Well. . . It happened again. We bought our second Lexus. This one for our daughter who turns 16 soon.
We did this before with a 2004 gx470 for our son.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-1st-gen-2004-2009/931296-new-to-us-2004-gx470.html

Anyhow. . . Here she is today.



Paid $3000. Bought it from the second owner that had it 13 years. Listing had it for $4k and "needs brake work". 160k miles. Otherwise she said it ran great. Carfax is clean, two owner no accident history. Had a coolant flush/oil change dec 2020 as the last listed maintenance. West texas since new.

Entered the vin to our lexus account. Last dealer maintenance was 80k miles. Nothing major. No timing belt listed.

Got there. Car has been keyed a bit hood on drivers side doors. Rear bumper has tapped a few things. Front has bumped something on the passenger side. Interior clean. Massive fluid leak of some sort.

Her friend shows up. Says the car jerks when coming to a stop. Her mechanic said "needs brake work and shift to N before stopping". Leak is power steering which was empty when i checked. Tons of fluid actively dripping from the underbelly cover.

Tires are terrible and are not for an LS. They look to be from a FWD car and look funny. Tires are terrible and bald.






Drive the car. Quiet. No power steering. Can hear the pump a pump but not loud. As i come to a stop it jerks. It isnt brakes. Clearly the tranny. Shifting to N indeed prevents it. Otherwise car is fine. Not perfect.

They offered 3500. I gave $3k. Drove home. Every time stopping the downshift is harsh. Luckily i suspected the ecu. Had a stored code for p0756.



Paid $115 from SIA on ebay. Shipped off the ecu and waited. . . Car dumped all the PS fluid while sitting. Scored a used set of LS wheels from salvage for $200. New tires. Confirmed the old wheels were not from this car as the fronts had cheap spacers.



Work So far:

Ecu $115 + shipping. Fixed the shifting so far.
Wheels and tires $700ish - general tires
Hood and trunk struts $30 (scored amazon warehouse)
​​​​​power steering $20 - reservior feed and return lines replaced with "by the foot" ps hose (5/8 and 3/8)
plasti weld for headlight $12. Still curing.
​​​headlight bracket massage - free

Car is a base model i think with cooled seats. if anyone can break down the sill tag feel free to post.

 

Congrats. Love it when a seller negotiates against themselves. With the reasonable miles and an '04+ model from Texas, in this seller's market, $3k is a steal. I bought the same color base '04 with 300k for $2k. Threw a Pioneer Double-din radio in with Apple Carplay and a $25 backup cam from Amazon for my 16 y/o daughter who loves the car. I also own a 2014 LS but guess which car I prefer to drive? You seem very knowledgeable. Hope you and your daughter can enjoy it for a long time.

 

Couldn't agree more with @Gumart1 . The prices today are nuts, and at $3k for 160k miles, I have said similar things on a few posts, put $3k into and you will be ahead of the game. That would pretty much wrap up the issues. I can't believe your daughter allowed you to buy her one of these since they are known as old man cars, but that kind of shows her good character so nice job!

In addition to your fix on the shifting, look through the records since the 04's that were built in 03 (on the door tag there) had a tranny recall for a software flash I believe.

 

Recall, yes, software flash, no. Here is the recall information...

LEXUS LS 430 2004: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Make : LEXUS
Model : LS 430
Year : 2004
Build Dates : 2003-07-29 - 2004-01-14
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 04V317000
Date Owner's Notified: 2004-07-29
Date Received by ODI: 2004-07-01
Date Added to Database: 2004-07-07
Manufacturers Involved: Toyota Motor Corporation
Manufacturer's Responsible for the Recall:
Manufacturer Campaign Number: 4LC
Component: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 13000
Summary:
ON CERTAIN VEHICLES WHEN THE ACCELERATOR IS OPERATED QUICKLY, A SMALL PIECE OF METAL MAY SEPARATE FROM A RETAINING COLLAR LOCATED IN THE INNER PART OF THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. THIS SMALL PIECE OF METAL MAY BECOME CAUGHT IN THE PARKING LOCK MECHANISM.
Consequence:
THIS MAY CAUSE THE PARKING LOCK SYSTEM TO BE INOPERATIVE WHEN THE TRANSMISSION SHIFT LEVER IS PLACED IN THE PARK POSITION, THEREBY INCREASING THE RISK OF VEHICLE ROLL-AWAY, WHICH COULD RESULT IN A CRASH.
Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION. OWNER NOTIFICATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING JULY 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT LEXUS AT 1-800-255-3987.

 

Great pull, @Gronemus !! Though it is hard for me to imagine someone would not have done it by now. But maybe....some people just say "eh junk mail" and toss it out.

 

Update:
TB Kit TKT001 - 138.99
Thermostat - 13.68
Front brakes - 163.79
Rear brakes - 163.85
control arms front upper - 92.76 (moog), 25.49 (dorman, amazon warehouse)
spark plugs - 39.28
valve cover gasket kit - 30.79 (felpro)
struts and top mounts - 593.29 (KYB OEM equivalent)
Radiator - 92 (Denso OEM)
Sold tires/wheels that came with the car - (150)
Labor for TB and rear struts - 706

Total 1909.92 since last update.

New total to date - 2786.92 plus 3000 purchase price.

For those who wonder what a cheap LS430 might cost. I didnt include coolant, distilled water etc. I did all maintenance except installing tires, TB, rear struts (I did fronts). Car runs great and very smooth. Front upper control arms were the source of the front end noise, they were toast. 4 wheel alignment done and lifetime by pepboys. Not included above.

 

You nailed it with the $3k estimate. Came in just under with me doing most all the work. I do have a center arm rest cover yet to go on but at $25 from Ebay. Also need to sort the side mirrors. Also not included is oil changes related to the sludge I found under the valve covers and going to a short OCI for a bit.