RA40

iTrader: (6)

+1 on the house. House mods while adding curb appeal, also improve-maintain their value. Car stuff, it is fun though the $$ is gone and become fractional returns when reselling. As with any depreciating item. I think of what Ive spent towards the house and I find the house to be more satisfying. We had debated a 430 some years back but those $$ did a kitchen remodel, front-rear landscaping, paint and stucco.

Shifting priorities. I will have a bit of fun with any car just not put lots of $$ into it. I'm still pleased with this aging barge. YMMV of course.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

we are going to go look at the home we may make an offer on again today. we had a nice home locked and loaded about 6 weeks ago and at the final negotiations the seller would not agree to fix 3 somewhat small things were asking so we backed out of the deal. i lost about $1600 on inspections and fees for various things but whatever, it may have saved $$ by those issues which could have turned into big issues.

i feel that the buyer should have more power in today's situation and i'm in no rush since we have been renting 'well' below our means in a luxo condo on a beach front area with an awesome view of the chesapeake bay... i'm very picky when it comes to home searching as well as cars.

the upgrading of my car was not to be instead of getting a home (this would be lacking in intelligence) but in addition to. it just seems like the banks don't want you to make any credit moves before they give you a large chunk of change for a home loan i've recently learned

it was never a decision of a house or a car, just a new(er) car or new(er) rims on an existing car. i've opted for rims and will keep the existing car another few lunar calendars i figure.

the home purchase comes along with a boat purchase that i've already gotten spousal approval for too so this is a positive for me since i want to get back out there on the water and i know she wants a house so i'm glad i could package that deal as single vessel (pun intended).

sojah

iTrader: (1)

checked out the home again, this time with my realistic glasses on... it just changed to a 'short' sale status and it has a bunch of minor stuff that would be needing fixed/upgrading... since its at the top of my price range we are gonna have to be really careful. i guess the realator is gonna figure out how much is owed left on the loan and then we will make an offer just below that i suppose.

my question is that if its a short sale and the owner lest say had originally put $120k down on it and they are just willing to walk away without any hope of getting any of this 120k back, doesn't this seem odd??? kinda makes me think that something big may be wrong. the roof at this point is the only thing in question.

the home was built in '51 and looks like it was renovated around 1990.. it had a second story master suite added prolly in early 2000's. i estimated the $120k because the difference in purchase price to amount of loan they took out according to our realator.

so unless they took out a home equity loan or have a second loan somewhere (realator to find out more soon) to do the upstairs mod i can't figure why they would be willing to walk away from $120k... BTW its a single retired gentlemen living there part time (vacation home with water views).

this could be an awesome find or it could be a money pit..... it has a heated pool, hot tub, tiki bar, and a nice florida room at the front of the home.

caddyowner

I had a lady boss once whos husband was a real DIY stay-at-home dad. When they moved to metro Detroit from KY, they bought a large, old house that used to be the main home on an estate that had been split up. The house needed everything, including an in-ground pool that every contractor suggested they simply bulldoze and fill in. Over the 4-5 years they lived in the house, he made slow and halting progress on everything, including 18 months to re-do the large kitchen making cabinets himself from cherry boards and completely rebuilding the lost-cause pool. She got a new job in New England and bought a ready-to-move-into home, having learned her lesson after living in a Tom Hank's style "Money Pit." She and the kids moved in time to start the school year and left him behind to finish the house and sell it.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

hmmm so your saying don't bite off more than you can chew ^ ^ ^ ??

User 82021

If i were in your predicament, I feel that the 600HL is the only replacement for the 430UL.
that being said, you should get your house first, then get the car. i don't like buying new cars because i don't like paying for the initial taxes and other fees let alone then you are absorbing all the depreciation in the car. Your 430 is a beautiful car and the 430s are my favorite car however i do respect the 600HL but i think the 430 looks more aesthetically pleasing.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

you got it AZ,, i feel the same... ^ ^ ^

User 82021

I wish there was an LS430L

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

A lot of people don't know this, but all LS430 are L, the LS460L are just barely a hair longer.

Let's put it this way, the rear floormats from a LS460L fit perfectly in the rear of my LS430

That's why there is no 430L, cause they are all L.

The 430 got more legroom then a regular 460, the 460 is actually a short version.

caddyowner

Actually, all versions of the LS460 are larger in overall length:

04-06 LS430: 197.4"
LS460: 199.2"
LS460L: 203.9"

However, the equivalent LS460s have smaller trunks the their LS430 counterparts.

04-06 LS430 (non-UL): 20.2 cubic ft.
LS460 and LS460L: 18 cubic ft.

04-06 LS460 UL: 17.5 cubic ft.
LS460L w/ rear seat upgrade or executive seating: 15.5 cubic ft.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

I was solely talking about the rear cabin area, which is what the L really stand for.

I know a true hard fact, the rear floor mats from a 460L is identical in length to the rear 430 mats, what does that tell you?

I even tried a short 460 mat, it was short by like 2 inches.

I do admit it does seems like there is a bit more leg room in the back of the 460L compare to the 430, but a lot of time what it seems could be deceiving. Maybe optical illusions due to some other factors.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

Here you go, those are 460L mats:

My floor mat's thread, many people confirmed the short mats are too short:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...perfectly.html

sojah

iTrader: (1)

do you think this covers the 600 as well "LS460L w/ rear seat upgrade or executive seating: 15.5 cubic ft."??

seems as though they took some out of the trunk to give more interior volume to the rear seats...

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

Idk the facts, just talking from common sense.

Doesn't the hybrid battery is in the trunk of the 600, like how half the trunk of the GS450h is taken up by the batteries?

That rear seat upgrade take up a lot of room from the seat reclining mechanism, the cool box, and some of the 600 got the DVD player there I think. Also the rear AC unit sit there too.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

well that home got away from us. even though the realator told us that our offer was 5k more the sellers went with another offer because the offer had a cover letter explaining how this perspective buyer had experience with short sales in the past and was prepared to negotiate with the bank and what not. needless to say i'm a little pissed cuz i wasn't aware that i could do most of this stuff. i guess i'll just staple my resume and w2 to the next offer if its a shortsale ,,, errrr.

BTW going to look at a waterfront place (normal sale this time) in a few hours that unfortunately is about 10 minutes north of annapolis (the place we have grown to love the past 5 years), but is 10 minutes closer to my work. we drove up there yesterday in the day in my wife's car, no problems, we drove up there last night in my car, problems. i couldn't pull into the driveway so i figured maybe the math would be better if i tried to back it in. i backed it up ever so slowly until the front bumper/clip just sort of sat on the ground. there was still about 1.5 feet to go back before it would have cleared so it looks like i will be parking the LS on the street if we get this home there is only 2 homes past this one on the dead end (water) street so it should not see much traffic. there is street parking on both sides of the small waterfront road, however the water is about 2-3 feet lower than the road and about 5 feet past the road so not sure what i will do with the lex when the water decides to rise...

maybe this will be the justification i need to get the air susp i have been thinking about for some time now