Especially knowing people now a days pay more then $20k for a new Corolla and Civic that won't last as long.

 

I figured out the reason a while ago, since I feel the same way.

On a luxury cruiser like the LS430 or SC430, you want light color interior like Ecru to have that rich, cozy home feeling. For a sporty car, you want dark color interior like black or dark gray to feel all business, serious about speed.

 

That made perfect sense, like I said before, used LS430 is in higher demand then a new IS-F, your deal was exactly what the dealer wanted, get rid of a new IS-F and get a used immaculate LS430 UL.

 

The black interior is the only one that doesn't look like it belongs to a 60-year old woman, IMO. I had the light color interior in my '03 and while I liked the fact that it was a little cooler in the FL sun (though VERY little difference when both cars are tinted, and I believe that the exterior color makes a lot more difference than the interior color once you tint the windows), it got to the point that in my mind it just screamed "geezer pleaser" every time I opened the door. Black interior FTW!

 

I resigned myself to the fact that there is no real market for LS430s anymore, and therefore took mine off the market. Funny thing is, I've never been upside-down in a car before. This is the first time. My Camry was never upside down. Neither was my 88 Ford. But my Lexus, which is a far more desireable vehicle is totally upside down and it irks me to no end.

I will not take a loss on a car that I purchased at 3 years old. That was the main reason I bought a 3-year-old car. I assumed the depreciation cycle had already met it's peak.

And furthermore, there were only about 1600 of the Ultra's made in the 2004 model year supposedly, so I am in utter shock that people were offering me $20-22k for a fully loaded 04 UL with less than 60k miles. So, I finally said, forgeddabouit and am now just enjoying the car, taking road trips and getting my use out of it since it looks like I am the permanent owner.

And to anyone who thinks that NADA, KBB and Edmunds give realistic estimates, think again. Ive never found anyone willing to pay anywhere NEAR those prices. It's a joke, especially in this economy.

 

Maybe sometimes it's just a matter of the right seller and the right buyer finding each other. Your car sounds like something I would have been interested in, but driving it back from NM to the east coast would have just been too far. Were you listed on Auto Trader? In my hunt, it was the easiest to use and provided the highest number of results. And it almost seemed that the UL's were selling for less than the CL's.

Maybe more people like me were getting scared off the UL's because of the potential expense of an air suspension failure. I also started thinking about what my 9-year-old would be doing with the rear radio controls. I assume with the UL the back seat controls we are talking about 2 controls for the same radio? Is there an override for front vs. back? Any UL owners out there that have had a battle with their rear seat passengers over control of the radio? I would have loved to have most of the extra goodies on UL over the CL, but some posters on this board convinced me that the rational choice was the CL.
__________________
1997 ES 300 Sold :-(
2003 Honda Pilot (not cool, but practical and reliable)
2004 LS430 CL (when the papers are signed)

 

yes you can disable the rear radio controls or lock them if you will. ^ ^

Drink300, not sure if you remember me or not but i was pm'ing you about your UL when i was shopping for one. you don't know how close i came to booking a flight out to NM to look at that car and unless something was horribly wrong with it i would have bought it that day. but something told me to look more locally for a vehicle that i can just go see and test drive that was not so far away requiring plane tickets, hotel rooms, and probably a day off of work (ohh yeah it was my wife ). you had the best deal out there on a clean 04-06 UL and i was prepared to get it except for the NM factor. any CA guys have any interest in it?? i can't believe you were not able to sell it at such a great price that you had it at before, except for the NM thing which sorta killed it for me.

its just the market right now, its not just your 04 ls430 that is upside down right now, a lot of vehicles and owners are finding themselves upside down for the first time ever. i sold a 99 gs400 (that should have been paid off but its a long story) the same week i got my LS for like 2k less than i owed on it (upside down) just so that i could catch one of these amazingly clean 05 UL's coming down the depreciation latter so quickly. i guess houses are not that much different, i mean i've heard of folks taking a hit on selling their nice home just so that they could catch a freakin steal of a value on an even nicer home. this shiz is just all messed up right now and although they say its getting better i'm not so sure that this is the truth... if it would just slow down for about 3 months i'm sure they could turn it around in the months following that...

but what the F is up with these gas prices in the last month?? i have to drive like 700 miles extra in the next 2 weeks and they couldn't have picked a more convenient time to raise the gas .45 cents a gallon.

 

You paint a sad picture for sellers of LS430's. I agree there is a reluctance of buyers willing to pay top dollar especially on an out-of-warranty car especially wit air suspension. I thought I wanted a LS460 until I heard what they wanted to give me in trade for my 06 LS430UL. Nonetheless I also will be just enjoying the car, taking road trips and getting my use out of it for a while. And that is not a bad thing because I love the ride.

 

Well when I want to drive my LS430, I am in my "geezer cruising" mode, so I want a light interior.

My fast sporty weekend toy will have black interior

 

Hold down the "mode" button in the rear center arm rest for a few seconds will lock out the rear controls.

 

Your not going to read the Manual in one night.. I spent a week reading, and running to the garage to find a new surprise gadget.. Was fun, and wife was laughing a bunch.. The little one inch sun visor over the mirror is a laugh. LOL