Hello And Also Unoriginal Ls400 Vs Ls430 Question From A New Member

SlowV6 · November 14, 2014

Hello everybody,

I have been a member for a couple of years, viewing but not actually posting as I don't own a Lexus so have little to contribute at this stage!

I have a yearning to own an LS, either a mk4 LS400 or an early 430. It would be my toy as opposed to having the burden of being the family workhorse, which would continue to be our CMax TDCi. My current toy is a 9-5 Aero saloon.

Insurance, tax and poor mpg are not a concern. My old Accord coupe V6 was hideously thirsty so I don't envisage an LS would be hugely worse. Running costs are a consideration. I realise no LS is going to be cheap to maintain properly.

My head and heart both prefer a mk4 LS400 to an LS430. The prospect of the air suspension on the LS430 worries me (perhaps needlessly?) That said it is a newer design and I do feel I should own a car with 15 buttons and a digital screen in the rear centre armrest at least once in my life!

So imagine this scenario..If presented with a late LS400 and an early LS430 in similar condition, history etc and relatively close price tags which one would you choose and why?

Thanks!

Malc · November 14, 2014

The Ls400 coz of it's propensity not to cost you the earth in on-going maintenance costs......... simple

Malc

The-Acre · November 14, 2014

For sheer luxury, better looks and toys galore, the LS430. For unparalleled reliability the LS400 (although they do of course go wrong, and can cost a lot to put right)

I've had both, and it would be a hard choice to choose one from the other.

cruisermark · November 14, 2014

ive had both - the 430 for 2 years - i do prefer the 430 but when i see i nice low mileage 400 my heart melts.

I would say drive both and decide from there

Jake430 · November 14, 2014

IMHO the LS400 MK4 is the better car, better mpg, handling, finish, looks. I have owed mk3, mk4 and face lift 430. If you like the look of the 430 maybe go for the early model w/o air suspension

mikeyv · November 14, 2014

You're certainly right about it being a recurring question, I remember asking it myself before deciding on my 400.

My decision was based on perceived reliability, and not being a huge fan of gadgets "for the sake of it".

I'm not convinced that the adjustable suspension is worth the high repair price, nor do I like things like rain sensing wipers or auto lights, just pointless and another thing to go wrong in my book.

I've never ridden in the back seat, and don't intend to, so the extra rear gizmos in the 430 hold no appeal.

Tough choice though, they are both lovely cars, and even tougher I guess if you like your gadgets.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

KentIS300 · November 14, 2014

It all depends on your budget I guess.

I like the challenge to buy a cheap car ... and find the solution to its niggles and problems.

Whichever car you buy LS400 or LS430 .... it will be a used car and it will have it's challenges.

When I had the Mercedes CL500 ... the suspension on these tend to go... had to repair the pump twice while I owned the car.

The first time I took it to a specialist and changed the hydralic pump for £1000 parts and labour ...

When this new pump went wrong 30.000 miles later :( .... I decided I am not spending a lot of money ,... and I got a used good one from eBay for £180! then went to allparts and got the 3rd party compatible oil and went ahead to replace it with a friend of mine (I was the assistant) replaced it in 3 hours a nice straight forward job.

I even booked a £50 diagnostic with a Star machine at a specialist near by to confirm that everything was as it shoud be, While we were replacing the pump we took off the rear valve block and cleared this as well as replacing some o-rings. Had to be done as one corner was dropping slowly over prolonged parked time.

All this if I went to a specialist would have cost me parts and labour over £2500.... at Mercedes Benz don't even ask!

With some elbow grease and good friends cost me £300 maximum.

Just get the car that you like the most. We had a 1997 LS400 for a short time and now the 2001 LS430, I would choose the LS430 purely because the interior looks a bit more modern and feels different on the road, the air suspension is a winner to me in ride terms.

Saying that I always liked cars with funky suspension setup lol.

SlowV6 · November 14, 2014

You're certainly right about it being a recurring question, I remember asking it myself before deciding on my 400.

My decision was based on perceived reliability, and not being a huge fan of gadgets "for the sake of it".

I'm not convinced that the adjustable suspension is worth the high repair price, nor do I like things like rain sensing wipers or auto lights, just pointless and another thing to go wrong in my book.

I've never ridden in the back seat, and don't intend to, so the extra rear gizmos in the 430 hold no appeal.

Tough choice though, they are both lovely cars, and even tougher I guess if you like your gadgets.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

MikeyV you have expressed where I am currently at perfectly..

Malc · November 14, 2014

I'm trying to think hard of absolutely anything that goes wrong on an Ls400 that costs a lot to put right !

The upper control arms are the biggest bugger but that's after nigh on 200k miles tho. ............... nothing else is there guys ??

Malc

n4chv · November 17, 2014

I think everyone has made the key point that if you want something pain-free and ultra-reliable with plenty of toys and luxury, the Mk IV LS400 is a good option but good ones are very rare and hard to find given that it was discontinued in 2000.

I owned such a car for over 13 years and I can honestly say it was the best car I ever owned and so reliable too - I did once have to replace a water pump at a cost of £90 but this was after 180,000 miles and 10 years. I sold the car last year when it was 15 years old and had reached over 225k miles. The new owner is still very pleased with it and once in a while drops me a line too.

I have recently purchased an LS430 (mine is the facelift version on a '53' plate) for not much money and whilst it is a step forward in terms of size, gadgets and luxury over my LS400, it has not been without it's problems but now that these are cured, it's proving to be a great companion

Personally, if you do go for an LS430 I would try to get the facelift version as I think it looks slightly better than the Mk I version and in terms of spec, it has the reversing camera, 6 speed automatic gearbox and 18" alloys fitted

When you do go to view any of these cars, take your time and make sure everything works - I made the mistake of not checking the electric steering column in my LS430 and it didn't work and I had to replace the entire unit. Fortunately, a used one saved me a lot of money but it's something I really kicked myself about.

Good luck with your search and with your choice

SlowV6 · November 17, 2014

Thank you Nach. My head and heart tells me a Mk4 LS400 is what I want. You are right that they are now increasingly rare and I am clearly going to have to be prepared to travel. There don't seem to be any (ever!) down where I live in Poole and being on the coast of course I only have 180 degrees of catchment area.

One observation - the used prices for LS400 (Mk4's in particular) seem to have levelled or even risen in the last year. The low end currently seems to be £1500, excluding the 250k mile gold one that has been sitting on AutoTrader for months.

I would like to properly join this Owners group, however I feel the search may take a while. I will report back. Please excuse me if I continue to ask newbie questions as the search continues.

Scribe · November 17, 2014

Feel free to ask questions. We're a friendly group who likes talking about our cars - which we love so much.

I personally would go for a late LS400 simply because an early 430 will be almost as old and potentially more of a money pit because there are more gizmos to go wrong.

I'm so glad I bought mine when I did because there weren't many around then (four years ago) and there are even fewer now. You're right - I think prices are rising, and mine's probably still worth what I paid for it. Which, when you add reasonable fuel consumption (on a long run) and mechanical toughness, makes for quite cheap motoring especially if it's not your main car.

Because there aren't many left, you may have to be less choosy than I was. Whatever you buy (at a sensible price) will need work of some kind, but I suppose the issue is what kind of work. It's been said many times before, but maintenance/history is more important than low mileage. Mine has done 150,000 but I can't believe that a 50,0000-miler would run any more smoothly.

n4chv · November 17, 2014

Thank you Nach. My head and heart tells me a Mk4 LS400 is what I want. You are right that they are now increasingly rare and I am clearly going to have to be prepared to travel. There don't seem to be any (ever!) down where I live in Poole and being on the coast of course I only have 180 degrees of catchment area.

One observation - the used prices for LS400 (Mk4's in particular) seem to have levelled or even risen in the last year. The low end currently seems to be £1500, excluding the 250k mile gold one that has been sitting on AutoTrader for months.

I would like to properly join this Owners group, however I feel the search may take a while. I will report back. Please excuse me if I continue to ask newbie questions as the search continues.

Prior to making my LS430 purchase, I joined this club to get more information about the LS430 as I had heard a few mixed stories - you definitely shouldn't rush into any purchase. The right cars always turn up given patience and a bit of luck

Despite my LS430 issues, the car is now sorted and driving very well and I'm very pleased with my purchase now - I did consider another LS400 actually but the LS430 was a car I had always wanted to own and the car I bought is a 2003 '53' plate car but it had only done 44k miles. Very low for an 11 year old vehicle but good for me.

I am planning to put a private number plate on the car, get some privacy glass fitted and add an iPod / Iphone music solution to the car now just to keep it looking and feeling up-to-date. It's got so many gadgets already.

In terms of pricing, the Mk IV LS400 seems to be levelling out at around £1500 - £2000 whether you buy privately or from the trade. My car had 230k miles on the clock and I can honestly say it still felt and sounded like it had only done 30k miles. It was and still is silky smooth and refined as it always was. If you see cheaper cars, they are likely to have issues which will cost money to put right so definitely best to try and find a car with no issues.

Good luck with your search

SlowV6 · November 27, 2014

IMHO the LS400 MK4 is the better car, better mpg, handling, finish, looks. I have owed mk3, mk4 and face lift 430. If you like the look of the 430 maybe go for the early model w/o air suspension

Just following up on this point - would an early x reg 430 definitely have springs, or could it have air suspension?

Thanks!

Ps still no vaguely local LS4x0s for me.

messi · November 27, 2014

It could have either springs or air suspension. Best way you will know this is if the steering wheel has no wood on it, then it has no air suspension, also if it doesn't have the premium pack then it doesn't have air suspension,

messi · November 27, 2014

But there is another risk on the ls430, the gearboxes are prone to fail. This is due to I think the power steering fluid leaking into it or is it the coolant, well it's one of the fluids anyway, also the mark Kevin son cd player has issues oh and vsv sensor. But apart from that they are nice cars

SlowV6 · November 28, 2014

Thank you messi.

Premium pack = air suspension then it seems. Based on that I assume almost all 430s must be air suspension!

I will stick to hunting for a mkIV.

Malc · November 28, 2014

................. or maybe the Mk3 but hey, they really are like gold dust to find in fine fettle now .............................. and I do prefer the looks to the Mk4

Malc

ambermarine · November 28, 2014

With regard to the wood on the steering wheel, I thought about changing my Mark 4 to one with wood until I read a couple of quotes off the USA Lexus forum .They seemed to diss the idea as they are uncomfortable on the hands in stressful situations ,driving in heavy traffic or poor weather conditions.

I can see the reasons for that, we tend to grasp the wheel when things get stressful ,The cost of a new one is mind boggling and matching the wood veneer of the rest of the interior would be difficult on a second hand unit.

So i'll stick with the black leather which seems to be softer than on my earlier Mark 1 that eventually wore away in the two o clock position .

The-Acre · November 28, 2014

I know I've said it before, but we only read about the "issues" with the LS430, hardly ever do we read about their good points. Get an LS430 with good history, and one that feels right when you view and test it, and you could have a great car that is ridiculously good value for little money. Not everyone will have transmission and suspension issues. Try one out, you'll be smitten! I took mine from Sussex to Heathrow this week to pick a friend up, even that was a pleasure on the M25 because the cabin is such a nice place to be. And they're cheaper to insure than the 400. My insurance company said it's because they're a safer car!

n4chv · November 28, 2014

As superb as my LS400 was, I am SO liking my LS430 and without question I am glad I opted to buy one over the LS400

The space, gadgets, driving experience and overall feeling I have driving this vehicle is 2nd to none and thankfully mine is running sweetly without any problems.

Here's to more years of painfree and luxury motoring

SlowV6 · November 29, 2014

Nice looking mk4 has popped up on eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-LS400-MK4-4-0-V8-2000-V-FSH-2-OWNERS-TAX-MOT-FINE-DRIVE-NICE-1000-/301410871347?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item462d7ce833

Quite tempted but buying one blind I find a bit of a scary prospect.

Lexus racing green with the black leather I think is my favourite combination.

Thoughts from the floor? Has anyone seen this particular car before?

Thanks all

Malc · November 29, 2014

I think we may have known the seller tho' !!!!

The car looks ok, bit odd that's someone has buggered about with the badges on the bootlid.

All those leaves too in the engine bay, bit odd.

He's likely a Trader ........................ you will need to check everything very very very carefully if you're tempted to buy.

Malc

mikeyv · November 29, 2014

There are loads of posts/threads about this seller, most not great, to be honest, but make your own mind up by searching the forums using Dudley in the search box.

messi · November 29, 2014

Like malc said, and be very very careful if you are interested or tempted to buy a car of that guy, he is a trader, do the checks on the vehicle, an example he sold a greenish ls430 a couple of weeks ago, he must have been driving it backwards because the milage had come down from 180000 to 160000.