Considering buying a 2004 Lexus 430, thoughts?

[breakingcontact]

At this point a 2004 is an old car, but they are known to run a long time.

Anyone have experience with a 430?

They seem more expensive to repair than a Toyota but not as expensive as a BMW.

 

[jkaetz]

At this point a 2004 is an old car, but they are known to run a long time.

Anyone have experience with a 430?

They seem more expensive to repair than a Toyota but not as expensive as a BMW.

Don't they share most of their parts with the Toyota Land cruiser? Just budget for big repairs and then if you don't need them you're money ahead. Oh and don't go to a dealership for repairs.

 

[miguel]

Been considering one myself.

Check out https://www.carcomplaints.com/Lexus/ for some subjective reviews.

 

[femurphy77]

You hit my bullet point: Maintenance costs. I bought an 03 BMW 540 about a year and a half ago and am capable of repairs myself but I'm finding as far as BMW's and Mercedes go that they are a 100k car. Nothing major but it seems like the support systems; window motors, valve cover and intake gaskets, etc weren't designed for the long haul. If I decide to get into a new(er) truck I'll sell my truck outright and trade in the 540.

Damn fun to drive though!

 

[BugI02]

Full disclosure: I have little experience with the big Lexi (or any big sedans, for that matter)

What Lexus experience I do have tells me they are over-engineered, like the ill fated headlights that moved in conjunction with steering input to supposedly illuminate where you were going rather than where the car was pointed. Overly complex and prone to expensive failure

If it were me, I would test drive an Acura RL of similar vintage. I have driven these and they are quite the car

 

[breakingcontact]

Full disclosure: I have little experience with the big Lexi (or any big sedans, for that matter)

What Lexus experience I do have tells me they are over-engineered, like the ill fated headlights that moved in conjunction with steering input to supposedly illuminate where you were going rather than where the car was pointed. Overly complex and prone to expensive failure

If it were me, I would test drive an Acura RL of similar vintage. I have driven these and they are quite the car

I did find the motorized oscillating vents to be a bit much.

 

[miguel]

Something must be in the air. I was also looking at an E-class recently when I found this fairly pragmatic video:

[video=youtube;rPFak22oOaM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPFak22oOaM[/video]



Which is in contrast with this happy go lucky chap:



[video=youtube;7qLqt59CKFI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qLqt59CKFI[/video]

 

[jgressley2003]

I would price a starter, alternator, battery, etc for it. Can you work on it yourself? If parts are reasonable and you can do some work yourself then I’d say go for it. I wouldn’t own a vehicle that you have to take to the dealer anytime something goes wrong. And I can’t begin to tell you how many times people would call me at Napa to price an alternator for a foreign car and it was way more than they anticipated.

 

[russc2542]

Are you looking at the LS or SC?

Japanese cars tend to be a little more conventionally engineered than German equivalents, certainly 15 years ago. the drivetrain's 100% Toyota, they used the 3UZ in a number of larger vehicles. I do know the starters under the intake manifold. not horrible to replace but not 2 bolts from the bottom and done.

Big thing I would worry about is maintenance or rather the neglect thereof: a lot of Toyotas and Lexii are so boringly reliable they don't get the periodic maintenance done. Eventually something does break and the shop points out it hasn't had anything but engine oil changes for 150k and it's due for basically everything and the owner dumps it rather than do it.

 

[sparky32]

I have no experience with that particular model but my wifes RX 350 has been great. It rolled over 99k this week and is 7 years old now. It has had a battery, couple sets of tires and sythetic oil changes and it has been great.

I liked it so much I bought a new Tundra a few months ago and traded in my 4 door 1/2 ton in. Lexus is to Toyota like Acura is to Honda its a Luxury brand pretty much a pimped out Toyota or Honda.

 

[breakingcontact]

Are you looking at the LS or SC?

Japanese cars tend to be a little more conventionally engineered than German equivalents, certainly 15 years ago. the drivetrain's 100% Toyota, they used the 3UZ in a number of larger vehicles. I do know the starters under the intake manifold. not horrible to replace but not 2 bolts from the bottom and done.

Big thing I would worry about is maintenance or rather the neglect thereof: a lot of Toyotas and Lexii are so boringly reliable they don't get the periodic maintenance done. Eventually something does break and the shop points out it hasn't had anything but engine oil changes for 150k and it's due for basically everything and the owner dumps it rather than do it.

LS

Has decent service records and timing belt done. So that is good.

 

[breakingcontact]

I have no experience with that particular model but my wifes RX 350 has been great. It rolled over 99k this week and is 7 years old now. It has had a battery, couple sets of tires and sythetic oil changes and it has been great.

I liked it so much I bought a new Tundra a few months ago and traded in my 4 door 1/2 ton in. Lexus is to Toyota like Acura is to Honda its a Luxury brand pretty much a pimped out Toyota or Honda.

Tundra was the nicest truck I've owned and I've owned a Dodge, 2 Chevys, and a Ford.

I think your RX has either a 3.0 or 3.5L in it, which is shared amongst a ton of Toyota products (which is great).

 

[breakingcontact]

Went ahead and picked it up.

Really nice car. See how it holds up.

Good thing is, I work from home, so won't put a ton of miles on it.

 

[ghuns]

...like the ill fated headlights that moved in conjunction with steering input to supposedly illuminate where you were going rather than where the car was pointed. Overly complex and prone to expensive failure...

The ones in our RX350 still work like a champ at 11 years old and 200K miles. It's one of my favorite options on the car. Living out in the boonies where street lights don't exists, it's a really nice feature.

 

[ghuns]

...I think your RX has either a 3.0 or 3.5L in it, which is shared amongst a ton of Toyota products (which is great).

As long as you get the rubber oil lines replaced with the updated steel ones. If your 3.5 is from a 2005-2009.

[video=youtube;VZux0W01C7M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZux0W01C7M[/video]

There is one on the back side of the motor that was recalled. But the one on the front was not recalled and it WILL fail.