jrj102

I am picking up my lovely new (to me) SC430 this afternoon. It's a 2004 in midnight forest metallic (aka dark green) with Ecru leather and the bird's eye maple, 41K miles. I got it at Lexus of Bellevue.

The car was a one-owner lease return, and has about 6 months left on the factory warranty. It's in flawless condition througout-- no visible defects in the paint or interior, and it runs perfectly. (I drove a brand new 07 for comparison... no difference.) A quick review of the full service records indicate that every recommended service was performed on schedule.

I will be swapping out the tires (and probably the wheels) at some point in the future to get rid of the run-flats (and possibly the "dinner plates.") However, for now I'm just going to enjoy the car stock. It's a great color combination-- as soon as I pick it up I'll get some pictures and post them.

One question: with 6 months left on the warranty, is there anything in particular I should be on the lookout for? I'd like to make sure that anything that is even remotely wrong gets fixed before the factory warranty is up. The nice thing is that I have a long road trip scheduled in November for shakedown. (Seattle-->SFO-->Sedona-->Scottsdale-->Vegas-->Portland-->Seattle)

I'm already planning on looking for the following:

• I'll run the top up and down a few dozen times, making sure the mechanism is perfectly sound
• I'll listen intently for rattles and squeaks-- none were evident in my (considerable) test drives, though
• Listen for blown speakers in the ML sound system. (Not evident in my test drives, but I didn't really give it a workout.)
• Suspension bushings, etc.
• I made sure they included a spare key... those things are 'spensive!
• Belts/hoses, etc. (Indeed, the serpentine belt looks like it needs to be replaced.)
• Brakes

I decided NOT to go with the extended warranty they were offering-- didn't seem like a good deal, as the one they were offering was fairly expensive and wasn't a bumper-to-bumper. I'll either go without or purchase something third party before my factory warranty runs out.

Thanks to the folks on this forum for all the great information-- it was extremely helpful in making my decision. Now I can't wait to reap the rewards.

lweisenb

Did you ask if they could certify it? I think the cost to the dealer is very low (under $1000)compared to the extended warranty and you get a 3yr 100k extension.

stw

yay, i wonder why it's not certified? i got my cert till 125k and 5 years for $1700 i think??

Habious

Congratulations on the car! I hope you enjoy yours as much as we enjoy ours!

We bought our 2003 about a year ago and it's a Certified Pre Owned. It's really nice piece of mind if you can get it.

Also, I know it's been said on this board countless times but, I JUST went through this 2 weeks ago. Get non run-flats as soon as possible! Makes a world of difference. The only issue is the spare tire kit we put in the trunk (picked up a used one from a member of a different SC board); it really eats up much of what little space there is when the top's down.

I read all the posts about switching tires...."night and day difference".... "rides better than new".... "a completely different car".... "I finally got that Lexus ride". It's all true.

Seize

Congrats on the car, make sure you post some pics when you get the chance

martini3

you've probably covered pretty much everything in your list so I think you will have no issues w/ enjoying the car.

41k miles should be running strong and you shouldn't have any issues.

Just double check the trunk struts if they're worn by lifting the trunk lid and if it doesn't hold or stay up which can cause minor head bumps, replace them under warranty.

my warranty ran out at 54K and I've probably brought the car in less than 5 times for minor warranty work since '03.

I didn't opt for the extended warranty when I bought it so I'm okay and got my money's worth from the service dept. at the dealshership.

Anything else goes wrong from now on, I'm gonna rely on this forum and my tuning shop for mods, maintenance and check-ups.

teeman3

jrj102

Certified definitely would have been a plus, but I was pretty close to the "official line in the sand" with the price on the car as it was. (I got them to knock about 4K off the asking price-- I think the price was fair, but not exactly a steal.) Adding a couple grand to certify would have put the car outside the critical "spousal acceptance field." (I was primarily looking at '02 and '03 models when we came across this car.) I may wind up doing an extended warranty next year, but frankly with the combination of Lexus quality and the 7/70 powertrain coverage I might not even bother depending on prices.

I used to have an SC400 (great car, by the way) and had generally positive experiences with the service departments at Seattle and Bellevue Lexus dealerships. While a bit on the expensive side, I'm not concerned-- these are really solid cars.

Re: runflats. I agree-- replacing them will definitely happen. However, my thinking is that the car is DRAMATICALLY smoother and quiter than my current car, so replacing them in 10K miles or so when they need to be replaced anyway will give me a "new car" in a sense that it will suddenly get smoother. I plan on doing the portable compressor in the trunk, tire pressure sensors be damned! (I'd rather replace a tire pressure sensor here and there than have no trunk.)

Thanks for the tip, re: trunk struts.

And I promise pictures soon. I pick up the car in a couple hours!

--- JRJ

jrj102

Lexus of Bellevue just called, they say they found an issue during the inspection, and won't be able to get it resolved until tomorrow morning. The sales person I spoke with didn't have any more information.

No car for me tonight. I hate to wait until tomorrow.

Gojirra99

Congrats for the SC430 !! Have fun

GS300Rich

congrats on the sc430 purchase, such a beautiful car

lweisenb

I'm going from memory but I believe it cost the dealership $740 to certify the car plus the "inspection". I got the price when I bought my certified '03 a couple months ago. Paid 34k out the door for a '03 silver sc430 with 42k with new pzero tires extra keys, etc. the post above that spent the $1700 was to extended the standard certified 3/100k to 5/125k. I don't plan on driving that many miles or keeping the car that long so opted for the standard.

paul_k

Congratulations on the purchase. The SC was actually the most reliable car in the 04 JD Power survey. Having had mine for 1 year now it has proven to be faultless (Apart from wheel corrosion which is a problem with salted roads in the UK)

As far as I can see the only slight annoyance may be the oxygen sensor at around 70,000 miles.

My Z has now been back for 7 warranty issues.

Enjoy and dont worry!

Paul

jrj102

I picked up the SC this afternoon... I even got lucky and it was a rare sunny day in the Pacific Northwest so I got a chance to do some top-down driving. I only got in about 50 miles in today, but I should have tons of time this weekend to enjoy some long drives.

Biggest surprise: I really got a chance to listen to the ML stereo with a variety of content, and it is just amazing. I knew it was good, but the quality is just astounding. It's rare to hear a system that's this versatile-- it sounded great with everything from rock to jazz to classical. Even subtle a cappella songs and light acoustical stuff was perfectly reproduced.

I'm in the process of uploading a couple pictures to my site, but I've spent most of my tiny bit of avaialble free time driving the car instead of taking and posting pictures. More (and higher quality) photos will likely be available this weekend.

I've attached a crappy picture taken as I was driving out of the showroom, and, as stated above, I'm uploading a bunch to my site as we speak. (I even posted a movie of the retractable hardtop for my family and friends, but you guys have seen that!)

Thanks again to everyone for all the information over the last several months.

margaux01

Congrats, it's a very beautiful car , enjoy your ride and take good care of the Ecru...

PVlexus

Nice colors, Congrats on the purchase