I recently purchased a 2006 LS 430. It is in great shape but it came with aftermarket 18” wheels. I prefer stock wheels, in particular the 18” five spoke from Lexus. I have scoured the internet and am finding the most cost effective option are new OEM replicas. There are quite a few resellers on eBay. Example:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266629817144?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=COfhW2q0QgK&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=EIZvbcsBSCW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Anyone go this route or have suggestions for other vendor options for these wheels?

the picture is what I currently have on the LS.

 

Yeah I agree, aftermarket wheels almost never look right on these cars. I would steer clear of replicas though. Too many stories of failure or poor quality control. Just buy five 18" Lexus 5-spokes and call it a day. These engineers went to the absolute ends of the Earth to design a superb car for you, so it really is appropriate and worth it to use all OE parts, all the time. Sometimes you have to eat instant Rahmen noodles for a while to afford this stuff but I truly think it's the best answer.

 

congrats again on the purchase! If i ever some across a set ill let you know

 

I have a set of stock 17's I just took off.

 

Yep, keep watching Offerup and Craigslist and be willing to drive a little. People are Ebay are too savvy so prices will be high and then shipping...uggh. When I was going through my 'chrome trials' with my 03 in Washington, I drove from Woodinville to Vancouver to get a set from a guy but for $250 they were worth it.
OEM are $500/pop, even from Bell. The replicas are tempting due to price, but cheap Chinese soft compounds. Many people on this site have confirmed and I had a tire shop manager confirm it to me. I agree the 18" 5-spoke on the 04-06 are simple, perfect and beautiful, and I think worth the wait.

 

You might also try a junk yard and get lucky, or check out the recyclers of wrecked Lexus cars (Rancho Cordova CA has several).

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Has anyone had their used wheels refurbished? I really dislike curb rash.

 

Yes, I have had wheeled refurbished by a local company with very good results. Detroit Wheel and Tire, you can find them on the internet.

 

My 2005 originally was fitted out with the beautiful 5-spoke 18" wheels. In my opinion, the tradeoff for ride quality versus the visual beauty of the car is a no brainer for me. Gimme the 18's all day, every day!

Since then, they peeled and chipped and the paint was flaking more than the bark on a Sycamore tree!

I was unsure what to do.......have them refinished locally, or trade them in to a ebay seller for "exchange", seek genuine/used on Craigslist/junkyard/etc...or just buy some knockoffs. What a pain searching junkyards or hoping someone from Craigslist will be honest and not sell you a bent rim, etc. I tried the ebay "exchange" vendor and sent him pictures and he said the service wasn't available, since my wheels were in terrible condition. He had genuine/oem rims, and I was going to send him genuine/oem rims.

Long story short, I purchased knockoff wheels (hyper silver, from Santana Wheel) on ebay in December of 2022, as a Christmas present to myself.

All I can say is WOW. All my friends were like WOW. It's like a NEW CAR. One CANNOT TELL the difference between originals or the knockoffs. YOU CANNOT VISUALLY TELL. They are amazing, and they easily balanced with new Vredestein Quatrac Pro's.

I was agonizing over the decision to not buy genuine/oem.....but NOBODY can tell. I'm not driving 120mph and I'm not taking curves at 2g's. These aftermarket/knockoff wheels aren't going to simply explode and I run off the road and die. The knockoffs are FANTASTIC and I paid LESS THAN $780 DELIVERED! YOU WOULD NEVER EVER KNOW THEY'RE NOT GENUINE 5 SPOKE WHEELS. (I thought I posted my experience on here, but maybe not?) They still look brand new to this day.

 

thanks for the advice, super helpful!

 

thanks for the lead, much appreciated!

 

I really want those “18’s, non chrome

 

I am in WA state too. I would drive across the state for a set

 

thanks for sharing your experience- that is one of the eBay vendors I have looked at. Great to hear they look good, as all of the photos/images are exactly the same. Lame in my opinion.

i even found some for sale from Walmart, I can’t remember if they are factory or not.

 

I debated between powder coating factory wheels and buying a set of replicas. Ended up powder coating. Result is a set of refinished factory wheels, but the coating is not perfect. The shop told me it was because of the corrosions. I spent $200 on the cores ( I did not want to deal with dismounting, mounting and re-balancing the tires), and $660 on powder coating.