CK41885

I've started hunting for a 2006 LS430 and have been in the market for the last 3 months. I've seen a few decent possibilities, but mostly in the black/black combo which I don't really want. Just out of curiosity, how long did it take people here on find their babies? Do you think it's getting harder to find well-maintained LS430s?

Johnhav430

A couple months but this was 2016....it would be understandable that it could take longer in 2018. I could not really get 60k miles at a reasonable price so settled for 81k (folks say still 100% safe to do tranny drain/fill at 80k). Also wanted a FLA car but today people are suspect to FLA and TX cars due to the hurricanes...

jonathanz

iTrader: (2)

Johnhav430

btw I stuck with cars.com, but I know that autotempest searches multiple sites. I was never afraid of new car dealers, why, I know they are trying to flip a "good" specimen, meaning one that they've decided to put on the lot as opposed to sending to auction. Now the price will be higher, so play the waiting game. If someone wants to pay the high price, so be it. but if not, then make a lower offer....we are ok with 17-19 mpg using premium, but most of the world thinks that's not cool, so this car is not for most....my neighbor says his altima gets 28 mpg around town and 40 on the highway. 17 mpg would be like Redd foxx telling Elizabeth, "I'm coming!"

CK41885

Autotempest looks to be quite helpful; thanks for the recommendation John! Welcome to the search Jonathan

Johnhav430

I picked up on autotempest when I used to watch Tavarish on YouTube (I stopped when it became all about his Lambo). But I like cars.com for the free carfaxes. Also, if no free carfax, then I kind of don't consider it....

p.s. a trick that my dealer did...they took the almost never used original spare out of the trunk which has a mint rim, and armor all'd the tire. Mounted it on the car, took a pic, put it back in the trunk. So it implied the car had new Dunlops! DOH!

Also on this car make sure it has the tool kit, seems like people grab them and take them out. I bought one never used for $45 on eBay....

CK41885

I found that a lot of dealership websites also provide free carfaxes now. And then I also signed up for the lexus driver's website last night based on a forum member's recommendation and that was life-changing. There's a lower mileage LS430 not too far from me, and the carfax showed very little service records. But once I put in the VIN over at the lexus driver's website, all these service history records came up. In regards to service history and price, it all lines up. But it's a blue onyx and I'm not sure if that's a color that I want

And LOL at the dealership trick. A+ for effort at least.

jonathanz

iTrader: (2)

Johnhav430

also if me, I immediately become more interested if the car has headlight washers, because that implies custom luxury or ultra luxury. Then I hope from interior pics there are no ride (sport and norm I think?) buttons, so it's a custom luxury and not ultra (only because of the air suspension and rear a/c). Now I forget exactly what it gets but laminated side glass and it could have optional leather which would be nice to have...

Romanova

For my criteria, it was easiest just to tell the local dealers what I wanted and to contact me as soon as they took one in on trade. I figured if they bought it new from that dealer and had it serviced by that dealer, then they would trade it into that dealer for a new Lexus sooner or later. Lucked out and got my car that they took on trade, one owner, all records, keys, books, tools, etc. You have to be ready to act quick and you might not have as much room to negotiate this way.

I scrutinized a lot of cars before this one came along and have looked at quite a few since I got mine as a service for some of the other members here.

Main thing, just be patient and the right car will come along. Should be noted that you should be looking at the best condition car and be prepared to like the color. If you're holding out for a specific color combo in a certain condition, you might be waiting a long time... even too long to be patient for.

Duck05

I recently ended my 8-10 month search to replace my '01. While I did find a few suitable candidates to investigate, in the end decided to invest in the existing, known quantity versus taking on a "new" vehicle. (So, different situation since I already have an LS430 .)

Using the Lexus Drivers web site is a good tool to vet most of the cars and help to avoid those with "spotty" maintenance.

CK41885

Romanova, I dropped off my criteria at one local dealership, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to send out my criteria to all of the reputable dealerships in the area. Crystal white/ash combo seems sweet

I am sort of hoping for a Cyprus Pearl to come along, but open to the whites/silvers/Flint Mica. All of the decent condition/priced ones that I've been seeing have been Black on Black.

Duck, what did you end up getting? I don't see in your sig.

Oh6LS430

Wanted 04 to 06 not black...preferred sport but 100% were black. White or maroon were 2nd and 3rd choice. The newest with the lowest mileage. In flint mica with chrome wheels with UL package i found a 06 with 128k at lexus a dealer with tbelt wp alternator lca bushing all done in the 30k miles at same dealer with oil change history right at 5k miles most at dealer some at quicklubes. Has brand new michilin AS tires and battery. I put a new koyo radiator and factory tstat. Records suggest the tstat was done with the tb belt job but what the hell tstat is cheap insurance. Same dealer sold new corporate buyer kept it 1 year and resold as cpo car with 9k miles to guy who had it 10 years and traded it back to dealer on a new LS. The bargin corner at a lexus dealer is a good place to see what the highs in values are and why.

in socal 6 months ago at a lexus dealer the car was asking $12k.

in a year of searching clean higher mileage multi prevous owner $8k PP offerings it was obvious all of them would need $2.5k worth of tb wp tires LCA and cel problems. I figured the difference in price was gettjng 50 to 80k less miles was worth it.

lexus dealer really keep the cream of the crop in trade ins so either deal with small dealer to buy what he got at aucton that trade in dealers dont want to sell on their lot or some dude with a story about his car and why he is selling with bald tires and little maint records that he thinks is mint.

I would have bought it if was white or maroon but flint mica with UL black jnterior was just the unicorn of compromise that i think i paid a few bucks too much for but figure the amount of car left for the price paid is still a hell of a deal in the big picture. It replaced a 2013 camaro ss and the lexus has no payments.

one must be ready to jump on the right deal at the rignt time as people still seek these cars and quality varies widely at least in so cal lately.

caddylover

had 2005 a cypress pearl UL that i looked at twice with 80k but after doing a test drive and looking at the records, there were just too many things that had gone wrong in that time frame that i lost interest. He never did sell it and i saw it again at a dealer website as i guess he traded it in. He wanted 12000 for it. That was over a year ago. Found my friend's uncles 2004 Briarwood pearl with black leather UL with 181K that was one owner, dealer serviced and most major repairs done to it. Picked it up for $5000. Love the colour when it's in the sun and the black interior just sets it off. I looked for about 3 years for one and i'm so far glad that it paid off.

jyates383

I was looking specifically for a UL and gave up after about 6 months. About 4 months later and a different city, I decided to look again and found what I was looking for.