Just found this site and I have a lot of catching up to do with all of the posts. Brief info about me, I'm in Alaska and have generally been a fan of GM cars until I purchased my wife an '01 RX 300 with 38K on it just over a year ago. We both have fallen in love with this little SUV. We never had a clue as to what we were missing in a quality built vehicle. Needless to say I had to get one for myself. We didn't need another 4 wheel drive so I purchased a '01 GS 430 off eBay. I had it shipped up from Cleveland, OH and have been driving it for just about 3 weeks now and it has just turned over 34K. What a car, if the wife didn't need 4 wheel drive for her job I'd be driving an RX. For the last 8 years I've been a member of 2 car clubs here and have always had a pretty quick VW bug (12 sec 1/4). My current project is 2276cc 1958 VW bug convertible which is about 85% complete. I plan to do a few mods to the 430 next spring, after reading and getting advice here, and wow the club members with a "BIG" car. Here's a pic of the 430 on the dealers lot just before it was shipped:

http://www.mtaonline.net/~gweast/Sambapics/430_4.jpg

Till the Next Time;
GWE

 

Welcome to CL. Congrats on the GS430 pickup.

You have all winter to read up on posts before unveiling your mods in Spring 06.

BTW- What part of Alaska? Your first mod should be a set of winter tires.

 

Wasilla, AK it's about 60 miles north of Anchorage. Winter tires are a good subject, as I don't have a clue how the GS will handle the winter conditions here. It does have a VSC switch along with a Power and Snow mode switch. On my previous rear wheel drive vehicles, 4 studded tires were pretty much mandatory for up here. We either have a lot of snow 6-8" or icy road conditions for a couple of days after a storm. Afterwards, the roads are pretty decent until the next dump.

 

nice black cherry

 

Congrats and welsome to CL.. The car looks great and its gonna look better with exhaust and nice wheels.... Good Luck

T

 

Welcome! The car looks great. Black Cherry is very rare. I always liked that color. Let the modding begin!!

 

Many have posted on this before, myself included. Here is brief intro.

The advice/recommendation on the GS in snow is going to vary. Those who have snow tires (not 4 season tires, but pure snow tires) are generally the ones who don't have too much trouble. Living in Alaska I'm sure you are a aware that slapping 4 snow tires on a car doesn't make you invinsible. The driver has a lot to do with it. For me, the winter of '03 I had no snow tires and I couldn't even pull out of a parking spot. This past winter I put 4 Blizzaks on my car and now I absolutly love driving in the snow. It's like night and day.

Others on here have a winter beater they use to get around in when the weather is bad. Maybe your wife can help you out there with her RX.

Here are a few threads on the GS in snow.

GS Really Bad in Snow
GS in Snow
Driving in Snow
GS in Snow/winter beater
NE winter
GS in snow 2
Snow Mode


The GS is a great car and I couldn't imagine not enjoying it yearround.

 

Not too many members from Alaska on these boards - so start recrutiing!!!

Welcome man,

Jonny

 

Yep, looks like 4 quality studs are in order. Being here for 20 years and driven everything from 2 wheel drive pickups to the wife's RX, I figured the GS would be some where in the lower middle for handling snow. Worse case scenario I have the "Beast", '88 Ford F-250 4X4 to fall back on

 

I need to search and see who is a member from Alaska, it would be nice to have someone local to BS with.

 

Conrats on the car. Love the color.

 

Im also new to this site!

 

Welcome GWE. I think you're the 1st Alaskan here on CL from what I know.

Sorry for my ignorance but everytime I hear Alaska I get the picture of lots of ice and that movie with Robin William, Insomnia.

Enjoy both of the Lexus.

How did you find Clublexus?


MVP, you should start your own intro so members can greet you too

 

Did a search with Google. I was actually looking for those chrome tail light trim pieces and Club Lexus showed up as one of the top results. Being 52 years old and sorta "Old School" when it comes to customizing, chrome is one of favorite things. I know this isn't Lexus related but here's a pic of my VW engine I built/installed in August

http://www.mtaonline.net/~gweast/Sambapics/22761.jpg

 

Congrats on the new GS. That is in fact a rare color you have.