Striker223

So it's been one week since I got my LS430, it's my first ever car, Lexus, and non 4wd vehicle bought with the intent to act as my daily driver since my Jeep broke again in a way that just pushed me over the edge. So I ended up with a base model 2002 in metallic white that required some minor attention and fixes. I'm now totally corrupted.

I picked something I would never have to fuss over since I am tired of fixing my daily. I went through the options and landed on Lexus as the most reliable things I have seen come through the shop overall (Chevy V8s are the best engine I've seen, never have to touch them) and of them the LS cars literally never have problems. I wanted a 430 since they have a nice appearance for my tastes and feature a simple engine and overall layouts vs a 460 but the cost was no AWD system. I looked for and found a base model with everything I wanted except exact color (I like silver, mine is white but close in hue to metallic silver) and heated seats. The lack of heaters is ironic since my other cars all have them and this one doesn't despite it being the highest end of groups.......it's also the one thing I'm really tempted to upfit on it. Considering none of the other cars in my area had the heaters without air suspension or NAV or had some sort of dent somewhere I'm not that upset over it.

I have done a timing belt inspection (to make sure it was actually done), valve covers, all fluids, trans filter, diff cleaning, lower arm bushings, spark plugs, a radiator, drive belt, all tail bulbs, HIDs, one ballast (slow ignition and questionable socket), wipers, engine and cabins air filters, and the usual cleaning and inspection past that. I still have to pull the front actuators and replace the motors, overall extremely easy and I doubt I'll have to mess with anything for a long time again, that is very pleasing to me. Mechanically this thing is typical Lexus and actually not as good as most I have seen, though it did let me scare the seller into dropping price hard due to the cooling system not holding pressure and the actuators being $1000 each. Sounds like a lot of work listed like that but it's really not since I always rezero all the intervals on family member cars that enter my care so this is nothing new and actually way less than normal. Usually I make everything work 100% and some cars that's hell and involves engine removal........

The exterior and interior however are near perfect and that was a major goal of my selection process, I have need of a new body mounted tail lense and passenger electrochromic glass and some minor chip and paint correction but outside of that everything is perfect. Interior still has factory plastic wrap over some areas of the carpet and everything is in great shape with only one odd hole/tear in the sunroof visor and since it's white inside too some dirt that I haven't detailed yet. Every single control and feature works as intended and described in the manual, the memory seats impressed me a lot since EVERYTHING is set not just the seat. Coming from loaded trucks it's a nice change, not even a Ram Tungsten has this much memory going on.

Now for the part that has absolutely ruined me, the ride and silence. Holy crap. I knew how these things rode and sounded but I never really paid too much attention and the customer cars are all over 380000 miles and usually there is never a need to test drive them so it's been a while since I experienced a 430. Man it's just another level, it literally makes a top of the line luxury truck feel like it rides like crap somehow. It also has awesome isolation even though it lacks a frame, not quite as good as BOF but an impressive for a unibody. The felt ride though........coming from my Jeep it's like the roads are all now somehow magically perfect and the breaks in the pavement no longer exist. Crazy nice, the tires are being replaced on the car soon though since they are old and are the source of what little noise does make it to you. The comfort is unlike anything I've driven before even modern S class cars are not this smooth and quiet.

Transmission and engine at first did not know my driving style well and were ultra relaxed and smooth to the point I thought I may have had something wrong in the trans and it was not accepting downshift commands or something. By far the smoothest driveline I've felt, to the point it's a bad thing and makes you feel almost too disconnected and puts you into a weird trance like state of "liquid" feeling during which speed limits are not really reached and you take turns slowly and with minimal throttle at all times. Extremely laid back driving experience is the best way to put it, totally the opposite of my fun car in every way possible. Handling and steering response are both slow and heavy/soft feeling but still confident for the most part, predictable but overall is not able to hold a turn well vs other stuff. In all fairness I don't care at all since it's not for that and does it intended job fantastically. The car has since learned my driving style and the engine/trans now react as I intend so the weird ultra delayed downshift and slow power roll on are no longer a thing. The VSC system works very well plus is not harsh or obtrusive, it will not let you be stupid and I'm pleased that it stays out of the way most of the time.

The interior experience is the best by far I've ever had, it lacks a lot of tech vs a new vehicle but the tech is does have is executed so well it's mind blowing. I actually use the auto function in this car since it works, doesn't **** me off, and is so effective at its job it makes the system in my ram seem like a joke just labeled as an HVAC system. Highly impressed with how everything is so seamless and actually works well right down to the feel of every button and the radio ASL function. Again that's something I leave off in my newer vehicles but actually works in this one, little attention to detail like the beep volume adjuster and lighting in the door handle pockets and seatbelt receivers just show how awesomely designed these cars are. I'm beyond impressed now that I've had a week with my own example.

The LS430 is the BEST vehicle I have ever driven on an interstate, lord it's comfortable and I have to put forth near zero effort to direct it. Never thought I would say that but it's just that good and I relaxed to the point the drive didn't wear me out at all. This the only vehicle I can say actually is calming and relaxing to operate, all the others I have or my immediate family has while really nice are just not as good at long distance work. Outstanding beyond all my expectations and soundly defeats a 2017 top of the line Ram and Sequoia platinum, was really not expecting that to happen.

Gas mileage is also outstanding with over 20 average, I'm loving that since anything over 15 is great in my book. I understand why people like cars a little more now, much easier to get good economy vs a full-size truck. Hell of a lot better than my 410 or Jeep.

After experiencing this level of refinement, comfort, silence, and excellent design I'm ruined for other cars. I actually cringed last Friday working on a 2015 Mercedes ML 350 when sitting down in it and feeling how much cheaper it felt and looked. The engine now seems hilariously loud and rough when compared to an LS, Lexus has ruined me.

Peacebay

I love reading posts like these because it was exactly how I felt when I bought mine. I had always had sporty, manual trans cars and people were downright confused when I picked up my 05. It was also my first Lexus at the time and since then I’ve come to own 2 other 400s and 1 other 430. The way these cars are put together so simply and logically is the epitome of utilitarian engineering.

Its just crazy to me that when I have passengers in the 430 — not even car enthusiasts — they ALWAYS comment on the smoothness.. on a 14 year old car. Almost as much I get the old man car comments. Lol!

Legender

Nice read and congrats. It's a shame that so many of us found these cars to late. But glad you finally got into one, and yes, you are now ruined for life. Once you have one, it's hard to downgrade. Surprised about the lack of heated seats... I have seen one that did not have that, but ll the others had that feature. Enjoy the ride and welcome to the club.

Striker223

The old man comments are never ending, as is the tendency for people to try and pass you or assume you are slow in traffic. Annoying but honestly I don't care since I have such a nice ride lol!

repairmatt

I echo your comments. Got mine back in August, I came from an ES300 which was my first car and when I got that, I thought it was the stuff, really quiet, smooth and comfortable. Then I got this car. Now the ES seems noisy and rough in comparison. I've been getting about 24.5MPG average out of mine with pure highway travel hovering around 27-28MPG, which almost as good as the ES300 mileage. Considering the 430 has 2 more cylinders and 1.3L more displacement, that is insane. Haven't received any old man comments yet which is surprising considering I'm a fairly young guy, but have had several "nice car!" comments and a couple mildly jealous comments lol. I love this car, I drive a long way to work and it makes the distance seem so easy. Enjoy the car!

lorenr

iTrader: (1)

I have two LS 430's. One I've owned since I bought it off lease in 2005. The best car I've ever owned and I also have an 2011 IS F.

One trick I did on the LS 430's is change tire size to 235 60 17. This is a larger tire that fills the wheel wells, but really stabilizes the car. Looks a lot better too. I used Yokohama's but any good tire should work. I did not get the speed rated tires since I've never had the cars much over 100 mph.

Loren

Bocatrip

How has the profile tire change affected your speedometer? Have you ever checked how different the reading you see is to your actual speed?

Striker223

I'll look into tires of that size, I have a dealer level tool so I can adjust that setting I believe. Probably only runs like 5 mph slow

jharris400

I see people claim 27mpg on the interstate, I can't figure out how they do it though, I can only get 24mpg. If you want to be even more impressed go look at the LS460 guys, they get 30 or more.

430SLOwner

If you are getting 24, you're doing very well. If someone wants unusually high mpg; "One popular technique is drafting, or driving really close behind big rigs to get into the low-pressure zone created as they move through the air. According to Discover online, driving in this "free ride zone" not only save fuel for the tailgating driver, but also for the trucker, who is getting a little high pressure push.

Until something happens.

Tim Haab at Environmental Economics shows test results from Mythbusters:
* In scaled wind-tunnel tests, driving 100 feet behind a semi at 55 mph will reduce drag on your car by 40%. The drag reduction increases as you approach the bumper of the truck until you get a 93% drag reduction at a distance of 2 feet.
* In road tests, the testers achieved an almost 20% improvement in gas mileage at a distance of 100 feet (at 55 mph) and a 45% improvement at 10 feet.
Tim also calculates that at 100 feet you have 1.25 seconds to respond if the truck slams on the brakes, (keep off that cell phone) and at ten feet you have .124 seconds. The reccommended distance at 55 miles per hour is 150 feet.

Conclusions: there are better ways to save fuel."

Claims of 30 mpg+ LS 430s are hot air buffoonery.... Some claim unusually high mpg while driving on the highway, which may be so, but only for that stretch of highway. If one could drive at some constant speed, with the wind at your back, without ever having to stop, slow down, or speed up, your mpg may be great. But how often can someone do that?

Striker223

Mostly through flat areas and letting someone else lead a pack, if alone the speed limit really helps as does using extremely small throttle inputs and only ever accelerating back to speed after going past an elevation increase. I didn't go faster than 75 for my drive that I got good return on since this cars drop point appears to be 82 when you lose 4 mpg no matter how little throttle is used or how careful you are. It's a low drag car but the engine doesn't like being above 2200 for MPG, least that's what I observed so far. In town if I'm not rushed along and have ample opportunity to glide and avoid stopping I can hold nearly 30 but I'm never hitting the speed limits and more than one red light ruins it. The engine drinks a huge amount to increase speed, in the way back into town I come off a 60 mph coast into a 35 zone that lasts the rest of the way home. There is only one section that requires any throttle from there, since it's uphill and without it you will drop to 10 or less. The rest of it I can let the car idle through and it will maintain 25+ mph until slowing tuning off the street till I'm in my garage.

Coming from my Jeep where I used every hypermiling trick I could to try and keep the stupid thing above 16 mpg this car is EASY. Plus the mind blowing thing is if I DO decide to floor it I can hit over 115 in short order with grace. Not the brutal power of my other car no but the ability to go from that MPG to high speed, smooth power is impressive.

I'm still getting the hang of how this car likes to be driven for MPG, I'm experimenting with the snow mode right now since it appears to slow throttle opening a lot vs my foot position (car has learned my habits in normal mode and gives a lot more throttle than is easy to control for the end of MPG) compared to normal mode. I'm also hoping to see like a single mpg increase when the temps get colder, I may look into tuning it for a little more power as well since that usually helps mileage if you are careful.

Striker223

Some pictures of the car, I figured I should probably include a few.

jharris400

Hopefully some good oil and more frequent (than the PO's) oil changes will clean that head up.

Striker223

That was the suction side of the PCV and the line and grommet were both cracked to the point they were not working so I'm not too entirely surprised it looked like that. It's running the usual mobile one now and going to use my usual interval of 3-4000 and if it doesn't clean up I'll flush it with a blend of trans fluid and oil. Always works to clean up ES300 engines with the sludge issue but I would rather avoid it with this engine if I can

V12Jake

In my experience 24-25 is fairly easy, you need to have good tires though. When I had my 430 I had it on Continental Pro-Contacts, and on my last long drive I averaged 30.1 over the course of the 200 mile drive. That was sitting at about 77 mph for 2 hours without any changes in speed, with speeding up and slowing down it was closer to 26-28, which i achieved frequently on the interstate on other trips.