I am looking at a 2005 LS 430, about 300 miles outside of my state (NC Raleigh).

- Only has 44k miles but has had 3 owners per Carfax. First two owners were in Florida till 2017, Then from 2018 (from 33k miles) it has been in Wisconsin. So, 5 years in Wisconsin but driven only 10k miles.
- From 2018 on (approx 33k miles), its been services at some local shop in Wisconsin. Including a coolant flush in 2020.
- Timing belt not changed. Nothing significant has been changed or flushed.

Pictures are awesome. But the asking price is $21,000!!

I have asked for pictures of the undercarriage. I figure 7 years in Wisconsin would have had some impact with rust.

Thanks

 

Do not buy any cars that's spent some time in the rust belt, trust me i'm a mechanic. You're in North Carolina, there are plenty of cars down there without rust. Don't go after low miles, i have a 300K miles 2006 from Georgia and it runs 10x smoother than my 100K miles 2003 from Maryland. You have to deal with rotting exhaust pipes and mufflers. A customer just replaced his mufflers to the tune of $1500 for the parts only! Now his mid pipe is shot and that's like $1000

 

I agree with LateNyta, I bought a NEW ford van in the Chicago area and drove it for 5 years and the frame and pretty much everything under the car was severely rusted in that time. If you are still serious about this '05 I would want to verify its condition with my own eyeballs on a lift or else have an independent shop do a PPI and have them send you photos.

 

I would offer a different opinion. I live in Chicago, my 49K miles 2006 LS430 spent its entire life in Midwest but it has zero rust. Even the undercarriage bolts are free of rust. How could that be? The car was never driven in winter. The unbelievably low mileage car you are looking at might well be the case.

My other LS430, 2006, 75K miles, was occasionally driven in winter. One can see rust on undercarriage bolts but otherwise free of rust too.

When a Midwest car is free of rust you know it has been truly babied.

 

I'm sorry, this isn't a $21,000 car anymore. I don't care how clean it is, or how low the mileage is. At this point, that's a 19 year old car. At that price and milage (or lack thereof), you need to put at least $3,000 into it immediately to take care of some neglected issues. I'm sorry, but at that price point there are better options.

Don't get me wrong, I love my LS430 but they are just not that special at that price point. You can find one with a few more miles, better maintenance, and pay less money and still have a solid example.

 

^^^^ This

For $21,000 i could get a nice LS460. Despite all the fear mongering you see on YouTube, that is a better car all around.

These 430's are designed to run well into 500K miles so find yourself a well kept, rust free one with 200K miles on it and enjoy. Pocket the other 13-14 grand for repairs. Mine has 300K miles and it runs like new, i would hop in it and drive to cross country tomorrow.

 

Don’t move forward without pics of the undercarriage. Rust is the last nail in the coffin. $21,000 is excessive but realistically will sell for the mileage if clean. Still be carefull. Lots of stupid people who get reeled in.

 

My 2005 ls430 ultra was $33000 in 2009 with 36k miles. 21k is simply too much today, even with inflation, etc.. I adore my car now with 160k+ miles but if I had to replace it after an accident, I'd look for higher miles with evidence of all repairs and maintenance done. More is better. cats replaced? starter? alternator? Timing belt recently? Also check that body is in good shape as bumper repair can cost a lot. I simply would not pay $21k for a 20 year old car. Age affects these, not only miles. Deferred maintenance / fluid changes even more. My hood cable rusted. Just age, $hundreds at dealer. $21k goes a long way toward a recent model used car that can be quite nice. for $30k I got a 3 year old Lincoln Nautilus. Not as good a vehicle as my LS, but it has lane centering, full range adaptive cruise, etc. Truth be told, I would be unlikely to buy an LS430 today just due to age, but if I did, I would look for proven maintenance and low cost over lower miles and higher cost. If spending $2k/year on the car, between brakes, tires, repairs, fluids etc. is too much, reconsider, and expect that whether you spend $21k or $8k. Somehow the last few years that's where I ended up. Cats, y pipe, starter, alternator, battery every 2.5 years (the car seems to eat them), brake pads and rotors, various others. DIY helps I am sure, but figure purchase price is just the beginning. No regrets for me as I love the car, and perhaps next few years will be cheaper, but you cannot know. My rear camera just died, Got a replacement on ebay. Lower miles may help, but age is age. Just my thoughts. I love my car but would be cautious purchasing it now.

 

I'll throw my two cents in. From what I have read, these cars do pretty well with resisting rust - except for the exhaust. So as is mentioned above, rust may not be an issue, especially if the owner is a snowbird who escapes to Florida for the winter months leaving the car in a heated garage. Considering the car is originally from Florida, this is not a far out idea.

However, low miles are not necessarily a good thing. It means the car has sat for a lot of its life. Many services have both mileage and age requirements, but generally only the mileage is considered, so it may have many things that have aged out of service, even though they're well below the mileage limit. Also, if it sat for multiple years continuously without being started or driven, this can be bad for many components, for example, the bearings. If a car sits for five or ten years without moving it can actually get micro flat spots on the wheel bearings which will cause them to fail prematurely (ask me how I learned this one). All kinds of rubber and plastic will rot if a car is left to sit for years. Sometimes it's apparent right away, and sometimes it seems ok but parts will rapidly deteriorate when you go to use the car regularly.

Lastly, considering how well these cars do with mileage, I would say it's not at all necessary, or even desirable, to seek out an ultra low mileage car. You'd be paying for odometer numbers that may not accurately indicate the overall condition or future reliability of the car. If I was looking for a "cream puff" car, I would look to buy one from a person I can talk to, get a feel for, and potentially trust, who maintained the car very well, has loads of service records, and regularly drove the car its entire life. I think if you're set on a "low mileage" car I'd look for one with 120k, 130k. That's low for an LS430. That said, if you can verify that this 44k mile car never sat for an extended period of time, was well maintained and casually driven on a regular basis, and has no rust issues, and you don't mind paying $21k for it, could be alright considering 44k miles is normally 4 or 5 years into the cars life. These cars were around $70k new, give or take several grand, at 4 or 5 years old they'd still go for a good amount... but, it's not 4 or 5 years old, it's 20 years old, so $21k isn't super absurd. I think most people are saying it's not worth that price because you can get the same experience and quality in an LS430 many thousands cheaper with more miles on it and potentially less trouble from sitting and/or rust. So I guess that's my 2 cents and some rambling.