Our First Lexus

[SkipABeat]

Hello everyone,

Our 1990 Honda Accord is getting a bit tired after clocking more than 160,000 miles so we needed a car. After many years of patiently postponing, we decided, after countless hours of research and lurking behind this forum, to buy a Lexus. A car to treat ourselves. And what a TREAT it has been this past week.

I bought a 2004 LS430 with less than 10,000 miles (ten thousand) on the clock. A Florida car that I had to import to Ontario, Canada. A journey of 1,500 miles. First leg of the trip I drove it for four hours. With an extremely large grin on my face. My wife, with an even larger grin, was with me.

On the second leg after overnighting in a motel, I drove from 9 AM to midnight, with a gas stop and lunch break. Amazing car. I do not like driving long distances, but this car makes long journeys feel like short commutes. Again, AMAZING. I averaged 29.5 mpg cruising at 70.

The third leg took me home after a 20-minute stop to do the export paperwork at both countries' border Customs offices.

I have this need to tell my fellow LS owners about my experience, because you helped me decide to get this wonderful automobile. Second, I cannot post this elsewhere, because owners of other car makes might not understand and say I am gloating. I am not. I am just so happy.

We keep our vehicles for a long time, and I hope this car will last me the longest.

One thing that I urgently need is a spare smart key. Is programming the new key a dealer-only job? Pardon me for this newb question. Did a search and came up with nothing.

Thanks to all again.

[SKperformance]

Very nice car, i like them as well. Gas mileage is not bad ,try adding a few more pounds of pressure to them . Just wondering how much you bought it for and how much for all the paper work to cross it over here? I know they go for about 26-35 here for an 04

[jainla]

Congratulations; the LS is indeed a stunning car. It does just about everything well; in an understated, humble way. I think the LS is probably the best pre-owned car you can buy; period. With a little TLC it should have no problem seeing 250k+ miles.

I suspect programming the smartkey is similar to programming the transponder in the older keys; there may be directions in the forums on how to do it but I could never get them to work.

When I purchased my LS I called Sewell in Dallas; and after faxing them a copy of my registration ID etc they sent me a key that was pre-cut for my car (from the VIN). I think the smart key has a physical key hidden in it so they would be able to do that as well. They sometimes sell the keys on Ebay at a discount so you might want to snoop around. I think I paid half of what my local dealer quoted me.

Once the key arrived i took it down to my dealer and they programmed it for me in about 10 minutes; and didn't charge me a thing; so call your local and see if they might be willing to do the same.

Hello everyone,

Our 1990 Honda Accord is getting a bit tired after clocking more than 160,000 miles so we needed a car. After many years of patiently postponing, we decided, after countless hours of research and lurking behind this forum, to buy a Lexus. A car to treat ourselves. And what a TREAT it has been this past week.

I bought a 2004 LS430 with less than 10,000 miles (ten thousand) on the clock. A Florida car that I had to import to Ontario, Canada. A journey of 1,500 miles. First leg of the trip I drove it for four hours. With an extremely large grin on my face. My wife, with an even larger grin, was with me.

On the second leg after overnighting in a motel, I drove from 9 AM to midnight, with a gas stop and lunch break. Amazing car. I do not like driving long distances, but this car makes long journeys feel like short commutes. Again, AMAZING. I averaged 29.5 mpg cruising at 70.

The third leg took me home after a 20-minute stop to do the export paperwork at both countries' border Customs offices.

I have this need to tell my fellow LS owners about my experience, because you helped me decide to get this wonderful automobile. Second, I cannot post this elsewhere, because owners of other car makes might not understand and say I am gloating. I am not. I am just so happy.

We keep our vehicles for a long time, and I hope this car will last me the longest.

One thing that I urgently need is a spare smart key. Is programming the new key a dealer-only job? Pardon me for this newb question. Did a search and came up with nothing.

Thanks to all again.

[Lexusfreak]

Congrats on your purchase Skip! Post some pics of your new LS when you get a chance.

[blake918]

Congrats!! B) There's nothing better than a road trip in a new car too!

[eatingupblacktop]

Congrats on your first Lexus. This automobile is made for touring. Pick out a few locations you haven't yet been to in your Honda and do some cruisin'. You'll find yourself wanting that beautifull sunset to never end. Enjoy!

[ED.]

Congrats. Probably the only car I would trust to take on such a long journey that is your first.

Definetly get some pictures going when you get a chance.