I have an 05 SC430 with the dinner plates on the wheels. Has anyone ever taken them off. If so, do you put the screws back in the wheels and is the Lexus Logo under the plates?

 

Actually, you can take the pie plate off and replace it with a "Star" center cap. Makes quite a bit of difference.

The wheels are pretty ugly with NO center cap on them.

The "Star" caps come in a "brushed" finish, a "chrome" finish, and black.

The chrome ones look like this...







The "Brushed" finish looks like this (this is what my 03 has...like you care )







And here's the wheel with NO center cap at all






Couldn't find a pic of the black stars...but I know they exist.

 

Did some cars come with the star center cap instead of the dinner plates?

 

From what I understand (I, like many others, bought my SC430 used), the Star caps were a dealer option. You can order the "brushed" finish star caps from a dealer but, obviously, they're expensive from them.

 

I'm pretty sure Lexus switched to the star-centers in '06.....

 

I think it was 05. I have an 06 and they have the "liquid Graphite" 5 spoke wheel that continues as OEM till this day. The only change has been on the Pebble Beach editions AFAIK.'

JTMav

 

I have an 05 with the dinner plates. Have seen the star centers on an 04.

 

My `04 came new with the "alloy" version of the star caps on the wheels and the pie plates in a plastic bag in the trunk.

 

I bought an '02 in 2001. At that time, it was all pie plates all the time.
But they were ugly, so Lexus created the star caps about a year or so later.
The next step was that the star caps were a no cost option; the buyer could select which he wanted.
Then the star caps became standard and the pie plate was retired, and then a few years ago they changed the wheels entirely to 5 spoke in about '06.
The star caps and the pie plates are interchangeable, so star caps do not indicate the year of the car, although it is a safe bet that any car with the pie plates still on it is an '02 or '03.

 

My 05 came with pie plates? Somebody knows...

 

pie plates? I thought they're called trash lids

 

Ya my 05 came with pie plates also. I think in 06 they started putting the new style rims on as standard equipment.

 

It is my understanding that 06-08 has the new style wheel. What I'm interested in, is on the 05 model with the pie plates. Were the star inserts available as a choice during that year?

 

I have an 04 with the pie plates and would like to have the star inserts instead. Called Lexus and they said the start inserts are still available new for $194 each. No thanks.

 

They are often for sale on eBay for less than that.
$800 for the set is pretty high; I got them from Lexus when they first came out, and I don't recall paying that much.