Black and white
07-07-20 | 02:50 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 11,811
Likes: 1,251
From: Ohio
Black and white
Picked up a low mile 06 today from a member here, it's a very nicely kept car and well optioned with perfect documentation and everything that came with the car when new plus a Lexus car cover. Here are some pictures of it and my 02, I'll have another more detailed batch up when I have a chance to detail the new one but as it sits it looks great.
https://imgur.com/a/KCRc5KC
The Onyx paint color and how well Lexus applies it to these cars is impressive even when not totally polished and ceramic coated. I can't wait to see how it will look when I'm done cleaning it up. Very happy with the car! There is a difference worth paying extra for for a car with 1/4 the miles than most. Thank you very much to the member who sold it to me!
https://imgur.com/a/KCRc5KC
The Onyx paint color and how well Lexus applies it to these cars is impressive even when not totally polished and ceramic coated. I can't wait to see how it will look when I'm done cleaning it up. Very happy with the car! There is a difference worth paying extra for for a car with 1/4 the miles than most. Thank you very much to the member who sold it to me!
07-08-20 | 11:34 AM
#3
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 808
Likes: 244
From: WA
Interesting that you sprung for a second LS430. I would like to know your thinking about the '06 Onyx purchase.
In over 40 years of driving and owning many different vehicles, the LS430 is the only one in which I have ever thought about getting a second one. In fact, I think about it way too much, There is a gorgeous '06 low mile one for sale that, if it was a little closer to me, would be brought into the fold.
In over 40 years of driving and owning many different vehicles, the LS430 is the only one in which I have ever thought about getting a second one. In fact, I think about it way too much, There is a gorgeous '06 low mile one for sale that, if it was a little closer to me, would be brought into the fold.
07-08-20 | 05:01 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 11,811
Likes: 1,251
From: Ohio
Lol, that's only for engines/cars but I did test this one up to reasonable speed on the drive home. Works flawlessly as expected.
I'll post back later on the story of the car and why I have two of them now
I'll post back later on the story of the car and why I have two of them now
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07-09-20 | 07:17 PM
#10
Thread Starter
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 11,811
Likes: 1,251
From: Ohio
Thanks for all the complements guys!
As promised here is the story of why I have two of these.....
As some of you may know I'm a mechanic who runs a small shop with skills I learned as an apprentice among other skills I picked up in lieu of going to college on a full ride post highschool as was the expectation of me.....most of my family are professionals of some sort with my parents both being doctors. However they were supportive and understanding of my desire to add practical skills to my abilities and that sent me off to learn about everything trade oriented I wanted to, cars being the eventual top subject of interest.
Over the years I learned the practical side of actually working vs the theory and technical side I had already extensively learned I got to experience nearly every single brand of car and model so I'm very versed in how a certain car lasts/how easy to work on it is and all the characteristics of things such as the interior, ,handling, power and other miscellaneous details. This also has had the side effect of making me the "expert" in my family and my dad now able to avoid his practice of always buying new top of the line cars and selling them at 75000 miles no exceptions. Due to them firsthand seeing what I was capable of they now consider mechanical issues non-issues after I swapped a head gasket for a friend in the garage at home one evening since I was too lazy to drive all the way to the shop. Point being is that I was/am trusted to pick cars and that if anything breaks it won't be an actual issue.
This however lead to the irony of the mechanic never wanting to work on his own car and always driving a very cheap car with cheap parts. My cheap car was/is a 2000 Jeep WJ that I picked up the week I pulled the engine out of truck to begin it's frame off restomod process so that I had something to drive while my real car was being altered (nothing is stock aside from most of the frame and body now). This somehow lead like it always does to the "temporary" car ending up as my daily since I didn't want my truck to ever see rain again after going through a week and a half of sandblasting and paint to get the frame mirror perfect black. Issue is that it's a Jeep with 285000 miles.....I have basically replaced the whole damn car twice now with the reman engine I bought (too long/lazy to machine it properly and I incorrectly assumed a reman company does a good job) blowing its head on less than 50000 miles since I put it in. All brake lines, whole steering system, all the ac, heater/cooling ETC you get the jist I mean it's a Jeep after all......it finally got to a point I had repaired some stuff three times and I was tired of having to endlessly fix it.
With that thought in mind and my knowledge of the various brands and models I've seen working on them I decided I would take the "nuclear" option and buy a Lexus as my daily so I would never have to touch it again after initial fixes. Taking it step further I decided to make my first personal experience with the brand as good as possible and trouble free as possible so I opted for the flagship since by far the ones that show up to my shop have nearly no issues and absurd mileages. Plus I figured I might as well give the brand a fair chance as up to this point I was not very impressed with Lexus past how little they break and how easy to work on they are.
I set my limit for price to 6000 and set out to find a car with zero dents (drives me actually insane) and as little paint damage and as nice an interior as possible, I ended up with the white one at 192000 miles and serious amounts of deferred maintenance. $2800 in parts and four days later and a full interior out cleaning and 20 hours of paint and issue correction I was left with a nice example of a flagship Lexus. I took the car on many road trips due to the astoundingly good fuel economy (my Jeep gets 13.8, truck anywhere from 4.7-28 depending on how I drive) and very easy driving experience and it grew on me massively even though dynamics wise it's a boat lol! Slow too but somehow despite being objectively really bad the egos, silence (I'm used to 5+ L engines with exhausts and forced induction), build quality (screws, covers, metals, crazy amount of care and attention paid during design) and overall very well balanced package made me fall in love with the car as a daily driver. With the tires I have on it it even does great in winter at the expense of massive road noise.....but at least it tracks very well compared to the black 06 and corners far better so I am getting more than just snow performance.
The car also made a huge impression on my friends, many of them have never even sat in a car of this tier before and it has broadened many of their perspectives of quality. However the person it impacted most was my grandfather on my dads side, he was mesmerized by the car and was unable to comprehend how it was nearly 20 years old and 204000 miles. He offered to buy it from me the day after I showed up in Florida on a visit and he saw it in the sun and drove it around his local area, multiple times in fact. He has always wanted a Mercedes S-class and he at first mistook my car for one but after I explained to him Lexus is just as good but doesn't break he was then hell bent on one as his last car.
At this this point I had decided that my daily drive would always be a Lexus product, namely a LS of some sort or a GSF after I move on from my 430 with my plan being 430-460-GSF since the 500 was disappointing to drive and lacks a real engine. My initial experiment with the brand had been absolutely flawless and with that test period complete I started looking for what I really wanted in a 430.
2005-06
CL or very optioned ML
Silver or Black exterior
Less than 100000 miles, lower the better
Saddle or black interior with darker tan as a possible alternative
Must have been always garaged with full history and all original glass
My plan was to take up my grandpas offer on buying my car to allow me to move up to one optioned how I preferred instead of one that was just "good enough" though still a great car in its own right. However when I called him to ask if his offer still stood he of course asked what I was moving to.......I then mistakenly linked him the add to TriCCCs 430 here on the forum. He then dropped the full price of the car into my dads account and told me to go that day and buy the car for him, naturally I did so since he was being pressured by my grandma to buy a new car to replace their ancient maxima anyway. No way would I let him by a RAV4 over a LS! Not even on the same planet quality or features wise after all and he has always wanted a true luxury car and he trusted me to have picked a great car. I think I did so plus it's really hard to mess up with a 430 that's sub 65k miles lol!
So I now am in the process of performing full paint correction and changing every single fluid and filter on the car prior to him taking delivery of his "new" car leaving me to continue looking for a CL/ML to replace my old white 02. Thankfully TriCCC replaced the timing belt and water pump before selling the car so I won't have to do those.
My plan is to keep looking for my personal favorite but my 02 will be receiving some upgrades from a same generation UL to add in the feature I'm missing in the meantime, I'm hoping my temporary fix won't become permanent like the Jeep did. I still want to keep the 02 around after it's replaced as my daily but I am going to turn it into an "LSF" by placing the car on coil overs, having custom fenders made to accommodate 305s, two piece updated rotors and overall increased spec brakes, uprated sway bars, chassis bracing, poly mounted trans and diff, and most excitingly the engine will be altered. My machine shop and I are planning out a 1UZ blocked engine with 4.5L displacement with Manley rods and custom JE pistons at 9.0 compression and one off cams and the usual valvetrain upgrades and whatever is needed oiling wise and any changes to the crank to allow the goal of a 7500rpm redline supercharged UZ engine with a 600Whp target. Should be a fun little sleeper and monument to what a LS could be performance wise if Lexus ever bothered to make a "F" variant....anyhow thanks for reading!
As promised here is the story of why I have two of these.....
As some of you may know I'm a mechanic who runs a small shop with skills I learned as an apprentice among other skills I picked up in lieu of going to college on a full ride post highschool as was the expectation of me.....most of my family are professionals of some sort with my parents both being doctors. However they were supportive and understanding of my desire to add practical skills to my abilities and that sent me off to learn about everything trade oriented I wanted to, cars being the eventual top subject of interest.
Over the years I learned the practical side of actually working vs the theory and technical side I had already extensively learned I got to experience nearly every single brand of car and model so I'm very versed in how a certain car lasts/how easy to work on it is and all the characteristics of things such as the interior, ,handling, power and other miscellaneous details. This also has had the side effect of making me the "expert" in my family and my dad now able to avoid his practice of always buying new top of the line cars and selling them at 75000 miles no exceptions. Due to them firsthand seeing what I was capable of they now consider mechanical issues non-issues after I swapped a head gasket for a friend in the garage at home one evening since I was too lazy to drive all the way to the shop. Point being is that I was/am trusted to pick cars and that if anything breaks it won't be an actual issue.
This however lead to the irony of the mechanic never wanting to work on his own car and always driving a very cheap car with cheap parts. My cheap car was/is a 2000 Jeep WJ that I picked up the week I pulled the engine out of truck to begin it's frame off restomod process so that I had something to drive while my real car was being altered (nothing is stock aside from most of the frame and body now). This somehow lead like it always does to the "temporary" car ending up as my daily since I didn't want my truck to ever see rain again after going through a week and a half of sandblasting and paint to get the frame mirror perfect black. Issue is that it's a Jeep with 285000 miles.....I have basically replaced the whole damn car twice now with the reman engine I bought (too long/lazy to machine it properly and I incorrectly assumed a reman company does a good job) blowing its head on less than 50000 miles since I put it in. All brake lines, whole steering system, all the ac, heater/cooling ETC you get the jist I mean it's a Jeep after all......it finally got to a point I had repaired some stuff three times and I was tired of having to endlessly fix it.
With that thought in mind and my knowledge of the various brands and models I've seen working on them I decided I would take the "nuclear" option and buy a Lexus as my daily so I would never have to touch it again after initial fixes. Taking it step further I decided to make my first personal experience with the brand as good as possible and trouble free as possible so I opted for the flagship since by far the ones that show up to my shop have nearly no issues and absurd mileages. Plus I figured I might as well give the brand a fair chance as up to this point I was not very impressed with Lexus past how little they break and how easy to work on they are.
I set my limit for price to 6000 and set out to find a car with zero dents (drives me actually insane) and as little paint damage and as nice an interior as possible, I ended up with the white one at 192000 miles and serious amounts of deferred maintenance. $2800 in parts and four days later and a full interior out cleaning and 20 hours of paint and issue correction I was left with a nice example of a flagship Lexus. I took the car on many road trips due to the astoundingly good fuel economy (my Jeep gets 13.8, truck anywhere from 4.7-28 depending on how I drive) and very easy driving experience and it grew on me massively even though dynamics wise it's a boat lol! Slow too but somehow despite being objectively really bad the egos, silence (I'm used to 5+ L engines with exhausts and forced induction), build quality (screws, covers, metals, crazy amount of care and attention paid during design) and overall very well balanced package made me fall in love with the car as a daily driver. With the tires I have on it it even does great in winter at the expense of massive road noise.....but at least it tracks very well compared to the black 06 and corners far better so I am getting more than just snow performance.
The car also made a huge impression on my friends, many of them have never even sat in a car of this tier before and it has broadened many of their perspectives of quality. However the person it impacted most was my grandfather on my dads side, he was mesmerized by the car and was unable to comprehend how it was nearly 20 years old and 204000 miles. He offered to buy it from me the day after I showed up in Florida on a visit and he saw it in the sun and drove it around his local area, multiple times in fact. He has always wanted a Mercedes S-class and he at first mistook my car for one but after I explained to him Lexus is just as good but doesn't break he was then hell bent on one as his last car.
At this this point I had decided that my daily drive would always be a Lexus product, namely a LS of some sort or a GSF after I move on from my 430 with my plan being 430-460-GSF since the 500 was disappointing to drive and lacks a real engine. My initial experiment with the brand had been absolutely flawless and with that test period complete I started looking for what I really wanted in a 430.
2005-06
CL or very optioned ML
Silver or Black exterior
Less than 100000 miles, lower the better
Saddle or black interior with darker tan as a possible alternative
Must have been always garaged with full history and all original glass
My plan was to take up my grandpas offer on buying my car to allow me to move up to one optioned how I preferred instead of one that was just "good enough" though still a great car in its own right. However when I called him to ask if his offer still stood he of course asked what I was moving to.......I then mistakenly linked him the add to TriCCCs 430 here on the forum. He then dropped the full price of the car into my dads account and told me to go that day and buy the car for him, naturally I did so since he was being pressured by my grandma to buy a new car to replace their ancient maxima anyway. No way would I let him by a RAV4 over a LS! Not even on the same planet quality or features wise after all and he has always wanted a true luxury car and he trusted me to have picked a great car. I think I did so plus it's really hard to mess up with a 430 that's sub 65k miles lol!
So I now am in the process of performing full paint correction and changing every single fluid and filter on the car prior to him taking delivery of his "new" car leaving me to continue looking for a CL/ML to replace my old white 02. Thankfully TriCCC replaced the timing belt and water pump before selling the car so I won't have to do those.
My plan is to keep looking for my personal favorite but my 02 will be receiving some upgrades from a same generation UL to add in the feature I'm missing in the meantime, I'm hoping my temporary fix won't become permanent like the Jeep did. I still want to keep the 02 around after it's replaced as my daily but I am going to turn it into an "LSF" by placing the car on coil overs, having custom fenders made to accommodate 305s, two piece updated rotors and overall increased spec brakes, uprated sway bars, chassis bracing, poly mounted trans and diff, and most excitingly the engine will be altered. My machine shop and I are planning out a 1UZ blocked engine with 4.5L displacement with Manley rods and custom JE pistons at 9.0 compression and one off cams and the usual valvetrain upgrades and whatever is needed oiling wise and any changes to the crank to allow the goal of a 7500rpm redline supercharged UZ engine with a 600Whp target. Should be a fun little sleeper and monument to what a LS could be performance wise if Lexus ever bothered to make a "F" variant....anyhow thanks for reading!
07-10-20 | 05:08 AM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 8,491
Likes: 372
From: PA
Nice find! And I love the garage.....(I envy those who have a 3 car garage [ours is 1] and also those who have 2 AC condensers lol [that would have opened the door to having variable ones which I love in theory, and yes I am a TRANE fanboy])
So you think you'll end up in the '06 and let the '02 go? To tell you the truth I like having the last year of a generational run.
Ever consider having a YouTube channel? I don't even begin to know the ins and outs, but I caught the story of legit street cars (and he confirmed some of our nightmares in a way, even being a young MB master tech), but it's cool when you can do everything yourself, or if you come across something you don't know you or never seen before, and can still handle. Let us know and we'll "like and subscribe!"
So you think you'll end up in the '06 and let the '02 go? To tell you the truth I like having the last year of a generational run.
Ever consider having a YouTube channel? I don't even begin to know the ins and outs, but I caught the story of legit street cars (and he confirmed some of our nightmares in a way, even being a young MB master tech), but it's cool when you can do everything yourself, or if you come across something you don't know you or never seen before, and can still handle. Let us know and we'll "like and subscribe!"
07-10-20 | 05:33 AM
#12
Thread Starter
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 11,811
Likes: 1,251
From: Ohio
Nice find! And I love the garage.....(I envy those who have a 3 car garage [ours is 1] and also those who have 2 AC condensers lol [that would have opened the door to having variable ones which I love in theory, and yes I am a TRANE fanboy])
So you think you'll end up in the '06 and let the '02 go? To tell you the truth I like having the last year of a generational run.
Ever consider having a YouTube channel? I don't even begin to know the ins and outs, but I caught the story of legit street cars (and he confirmed some of our nightmares in a way, even being a young MB master tech), but it's cool when you can do everything yourself, or if you come across something you don't know you or never seen before, and can still handle. Let us know and we'll "like and subscribe!"
So you think you'll end up in the '06 and let the '02 go? To tell you the truth I like having the last year of a generational run.
Ever consider having a YouTube channel? I don't even begin to know the ins and outs, but I caught the story of legit street cars (and he confirmed some of our nightmares in a way, even being a young MB master tech), but it's cool when you can do everything yourself, or if you come across something you don't know you or never seen before, and can still handle. Let us know and we'll "like and subscribe!"
Thanks for the complements on the garage, it's very well optioned with full insulation and plugs everywhere and is extra deep/wide/tall and can park a trio of 2500s and makes LSs seem tiny in the bay. It's stocked well enough to perform most work but my real tools are at the shop. I never really thought about a channel since it would require both the viewers to have to put up with my sardonic humor and also I would want to learn proper production techniques before doing anything lol! Plus cameras, audio gear, etc........would be a huge amount of work and if I did do something like that it would likely be for my other hobbie and only after I'm further along in life and have time for it.
07-11-20 | 07:32 PM
#13
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 460
Likes: 53
From: Ontario
How much did you pay for it? There is exactly what you are looking for up here in Canada Striker..... I suppose not the interior....
Black 2006 ML
Looks beautiful to me. Asking price seems reasonable I guess...
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...3924?undefined
Black 2006 ML
Looks beautiful to me. Asking price seems reasonable I guess...
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/...3924?undefined
07-11-20 | 08:20 PM
#14
Thread Starter
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 11,811
Likes: 1,251
From: Ohio
I paid $12,250, you basically linked me the exact same car lol! Nice, but I've been getting PMs about some ULs and other cars with black interiors so my options list is massive and I would have to import that car here.
I've been taking today and tomorrow to detail the car and the black has gotten so mirror like it's astounding. I have to wax it a few more times but I'm seriously pleased with the results so far
I've been taking today and tomorrow to detail the car and the black has gotten so mirror like it's astounding. I have to wax it a few more times but I'm seriously pleased with the results so far
07-12-20 | 08:50 AM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 8,491
Likes: 372
From: PA
The 06 will be going to my grandpa so he has the nicer one of the two to enjoy for as long as possible, it will eventually come back to me anyway....
Thanks for the complements on the garage, it's very well optioned with full insulation and plugs everywhere and is extra deep/wide/tall and can park a trio of 2500s and makes LSs seem tiny in the bay. It's stocked well enough to perform most work but my real tools are at the shop. I never really thought about a channel since it would require both the viewers to have to put up with my sardonic humor and also I would want to learn proper production techniques before doing anything lol! Plus cameras, audio gear, etc........would be a huge amount of work and if I did do something like that it would likely be for my other hobbie and only after I'm further along in life and have time for it.
Thanks for the complements on the garage, it's very well optioned with full insulation and plugs everywhere and is extra deep/wide/tall and can park a trio of 2500s and makes LSs seem tiny in the bay. It's stocked well enough to perform most work but my real tools are at the shop. I never really thought about a channel since it would require both the viewers to have to put up with my sardonic humor and also I would want to learn proper production techniques before doing anything lol! Plus cameras, audio gear, etc........would be a huge amount of work and if I did do something like that it would likely be for my other hobbie and only after I'm further along in life and have time for it.