mikeceli

Hi. I am shopping the internet for a 2004-2006 Lexus LS430 and will not buy one with air suspension.

I have searched this forum and browsed the 200+ page "sticky" on air suspensions. Much of the posts not longer have photos of the Air Suspension Switches.

Could someone please post photos of the area on the console/dash where the air suspension switches live? This way, I can request sellers provide photos of their Lexus LS430. I would NOT want to travel to a car and find out it is not what I want.



Thank you, Mike Celi, Washington UTAH

alextv

There would be a height and sport switch. Use the height for snow and sport for suspension. Also a sport switch for transmission probably on all. Mine at 185k still works fine but also garaged which probably makes a difference. One thing to think about is if it has air suspension it probably has a lot of the extras which make it a more enjoyable quiet car.

mikeceli

Photos anyone? So I know what to look for in seller provided photos. Thanks.



Here is an example. What switches are these?

tammap

If you see the rear seat center console like in the attached picture then it has air suspension. See attached

mikeceli

Thank you both. Anyone have a picture of the AIR Suspension, front console switches? Mike Celi

tammap

Here you go. The picture is the attached pdf.

mikeceli

I am very grateful! I will print these for my reference.

Thank you all.

YoshiMan

Another thing to look for is the headlight washer panels on the front bumper underneath the headlights. Those are indicative of the UL models with air suspension, and the CL models, which don't have air suspension but are fairly rare.

V8_Fan

The LS430 Ultra Luxury model has the air suspension. I had one shock in the front and rear start leaking around 130K miles, meaning I had to replace all 4 (list is like $2K each!). I ended up replacing all 4 with the OEM coils/struts...ran about $3200 for parts online plus a couple of day for the dealer to install. They disconnected the air compression and pulled the fuse. You still need the height sensors for the AFS. My sensors started leaking, causing the light to come on in the dash. If you pull the height fuse in the kicker panel, the AFS warning light will light up in the dash, so I put the car on level ground, turned headlights on, shut off engine, then pulled the AFS fuse (so no AFS). Height sensors are like $500+ each to replace. Good thing about the coil suspension is (1) it rebounds/reacts faster than the air (2) the car will stay level regardless if the height sensors function and (3) you can use aftermarket shocks like Bilstein if you desire a different rebound rate. So now, my LS430 has the creature comforts of the ultra luxury (reclining/massage rear seats, Alcantara headliner, power doors, smart key, etc.) sans the air suspension.

See this link for description of LS430 grades. On the 2005 ultra luxury, it was the first year for the radar cruise control. There was a glitch in the cruise control ECU in that the first time you drove 200+ miles with cruise on (on, need not be engaged ), it would throw an error (and not reset even after restarting the car). Mine was replaced under warranty.

mikeceli

Great photo, "YoshiMan"! I can quickly see in the seller photos is it has air suspension or is a (rare) CL W/O air suspension. . Thanks.

V8_fan, thanks for the info. Mike Celi.

aypues

Air suspension struts can be found for about $700 each at Impex Japan which is totally reasonable if you ask me (full retail is over $2200 at the dealer). 2004 was the first year for radar cruise/Pre-collision system (I have one), and can be distinguished by the plexiglass square over the front grill emblem…UL’s more commonly have this, but very rarely a CL could have this equipped as well, although it wouldn’t have the full functionality when it senses a collision to be imminent…the UL’s would switch the suspension into sport mode to prevent dive in addition to the brake boost and seatbelt retraction.