Gronemus

Don't worry about the lack of the navigation system or the Mark Levinson audio system. Many on these forums prefer the base package because it gives them more opportunity to put in an after market system if they desire. As you can already see, everybody has their own opinion on what they think they could pay for the car. The used car market is really strange right now and it certainly is a sellers market for the time being. Plus, it seems like the market for well cared for, low mileage examples of LS430s has gone up significantly over the last half year.

Timing belt will be good for several more years. My belt was 13 years old when I replaced it and it looked like new.

I also wouldn't worry about paying a little extra for something that I thought was in great shape, was well cared for and had the colors I like. You will enjoy this car for a long time. Good luck...

notmill

As pointed out above, I'd be wary of the chrome peeling off the wheels. May indicate corrosion on the inside of the beat seat and result in a leak around the bead. The big things that do bother me on my car is the wear on the driver's seat and just the interior pieces around it as they're all expensive and a pain to replace. If the car is as clean as it seems, 6-8k doesn't sound all that bad if the lack of nav and ML aren't deal breakers to you.

As another data point, I purchased my '01 UL at ~75k with no TB job and minor front and rear bumper damage for 6k. TB replaced at around 80k and still looked like it had quite a bit of life left, but better safe than sorry.

Gary7

Thanks for all the input. I decided to go a different route. I purchased a 2017 Lincoln Continental yesterday.

2KHarrier

Jeepers, different route? You sure did! I have to admit, that's one of the few Ford products I would consider.. Great looking car, but I'm sure it was way more than the LS discussed above...

Romanova

Ummm, well, that's one perspective. Navigation sucks in our cars, it even sucks in my 2012 GX460. I was glad my car didn't have either, makes upgrading so much easier. Better sound now, better features, and better smart phone integration.

Wow, you did go in a different direction. Living in Houston and driving 40k miles a year, I can count on two hands the number of new Continentals I've seen. Post a pic of your new car for us, wouldn't mind seeing it!

Marco430

Is the navigation that bad? Cause I'm considering a Modern Luxury model and I like the fact that it has the navigation head unit. So my real question here is that can the navigation still be usable to an extent?

430SLOwner

No, it is not that bad for 15-20 year old tech. It is what it is. Yes, it is still usable....

Gronemus

I think I've used the routing features about three times in the four years that I've owned the car. It's much easier to just use my smartphone if I need to find a destination. That being said, I do like having a map present at all times although it can be hard to read the screen sometimes...

Gary7

Here's a couple of pics:

Striker223

Oh it totally sucks. Don't use it unless you want to get angry and lost, hell I don't use it on my 2017 Ram since I have never had a car based system beat my phone

Striker223

Very nice!

430Dreamer

Beautiful car. Congrats! I would think parts will be easier to find for it than for the old 430, too. (Not that you'll need them...)
Happy Miles----

Gary7

Thanks.

The Conti is a deceptively large car. To me, the LS430 looks bigger than it actually is. The Conti is the opposite. Here are the specs for comparison:

LS430
Wheelbase 2,926 mm (115.2 in)
Length 5,010–5,014 mm (197.2–197.4 in)
Width 1,829 mm (72.0 in)
Height 1,491 mm (58.7 in)

Continental
Wheelbase 117.9 in (2,995 mm)
Length 201.4 in (5,116 mm)
Width 75.3 in (1,913 mm)
Height 58.5 in (1,486 mm)

430SLOwner

The Lincoln is a very nice choice. But, if you have any misgivings, I will be happy to help you by making an even swap of my nearly perfect 2006 mercury metallic LS430 for it.

caesosa

That is as close as we will get as a modern land yacht. I was surprised when Lincoln decided to bring it back.