Bombsquad

I would avoid the Limo, Limo's only do trips to the airport or city. Thats 183,000kms of traffic, not like a high mileage country car. If it was a hot day the driver would probably idle the car for hours with the a/c on, just to stay cool. Your buying a 35k car, but it still has like 150k worth of Lexus genuine parts on it. It's a pretty big risk. Look at the drivers seat in the photo? It's been sat in..a lot.

approach with caution.

David M

The UL in the US has the air ride suspension, Mark Levinson audio, a puny gps system, and massaging, reclining back seats. Yum.

CelsiorAUS

The 04 in Australia is fully loaded. There was no options i dont think they just brought out the best...

I went and saw it today. The interior was schmick except for some wear on the plastic under the nav.. The exterior had a few chips and scratches and one patch where the clear had come off.. I really want the 04

CelsiorAUS

These are the things I have noted..

Rear bar has 2 scratches which need to be sprayed.
Passenger side door has a patch of clear missing the size of my palm. Will need to be resprayed
Bonnet has about 10 stone chips which will need to be sprayed.
Laser guidance system has been disabled. Will need to be re-enabled
Boot can only be opened from key.. Will need to be re-enabled
Brakes are slightly warped and are noisy. Owner has metal pads in there for longer wear. Will need to be machined or replaced with OEM pads.
Steering wheel doesn't sit perfectly straight will need an alignment
Interior is fine however the plastic under the NAV unit has been worn and the clear coat has worn off. Can this be fixed?
The paint has a fair few swirl marks
Other than that the car is fine. It drives ok although I have nothing to compare it too except my old 98 ls400.

This is for an asking price of 35500 which I could probably get for 30 or 32k.

The next cheapest one of the 04 is a maroon one for 49k with 61000kms on it and a charcoal one with 50000kms for 65k. I see this as the only way I will get into an 04 and up model.

The 04 I looked at has the mark levinson, massaging seats black on black. I would say it is in fair condition.

My only other choice is an 01 for 30k and 90***kms which is probably alot better condition and lower kms.

My dad is a panel beater and spray painter so I can get the body fixed up pretty cheaply however mechanically the car was never taken to lexus. It is owned by a limosine company who has their own in house mechanic. There has been no bush or suspension replacements.

I want to get the car inspected at Lexus and perhaps go from there. Otherwise I am stuck with an 01 model which I may regret buying.

David M

Bent steering wheel? Run away, run away. Sounds like major damage that was not corrected. Don't despair. It took us 11 months to find the car we wanted here in the US -- and we still didn't get exactly the colors we wanted.

wanderer99

For those who don't know, AUS taxes everything like crazy. It's one of the reasons cars cost double (or more) over there in most cases compared to the US, even after factoring in the currency conversion.

New Lexus parts for replacement aren't cheap. Given the mileage you're already looking at pads\brake disks, possible suspension (especially given AUS road conditions) and maybe laser cruise as well. Most of those are expensive.

The 01 equates to about $14K or so US. So that's a reasonable price for a good condition 2001 model.

The 04 equates out to about $16K or so US. That's an amazing price for a 2004 UL... but your description has a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed. Here you'd factor in another $5-10K in repairs... and that still won't fix the high mileage issue.

If you get the 01 you're likely done with your purchase costs. That 04 needs work already, and will in the future due to mileage. I feel your pain wanting the 04, but if you can only afford $30-35K and not the $60K+ for a good 04 I think that speaks for itself. Lexus only sells a tiny amount of LS models each year in AUS which doesn't help your choice in available vehicles either.

I say get the 01 and be happy with it.

AlexusAnja

Thank goodness for cheap cars and even cheaper gas in the good ole U S of A. This is what the b*tchers online don't realize that anything auto related costs about two to three times more in other "civilized" nations. $4/gal. for gas, what is that? Now with gas at under $2, we're paying "water" prices again...

David M

Alexus, you certainly don't have the whole picture.

CelsiorAUS

Hey all,

It has since been 3 months from my original post and im still looking everyday for an LS430.

After missing out on the limo "ls430" for 30k AUD (180,000kms on it) then next cheapest one was 45k, then 47k and both have sold quickly leaving the next cheapest 04 ls430 over 50kaud. As for 01-03 ls430s a nice black one with 50,000kms on it has been reduced to 32kaud

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...d=11E8B3804500

What do u guys think of this.. The leather and colour look beautiful its just that its missing nav..

Budhah

I think this one would be a much better buy in the long run. it has the Ultra package with the Nav. I love my nav system, well over the garmin. The one you are looking at is a stripped down base model..

http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars...=14&__Qpb=true

Sure it is quite a bit more money, but several years newer with the options everyone is looking for... A tad bit on the high side by US standards, but has the ULTRA package..

IMXCITD

iTrader: (1)

great thread...as I have been debating early LS430 versus an 05/06.