Neil E

Yes £400 ish + parts, about 5 hours work for someone quick who does it regularly. Purchase the parts from Lexus/Toyota and use a trusted mechanic. I can recommend one in Sussex by the Sea.

Yes a 50+ page build thread and north of £21k on additions and modifications so far. 🤣 I do think a build thread backs up a good service history. A prospective buyer looking at Glyn's thread would, I'm sure, be assured that it has been well cared for 😇 and the next owner of mine has comprehensive evidence that it has been thoroughly tested and abused.🙃 Returning to the theme of the thread, I recall LOC Europe/Germany had a nostalgia thread where contributors put forward notable SC430 from around the world. So looking further afield, a few more candidates in the customised category. Some of these have obsessive owners. Purple Lexon and this is SC Obsessive The General OTT Audio

It's not white but the beige/ecru interior is also known as ivory. If you want the experience to be a bit more fun then the later version is certainly worth considering. They are great cars but I think they are still a bit overpriced at present. Black interiors are much easier to maintain. The beige is hard work with heavy use and Lexus no longer make the beige mats so black is the only replacement option.

The UK resource was removed unfortunately but I've found an old link for you. WIL 44 and a couple more. Coventry Dr Will HCW MR2 Meet

Glyn's car is another stunning low mileage example. Blue again. This is how to make it your own without going overboard. Some of these are so well kept with not so much as a bonnet stone-chip, I would be afraid to use them and that defeats the object of enjoying the car for what it is intended to do. After owning two of the earlier Soarer models and moving on to other V8 Lexus saloons, the course of WIL 44 convinced me that with a little 'help' the SC430 could be more like the car I wanted so in the early days this was the car that I followed.

LT09BXH Later dark blue / black leather M888VMG Blue/beige @unclebob 's second immaculate SC. SC03HAN Blue / beige was CFs of Sleaford - not on here. WIL 44 Blue/black Steve's Seen in a few threads on LOC and all over the internet for many years. They can be seen in the various good and not so good you-tube videos of past events at Coventry, Sleaford, Hatton Country World and even Bluewater.

UK cars only - Nominees Most Iconic WIL 44 - tastefully enhanced and a UK pioneer for modifying the SC430. Best original condition LT09BXH Winner LW meet 2019 Judged by the MR2 owners club officials M888VMG Runner up LW meet 2019 (runner up by the finest of margins) SC03HAN Winner SC430 Meet 2021 All of these are or were, low or lowish mileage vehicles. All are blue.

Needs to be seen but it appears to be a genuine car with a few minor niggles and some paintwork to sort out. The audio door fault will probably be an easy fix - dodgy switch connection at the back of the ash tray. @Mossypossy you may want to try a later SC430 with the 6 speed box, etc. Equipment levels and standard suspension/handling are a bit closer to the GS.

Do you mean run the car or run the road? I'll pass on running it on foot but it's one of the better driving roads in the UK, some would argue the very best. I'm not sure the front end of that batmobile would survive some of the dips and tricky bits at speed but then again the SC430 is quite low and that coped okay so you may be okay to don the cape and roar out of the bat cave.

Make sure you document progress with a build thread. 🙂

Wrong car but mountain roads are more fun.🙂

Spend a bit, save a bit and afford yourself a little smile that you found the SC430 to have some fun with.

They are all manual lift but I think someone in the US was trying to fit a switched boot lid actuator but I don't recall it being completed. I would be very interested in it with the extra weight of mine.

I think history confirms the LC500 is really the latest generation V8 Soarer. Based at 'GS' level and aimed at a slightly different market, the SC430 was a slight deviation in the line as it lacks some of the very best tech and extra luxury fitments of its time but it is still a Soarer.

There are so many options, it just depends very much on what you want for the car. It's probably worth searching previous threads on wheels and if you want to go aftermarket, scroll through the thousands of images on the internet for SC430 alloys to find what you like. There is a set of the later 2006 onwards original alloys on ebay or you might find an owner with a spare set. As per the set on ebay they usually need a refurb so add around £70 per wheel for that. If you want to go from 18" to 19" and or wider or change to a staggered fitment check here to make sure they will fit.

We were expertly marshalled as I recall. Missed it this year as I was working up the road in Birmingham all weekend and 'making do' with the GS. With a few new members, I wonder if there might be any interest in an Autumn meet?

Do you have any pics of the car?

That makes perfect sense to preserve the original mats but at his own car show where it's being judged on interior, CF said he didn't like the original beige mats so I marked him down for that. 🤣 It was still the best car there.

Indeed yes it's easy to get carried away at times but this was something different. Yes Glyn his best car by far was the near perfect early one, blue, light interior, with very few miles, he sold that soon afterwards. I couldn't see any significant defects with it except the obvious black mats. I'm not sure that either of his other two could compare to @unclebob's SC or the 2009 car that was at the MR2 meet. CF Sleaford Meet

He organised and hosted the meet at his place at Sleaford. It was a good turn out and we had a good time but some (me included) felt there was a little too much... shall we say... 'self promotion' and a lack of humility involved. I had my suspicions upon arrival at the meet how the day might go. I think CF was disappointed not to win all of the award categories and he soon realised that although he owned 3 nice examples of the SC430 model, it didn't make him 'top dog.' When I arrived at the meet near Coventry the following year, everything was in proper order. I was greeted by Tom, Race Director for the Lexiguy SC430 Touring Team, a proper enthusiast. 👍

£10k might be enough for a decent 2006 with around 100k miles. If it has been maintained correctly, mileage isn't really an issue with an SC430. Some low mileage cars that rarely get used can gather dust, surface rust, suffer from component seize up and lose charge. Mine has been thoroughly abused, has around 160k miles and it doesn't miss a beat.

That's correct, it might need the reset procedure after the battery has been disconnected but it relates to the one-touch auto feature. Operate the windows up and down a couple of times and hold the switch up for an extra second on each window and that should restore it. Similar thing with resetting the memory seat function. All the way back and fore with the seat and back rest switches and that should restore the memory function.

Good progress Glyn. I can certainly recommend a thicker leather steering wheel versus the feel of the thin wooden slippery wheel. It makes a significant difference.

It's an imported Soarer hence the odo in kms.

If it was reset, just ask them for the error code. If it's intermittent and responds to a reset, it could be something like the MAF sensor needs cleaning or a slight vacuum /air leak, exhaust leak, loose connection to an 02 sensor.