LS in TX

Hello everybody. Guess I should start out by thanking everybody in this forum. I've been trolling the forum for months... reading up on all the info I needed to know before I took the leap.

Well, I've leaped. Took delivery of my 2002 LS430 UL (silver/black) on Monday. I'll break down my 1st week's experience in a few simple words. WTF didn't I buy this car earlier. MUCH earlier!! And yes... I know, I know... I should have bought an '04+, but my desire was to get out of my '06 M45 and pay cash for something that has a better ride. I would have rather had the '04+, but alas my miniscule current cash reserves would only allow the older model. Oh well... Anyway, on with my story.

1st- I purchased the car on ebay. '02 UL with 48k miles. There are some of the usual exterior blemishes one would expect on a 7 year old car (1 slight door ding, a couple faint scratches here and there, nothing that shouldn't polish out), but the interior is immaculate. Seriously looks like it could be 1 yr old. So the question is... I paid $16.6... basically 17k by the time I had a friend go pick it up. Not that it matters as the deal is done, but was that a fair deal?

Paint- What does everybody recommend for the paint issues. Is Zaino still the top stuff out there to clean up the small paint issues, or is there a new latest/greatest product out there? I used to use Zaino on my NSX with great results, but that was many moons ago, so I'm open to suggestions.

Sport Suspenstion Switch- It doesn't light up. I'm guessing there is a bulb burned out behind the switch, as every other switch is lit. I'm pretty **** and it's driving me nuts. Any chance that anybody knows how to fix this? I searched the forum for "Switch light" but could not come up an answer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Wheels- I'm not a huge fan of the 17" standard wheels. Well, I love the ride they provide... smooth and handle very nice, but they are not the hottest looking things on the road. I don' want anything too flashy, but I think a step up to some 18"'s from an '04+ would look nice. So my questions are... do you sacrifice any ride for the extra inch (lol!), and do you guys ever see these come up for sale?

iPhone- Is there any way to integrate an iPhone or iPod into the system? I don't want to go the route of the FM modulator... those things seriously suck. I don't have a problem pulling the dash apart and cutting wires. Just need step by step instructions on how to do it... or a kit... again, any thoughts would be appreciated.

Tint- Must get it tinted soon. Any suggestions as to what looks good?

So just some quick driving impressions. I had to drive the "road from hell"... I-30 East out of downtown yesterday. It's one of those road that they've squeezed in an extra lane by shoving everybody over a foot or so, which means you end up driving on a seam between the concrete slabs where the original lanes were poured. It was nothing short of a wrestling match in my M45. Constant violent shifts left and right. In the LS... smoooooth sailing. Could not even notice I was driving on the seams. Again, why didn't I buy this instead of the M45?

Okay, I'm pretty sure I've over stayed my welcome for my 1st newby post. Ty for your patience!

Salil022

iTrader: (1)

LS430 UL is a nicest car in a quality you can own for the money

LRoy430ul

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on your new car. Upload some pics when you get a chance....I can answer a couple of your questions and im sure others will chime in and answer the rest....

answers in bold

sojah

iTrader: (1)

i recently got a graphite color non metallic 14% tint that looks slammin on my flint mica (almost matches) but not sure about on silver, should still look nice. i recently used some scratch X by Maguire's and it worked on about 50% of the scratches, your previous method may work better not sure. congrats and welcome, sounds like you got a pretty good deal.

LS in TX

LRoy- Thanks for the direction. I knew there had to be different sections of the forum, just had not found them yet. I'll check it! I'll also snap a few pics this weekend after my 1st detailing session!

Sojah- Do you know what brand of film you used? Have any pics?

sojah

iTrader: (1)

not sure of the brand off the top of my head but if u called performance tinting in colombia md they could easily tell u. im on my phone so its a little difficult to paste a link to the pics but if u search the term 'got drop' and click on the thread titled got drop there are a lot of pics on the 2nd or 3rd page i believe, the tint only really looks dark in direct sunlight, i guess it has some reflective properties to it but it doesnt look to dark otherwise and my md cop buddy at the car wash said the other police shouldnt mess with me cuz it didnt seem that dark to him. click the search forum on the ls430 main page and type in 'got drop' or any other terms for that matter, i saw another thread about tint in thewre a while back.

LRoy430ul

iTrader: (1)

I think he has Suntek Carbon tint. We got our tint done at the same place. You wanna make sure its non-metallic based tint if you have Nav cause they say it can interfere with the signal.

LS in TX

Sojah- Great looking ride! What size/yr are the wheels you have? That's what I'm looking for. Love the tint too, it's also exactly what I'm looking for. Just gotta find a place in DFW that has it. Ahh, the power of Google!

Thx Lroy for the name.

BMW7_LS430

Congratulations!!

You can't go wrong with a UL and only 48K miles.

Silver/Black is my favorite.

BMW7_LS430

When I was in the market there was this 02 ML with 70K listed here in Atlanta. It is still up on Craigslist. I offered him 15K which I thought was very fair.

I think you got a GREAT deal!!! I should say Great STEAL!

BlackUltra

Welcome .. I am also a former Infiniti (M35) owner who loved his car until the Lexus UL ride got me. It is simply the absolute best. I'll say you got a great deal because 2005 UL's with 48K are going for 33.9K down here in Atlanta. I test drove it with 17 inch wheels and I could tell a difference in the ride and steering from my 06 UL with 18's. Kinda liked the 17's ride quite frankly. Hope you have losts of safe and enjoyable miles.

hrp

Paint- What does everybody recommend for the paint issues. Is Zaino still the top stuff out there to clean up the small paint issues, or is there a new latest/greatest product out there? I used to use Zaino on my NSX with great results, but that was many moons ago, so I'm open to suggestions.

I've a 2002 Silver LS430 along with the rest of my zoo, but I am a ZAINO ZEALOT. As you know, from your previous Zaino experience, there are lots of excellent car care products out there. While I happen to believe that Zaino products are the more durable ones, we all know that the secret to he appearance is the preparation, not the product line as long as it is a premium one. Of course, you have to go a long way to beat the appearnce and scent of "Leather-In-a-Bottle (Z-10)" for the interior. And as long as you're going to have to order that from Sal, why not go whole hog and get the rest of the Zaino line-up you'll need.

BMW7_LS430

I have never used Zaino but I use Collinite 845. I heard it works great on silver cars and I do really like it on mine.
I will need to compare it with another silver LS detailed with Zaino to see the difference.

I am so glad I did not buy M45. Now that I heard it twice, I feel good about buying LS.

Tee

Congrats on your LS and welcome to CL.

AlexusAnja

I just did my tint and with a black interior, you don't need to go too dark and you'll get a very dark look. I went with 20% on back, and 50% on the front side windows and the 50% look about the same as the 20%.

Ride on 18" are a little harsher, but we're talking very very little difference. If you drive a 17" and 18" back to back on the same road then you'll notice, otherwise, you probably won't remember one from the other.

Welcome to heaven !!!