ls430w140

I miss my JDM Toyota Chaser and it’s “fast&furious” underground charm...

pmesfun

14 GX460, 13 Camry Hybrid, 07 Avalon and 99 Avalon I sold earlier this year.

pingpong89

iTrader: (4)

92 cressida and 93 gs300. gs is now stock

BCT

Past: 1995 Avalon, 2002 SC430
Current: 1998 Land Cruiser, 2004 LS430

Legender

That is one nice Celica @smithy63 ... nice work on it.

My very first Toyota was an 85 Cressida, white with blue velour interior. Loved that car. But coming from US cars and as it approached 100k thought I better get rid of it...wish I never did.
Anyways, years later another Cressida and then in 98 picked up a 95 Avalon with 30k miles on it. Most expensive car I ever bought. Put well over 200k miles on it and never worried about it breaking down.
4runners are my next favorite and I've had 3 of those.
Graduated from Toyota to Lexus and found my perfect fit.
Currents are in my sig.... but always subject to change as I'm always on the lookout for a great deal.

MacroP

l thought I'd chime is as the OP from Westoz too, The majority of my cars over last 25-30 years or so have been Toyota. I've only 'stepped' up to a LS430 recently and have big plans for that - stay tuned,
Off the top of my head - my past cars have been, in order - I think;
84 LN65 Hilux Dual cab (Pickup) - my first car. Could not break it. Had it for 20 years until it rusted away. Still ran fine and never did anything to it other than abuse it.
88 MX73 Cressida. Did a 5MGE (from 5 ME) upgrade . Old school VIP luxury with the burgundy paint and matching velour interior. Someday will return.
92 Cressida Grande - Did a 1UZ conversion on this. Such a sleeper.
78 HJ45 Landcruiser. Very slow.
78 FJ45 Landcruiser. Very slow and loved drinking fuel.
88 Landcruiser HJ75 Diesel. Did a turbo conversion on this plus a heap of other project things. What a weapon for off-roading.
94 Hilux Surf (4runner) 3.0TD Manual - JDM import. Fantastic vehicle - I miss it. So practical and so many memories.
95 Hilux Surf 3.0TD Auto - JDM import. The earlier manual was much better. Terrible fuel economy for a diesel.

Current cars;
2007 Toyota Aurion Presara which is essentially a V6 Camry with some different body panels to the Camry but with all the the bling, So reliable even after a squillion miles. Interior is very reminiscent of the earlier LS430 interior - go figure
2010 Toyota Landcruiser Prado Diesel. My everyday car which hasn't missed a beat. Goes everywhere and does everything I need - and it has been around. Due for an upgrade soon though.
2001 LS430 in pearl ivory - my latest project. What an absolutely awesome machine. Just purchased and in 'mint' condition. Big plans with more to come.

Ricklin

I've got a Toyota household currently.
05 LS 430.....the reason I am on the board here. New to me.
03 4runner The 4runner is my towing rig, it's got the 4.7 V8. 170 K miles.
10 Prius 5 This is what the LS is replacing. It's got 325 K on it and burns oil like all 2010 Prius, it's for sale 5 K PM if interested. Was a 32 K Prius new. Hiway miles.

My first Toyota was a new 1975 Celica GT, 5 speed, yes manual steering RWD. Wish I had it back the early Celica coupes go for nice money now. The 430 is not my first Lexus, we had a GS300 for several years. Nice car.
Only had one not so good Toyota over the years, an 1980 something Diesel that had about 40 horsepower, would not get out of it's own way. Engine was 100% toast at 100 K miles. Other than that POS truck, Toyota all the way for me. I figure that pickup as the exception that proves the rule. It had a fun feature, if taken over 72 MPH the engine would run away and start burning the crankcase oil. That was disconcerting! Only way to stop the runaway was brakes to reduce the RPM. I wanted to swap a 20R in and keep it....nope everything was different vs. gas engine models, heck the hole in the floor would not even line up for the shifter. It went away, new owner said the bores were completely worn out and engine was shot. I think all those diesels went to S. America.

Johnhav430

I've never owned a Toyota product until the LS. But many of you have cars I've liked through the years! Celica, Cressida, Land Cruiser, LS, GS....I loved the 90's GS'.....the 1998 and even the one before. But those were crazy expensive....p.s. went back and looked at OP's Celica, that is very sweet indeed...

Ricklin

Back when our 3rd Gens. were made Toyota was still struggling to beat MB. Japan in general thinks long term, 100 year business plans.
Today Toyota dominates the auto industry. Domination brings cost cutting.
They spent huge dollars developing Prius, their investment certainly paid off. Easy to go that long term in Japan, not so much in the land of the next quarterly report.

riknchar

One of my first cars was a 1976 Corolla. I bought it from the local Toyota dealer for $400 in 1982 - it had a blown engine at the time. I found a nice used engine for $200 and paid a friend $100 to install the new engine. Put a $600 stereo in it (this was in 1982 dollars, so pretty high end!). That car wouldn't die! I ended up selling it for $1200...

I also had a beautiful 1978 Celica (very similar to the OP's car). Mine was bright yellow with black interior.

I made the move to Lexus about 5 years ago, and have owned multiple LS460s/LS600hLs, SC430s and one IS350C... All nice cars. I'm extremely happy with my current stable (2010 LS600hL and 2006 SC430). I've always admired the 3G LS430s though, and will probably add one some day just for fun. I like to lurk on this forum to hear all about the LS430 adventures!

bjo71

2007 gx470

Ricklin

When I first purchased my 4runner in 2003 one of my favorite things to do was to cause old school 4WD guys to flip out. They were always quite sure we were going to get very stuck. The 03 brought Toyota's 4wheel drive system still used today. The 03 4runner was the first model to use the anti lock brakes to eliminate wheel spin. Combine that with a locking Torsen center diff. and it's close to unstoppable.
Toyota used the system on the 4runner first, I believe it was added to the Landcruiser in 04, Toyota is very conservative, and the Landcruiser is a halo vehicle for them.

One beach "rescue" was especially impressive. A tourist on the beach in Oregon, drove their class C motor home up on the soft sand and buried it to the axles. Tide was coming in, they were in trouble.
I hooked my big tow strap on, told the guy to straighten his hard cranked over front wheels straight. I had my doubts I could get him out.
No drama, no muss no fuss. Heck with the V8 I did not even go to low range. Just hauled him out. The cop at the scene was blown away, he was sure I could not pull the guy out, in fact the cop had 4WD and did not even try to help the guy out. I'm sure he was told he can't due to liability. The local tow truck drivers there make tons of money off those tourists, we have big tide changes this far North, it's quite regular to see new cars trashed with salt water when the tow truck don't make it in time. I'll bet the rental car insurance does not cover that......
03 + 4runners are seriously capable off road, they also kinda suck for comfort on road. They are a hard core 4WD.

Wheel_Man

iTrader: (1)

2002 na-t gs300
1998 sc400
2005 ls430 ul

jayclapp

1082 Supra
1986 Cressida
1992 SC400
2000 RX300
2004 SL430 UL

lextout