fergo308

Hi all,

It's been five years since I last owned an LS,an import UCF11 C package Celsior.
There have been several cars in my garage since then,but on Friday afternoon,after 4 months of searching and waiting for the cash to come through,I finally picked up my second LS.

The car is an early 2004 Australian-spec UCF30R. It has 102,000KM on the clock,and is flint mica,with the black interior.
The car has all the UL options,bar the rear cooling seats (heating only) and air suspension.

As it's totally standard,there's not a lot of point in posting pictures,but if anyone wants to see it,let me know,and I'll take and post some up.

Plans for the car include stereo upgrades,20" wheels,lower and slightly firmer suspension,a full exhaust and eventually a half bodykit.


Justin...

lexuslspro

Naah not really interested in seeing photos...ARE YOU KIDDING!

POST THEM UP!!!


lol..I'll be the first to say congrats!

Low mileage too!

Price?

caddyowner

Congrats and welcome back to the family.

fergo308

Thanks mate. I moved out of my house on friday as well,so I may not find my camera and cables in a hurry,but will try to get a few pics up asap.

Price was good for our market, $45k AUD. Zenki LS430's start at about $22k and Koukis are usually $48k or so unless they have high mileage.


Justin...

caddyowner

Translation?

CarGuy89

Nice man! As they say on many forums: pics or it didn't happen Fine choice on the color combo as well! We have identical tastes

fergo308

Zenki = early model/early term ,in this case 2000-2003. Kouki = late model/late term, in this case late 2003-2007.
Japanese words for the two generations a chassis usually goes through before being replaced. Commonly used on import forums,and something I tend to use as it's quicker than 'series one' or 'early model' or such.

Price wise,the USD and AUD are pretty close at the moment,with the USD buying around $1.1AUD per 1USD. So the car cost me around $40k USD.

Some quick,rough pics I took this arvo when I got back from work:
(Apologies for the poor quality of the shots and dirty condition of the car...)

http://img707.imageshack.us/g/33533877.jpg/





Justin...

fergo308

fergo308

Cheers dude. I didn't have a lot of choice to be honest,and was lucky to get the combo I did,there were only two in that spec for sale in the whole country over the four months I've been trying to buy one. There are generally only a dozen LS430's advertised online for sale here at any time,nationwide,they're a VERY uncommon car. The majority are champagne with tan interiors,and the majority of those are zenkis.
I wanted a kouki,and it had to have a black interior. My old UCF11 was dark green over grey with a tan interior. Outside was sweet,but the interior was pretty dated-looking and marked quite easily.
Pics:



The black interior will be much easier to live with,not to mention more plush. The outside colour looks awesome,as did the old one IMHO,and will be a ***** to keep clean...just like the last one. But I wouldn't have it any other way.


Justin...

ViPCeo

iTrader: (6)

Congrats on the pick-up looking nice rhd ftw i like how it come standard with side markers and no reflectors in he headlight, i had to mod mines to get that

CarGuy89

^^wow, I thought it was pretty bad here! I put the search to 300 mi and only get a few that were even worth looking at. A lot comes from shady 3rd party dealers. Really glad you found the car you did. I have yet to see another flint mica around. The ones I see are usually silver or the odd green color. It's not only australia that has a shortage, I hardly ever see a 430 in the states either. Nice LS400 btw love what you did with it...very clean and sharp!

I must say I am surprised at how pricey cars are over there! The most expensive 430s here go for low-mid 30s. I picked mine up with 25k mi and cpo for $25k. $40k here would've got you close to a 460!

fergo308

^^^
Cheers mate.

Cars here can be quite expensive,the 2nd hand market is pretty strong. The cheapest 460 I saw for sale was $80k AUD and it had high kms. Check out http://www.carsales.com.au for more info on our market.

When I was in the US in April last year I was amazed at the differences in pricing on a lot of things. We get shafted hard here. The only thing we have going for us is fairly easy access to JDM imported cars and parts.

Anyway,Thanks all for the support on my new purchase. I'll post updates as it slowly gets work done.


Justin...

drpatel77

iTrader: (2)

looks good... ready to get the party started.. haha... it's a money pit in terms of mods ($$$). .. so what r ur plans with it..

fergo308

I'm planning to do the stuff listed above,and it'll probably cop a little bling as well,extra woodgrain interior bits,LEDs wherever I can fit them,a towbar (practicality - the AE86 isn't registered),and maybe a DVD player.
Once my financial situation settles down some,I'll start looking for bits in Japan and bringing them over.
The very first 'mod' is likely to be a couple of stickers...


Justin...