aschuetz

Hello all,

I have a situation going on with my '06 LS 430 UL that I need some advice on. I am a regular viewer on here even though I do not post very often. I do value many member's opinions on this site and am hoping you all can help me out. This may get a little long winded but I appreciate you all reading in full to get a good picture of whats going on.

I got the car about 15 months ago, which was my late father-in-laws vehicle. There was no cost incurred to purchase, minus transferring title, and MVA costs. For reference given the mileage at the time (160K) and condition (Good) I valued the vehicle at $8000. You all may have different values, but for this situation that is where I was on it. I have a reliable indy shop that I use for work that is phenomenal. I fully trust their opinions and workmanship. Their price is fair and they have a great reputation online and in the community. For the past 6 months I have been daily driving this vehicle about 500 miles per week. My intention has been to drive the LS until it's book value for trade-in on a new vehicle was $5000 or sell it privately. The vehicle has a good paper trail with regular and required maintenance, and figured with how reliable the vehicle is it would end up being a smart choice to use as a DD. Since using the LS as my DD, I have noticed the regular maintenance expense is substantially larger than what I was anticipating. I regularly view this forum, so I know what should pop up and what may not. Unfortunately, I have replaced the alternator (165k), although I believe that had not been replaced during the life of the car. I did a transmission drain and fill (160K), which had not been done either. Both of those are not the worst to have to do. Now I have to replace the camshaft seals. The passenger side camshaft seal is leaking onto the alternator, and both sides will be replaced. Since that is a labor-intensive job, the water-pump and timing belt job is also going to be done, 5000 miles early. That doesn't bother me, since I knew it was going to be done on the next service. The shop recommended doing it since the motor will be pulled apart for the camshaft seals. My vehicle also has a shaking in the steering wheel between 55-70 mph, that the shop has not been able to diagnose. I am having them look at control arms and bushings to see if those need to be replaced. This job is coming in at a projected cost of $2200. My main question is, should I have to anticipate any other labor intensive jobs that may need to be done in the short term . My plan was to keep driving the LS, as it is a quality vehicle. My next vehicle will be a VW GTI, that I know. I was anticipating purchasing a MKVIII when they come out sometime in 2019-2020. I wouldn't mind bumping my purchasing timeline, if the LS continues to have problems. The money is not a serious concern, I am wondering should I keep paying maintenance costs on the LS or put the money into a new car. Please let me know how you guys would think about this problem and what you would do. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your responses!

2KHarrier

If money is not an issue, and you're already thinking long term on replacing the LS with a VW, why postpone the inevitable? Buy the VW and sell the LS.
However, I will tell you now, that you will quickly grow tired of the VW as it is a vastly different vehicle from the Lexus. Coming from someone who primarily drives a large car, I owned a small, sporty car thinking it was what I wanted, only to sell it 6 weeks later and move back into another LS.

All cars will require maintenance, and I can assure you the Lexus would be more reliable than a VW

Johnhav430

curious myself, what's the delta when the seals need to be replaced....say a regular full timing belt job with all pulleys and idler is $850. What is the cost with the camshaft seals? Don't they come with the kit but they are discarded (or hoarded) by the shop unless needed? So how much extra labor for the seals to be done? And where does the oil wind up if leaking?

As far as the GTI, I was planning on getting a Golf R prior to the LS430, but I think buying the LS430 saved me a boatload of money (I woulda had a $20k loan and a 36 mo. payment not to mention I would have had to take $10k more at least out of the bank than with the LS430). I drove a '15 GTI rental for 4 days on a business trip and it was fun, even though it was a DSG. I have since lost all respect for VW because of their business practices and would never consider any of their products (they tested exhaust fumes on crab-eating macaques was the latest).

Anyway if it were me and I got a free car, you bet I would drive it until the wheels fell off, I broke even day 1. The name of the game is to never have a car payment again....(if it's a goal, it will be the case as long as possible and maybe one day a person does need to replace the car and pays cash)

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

The camshaft seals are very difficult do to the vvti and incolve taking the cams out, if not done right will mess stuff up, also vw are not very reliable cars in my personal opinion.

I replaced the alternator on my ls at 90,000 somethings just were out with cars, you get all the stuff fixed and you will have a great car.

The shaking in the steering wheel could possibly be inner outer tie rods, balljoints lca bushings bent rim, driveshaft bushing coukd be worn out I would start there.

bradland

Try a quality high mileage oil like Mobil 1 synthetic which contains additives that swell your old dried up seals. It can slow or even stop the leak at the cam seals and postpone the timing belt job until you are ready. If you switch over you have to continue using HM oil on subsequent oil changes.

The issues with your car are not problems, as you are approaching 200k miles, it's to be expected considering the age and mileage.

911LE

I would guess the cam seals add less than 3 hours of labor to a timing belt job. The coils, valve covers, and cams must be removed. Only 2 of the cams have seals on them and they must be put in a vise and disassembled to get to the seals. The factory service manual is a must for any shop attempting this as there is a set procedure for lining up timing marks and rotating the cams for removal. The gears are split, scissor types that are spring loaded so there is no backlash.

If you do have this done make sure the shop cleans or replaces the ocv filters. They are located under the front cam cap and are only accessible after cam removal. New ones are $5 each.

Gronemus

My only concern about replacing the control arms is that if it doesn't fix the problem you are out a significant amount of coin. To me, $2200 is a little pricey for that job. You might consider only replacing the large bushings instead of the whole control arm instead...

InToyoda

cam seals were done twice i believe on a 454k mile beater ls400 I owned, i delivered pizzas in it. sad but true. Yes original engine and trans. it's not a huge deal.

edit: if you want the vw go for it,

as far as suspension goes that quote seems high! - as gronemus said!!
I would try to diagnose it yourself or maybe find a trustworthy local lexus friend to help.
an alignment specific shop might be able to help better too in regards to your shake, when was the car last aligned?

LS430Lexus

You inherited or were gifted the car, at no cost to you. Your maintenance and repair costs are the price of driving the car for the next 100,000 miles. Sure, you will need a set of tires, brakes, and some other things during that time. These costs are far less than buying another car which would, by the way, need tires, brakes and a few other things. Drive it, enjoy it and think kindly of your father-in-law. It seems like he treated you very well.

Also, the vibration in your steering wheel may be related to a bent rim or wheel that needs balancing. Road Force balancing solved this problem for me.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

OP were are you located if you are near me I have no problem helping you out.

Lzam

I had my factory alternator rebuilt at 124,000 miles so it could go out anytime. That being said when doing the timing belt kit you should always do the crankshaft seals camshaft seals. Even if they don't leak because of labor. But if you fix all of that you should be fine. But definitely find a cheaper shop to do the job. As my mechanic says to me pay me now or pay me later! Meaning skip the obvious maintenance now or pay more later. I'm at 141,000 miles and I have spent very little on my 04 430.

Johnhav430

I loved delivering pizza, I guess that's why I think that I would like to drive a luxury sedan around the airport when I retire. We have a friend who does it full time and his wife told my wife he finds that insulting, it's not a game, whatever. Anyway pizza delivery was great until this guy tried to rob me so he got the appropriate response. In the end thanks to our legal system, he got 2 mil. out of the incident and I learned a valuable lesson at 19--insurance carriers' attorneys are not on your side, they are there to minimize the exposure to the corporation, and dispose of liability if possible. Luckily I had gotten the advice that this were to be the case, and to tell the truth and answer yes, or no, do not offer any subjective comments. Of course later in my graduate studies I would understand better the concepts of willful and negligent. I looked him up on linkedin and he's a ceo of a co. in West Palm Beach lol shysters always know how to win in the end....

Legender

The LS has cost you nothing except regular maintenance, which would be minimal on a new VW, but you'd have to pay for the car.
As stated, when doing the TB, replace all the seals, cams, belts while you're there to only pay for the big labor one time. That's an easy decision.

It sounds like you're not really enjoying the car and for your 500/week commute you'd prefer to be in a VW. That's fine. Nothing wrong with that.
Most of us would fix our cars and keep driving them because we know there is nothing better at this price point. That's why we joined this forum.
Most vehicle decisions are based on 2 factors... money and emotion. You buy what you can afford, or can afford anything and buy what you want.
It's that settling or compromise that drives us crazy and brings us to these gray areas of decision making.

If you really want, we can help you spend your money.

aschuetz

Hey guys,

Thanks for your feedback. I wanted to address some comments and clarify some points. First off, I fully love the LS. I am a car enthusiast and am sad to say I had no knowledge of it until it fell in my lap. Mainly because that at my age, currently 28, I was not looking at luxury boats as viable DD options or even something that I would enjoy. The first time I was driving it with my father-in-law and finance at the time I thought, "Holy ****, this thing is spectacular!" Having driven it now regularly for 6 months I am of the same opinion as most of you that it is one of the best cars of its time, and has held up through the years, even against many makes and models that are newer. My intentions have been to keep the LS until the MK8 GTI comes out, sometime around 2019-2020. At that point I would begin to seriously look for the LS's replacement, which could take another year. I am a savvy shopper, and until I find the right deal on a MK8 GTI, will not buy. Since I have a wonderful DD, I have the luxury of waiting. At time of purchase, I am thinking of either trading the LS in if they give good value, and paying cash for the difference. If the trade is not what I think is fair, I will private sell it. The reason that I have thought that is by that time, the LS could have between 225-250k on it. It will still have life in the tank, but anticipating maintenance and what may go wrong can get a lot more difficult as these forums have shown me. What I do know is that some owners cars last for a long time 350-400k, with minimum issues, but many owners cars seem to reach the turning point where it makes financial sense to find a new ride somewhere between 250-300k. Now, even the shop owner that does the more labor intensive work on my LS, including the camshaft seals, has told me that he has customers, that I have verified and seen in person including their cars with over 400k on their LS430s.

Now onto the financial aspect of the LS maintenance repair. As I have said, I fully trust this shop, they go by the book on work, and have had zero issues with them over the past 15 months. Yes, they are not as cheap as some indy shops, but they are cheaper than the local stealership in town. You get what you pay for, and I understand I could look elsewhere, but I have a great relationship from my pervious career, in which I worked with this shop as a customer. Here is the list of the work that is going to be done: Oil and filter service, Passenger side camshaft seal leaking replacing both passenger and driver side, Perform water pump/timing belt with all pulleys, belt tensioners, include a tune up with spark plugs, PCV valve, flush and replace coolant. Thanks 05LS, I called the shop and they are also going to be checking the parts you listed to see if one of those is the culprit for the shaking steering wheel. As it stands right now, I am at $2201 for the work, $1280 in labor, $907 in parts. They cut labor hours on other jobs because the vehicle is going to be pulled apart to get to a lot of the work. Also, after speaking to them yesterday, they told me that when they determine what the shaking in the wheel is from, they will only charge parts, not labor as this issues has not been resolved for the past 5K, so thats nice.

Once again, I know how lucky I am to have such a great vehicle for a DD, and to have access to a great following of fellow owners. I also know that I am lucky to have paid effectively zero for the LS, but that I have paid over book value of the car in maintenance since taking it over 15 months ago. Yes, my late father-in-law took good care of the vehicle, but I tend to keep them in top condition. (wash and vac weekly) Here is my big question and what I'd like your opinions on given your experience. Should I anticipate any other above average maintenance expenses given the mileage of the car, or should I be good for know? Like I said, if the LS does not need much besides regular maintenance, its a no brainer and I will keep it till I purchase new in a few years. If however there are some larger maintenance repairs due up, it may make more financial sense to move up the new car purchase and use the maintenance fund for the new car. Thanks for all your help with this guys! I really appreciate all of your opinions!

aschuetz

By the way, thought I'd post a couple of pics of my ride as it's never been on here. These were a couple after I had her detailed at one of my previous vendors shops