Ls430 As A Daily Driver

[GJUK]

Good morning,

Firstly thank you for viewing this thread. I've been on here as a non member for a week or so, reading threads about LS430s but not it's time to ask a question I hope you can all help me with.

I currently have a company mondeo. It's grey, boring and reliable. Good on Fuel and the boot is huge. It's a work horse.

I want to get a LS430 for around 5-6k to replace my Mondeo (company car).

To give you a background as to what my situation is.

I work in IT, I carry a fair bit of kit about.

I do 25k business miles a year

I have a fuel card which pays for the fuel I use ( so 15MPG is fine)

My company car allowance is pathetic, it's only around £250 permonth, from which, Tyres, MOT's, insurance, wear and tear items all have to be paid from.

I know that it is important to buy an LS430 with lexus history, no history = cheap = expensive in the future.

Doing so many miles I am sick to death of looking at the black plastic **** interior within the mondeo, nothing is exciting and as I sit in it for about 2-3 hours a day on average!!! I want something nicer to be in.

So, you're the experts.

What do you think?

Thank you in advance,

Jon

[steve2006]

Good morning Jon and welcome to the LOC.

You have obviously done your research into the LS430 and know what to look for when buying.As you say a full service history is vitally important and any car without is a walkaway. Mileage is not such an issue with a full service history.

Make sure the timing belt has been replaced at the correct time/mileage and if it is due bear in mind you are looking around 1K for the job at Lexus so bear this in mind.

If you buy a good one to start with reliability is 2nd to none if the servicing is up to date.

If you do have problems parts are expensive but fortunately not required on a frequent basis.

Fuel consumption is not quite as bad as you imagine and there have been cases where with careful driving 30+ MPG has been obtained!

I don't know your age but insurance premiums can be high especially if you have to include business use but there are some specialists insurers who can normally offer better rates than the mainstream bunch.

If you can go for the premium pack model with some nice extras including air suspension but make sure this works as there have been issues with the level sensors failing.

It is a buyers market with these cars so plenty of choice and good prices.

If you see any you are considering feel free to post up the details and we will all try and help.

[GJUK]

Steve,

Thanks for the reply and warm welcome to the forums.

Insurance will be an issue (I am 26) but I expect to pay around £1300 ish per year, I was looking at Volvo V70 T5's prior to these. I do have two other cars (all be it they are quite old, mk1 and mk2 escorts) but they are insured and this helps when you get quotes I find!

The air suspension worries me, I have read of some people haivng to spend big money on sorting these out, are they much of a problem?

What kind of miles (as long as the car hass FLSH) would you normally expect to get to before you hit 'big problems'. I know it's an 'open' question. But do we have a number of members on here with 300k on the clock and still no major issues?

Many thanks,

Jon

[Scribe]

When I've looked at adverts for LS430s (just out of interest) the vast majority have been Premium Pack models - therefore with the air suspension, which I'd rather not have because I read somewhere on here that it can cost £1800 to fix if it goes wrong. I read somewhere else that according to the JD Power Survey the most trouble-free 430s are the earliest and the latest ones. So if it were me spending your £6k I'd go for an early, non-Premium pack model with a full history, rather than a later one. Good luck with your search and let us know how you get on - many of us will probably replace our 400s with 430s one day (though probably not for a long time).