy life for it. I have looked at the mark4 series 400's and still cannot make up my mind. As the car is really an american design it is built for long distance work, which gives it the comfort bit. Our roads do not have the long distance so the comfort is more the reason, no commute means it will hopefully not be getting the stop/start wear that accrues.

To finish, do the big v8's need a motorway run regulalrly to clean them out? (BMW's usewd to, don't know on the modern ones though.

Yours Peter Bunce.

try e-bay item #4609877842 :) :blush::blush:

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Lovely to talk to you last night, Peter. I think you will enjoy the 430 very much. I agree with the above comment as I said last night, you could spend £10k on the LS400 of your choice and still have every bit as much reliability and comfort. It is very hard to get your head around the fact that Lexus is bullet proof in terms of reliability. knowing now how you like to look after your car by way of servicing and hand washing etc... you wil find the Lexus repays your kindness 10 fold.

Enjoy!

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Lovely to talk to you last night, Peter. I think you will enjoy the 430 very much. I agree with the above comment as I said last night, you could spend £10k on the LS400 of your choice and still have every bit as much reliability and comfort. It is very hard to get your head around the fact that Lexus is bullet proof in terms of reliability. knowing now how you like to look after your car by way of servicing and hand washing etc... you wil find the Lexus repays your kindness 10 fold.

Enjoy!

Just came in from hand washing, etc mine to see this comment! Looks so good, you wonder why Im selling it! Perhaps I'll just have one for odd numbered days and ....... :D

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Chris,

If you don't need the money, I would seriously keep your Mk3 and mothball it. Put it away where it won't come to any harm and then one day when you least expect it, YOU'LL BE SO GLAD YOU DID!!

even if its just because someone like me rang you and came over to buy it...

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Chris,

If you don't need the money, I would seriously keep your Mk3 and mothball it. Put it away where it won't come to any harm and then one day when you least expect it, YOU'LL BE SO GLAD YOU DID!!

even if its just because someone like me rang you and came over to buy it...

My thoughts exactly. (Seem to recall, in jest, asking if you wanted me to hang on to it for you? :D )

If the e-bay doesn't reach its reserve, I have a garage I can stick it on stands in (preserve tyres). (e-bay item 4609877842 everybody! :) )

Money in the bank or potential money in the garage. And, after all, my life's philosophy includes the Kung Fu saying;

Life is not riches nor structures of stone, but remembrance of those few people you've joined spirits with.

You can't take it with you! So....enjoy it but don't get hung up on it! (And, ecologically, that's one less big car on the road! :D ) Three stereos,...5 cars....semi-retired (no pension though!) ....time to slim down! If only to leave less hassle for my executors when I die!

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Hi All,

Thanks for the talk Shaft it was most helpful.

Today I was asking a garage owning friend what he thought of the 430.

He told me of a friend of his who had one with a lot of electrical gremlins - wiper going on for no reason etc.

Is this a regular fault, or do we have a Friday evening/Monday morning car?

The faults were that its electrical gizmo's regularly went wrong; I am expecting to pick up a 31.000mile 4 year version and it has produced some slight concern. It will have a 12 month lexus warranty, would this be covered? I will be checking the electrics as far as I can, before paying for it.

Just (again) asking questions!

Yours Peter Bunce

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Hi All,

Thanks for the talk Shaft it was most helpful.

Today I was asking a garage owning friend what he thought of the 430.

He told me of a friend of his who had one with a lot of electrical gremlins - wiper going on for no reason etc.

Is this a regular fault, or do we have a Friday evening/Monday morning car?

The faults were that its electrical gizmo's regularly went wrong; I am expecting to pick up a 31.000mile 4 year version and it has produced some slight concern. It will have a 12 month lexus warranty, would this be covered? I will be checking the electrics as far as I can, before paying for it.

Just (again) asking questions!

Yours Peter Bunce

Sounds unusual! But also, be wary! I've never had any electrical problems with either 400s, exxcept the screen fade on the Ser 3s Stereo, and that's fixable.

My feeling about modern cars is that perhaps there ARE too many electronic bits. But then, after a DS23 and a Dyane, ANYTHING has more!

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Hi All,

Thanks for the talk Shaft it was most helpful.

Today I was asking a garage owning friend what he thought of the 430.

He told me of a friend of his who had one with a lot of electrical gremlins - wiper going on for no reason etc.

Is this a regular fault, or do we have a Friday evening/Monday morning car?

The faults were that its electrical gizmo's regularly went wrong; I am expecting to pick up a 31.000mile 4 year version and it has produced some slight concern. It will have a 12 month lexus warranty, would this be covered? I will be checking the electrics as far as I can, before paying for it.

Just (again) asking questions!

Yours Peter Bunce

Any modern car which has significantly more electronics packed in compared with earlier models will have a higher chance of electrical problems (yes, even a Lexus!). Think of all the extra microprocessors, circuitry and extra wiring a 430 has compared to the original LS400.

The Lexus used warranty used to be very comprehensive, not sure now. Get hold of the warranty terms and conditions from the dealer and check the conditions to your satisfaction before you hand over the cash. The dealer should have done a comprehensive check prior to sale, but do check all electrics yourself too. Good luck mate!

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