mud

what is bad about toyota black?

what about slate/gray like that link I posted above?

caddyowner

A black car is beautiful - for about 10 minutes after washing it. Black was the most popular color on the LS, by a big margin, so they aren't hard to find. I don't know anything about Toyota / Lexus black being "bad".

The slate / gray is called flint mica and it has lots of blue hue in the sun. This is the color I bought. It was the 2nd or 3rd most popular color along with silver.

warminwisc

I picked up a palm desert 04 premium LS with 50 k on it, still 20 k warrantee left on the powertrain for 17 G's 2 Octobers ago. Chrome wheels, smart key. As time has gone on I am happy with the car, I have 95 k on it now and nothing has broken. Of all the options I would like the power door closers might make the car quieter at 100 MPH. If I buy another I may look for the sport package. It is a very nice car but the novelty wears off and I look at what else I could of spent the money on instead of a CL. JMO

AlexusAnja

If you get a "base" or premium trim LS430, don't even think of wasting money on CPO. Nothing is going to break on the vehicle over the life of the vehicle that will justify the typical $2000 hike in price. Getting base? Save the CPO and get private and save the money.

I voted in your poll and of the 3 you had, I chose #3 only because it has the black interior. I find the silver exterior holds up better with dirt, and the black interior will hold better with dirt too. Beige leather just holds too much dirt between the crack and crevices that form later on.

If you want to option up, I'd go wit CL trim. Almost everything you need from the UL, minus the headaches and fears of the air suspension going out on you.

miniz

Black in general is a bad choice for 99% of owners, no matter the brand. It requires constant upkeep and will show EVERY single swirl, scratch, chip, drip, dig, orange peel and any other imperfection. Toyota black is specifically bad because of the extremely soft water born paint/clear coat that was and still is being used on these cars...... just looking at it the wrong way will make it scratch!!! If you do get a black LS, plan on needing to repaint the entire front bumper, mirrors and hood, because it will be full of highly noticeable chips. Also, living in a hot climate, black cars in the sun..... not a good idea. They run 15-20 degrees hotter.
The closer you can get to silver the better. Stay away from the darker colors. White is not a great choice either. While it stays cool, its also a pain to keep clean.

miniz

I agree. CPO or extended warranty coverage on these cars is normally a waste of money. We are talking about, statistically, the most reliable production car ever made. The LS has held the title every single year since 1989. The only thing that would worry me is the air suspension on the UL, and even that is not highly prone to failure. If you get anything besides the UL, then there is very little that will go wrong. We aren't talking about a Merc or BMW or Audi here. If you are looking for a car where the electronics are constantly breaking or malfunctioning, then the LS is NOT it.

Jabberwock

I like option 3.

I specifically did not want the Lexus Nav or the crappy screen based Lexus GUI interface. Instead I love the look and feel, and the quick access and adjustments, of the old school dash and switches. And I REALLY dislike the gimmicky, low res, crappy graphics, and clunky GUI of the multiple Lexus screens in the more highly optioned versions of the LS.

When we actually need a Nav on rare occasions, we use a top of the line Garmin Nuvi that normally lives in the console storage box for those occaisons.

Again it just depends on your perspective. As stated most people love the screens and the Lexus Nav - not for me. Different strokes for different folks.

Tee

Mud,

My take on this is first slow down do your homework and study the LS430 here on this board. There is a wealth of knowledge here on the 01-03 & 04-06 LS430, with eager members here to help you along the way. Once you learn the trims levels, you can then cherry pick out the Pros & Cons of which trim level suits your wants/needs. There is nothing worse than jumping the gun on a vehicle to discover how much your car had to offer b/c you did not know due to lack of research or assumption made about it. Last thing you want is having that buyer’s remorse feeling eating at you! Like the others said earlier you can get more bang for your buck if you show some patience but if the premium package is enough, it is screaming your name then holla back and go for it. NO matter what trim level anyone decides to own, the LS430 is one of the best kept secrets in the car game and a amazing machine period!!!

Good luck searching and have fun with it!

jayclapp

I agree that black leather will show less dirt in the long run. However, I could make the case that beige leather could actually last longer. Beige will reveal dirt earlier than black. As a result you have the opportunity to clean it. Removing dirt is beneficial to life. Dirt is an abrasive that wears away the leather. Not seeing excessive dirt in black leather is not necessarily a good thing. Of course you have to be willing to do more cleaning on beige. Just my opinion.

rmb165

I bought a CPO '04 Premium in Cypress Pearl, 38K miles for $22K from a dealer with a good reputation. I also use a top of the line Garmin Nuuvi for navigation when needed. The car is beautiful and no matter the trim level, you will be treated to the Lexus smooth ride, premium finishes, good looks and quiet cabin. The extras are merely that. Pick the ones you want and don't feel you are cheating yourself by getting a Premium. The "extra" that comes standard with the Premium is cash in your pocket. I negotiated separately w/o CPO and the delta was $1000. I chose to spend the extra grand for peace of mind for 3 years.

V8_Fan

I would get one w/ nav and mark levinson audio. From what I've seen, all the ones with nav come with the levinson audio. The nav and levinson audio were like a $4K option that you're basically getting for a fraction of the cost. Also, it's a lot more difficult selling a used LS430 with no nav. There seem to be lots of them w/o nav (base model) in Texas. Virtually all sold in CA have nav and 18" wheels. I would be cautious about 2004s due to potential tranny issues.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

You left out the Base model. There are 4 basic levels.

I disagree with any implication that it's categorically a bad move to buy a base model. I've never had one, but frankly if one doesn't care about having Navigation, and isn't interested in the better-sounding ML sound system, the base model can make plenty of sense so long as you buy it at an appropriate price.

mud, if you're anywhere near any of the big Texas cities, you should call around to the dealerships and see what they have, then take some time to go see the various cars. Most of the big dealerships usually have at least 2 or 3 on hand from what I've seen. You might get lucky and find a salesperson who can show and tell you the differences in the trim levels off the top of his head, but worst case he can get on the Lexus system and pull up the exact details and trim levels of the cars they have.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

I don't think that could be true. It certainly didn't appear to be the case when I was searching nationally via internet listings. I've never seen any official numbers, but I would have guessed black, silver, parchment/moonlight, white for the top 4. Flint wasn't even offered in the first 3 years of production, so there's pretty much no way it could overcome 3 extra years of production for the 4 colors I mentioned above. I would even be surprised if it was higher than #4 in the '04+ years.

drvinh

I recent bought base 06 ls430 in flint mica. See post on depressed ls430 buyer. I am happy with the car. Its still got 4 months in warranty. I brought it to the lexus dealer twice for repair: 1) L side mirror that would not got up and down, and then shift lever plate broken cause non-smooth shifting from park to drive. Lastly I got to bring car back to dealer this week for the front passenger backseat switch adjuster popping out and won't go back in. All of which I probably would leave alone if it I still didn't have warranty. It didn't affect the drive and feel of the car. Because of the advance luxury of the car, switches and motors can break or not work well like in my case. I will likely not pay $1780 for 8 yr/ 75K mile platinum warranty in 4 months when my original warranty expires. I will be nervous though. Hoping since I got the base model, less thing will go wrong. be patience on your search. Longer you wait, cheaper the car gets. Each month the ls430 depreciates $300 to $600 in value.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

Dayumm son! You could have gone all day without saying that.

At least it's not as bad as the S550 Sport that I was watching at my local dealer from about November 2008 - March 2009. It went from $74K to $54K in that period, and it was in line with the market the entire time. I almost pulled the trigger on it in March, then bought another LS430 instead. The LS has dropped about 3K since then, and the S-class about 5K or so.