Hello. Yesterday I traded my trusty '99 LS400 for a like-new '04 LS430 Ultra. Unfortunately, the new car is black. Beggars can't be choosers. The deal was too good to pass up. I guess my parade might get rained on, but here's the deal........'04 was $27,000 (53k miles, clean title, no damage history) and I got $11,500 for my '99 (90k miles, also clean title, no damage history). More to the point, I paid $15,500 and my car. It sounded good at the time. But, the car is beautiful. So was my '99.

Edmunds and Kelly (for what it's worth) showed the '04 retail at ~$31,000, and the '99 with a trade value of ~$8,000. If that is trustworthy, I did pretty good.

Now, three questions for those in the know.......

1. Nav DVD, currently version 4.1. Any opinions on upgrading to version 8.1? Is it worth it? Does it add any functionality?

2. HID headlights. My '99 had a very sharp cutoff about 40-50 feet out. The '04 seems to illuminate everywhere, up in the trees, neighbors' yards, etc. I have not received an angry flash from oncoming drivers yet. May be it's normal. The auto level functions. I cannot tell if the automatic headlight turning (ala Tucker) does anything wothwhile. But I worry, 'caus I really care about other drivers.

3. Bluetooth. It pairs to both of our cell phones fine, but neither will transfer our contacts to the car. This means we can use the car's bluetooth to receive calls only, not dial out unless you park the car and dial manually. Is there a way around this?

Thanks for any information. Hope your weekend is a good one!

Gene

 

Gay 10 characters

 

Nice car...seems like you got a pretty good deal on your trade in.

Most people say it isnt worth to upgrade the nav....here is a link to some discussion on this.....
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...s-to-know.html

 

I like your new ride! Enjoy!!

 

The phone should allow you to dial out as normal, even without contact in the NAV system. On my Moto RIZR, I dial out as if normal and once connects, the LS's phone screen kicks in and I'm connected.

I have the 4.1 also and have not upgraded the version yet. I might upgrade to 8.1 when it gets cheaper, but not right now. Beyond 5.1, you lose the manual ability to override the NAV while driving.

 

congrats on the ULTRA PCS!!!

I upgraded to 8.1, really like it because my home finally shows up along with newer restaurants (POI's). If you like to travel, it's worth the upgrade, but like other have said, you lose the manual override to input destinations as you drive.

Headlights are probably fine, especially since your car has clean history like you said. People just freak out when they see HID's IMO. Let them deal w/ it.

Only some phone's allow you to transfer contacts, just the way it is. What I do is call from my cell phone as I drive and the and the bluetooth will pick it up and allow me to use the hands free car speaker system. Good Luck!

 

u need a phone that can transfer contacts via bluetooth.i have the iphone so it didnt work with my phone.but i used an old phone i had and put my sim card in there and then transfered it that way now all my contacts are in the cars memory so when someone calls there name shows up and if im not moving there # shows up also

 

Congrats on the new ride. I can't answer any of your questions but I was wondering how you liked the new car as far as how it drives when compared to the '99.

I, too, have a '99 and am considering a used '04-06 LS430 in the future.

From a driving standpoint was it worth the upgrade?

Even with 153k on my '99 it still drives great and for me it's a perfect blend of comfort and decent handling without being harsh.

 

Do you have a picture of the headlights output on a plain wall? they might be misaligned.

 

congrats on the LS.......u'll like it better than the 99....

 

Congratulations, I know you'll enjoy this car.

Regarding the turning of the headlights with your steering wheel angle. You can't check this out while stopped by turning the wheels with the lights on. The turn system operates when the vehicle speed increases above 6 mph and stops when the speed decreases below 6 mph.

Hard to tell when driving in a lighted area at night such as where I live.

 

I'm not sure the speed, but I know it's faster than 6 mph. I think it's more like close to 17 mph or something. On the home stretch, I have to go through a few sharp turns to get to home and under 10 mph I know the headlights are not turning. I have to gun up to like 20 before seeing some adjustments.

The two sides do not pivot the same number of degrees. I think it pivots about 15 degrees turning left and 10 degrees or something turning right. If it's darn enough outside and you go around a sharp enough turn to trigger the full pivot, you'll see a distinct shifting.

Anyway, continued fun with the LS.

 

1. You'll gain streets that are in new developments that were not around in 04'. You'll get updated POI(points of interest). With your exisiting disk, as mentioned, you can override the navigations saftely feature which prevents you from entering address/info while the car is in motion.

2. Try turing off your fog lights. Those throw a lot of glare up. The head lights have a very strong cut off like you mentioned so they should be good (unless they are not light up properly or the autolevel funtion is screwed up).

3. My phone won't transfer the list either. I've had the car for 8 months and havn't taken the time to play with it. Phone still works great with the bluetooth, and if I need to make a call I use my phone to dial the number. Hasn't been enough of a hassle to make me manually type it in.

 

Thanks for the replies. I think the trade from the '99 to the '04 was worthwhile. The additional toys help a lot, shoot, my '99 didn't even have heated seats!! Compare that to the Ultra. Otherwise, nice as the '99 is/was, the '04 is much nicer in every respect.

I do have some gripes, and I do understand that nothing is perfect:

1. The cooling feature in the seats is poor. I see now that this has been much-discussed.

2. In spite of separate temperature controls, setting the rear seat temperature also changes the front seat temperature, and vice-versa. Why call this a dual unit?

3. The park assist is seeing things. Many false alarms. I turned it off. The sensors are clean, and the system is not complaining about any faulty or otherwise offending sensors.

4. The Bluetooth could be implemented better. At least it could allow you to enter contacts manually. Geez, if can't even work with a BlackBerry!!

The HIDs are definitely aimed high, and I know not why. I took it to Lexus and they wanted $220 to aim them properly. I declined because I had read in the owner's manual that it is a 2-screw adjustment for vertical alignment. I got home and set to work, but couldn't find those 2 screws anywhere, on either side. So there it sits. I am going to call my independent Lexus guy and see what he says.

All in all, I love both the '99 and the '04. I would say that if you are happy with your '99, stay with it and save your money. In my case, my wife and I looked at an UL a couple of years ago and wished we were in the appropriate tax bracket to take it home. When I stumbled into this deal, I couldn't resist it. Especially since my wife wanted to go for it. That is amazing all by itself.

I will try to attach a couple if pics of my orphaned '99. If anyone is interested in a perfect '99 with fresh 90k service, both strut rods new, near-new Michelin Primacy tires, and more.......see Auto Trader, Dave Russell Motors, Portland, Oregon.

Sorry, apparently can't attach pics to a reply. If anyone wants to see the '99, let me know and I'll put them in a new post.

Gene

 

Congrats on your 2004 UL. Its a twin of my car.

For your headlight aiming question. See my thread on how to here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...eup-w-pix.html

For your phone issue, it's common. Find or borrow a Motorola Razr and use it to transfer your phonebook to the car.

For park assist, test by having someone block off each sensor one by one at a time to see if one is causing your problem.

Lastly, which part of Washington are you at?