Iceman

Well, the wife and I went car shopping today. We wanted to test drive the E55, M5, GS430, and TL-S all right after one another. I figured it would be interesting to see the real differences as we stepped down from $80K to $60K to $35K. The problem was, there was no GS430 at the Lexus dealer to even see! The sales guy told me that the GS430 is now a special order car only and that they can get me one within two weeks to my exact specifications. He tried hard to steer us to a the GS300 (of which they had 8 on hand), especially a nice-looking sport edition one on the showroom floor.

Is this true, or is it just his dealership's policy? I will NOT buy a car unless I have a chance to test-drive it first. We did sit in the GS300 and my wife really liked the interior, in fact it was her favorite. The ride on the E55 is SWEET, though, and Mercedes is willing to deal because the new E-class is on the way. The TL-S still impresses me with it's bang for the buck factor, but I'm seeing more and more what you actually get for the extra cash.

BMW was the second biggest disappointment of the day. Not only did they not have any M5's (not a big surprise), but we couldn't even get a salesman to come talk with us. You would think when we pull up to the dealer in our M Roadster that we'd at least get SOME attention, but no. That, combined with the quality problems we've had with the Bimmer, was enough to make us scratch the M5 off the list.

And then there were three...

JYOO

E55 Id trade my car for one!

Flexor

No the GS430 is not special order only. Each dealer gets so many based on previous sales. Your dealer may be a low volume dealer, or is low on the list for getting new ones. To get you a new one in a couple of weeks, he will have to 'locate' the car at another dealer. This could cost up to $1500 to have it shipped to you. If you special order from the factory, your dealer will not have to pay this extra shipping and you should able to negotiate a better deal. I special ordered mine and it took 2 1/2 months.

I test drove the same cars including the E430 and 540 and ended up choosing the GS430. I don't want to sway your opinion so I won't tell you why I chose the GS, but please do find a dealer that has a GS430 for you to drive. You will be impressed.

Manaray

I heard the GS430 were super rare now due to the fact that Lexus is putting the 430 motors into the LS and SC (higher profit margin I suppose). Notice there isn't a SportDesign GS430?

Lexus is being shady with the GS's lately...

Iceman

The sales guy did say to expect a Platinum or Coach edition GS in a few months, since they will be trying to boost sales before the introduction of the new model...

GS4Will

all the previous posts are right on the info....gs430s are there, just not every dealership....i work for longo, and we have 4 right now in the underground showroom...

RacingAristo

If you are serious about mod, you'd be better off w/GS300. Buy the entire head unit (engine, ecu, injector and etc) from Aristo V300 and you can basically use all the mod available in Japan. On the other hand, if you are not looking for mod once you get the car, I'd suggest you to get the M5 or E55.

gsintensive

RA, the swapping is a Pain in the butt, there isn't not ONE running coverted V300 in the states. Simply not worth it. M5 is nice for its worth, but E55 is getting outdated. GS430 still holds its ground at 50~60k range.

Manaray

If you want to do a 2JZ-GTE converstion, your best bet is to do a FULL RHD conversion. That way you won't have ECU issues. You'll be abel to use EVERYTHING they sell in Japan for the Aristo...

I was going to do a JZS147 FULL swap (described above) but I decided to just convert a 2JZ-GE into a turbo (via ToyoMoto or something) instead...if I get a 300 (GS/SC)...I still haven't ruled out a supercharged V8 (like a LS400 or SC400)...

Iceman

I'm not a "modder". I enjoy my cars just fine with the factory and dealer accessories, and I'd rather buy the car I want with everything designed for it and warrantied than buy a lesser car and dump a bunch of money into changing things after-the-fact. So no matter which car I choose, I won't be swapping engines, installing intakes, putting on dubs, adding stickers, installing coffee cans, etc., etc...