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Lexus Ls430 Questions


fr0zen

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Im going to the be in the market for a new car soon. Im looking at the LS430 ultimate luxury. How is the ride I havent actually taken a ride yet in the LS. But been a GS before the ride was really nice im sure the LS is alot better. How silent is the ride how well and smooth does the 4.3 Alumnium V8 Deliver Power. How is fit and finish of the interior. ?

Is the Ultimate Luxury Pakage worth the money. ?

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My dad has an 04 LS Ultra Luxury package. The ride is great, this is the best riding car on the road no question. The GS and ES Lexus sedans ride very well also, but somehow the LS just always seems that little bit more refined in everything that it does. There's not a harsh note or a rough edge on them. Totally silent at speed, but all Lexuses are more or less that way. In ride and quietness I'd rank the cars LS-ES-SC-GS. So since you liked the ride of the GS, you'll love the ride of the LS. The fit and finish is equally perfect, the UL package with the black interior has a very unique antiqued wood that has a darker stain towards the edges, like stain buildup on antique furnature, very cool. The power is seemless and completely smooth. The LS is just all around a wonderful, wonderful car. My ES is a wonderful car too, but its not an LS.

As for the UL package, well I don't know that I would buy it. 90% of the features of the UL car are in the rear seat. Power/heated/massage/memory rear seats, rear seat controls of audio and climate, and a refrigerator between the rear seats. He hauls around a lot of clients to lunches and to play golf so the rear seat goodies are really worth it for him, but I really don't so I wouldn't bother. The UL package also has the air suspension but I can't really tell a difference in the ride with or without this, and its super expensive to repair down the line so I'd pass. The Custom Luxury car is about $5,000 cheaper and it includes all of the UL goodies like the analine leather, the special wood, the extended leather coverings on the dash and door panels, the heated/cooled seats, nav/Levinson, smart access, laser/radar cruise control, parking assist, sunshades it just skips the power memory massage rear seats, the rear seat climate and audio controls, fridge, and the air suspension. So if you don't carry passengers a lot or don't care if they have those things save yourself the $5k and the hassle of the air suspension down the road.

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custom owner checking in....personaly i would love to have all the stuff in the back...(it does come with rear heated) but its just not worth it...wow so i get a 1 in biger wheel...woot. bu like i said i just don't care for it. i have enough goodies to keep me busy

my ls430

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Actually the UL package doesn't include the 18 inch wheels, that comes with the modern luxury package and sport suspension. For 2005 all option packages will include the 18s, Custom and Ultra both.

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My '04 LS430 is the Custom Luxury. I did not, under any circumstances, want all those Back-Seat Gadgets. I think y'all will agree when I explain that we have two orphaned Grandsons living with us, a sixth-grader and a second-grader. I can't get them to quit turning the Interior Lights and other Switches on and off. I sure don't want them able to over-ride the Radio Controls and the Climate Control, etc.

There's another Feature you didn't mention on the Custom and the Luxury. Those Automatick Door-Closers. I hope they're not Trouble just waiting to happen, but I don't need to worry about the boys getting out and not closing the doors all the way. With these newer Almost Air-Tight Cars, you often don't get the doors closed all the way on the First Try, but it happens EVERY Time with those Things.

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frOzen,

I have a relatively unused '01 LS430 UL that I'm about to sell and would only recommend it if you were going to be entertaining people you want to impress. I got it as a CPO because I wanted to see what the "Ultimate" was like but from a driver's perspective I would not recommend buying it new.

I do really like the door and trunk closers but I think that comes as part of the custom luxury package. As was mentioned before, most of the upgrades are in the rear seat like A/C and Audio system control.

As far as the ride goes, it is silent and well behaved. Fit and finish is exceptional but that is the way it is on all LS'.

Good luck,

Jorge :D

Im going to the be in the market for a new car soon. Im looking at the LS430 ultimate luxury. How is the ride I havent actually taken a ride yet in the LS. But been a GS before the ride was really nice im sure the LS is alot better.  How silent is the ride how well and smooth does the 4.3 Alumnium V8 Deliver Power. How is fit and finish of the interior. ?

Is the Ultimate Luxury Pakage worth the money. ?

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My '04 LS430 is the Custom Luxury.  I did not, under any circumstances, want all those Back-Seat Gadgets.  I think y'all will agree when I explain that we have two orphaned Grandsons living with us, a sixth-grader and a second-grader.  I can't get them to quit turning the Interior Lights and other Switches on and off.  I sure don't want them able to over-ride the Radio Controls and the Climate Control, etc.

There's another Feature you didn't mention on the Custom and the Luxury.  Those Automatick Door-Closers.  I hope they're not Trouble just waiting to happen, but I don't need to worry about the boys getting out and not closing the doors all the way.  With these newer Almost Air-Tight Cars, you often don't get the doors closed all the way on the First Try, but it happens EVERY Time with those Things.

The early 04's must not have had the option for Custom Luxury because I have the Nav system and everything else you mentioned except the door closers and laser cruise?

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The custom luxury package was delayed from the onset. If you have the nav system and not the door closers then you have the nav/lev package that is still sold beneath the custom luxury package. I believe in 04 its called the modern luxury package. You're also missing leather dash coverings, the analine leather, the special UL wood, and a few other things.

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I dont believe any car is silent on the road. the ls 430 included. my wife and I went to a local dealer so she could test an rx 330 and the first thing the sales guy said once we were underway was 'notice how quiet it is'. uh no. relative to other vehicles well its more quiet but silent no. and that goes for my 01 ls 430 ultra and the 04 ls 430 I test drove last summer too. its a quiet car relative to other cars but that just speaks to the undue noise coming from the lack of sound insulation. of course if when I get rid of my craptastic michelin mxv4 energy tires maybe for the continental extreme contacts going on soon it will be closer to silent. if you are talking about the normal wind noise that you hear in 95% of other cars then you are correct it is void of wind noise under 80mph. and as far as the air suspension goes I like having the option to change from comfort to somewhat sporty ride at the touch of a button. the ultra also allows for headlight washers which come in handy on slushy messy days we get here in the northeast during the winter.the cool box is nice to have in the back and the door closers are good too. when you talk about whats going to go wrong you should know that the 2001 ls 430 is the most reliable car in america. according to jd power's owners survey. if you can afford it new then go ahead and buy but the best 'deal' is to get a CPO ultra since you will avoid the depreciation.

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I was not even going to respond to that earlier post but since someone did, I guess I will weigh in as well.

No, the car is not silent in an absolute sense and anyone with even a shred of common sense should know that NO VEHICLE could be or should be absolutely silent. If one stops to think that they are riding on rubber tires, that are making almost constantly changing contact with pits, pot holes and bumps on ashpalt and concrete and that on top of that, you have seats with springs, you should know that you have to feel something. The car itself is not hermetically sealed and has seams for doors and windows so again, unless the car is standing still and indoors it is difficult to NOT have some kind of wind noise.

With that in mind, plus the knowledge that yours is not the only car on the road, it only makes sense that you should be able to hear what is going on around you. For example, someone screaming, sirens, horns and a measure of the traffic would be good things to be aware of, right? Don't get me wrong, I am not claiming that I would want to experience the feeling that my a## was being dragged through each bump on the road and claim that this is the "ultimate driving machine" - I think that is nonsense but, I do in some sense want to be isolated from most of that concrete/pot hole/speed bump madness we call the roads. As SW03ES said, relative to other cars, the LS and a select few other cars in that class are as quiet as they get and in my opinion, as quiet as one would want/need them to be.

Jorge

Well no, it would not be safe for a car to be totally silent. As cars go though the LS is about as quiet as they get.

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