Mob4life

I have a 2004 ls430 that I purchased in 2008 . When I bought it the car had 54k miles. Now it has 172k miles and I am considering trading it in for a 2010 ls460. I love my 430 because it has been relatively trouble-free considering the amount of driving that I do. What do you think I should do? Honest opinions only. Thanks!

sojah

iTrader: (1)

i'm not sure the LS460 will hold up to this many miles as trouble free if your gonna put it through the same use/abuse as the LS430. that's a tough oneż

ohh and i nearly forgot, FIRSTS

caddyowner

Given that you drive about 30K miles per year with that vehicle, I would take this opportunity to move into something newer. You may also consider keeping the LS and buying something like a Prius to absorb lower cost miles. I drive about 33K miles per year (average over the past 10 years) and split the miles between 2 (now 3) vehicles.

scottgolf

Honestly spend some time driving a 460, do not trade until you have spent a day with a 460. Its a lot different car. Its almost as reliable as your 430 but does have more to go wrong with it. The rest is purely a taste issue. for me i like the ride of the 430 better, but that doesn't mean the 460 is bad, its just a little firmer ride, and some people like that.

Also, keep in mind the 430 has to have one of the lowest total cost of ownerships of any car in any class. I am unsure about the 460, but i assume that all that extra stuff on the 460 will be more things to fix, but I don't know.

Stu

an LS with 172,000 miles is not worth very much as a trade or if you can do a private sale, so I would advise to run it until the the car becomes unreliable or the cost to operate starts to approach what it would cost to lease/finance a newer replacement. If the cash / lease payment is not an issue for you, then it really doesn't matter what you do.

If you believe the new LS460 is not be as good as the LS430, then just find a low milage LS430 .... the good news is that it won't be as expensive as a newer LS460

Mob4life

I have driven the ls460 a few times. It's a great vehicle but I don't know if it is as trustworthy as a 430. I'm considering waiting a year to see what the next gen 460 will be like. I have one year remaining on my car payment. But the itch to get an ls460 is still there.

scottgolf

did you like the drive of the 460 better? It is really all about what you want to spend time in. If you like the way it drives I would go for it.

my ex wife used to love the way jags drove the xj line. I tried to get her into cars with out so much freaking service but she didn't like driving anything else, so it was worth it to spend the extra.

Remember you spend a lot of time in your car. probably more than with your best friend or wife. So get one you like first

Jabberwock

+1 - Stu speaks straight up wisdom.

warminwisc

I am petty much in the same boat as you i got my 04 with 55k and it has 156 now in 3 years. It is all hwy miles and still drives like when I got it. 5-6 hundred a month payment makes me want to drive er till 200k as it is solid, quiet, trouble free. Stu is right not worth much with high miles but I have other stuff to do with my cash then get caught up in the upgrade car routine.

V8_Fan

It's not how many miles you have, it's how those miles were driven. If you're putting on 30K mi/year, they're bound to be highway miles, which are very benign on the engine/drivetrain. The only real wear component sensitive to miles is the wheel bearings, steering bushings, etc. You can always get those replaced for a few grand and it'll drive like new again. You should be able to drive around 300K miles on the 3UZ engine (2UZ, the same engine design but bored out to 4.7L for the LX, has a major overhaul design span of 300K mi). Besides, a car w/ 172K mi isn't worth much on the market. Most people get spooked by that many miles. Let's put it this way, if you drive another 130K mi on it, it won't depreciate really any more than it already has. The bulk of the depreciation is well under 100K mi. Personally, I'd drive it to 300K, then sell it and buy a relatively new LS460 w/ higher miles.