I would get the 2004 and save yourself some $$. Cosmetically, cars are identical; I'm also not aware of any "bugs" addressed in the 2005. I bought a 2004 (unfortunately no Levinson- I didn't want the navigation and Levinson/nav is a package), but it has AC/Heated seats with 70k miles (not certified because of mileage- car was turned in with 70,108 miles) from Lexus in Jacksonville, FL for $22k. Added platinum warranty which covers me for 2 years or 100k total miles for another $2,200. Car was purchased from that dealer, serviced every 5k miles there, and traded in back in 12/07- had been sitting on the lot 5 months. They were asking $28,500 on the internet and after talking to the sales person on the phone for a while, he said $22k and it's yours. I drove 6 hours to get it and it's been awesome. I did a lot of looking (6 months worth) on eBay, Autotrader, and Cars.com and felt I got a great deal, especially knowing the history of the car and the fact that the dealership kept if for so long showed me that they believed in the quality of the car instead of auctioning it off.
PS- If interested in talking to someone at Lexus of Jacksonville, go with Keith Oktem in the pre-owned dept. Good luck.
looks like lexus ls 2005 are a real bargain these days. If one were to get a 2005 lexus ls with UL package and pre collision around 20k-40k miles with at least 3 months warranty left at a small dealer whats the price like in the states?