Jabberwock

Check the forum for ways to buy a Lexus warranty at a significant discount. Remember the warranty can be purchased over the phone from any Lexus dealer, doesn't need to be a local dealer. There are supposedly a couple of dealers that will sell the Lexus warranty at a significant discount. There are discussion threads on it on the forum. Barring that I'd just call a bunch of dealers and ask for their best price after you let them know that you are shopping for best price and will buy over the phone so they know you are not the typical fish. You can call non local dealers if you want as many have toll free numbers on their web sites.

Even with only a premium level LS I feel a lot better about having the extended warranty.

caddyowner

I based my research on the number of 2005-06 vehicles listed for sale on Autotrader nationally. A couple long-time Lexus salesmen agreed with me that for the later LS430s, flint and silver were the next most popular colors behind black. I suspect there is a geographic component to those findings, too, as I've heard that gray is more popular in northern states - especially the midwest and New England. I found that the whites (crystal and moonlight combined) were close behind silver and flint. There was then a big gap down to blue and then gold.

caddyowner

Can one purchase a Lexus extended (non-CPO) warranty if the car is more than 4 years old, but still under 50K miles?

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of what was sold, interior and exterior colors. I'd bet money that silver is #1, then Black and White (not including Parchment/Moonlight). Flint and the other new-for-'04 colors can't possibly be in the top three overall because they were only produced for half of the vehicle life cycle.

Just talking about '04+, I would say Silver, then Flint and Black very close to a tie. A quick survey of the top 100 vehicles on Autotrader indicates this, but perhaps it wouldn't prove out in a broader sample.

caddyowner

One of the problems with using Autotrader is that it's a single snapshot in time. I noticed that recently there were a relatively large number of cypress cars for sale. Probably not because of the production numbers, but because they probably sell more slowly. Many people have the same negative reaction to green cars as my wife does.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

True, but the part about silver, white and black being sold for 6 years (and being very popular to boot) while flint and some of the other colors only being sold for 3 will prevent the 3-year colors from being in the top 3 overall. I would like to see a breakdown though, including the interior colors. This is readily available for the Supra, for example, so I assume it's out there somewhere for the LS430.

AlexusAnja

Someone mentioned not wanting NAV... if I didn't want/need NAV, then I would have had no problem getting a base LS, or any base vehicle actually. Even with the dated nav screen, how often do you look at the screen anyway? NAV is not for beautiful viewing, it's to get you to where you need to go. You're not staring at the screen while you drive.

I would rather have the factory NAV with bad screen than a fancy portable with wires, suctions, bases, all over the dash. I've seen some vehicles with a NAV, radar detector, XM, and some other items and it looks like the dash blew up it's inners with wires.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

I was in that situation re: NAV -- no real interest in NAV itself -- but I liked the ML sound system significantly better. I also kinda like the back-up camera. It's handy at times for parking, and I have a couple of small kids who might leave their tricylcle and bicycle behind the car, so it might come in useful at home as well.

tkbalt

Agree with this post - should be lots of vehicles in the 25k range with more options. Be patient - you'll find one.

We bought an 03 CPO with 38K miles for 20K almost a year ago - has Nav (which I do not care much for), Park Assist (which we like), ML (which we love). Should be able to get into an 04 / 05 with similar options for 25K.

And I would definetly get a certified vehicle (opinions vary). We have had 4 Lexus CPO's and always had to use the warranty. On the 03 LS we have had 4 parking sensors replaced (2 different visits to the dealer). I think the sensors are around 200 each - not sure what labor is, but they had to remove the front bumper cover (X2). These cars are super reliable - but things do go wrong, and when they do, they are expensive to repair.

Jabberwock

If I lived up North, I'd get a CPO Lexus just for the lifetime free car washes.

In general I never take my cars to a commercial car wash as they do too much finish damage to your car (dirty water, dirty rags, harsh chemicals, zombie employees).

However my local Lexus dealer actually does a good quality car wash. Even though I prefer to wash my own car, the free car wash is convenient on those cold winter Saturdays instead of me going out in the cold. In fact, I'm going to get it washed this morning.

Lexus surprisingly does a nice job washing the car (especially the inside windows which I still haven't figured out how to get streak free).

The Lexus car wash is unlike Acura which did such a crap wash job, that I would specifically request that they not wash my RL when it was in for maint or oil change. When they did the wash, it would come out dirtier than when it went in.

AlexusAnja

to this feature more than NAV. One of reasons I chose an '04 over '03 that I was matching up.

Having used this very good feature, which I think is almost a critical feature, my recent shoppings for a replacement for my RX I've been concentrating on if it has the backup camera or not.

I must say, the new RX having the backup camera without having to get the NAV is very good. Unfortunately, RX is too small for me now.

caddyowner

I use Stoners Invisible Glass in the aerosol can on all my house and car windows. It's stocked at Wal-Mart. I use old cotton t-shirts while others swear by newsprint. One rag to clean, another to dry.

I need to find a good solution for winter washing. I've been going to the scratch-n-clean car washes with my lease cars. I tried a touch-free car wash this week in anticipation of getting the LS, but the car was not left very clean at all. Even though I have access to hot water just inside from the garage, my sloping driveway will quickly freeze in the winter. The parking garage I use near work has a car wash / detail service, but they shut down in the winter.

David M

AFAIK, not even the ultra comes standard with parking sonar or cruise control radar. Don't know if there are any other options.

OP, if you use advanced search on Autotrader and use "ultra" as a keyword, it should find all the LS's with air suspension and etc. That's how I found mine. Also, we used a broker in Atlanta and saved many thousands of dollars and got exactly the car we wanted (except the color wah.)

HTH,
David

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

CPO includes free car washes? Any other details or limitations? I have CPO but didn't know this part.

lamar411

Yes there is free car washes at the dealership