LS - 3rd Gen (2001-2006) Discussion topics related to the flagship Lexus LS430

What did you do to your LS430 today?

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Old 05-26-24, 11:12 AM
  #2536  
stevedra
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Originally Posted by slightreturn
A few days ago I had a funny occurrence with my 430.

I recently got married. I'm in New England and my spouse was from the west coast until she moved here. So she just sold her car since I had two (an '05 LS and '06 4Runner). I have a habit of driving the 430 to work so I just gave her the keys to the 4Runner and everything was fine. Last week, I decided to ride my bike to work so I said "feel free to drive the Lexus today if you want" and left the keys on the counter. When I got home, I was met with a Grinch-like grin and saucer-like eyes, and she pleaded with me to just swap cars permanently. "It's sooooooo smooth!! It's sooooo easy to drive!!! The Lexus is more of a girl's car anyway, wouldn't you agree?"

Hahahaha I did not agree. But she uses the Lexus whenever possible now. The only thing is that it takes about an hour for the driver's seat to adjust from her position to my position -- she is 5'0 and I am 6'2.

Moral of the story: never allow yourself to be manipulated out of your LS430, no matter how cute and sweet the pleader might be!
Well, what I did is buy my wife this, and she is not wanting to drive my LS anymore.





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Old 05-26-24, 11:36 AM
  #2537  
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Originally Posted by slightreturn
A few days ago I had a funny occurrence with my 430.

I recently got married. I'm in New England and my spouse was from the west coast until she moved here. So she just sold her car since I had two (an '05 LS and '06 4Runner). I have a habit of driving the 430 to work so I just gave her the keys to the 4Runner and everything was fine. Last week, I decided to ride my bike to work so I said "feel free to drive the Lexus today if you want" and left the keys on the counter. When I got home, I was met with a Grinch-like grin and saucer-like eyes, and she pleaded with me to just swap cars permanently. "It's sooooooo smooth!! It's sooooo easy to drive!!! The Lexus is more of a girl's car anyway, wouldn't you agree?"

Hahahaha I did not agree. But she uses the Lexus whenever possible now. The only thing is that it takes about an hour for the driver's seat to adjust from her position to my position -- she is 5'0 and I am 6'2.

Moral of the story: never allow yourself to be manipulated out of your LS430, no matter how cute and sweet the pleader might be!
I just got married 16 mo ago. My new wife immediately said "This car is mine" after driving the '04 LS430. I tried to appeal to her that the '06 SC430 and the '08 Sky Redline were both newer and sportier It didnt work, the '04 LS was hers
Old 05-27-24, 05:07 PM
  #2538  
designdude
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Those look awesome. Can you share some details? (paint codes, sequence, etc).
Old 05-30-24, 04:50 PM
  #2539  
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Originally Posted by slightreturn
A few days ago I had a funny occurrence with my 430.

I recently got married. I'm in New England and my spouse was from the west coast until she moved here. So she just sold her car since I had two (an '05 LS and '06 4Runner). I have a habit of driving the 430 to work so I just gave her the keys to the 4Runner and everything was fine. Last week, I decided to ride my bike to work so I said "feel free to drive the Lexus today if you want" and left the keys on the counter. When I got home, I was met with a Grinch-like grin and saucer-like eyes, and she pleaded with me to just swap cars permanently. "It's sooooooo smooth!! It's sooooo easy to drive!!! The Lexus is more of a girl's car anyway, wouldn't you agree?"

Hahahaha I did not agree. But she uses the Lexus whenever possible now. The only thing is that it takes about an hour for the driver's seat to adjust from her position to my position -- she is 5'0 and I am 6'2.

Moral of the story: never allow yourself to be manipulated out of your LS430, no matter how cute and sweet the pleader might be!
I know this feeling. My mom and my sister said the same thing after driving my LS430. It led to my sister getting one.

The same thing happened with my GS300 six months ago. My mom’s car was in the shop and I loaned her my GS for a week and she loved it. Now she always wants to go places with me in it. I won’t make that mistake again. 😭
Old 06-04-24, 09:00 AM
  #2540  
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I used the Cerakote Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit and the results are amazing. Way better than the Meguiar's kit I normally use.
Before:


Don't mind the booboo on the front bumper lol

After:


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Old 06-04-24, 09:04 AM
  #2541  
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Snap, I just did mine last weekend with the 3M kit. Works well and they look great again.
2nd time I've done them as even with putting the UV filter coating on them they only seem to last 2-3 years.
This time I'm going to add the coating every 3 months and see if that increases the time.

Also just had 2 new mufflers fitted by a custom exhaust place. The OE muffler internals had separated from the casing.
He reused the stainless resonator-to-muffler pipes and welded new mufflers on and refitted the OE chrome tips.
Looks good and sounds factory quiet! :-)
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Old 06-04-24, 09:12 AM
  #2542  
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Originally Posted by BigBoomer
Snap, I just did mine last weekend with the 3M kit. Works well and they look great again.
2nd time I've done them as even with putting the UV filter coating on them they only seem to last 2-3 years.
This time I'm going to add the coating every 3 months and see if that increases the time.

Also just had 2 new mufflers fitted by a custom exhaust place. The OE muffler internals had separated from the casing.
He reused the stainless resonator-to-muffler pipes and welded new mufflers on and refitted the OE chrome tips.
Looks good and sounds factory quiet! :-)
You should upload a video.
Old 06-04-24, 05:31 PM
  #2543  
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@LatinLS430 @BigBoomer , love it when people put time into their lights. My lights are great now, but I have detailed on this and 2 other threads my pursuit of my 03 lights. I had them professionally sanded and then XPEL film protection applied. $250 but worth it. They were factory new and protected essentially forever so no more maintenance.
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Old 06-04-24, 05:34 PM
  #2544  
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Not often I muster up the confidence for a big DIY project, but hey, I actually replaced my own amp:






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Old 06-04-24, 05:37 PM
  #2545  
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Originally Posted by LatinLS430
I used the Cerakote Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit and the results are amazing. Way better than the Meguiar's kit I normally use.
That looks incredible. What brand of kit did you use? Looks like it came out a lot better than using the 3M UV wipes after I used my DA and some polish to clean up the foggy one on my car.
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Old 06-05-24, 09:20 AM
  #2546  
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Originally Posted by BaconLS430
That looks incredible. What brand of kit did you use? Looks like it came out a lot better than using the 3M UV wipes after I used my DA and some polish to clean up the foggy one on my car.
This is the kit
https://cerakoteceramics.com/cerakot...storation-kit/
Old 06-06-24, 10:13 AM
  #2547  
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Originally Posted by designdude
Those look awesome. Can you share some details? (paint codes, sequence, etc).
Redid the two wheels and painted the remaining in a slightly dark color.

It's a color I mixed myself, started out with silver low metallic from the auto paint supply and added black toner until I got this color. I went darker inside the spokes and went a little lighter on face the to get a shadow effect. It looks almost gun metal, I really like it, in person its a little brighter.



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Old 06-07-24, 04:54 PM
  #2548  
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Washed, wheels polished, tires dressed. Local meet tomorrow.



Old 06-08-24, 09:57 PM
  #2549  
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2003 LS430. Bought new, 180K miles. Zero problems. Yesterday I had my headlights polished for $80 total, they came out looking new. Then I ordered a backup camera, about $1100 installed. Seems like a lot but they promise a very clean installation. Hope so.
Old 06-09-24, 05:25 PM
  #2550  
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I followed the advice from the LS430 Facebook page and caulked the left and right front door pockets shut.
They were broken by the previous owner, and could no longer stay closed. It was annoying to have them always come open and rest on my leg during driving.
Initially thought about using Velcro or something, but discovered the previous owner tried that. Also covered the entire area with some cheap superglue, and cracked the pocket's base.
I will be replacing the entire door panel down the line, just not now. I recently discovered that my Enkei rims are bent, so I'm saving for new wheels.


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