banterer

I agree with you LSguy. I had that option as well and was looking at new '03s at the time. The thing is that I would only have gotten a brand new Custom Luxury model for about 61-3k vs a spotless UL with about 14.5k miles for 53k. I did not just want and LS, I can always get one of those but I did not think that it was worth my 74k for a car I was not even sure I would keep long term. However, if you are saying that you can walk away with an '05 LS430 UL for 53k, that would be quite a trick. I'd really love to see someone pull that off. If that is the case, you can probably MAKE money buying it and then turning around and selling it for 60k. this is absolutely correct.... also, the dealers are ususally around $5-8k Overpriced........ The bottom line is I could probably walk in and pay $53K for a brand new 05 LS 430...........only $4k more and the car is not four years old... Glad you love the 'cedes'........... ←

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

LSGUY, The very first link is from a private seller. Don't get me wrong I do love the LS but I prefer the feel of my CLK320. Although the NAV & mark Levinson audio sytems in the LS are Awesome! Jorge

I understand what you mean LSGUY but I can find UL 430s all day long going for mid to upper 40s. Here is one with just about the same mileage - 18k: [http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=22&paId=148668528&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=100&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&recnum=1&leadExists=false&criteria=K-Ultra+Luxury%7CE-ANY%7CM-_27_%7CG-30000%7CA-35000%7CH-%7CD-_5168_%7CN-N%7CR-10000%7CI-1%7CP-PRICE+descending%7CQ-descending%7CY-_2001_%7CX-popular%7CZ-90032&aff=national] and she is asking 45k. Hers is not under warranty but does have the UL package. Even if you check out the RETAIL value on Kelley's they are putting the same car at $47k in excellent condition. I'm not trying to convince any of you to buy my car, I'm just saying that even Kelley's is saying it is worth more than 37k! There is a link to the Kelley bluebook for this ad. Click on it and check off the ultra luxury package. This is from Autotrader.com - http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=1...ITE&cardist=321 They are asking for 50k and the car has 38k miles. Another with 47k miles: http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=1...ITE&cardist=937 asking for 47k. Some are certified and some are not. While I realize that cars depreciate, THIS car with this package and less than 18k miles on the odo did NOT drop 10k. If I had to sell it for that I might as well just sell it to my brother in law! Of course, if I take it to a dealer they are going to try to give me nothing for the car, that is why I don't want to trade it in. Looking at Kelleys site they say that trade in for my car is 39.3k and someone here told me that I can sell it to them for 37k. That's nonsense! Who sells their car to a private owner for LESS THAN TRADE IN? Thank you all for your opinions though, I appreciate all of you taking the time to give me your viewpoints. Jorge

Thanks SW03ES, I realize that but their would be have to be some level of comfort in knowing that the car was hardly driven [by me, the second owner] and also in knowing that if anything was wrong with the car that it was handled only by Lexus dealers. As part of the purchase I actually had Lexus, replace the center arm rest with new leather and give me a new set of mats [which would come with the car] so the car would appear to be almost brand spankin' new. I have another car that I spend most of my time in and have decided to keep since this one only comes out of the garage to get washed. Thanks for bringing that up though, Jorge

I paid 53k and would sell for 49k. If he is sincerely interested, I'm a photographer and can send him photos.

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

Hello there, I'm new to this forum, I just found it tonight. :D I have a 2001 LS430 UL with very low miles and want to sell it. It is a CPO and drives and functions flawlessly. I think I put on about 4k miles on it since I've had it [almost 2 yrs I think] I believe she has about 18k miles. Does anyone know how or if I can identify the car as a Lexus Certified Pre Owned automobile if I decide to use something like Autotrader.com or cars.com? Or can only Lexus dealers use that logo or option? Thanks, Jorge