jac430

I live in the Netherlands and at the www of the Dutch car magazine "Autoweek" you can see the sold quantities of a particular model over the years.


For the LS430 2004+1005+2006 it adds up to a total of 56 in this country.
(I have a 2004 LS430)
Let's say a few were still sold in 2007, so that would make it less than 60.

If I add the 2000 model LS430 to that (2000-2003), the grand total LS430s is only 215 for the whole country (16.5 million pop.). That does not include imported cars on one hand (maybe a few dozen, if that) and cars that were wrecked or exported on the other (let's assume a few).

So by any standards, the LS430 is relative rare over here.

Jac

AlexusAnja

So these were the numbers for NEW LS430s for the respective years? Wonder why the big drop from 2001 to 2002. Did tax laws change or something?

jac430

No, there were no additional taxes. They were already high enough
I suppose that anyone able to afford such a car waited for the introduction and then very soon bought one.
You see a similar pattern (although less extreme) in 2004, with the new model LS430.

Sales seem to drop remarkably after the years of introduction.
It might not be "cool" enough for the executives to buy a car that is already 1 or 2 years on the market.
Or they just keep on riding the car they bought soon after introduction.
There would have been little point in buying a new one after 2 years, since it was still almost identical.

Also keep in mind that cars are, due to unreasonable (isn't that always) taxation, are extremely expensive in this country.
The spendable part of the income is far less than in the USA or Canada. Or Germany or Belgium. So most cars might originally have been sold as company cars for the executive(s).

It is just guessing on my part, as you see...

Jac

Twix

I'm very sorry that I can't find similar info here, but I believe South Africa has a very similar statistic...

I have a LS430 and I saw only two for now (I have mine for around 8 months now), and Johannesburg is the city with 11,7 million people...

I've seen more Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches then Lexus LS series...there is a lot of IS and RX and a few GS's roaimng around, but rarely LS...

svlexus

Ive been to Amsterdam and there were almost no cars. Are alot of old cities in NL that way?

jac430

Most cities in this country discourage car use in the city-center.
A lot of these towns exist for several hundred years or more, and some historic buildings are still there (the ones that were made of stone).
So it is a bit cramped.
Later roads became more important and more space was allocated to them.
When motorcars came on the scene it started quietly, and there was not problem parking your car.
But when virtually everyone wanted a car, it was impossible to park all these cars close to the homes.

Most cities have underground parking lots or multi-storage parkings. So you see not many cars driving around. Parking fees are very high in cities like Amsterdam and it is encouraged to park on the outside of the city and use a shuttle to get to the city center.

30 years ago you could go to Amsterdam to visit a museum and be able to park your car for free somewhere (but only just). That has become impossible.
When my wife has to visit Amsterdam (a rare occasion), she goes by train. The main train station is right in the center.
In the town where we live (which is smaller than Amsterdam) it is usually possible to park your car in a parking lot or street nearby, but it is getting rather expensive too.
We live only 5 km (3 mi) form the center, but here we can park our cars in the driveway or on the street or in the garage. I wouldn't want it otherwise... to me it would be a nightmare if I would not be able to park very close to my home.

I think that a lot of people who live right in the center of Amsterdam don't own a car. It is just not practical.

Jac

CarGuy89

Only 8 were sold in 2006?? Wow ppl must look at your LS like "whoa what is that??" lol. My dad looked up the stats of my car before we went to go pick it up. He told me that the LS sold in relatively small numbers here the states (relatively speaking of course), especially the later facelifts. I've only seen maybe 5-10 LS430s between school (Lansing) and home (Ann Arbor) in MI. Not a whole lot of these things running around here. I still have yet to see a grey one yet...silver is probably the most common color, then there's a cypress and briarwood, one black one.

jac430

Yes, pretty amazing huh?

The LS430 is quite a rare car in this country.
So finding parts at a salvage yard is equally troublesome

About half a year back my neighbors had visitors with an LS430.
Dark blue with light interior (like mine now!).
At the time I looked up the license plate and that one was from 2001.
Otherwise I haven't seen one since years.
Mine is from 2004, another "peak" year...

Most that I see advertised are silvery coloured and from 2001, so that complies with the relatively large qty sold in that year.

I suppose you guys are in a much better position to buy one.
Prices are much more friendly and the qty to choose from is vastly superior to what is available over here.

Jac

CarGuy89

Yup, that is why I have one while I'm still in college right now. A newer example with lower miles (mine even had CPO warranty for 3 yrs) will run you around $25k USD (with some variance of course). That is the equivalent of a decent (but not great by any means) new car here. So my option was take an ok new car or a fantastic older one...guess what I picked?

Bon

Feeding a V8 is pretty darn expensive in the Netherlands?! The last comparison was 3X the US cost per gallon. Right now in the midwest we're paying around $3.19 per US gallon. How much is it in the Netherlands?

jac430

Hello Bon,

It is about EUR 1.55/liter which equals about $ 8 / gallon.
(More than two thirds of the gasoline price is tax....)

I don't drive much (only a few k/yr), so the depreciation, road tax (EUR 1044/yr, about $ 1400), insurance and maintenance/repairs are the major costs for me.

I admit that frequently I am a bit jealous of you guys!

Jac

CarGuy89

Jac,
One thing you do got though: I've heard the people are a lot friendlier overseas. I'm not saying people aren't nice here but that people are usually in a better mood and willing to help.

jac430

Hello GarGay89,

That could be true. There is always someone who is willing to help or listen to you if you are in real trouble.
(Well, not the government..., they only listen to themselves, as everywhere.)

I am not so sure though.
I have been in NYC once and found the people over there very friendly and helpful, in contrast to what was predicted to me
I was told that I should not take NYC as representable for the USA as a whole, because people are much friendlier elsewhere....
So, with only one experience of 11 days, I certainly was pleasantly surprised!
If I e-mail with someone in the USA or ask for more info on an ebay item, mostly always I get very friendly replies.
You (collectively) may have a too low opinion of yourselves in this respect.

Differences in income are far less over here (although there is a top-layer with very high pay); that might help also.
We all have in common that we can complain about taxes

Jac

fergo308

^^^ I was told not to judge the US by what I may see in vegas by my cousins who live in san fran...

Some places in my limited experience are friendlier than others. From the few countries I've been to so far,big cities seem to be similar everywhere.
People are in a rush,and don't have time for anything much outside of their own world. You meet the 'real' people in the smaller towns,or at least in the suburbs outside of the main city itself.

From my experience in the US,Americans in general are polite and fairly courteous.
In 3 1/2 weeks of travel across the country in '09,I only had three instances where I didn't receive top service in shops,or I saw something on the street that was upsetting.
I walked and drove through a few rougher neighbourhoods in that time as well and never had any trouble,although we were a bit nervous for a while in a backstreet in Boston and when we walked through the tenderloin and across town into lower haight in San Fran. I also didn't stray far from the club we had dinner at just off of 8 mile in Detroit. Still,none of those were to be unexpected,given where we were,and I can think of several places in my own city of Sydney that I wouldn't walk into alone at night as well...


I feel a little better about my own fuel prices and registration fees now as well.
We're paying just under $6/gal here for premium unleaded,and my registration renewal for a year that I just paid this week was $1200 AUD.
Nearly $600 of that was for personal third party injury insurance,which is compulsory.
$99 was for my custom numberplates,and the rest was rego fees and taxes.
Our fees in NSW are based on vehicle weight. The heavier the car,the more you pay. Other places charge by capacity of the engine,or number of cylinders.