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That is a interesting fact reff the best year. I have a 2005 and it also got high consumer ratings. There have not been many changes in the sc430 from 2002 going through to 2010 . Many were cosmetic tweaks some accessories and some minor improvements in ride and suspension. Then one year the car got bashed by a so called report that was a real smash mouth negative thing comparted the sc430 to a jelly bean. Its been the best car I have ever owned
Consumer Reports
Most Reliable by Consumer Survey 2002
Least Reliable by Consumer Survey 2006
JDPOWER.COM
Its not only about the minor tweaks and cosmetic changes. Its also quality of materials and the older SC430 is faster than the newer one. This is another reason why i say the older Lexus are better built than the newer Lexus:
2002-2004 Leather Sourced from Spain
2005-2010 Leather Sourced from China
Autowerk
2001- October 2004 Production Dates hand assembled 71 hours to produce
October 2004-2010 Robotic Assembly 26 hours to produce
Harbour Reports Automotive Productivity
268,000 miles and still going strong. Driving it from Traverse City to Sarasota Florida soon to have my mechanic friends there do the timing belt and peripherals. Great little car!
Apparently, I do have one of those unfortunate "exceptions". I purchased my 05 with 37K miles 10 months ago. It had a broken cup holder, paint chips on the edge of the drivers door and needed new floor mats ( the previous owner was a female doctor who wore high heels and just ruined the carpet). Other than that, it was solid and in good shape. Since then, I have put on 10K miles and have had lots of issues. One of the rear struts sprung a leak, the steering wheel controls and horn went south, the outside mirror controls quit working, the drivers side door lock only works with the key, and the headlight leveler quit. The biggest issue is throttle response is simply awful. I can only speculate it was designed this way to make the car safe for 90 year old drivers. Now I know what the captain of the Titanic felt like sending commands to change engine speed.
These may seem like insignificant issues, but they cost a fortune at a Lexus dealer. Except for the headlight levelers, the other problems are with items I also have on two other cars that are the same age or older and have well over 100K miles. Neither of those cars has ever had these problems and they were cheap cars (Saturn and Subaru).
268,000 miles and still going strong. Driving it from Traverse City to Sarasota Florida soon to have my mechanic friends there do the timing belt and peripherals. Great little car!
Looking great too!
Yours has mine at only 225K beat. Mine too has been a solid, daily driver since I got it in 2002.
I've now refit mine for better than new drivability and expect to go a lot further more.
I hit 283,000 this weekend, on a trip home from Houston.......also if you go on Redline 360 website & type in BC racing coilovers 2002 lexus sc430, they used a cpl pics on their website
I hit 283,000 this weekend, on a trip home from Houston.......also if you go on Redline 360 website & type in BC racing coilovers 2002 lexus sc430, they used a cpl pics on their website
I bought mine in Florida back in 2011 and it showed 113,000 miles, I've stored it every winter and now it shows 273,000 miles. I love this 'extra car' but would rather sell it than store it now..,,storage happens on October 30, so interested peeps let me know, as I am moving out of state until June 2024. Many new parts in boxes go to the buyer, such as correct struts, control arms, whatnots. Would take $5,000 but prepared to keep it otherwise. "unmotivated seller". Even the air conditioning works just fine