I'm looking a buying an 01 GS430, but it has the wood steering wheel and I really want the leather one. If I buy it, how hard do you guys think it would be to find someone with a leather one to trade it with? Thanks,

Scott

 

search man-it's been discussed before. I'm sure you can find someone to trade. most 430 do have wood though.

 

Buy it if the wheel is Ivory not black. I'll trade you for mine.

 

it's not going to be too easy i think. you can't get the 01+ gs300 ones. 98-00 gs300/400 ones won't fit as well. so 01+ gs430 non-wood wheels are your only choice, which i think are mostly in 01 only. since 02 most of them come with wood already.

i guess just keep on searching

 

What color are you looking for? I have a 2001 GS430 with Gray leather all the way around and would really like a wood and gray. Let me know.

 

Yeha, People With All Leather Wheel Will Love The Trade With Your Wood One! :d

 

Most GS 430s had the wood wheel. RIP to RealMarty, he was one of the first here to order a new GS 430 and he ordered it b/c one of the things he didn't want was a wood wheel. Everyone the dealers had in Atlanta had wood wheels coming.

As stated, I am sure someone here will swap u for it.

 

I have 01 GS430 with tan leather steering wheel - if yours is 01+ with tan leather/wood, i'll trade you mine.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I have not yet purchased the car - deciding between an 01 GS430 and a 98 GS400. If I end up with the 01 I will let everyone know and see if someone still wants to trade the wheel. I'm glad to see there is interest in the wood wheel - I just prefer the leather one and if I had to live with the wood one I probably wouldn't buy the car. Now I have options!

The color would be tan leather with the wood - not grey.

The 2 cars I'm looking at are a 2001 GS430 with apx 90,000 miles no nav, and a 1998 GS400 with 62,000 miles with nav. Both would be from a lexus dealer. Both cars have all service up to date including the timing belt on the 01. I'm having a tough time deciding which one I want. The dealers for both cars want about the same price $19,000. Actually there is a third car I'm considering too - '98 no nav about 90,000 miles from a private party, needs 90,000 mile service and timing belt. Not sure on the exact price but probably around $16,000.

The '98 has nav and E shift - but it's the older nav system, and less miles. The 98's seem to be a little quicker, at least i notice it. The '01 is newer, all the 01 upgrades (is the new motor truly an upgrade? I've read all the posts about the comparisons and frankly I'm still confused as to if it's truly better? Anyone want to comment?!) And without the nav it seems easier to control the radio and the climate control to me - any comments about this too would be appreciated! And the 01 has the wood steering which i don't want and it seems there would be interest here for that as a trade so that's good. And the 01 does not have E-shift. Is that so bad??? May be it is - comments on this too would be appreciated.

Thanks all for your thoughts,

Scott

 

Well, if you end up with the 01, let me know, I will defenately give you my tan leather wheel for your tan leather/wood wheel. I'll even cover all shipping costs.

Here's a pic of mine

 

Hey, don't buy either one of those cars. Look for a grey interior car so you can trade ME your wood wheel!

 

If you want to go a full second faster, get the 98 (E-shift is a beautiful thing) , if you want to go there more comfortably and just a little bit cleaner, go with the 430. Also no nav on the 430 gives you many more aftermarket options if you want to add on to the interior stereo system.

 

what are you smokin? the GS400 is not a full second faster. maybe a bit less responsive with down shift time, but imo, at WOT a 430 is same or faster(more torque) than the 400. e-shift is slow to react and not very precise for redline rpm shifting.

either way, they are within a tenth of a second with each other, not a second

 

Anyone have any comments on the NAV system in a 98 GS400?

 

What about it? It is not as good as the ones from the 01-05. It is HD based. The 01-05 ones are DVD based with more info, newer software.

I'm not quite sure what other info you may want.