New owner of 2006 LS430

[Anewguy]

Hello all,

Just bought a 2006 Lexus LS 430 with 94k miles and have some questions. So far I enjoy the car and read many articles, watched many videos and talked to my mechanic and all have said this is a great car. I’m sure I will enjoy it more after I get over the anxious of buying an older vehicle. I have a couple of questions:

1. When I hit about 65 mph the wind noise can be quite loud. Is this common? Is there a way to reduce it? Otherwise under 60-65 it is quite

2. Is there a way to change out the stereo? I don’t need anything fancy, just an aux chord and Bluetooth connectivity would be nice. Looking on crutchfield and it says not recommended to change out the stereo 

3. Are there any concerns or issues I need to be aware that are common? Timing belt and water pump have been changed, new front brake pads. 

4. The low tire pressure light stays on after adding air and reset, comes on within a day? Common in my older car

Thank you all for your help

[LSfanPHL]

Hi welcome to the LS430 club! The audio issue was one I ran into as well. I didnt replace but augment. I went with a relatively inexpensive solution by purchasing an android based system from Grom Audio called V-Line. It allows you to bluetooth your audio from your phone or use Google play common apps and run it thru the player. I put my Spotify on it and use my phone as a hotspot. I found that the sound quality is the best when I do that instead of bluetooth. It is a decent way of updating an aging car and it suits my needs. As far as mechanical things to watch for most people mention the lower control arms, if you have the air suspension youll have to decide if you are going to fix it or go the traditional suspension route, and some talk about the transmission having problems (I have yet to experience that though..I have 123k on my 2006). Hope that helps.

[Seve7]

on my ls430, i was able to use an aux cord adapter that high jacked the sat radio input.  if someone else knows the name of it, they can share it or you can kyle at civic audio in michigan, they installed it, it was from one of their major vendors.  there was also a bluetooth unit that worked the same way, but i much preferred the audio quality of the built in dac on my lg v20 phone.

 

i purchased my 06 in 2013 with 90k, i ran up about 250k on it.  the issues i had were battery before 100k, a month after the battery, alternator crapped out, both easy fixes and can be done my an amateur with hand tools and jack.  had issues with brakes warping rotors, turned out the brake lines were failing on the inside and leaving crap in the caliper pistons, i swapped the calipers and lines.  front wheel bearings near 180k, rear shocks near 250k, timing belt roughly every 125k, ran mobil 1 extended performance oil with a purolator pure 1 filter, and then the boss filter when that came out, was going roughly 40k on oil changes.  by about 350k, the entire suspension was ready for a refresh, other than that, every button, circuit, switch, control, interior light, worked, no rattles, or squeaks.  will probably buy another, if i need another highway superstar.  ps. the radiator fans crapped out, but i never bothered to change them and unless it was sitting in traffic in summer with the ac on, it never heated up, again, 99.99% of the miles on this car were highway cruising so they were never needed, i just kicked the heat on if it started heating up, seriously like maybe 3 years like this lol.

[Anewguy]

Ok thank you, Any issues with the wind noise? Is this something that with basic maintenance will last 4-5 year? I’m still anxious about buying an older car. I was excited when I did but now that I have I’m anxious about it. I need something with easy payments because of possible career change, safe and reliable and won’t be a money pit

[Seve7]

are you sure its wind noise?  its most likely tires.  could also be a wheel bearing.  the compared to all other cars made ever, this requires the least amount of maintenance.  literally an oil change once a year and do the timing belt once every 4 years.  as far as buying an older car, there isnt a new car thats will require as little maintenance as one of these 15 years old, they are incredibly well engineered and built vehicles.  i bought a 92 ls400 last year with 80k on it.  has 105k on it now, and same thing as my earlier one, needed an alternator, and rear brakes, however i blame this on a suspect battery disconnect joint for taxing the alternator.  the best part about these is that if they require maintenance, the parts are cheap, and if you cant do it yourself, you can have any toyota shop do the work, theres nothing special about them.

[Anewguy]

Ok thank you I appreciate hearing that. I jjust replaced the rear tires haven’t been on the highway yet. The tire light keeps coming on but searching through the forums that is common with all Lexus. I bought one of those cassette tapes with aux cord and that works fine with what I need.

[Seve7]

i make it a general rule to keep the tires all the same age and sizes.  these cars do their tpms through rotational differential and not direct reading of the air pressure.  there is a reset button really really, far under the steering wheel in the footwell, if you have an owners manual, it will show you a picture, you may need a flash light, theres a button and a knob, iirc the knob changes the loudness of the lock and unlock chirps.

[Anewguy]

Ok thank you for your help