Lexus GS430 Guzzler

I just got this. I went to Autozone and got a OBD2 scanner and saw that P0441 and P0455 came up.

My personal friend/mechanic says that there's 3 possible issues: the vacuum seal valve, charcoal canister, or gap cap's rubber gasket. Says it's probably the gasket, and I think so too - when I undo the gas cap, it does not hiss - meaning that it's not retaining pressure. I'll see if Lexus can figure it out.

never mind. Got a buyer over a dinner conversation......was faster than I expected in this economy

Hi,

if you don't mind, how much did you sell it for? I've been trying to sell my 06 GS430, same as yours with all options and 45K miles

and haven't had any luck yet. I have it listed for $28,900.

Thanks,

Michael

I sold it for 27k. I bought it for only 32k 1 year ago, so not a big loss for me.

never mind. Got a buyer over a dinner conversation......was faster than I expected in this economy

Hi guys: I'm doing something stupid and I need your help.

I want to sell my 2006 Lexus GS430. (and buy a 2007 Shelby GT-H. I'm single and 28 years old. I feel like an old fuddy duddy in the Lexus.)

The condition is pristine and I've taken excellent care of it:

It has about 43k miles.

I've changed the oil every 5k miles regardless and use mobile 1 full synthetic.

I clean and condition the leather interior every 6 months with Lexol.

Garage kept. I polish with Klasse All-In-One every 4-6 months.

Comes fully loaded with Nav and Mark Levinson and all of that Jazz.

I've kept all service records.

I have a 100k mile warranty on it.

I was thinking about selling it for 26-28k, but was wondering if you guys know of the correct prices for something like this. Also, what is the best way to sell a car like this? Consignment sale? Private sale? Ebay? Craigslist? Thanks.

Hi there, I'm a proud new owner of my first Lexus (2006 GS430) and naturally, I want to take as much care of it as I can. So, since I purchased my vehicle used with some minor wear and tear and about 37k miles, I wanted to get opinions from the veterans about what you use to clean the inside of your vehicle. Please help me choose the right stuff (safe and effective).

Sorry for the long post, I did try to search but couldn't find all the answers. Thanks in advance for your help!

A ) Dash Wood Trim: My car has some fingerprints and what appears to be food smudges on the wood trim.

B ) Gauge Screen and Navigation Screen: What fabric and cleaning solution (if any) should I use?

C ) Dash Plastic: I used Armor-All with a lint free cloth in my old accord but I'm hesitant to use that stuff on such a nice interior. What works?

D ) Leather Seats: I read most of the posts and have heard mixed messages about this. Has anyone had luck using a cloth with warm water to clean and then hitting it with leather conditioner? I always thought water and leather were a no-no but am I wrong?

E ) Carpet and Rubber Smudges on Plastic: I guess the previous owner had black boots and when they got in/out of the car, it left some black smudges along the tan plastic near the door and by the floor. What is the best solution to clean this?

F ) Smoke Smell: I think the previous owner smoked and I don't. What's the best way for me to get rid of the smoke smell? I'm obviously going to get an air freshener but if there is a more permanent solution to get rid of the smoke smell, that would be great.

THANKS AGAIN!

Use Microfiber towels

A.) Clean with mild soap and water. Damp cloth and wipe up. Afterwards, I like to polish, shine, and protect using Klasse All-In-One on the wood trim.

B.) Avoid scratches by 1st spraying the dust off with canned air sprays. Then clean with damp towel. I follow up by polishing and protecting the screen with Klasse All-In-One

C.) I use water on Dash only. Might use, but very sparingly. Avoid using armor-all on anything you own.

D.) Water on leather to clean is FINE. The problem is too much water or letting water sit and soak into leather. I recommend 2 products: Lexol Leather Cleaner and Lexol Leather Conditioner. Follow the directions and use every few months, and your leather and car will always look/smell new. If you have any rough spots, then you should use a matching color or neutral color Urad cream.

E.) Microfiber, soap+water, elbow grease.

F.) Shampoo the carpets. Clean the leather seats. Change the cabin air filter. You may need to buy an unscented odor remover. Not fabreeze. Need to look for something legitimate.

I have a 06 GS 430 and I have these problems with mines as well, minor, but a pain!

Bad door sill inside...

Is there any way Lexus can accept responsability and recall to fix these problems????

Used to have the problem, not any more. Changed brake pads to quiet ceramics. Bi-metals will squeak during cold seasons.

Yeah, it's the Tata Jag NOT a ford.

Doesn't matter. Still made in England.

XF

XK

Update here... Nobody responded but I thought I'd post an update in case anybody else runs into this... I found some info on this forum for similar problems with some LS and RX models. They all pointed to a faulty ride height sensor that is attached to the rear axle.

Since I just had my rear struts replaced, which so happen to also be connected to the rear axle...I thought I'd take it back to the shop and have them check the ride height sensor.

Problem solved... When the rear struts are removed, the rear axle dangles. When it dangles, it pulls down on the actuator arm that is attached to the sensor. When the new strut was installed, the arm went down rather than back up. (i.e. picture an elbow that should be bent up and to the right being bent down and to the left).

Makes the car think the rear end is dragging the ground...

Disconnected. Reconnected correctly. AFS OFF light is OFF!!! Whew...

Thanks for the update!

We need to create a library for these issues....

yeah, always make sure that the door is UP. Do not force it to open in the slightest.

Also, this is the issue that p!ssed me off. Lexus techs broke/off tracked the door.

My factory warranty on the GS430 ended last May.

I can't tell you guys how irritated I am that I didn't find out about http://www.alldata.com/TSB/31/06310920.html until now.

oh wow. I read about this because a company I invest in, Frontline (FRO) has a bunch of supertankers and some of them are being used for the hoarding.

https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/...o.toyota.com%2F

You need to spend the $15 and a few hours downloading the entire repair manual (including all the updates "TSB's") for your car man. This will be a HUGE help to you in the future. Even if you don't do the repairs yourself, the ability to print off the specific repair that you want done and hand it to the mechanic says "I know what I'm doing, don't screw around with me, I'll be watching." I had a serious problem with the repair shop at Johnson Lexus in Raleigh with my old LS, until I called BS on them, insisted only the senior tech do the work "and met with him directly", and made damn sure I had two copies of what I though the repair was (one left in the passenger seat for him to see, one for the service writer to have too). After that, I had nothing but beyond the call of duty service from them.

The problem is, and I mean this with no disrespect man, you're taking the car in for really basic stuff, like the air filter. They see you as a guy with money to burn, and they also see you as someone who doesn't understand the car, the type that says "it's broke, you fix it". In their mind, you're two things to them (1) A cashcow, and (2) the guy who's car is being used for the new kids who are clueless to gain experience with. I promise you, that if you email the pdf of the repair you wanted to the manager, ask him "how can this proceedure produce these kinds of results I got from your shop?", you'll make them look so stupid and embarrassed, they'll have no choice but to fix your car. At which point, you say "I want the most senior guy you've got working on my car, and I want to meet him face to face to show him what's wrong, no more service writers only".

Dude, that's awesome. Thanks!

Edit:

Also, I actually did replace the engine air filter myself. The Cabin Air filter was serviced by Longo Lexus in El Monte. They messed it up and wouldn't fix it. They claimed that there wasn't any way of telling that I wasn't the one who broke it - which is bullcrap. I had to threaten them with small claims before they'd finally do something about it.

To turn the automatic tilt off, you need to open the control panel which houses the mirror movement buttons. The button that says L and R for the left and right mirror....make sure that no lights are on....meaning no mirror is selected. If L is currently selected, press L again to turn off the light.

When you don't have any mirror selected, they will not automatically tilt down when you go into reverse.

--Duckman

it's that simple? Thanks.

Did you ever call Lexus corp. ?

Complaining to someone that cares, and/or has the ability to do something about things, helps.

They're worthless.

I called and the same rep would always be too busy, they'd call back and not understand my problem I just spent hours with the last rep talking about and generally just p!ssed me the hell off. I don't trust the morons who run Lexus in the United States. Good marketing department.

The Lexus guys I think are exemplary are the Japanese technicians and engineers who put my car together. I think all the Americans involved are morons. Most work I have my own mechanic do.

I have a 2006 Lexus GS430 with 40k miles now. It's been a great and dependable car. I haven't any of the issues people seemed to be having here in the GS board.

- I read about a lot of people having uneven inside tire wear. I don't have that at all. I use Yokohamas on the original Lexus wheels.

- I read about the reverse tilt mirror motors going out, but I haven't had that problem.

- No mystery rattling or noises that some people have.

My problem has been squarely with Lexus dealerships.

1.) The threw my MOP unit door off-track when installing a new cabin air-filter and later refused to fix it under warranty. It took weeks for me to scream at them until finally they fixed it only if I did my 30k maintenance with them.

2.) After having my 30k maintenance, I got my car back with numerous deep scratches in the leather. The Lexus technicians/mechanics scratched by my seats bad while performing work on the car. They had to have a leather repair guy come and fix it, but this drove me nuts.

3.) They always grossly overfill oil when I get an oil change with them.

I guess I don't feel too angry about the poor services from the above dealership. They let me borrow a RX350 for 1 week, and I took it off roading. I had it climbing all sorts of pits, gravel, and rocks, but wow - smoothest off-roading experience I ever had. I had fun in it.

I don't like the prices Lexus wants for oil changes. 55 dollars for a regular oil change, and over double when I wanted synthetic.....

I just took my car to my friend's autoshop and I got to see him do everything. I brought my own Synthetic oil and filter, and it cost me $30. He did all sorts of checks and measurements and gave me solid numbers in inches and millimeters, so I could look up exactly how far down my rotars and brakes were worn down.

I don't get that with Lexus dealerships. I pay good money, and I wouldn't mind the high price tag if they actually did an exemplary job......but it hasn't been the case. I think the only reason to go to these guys is for warranty work and for sensitive work you want them to back up if they mess up. Tires, brakes, rotors, oil, fluid, go somewhere else - a trusted mechanic if you can find one.

Some people will point out that it's an overpriced/over glorified Toyota - which it is on both counts.

I don't personally consider these bad points as maintenance will be cheap, and you can easily get the OEM items you need for cheap (just don't buy the same OEM items @ a Lexus dealership). The prestige of the brand varies between who you speak with, but in the United States, Lexus has done an awesome awesome job of Luxury branding. The type of marketing and branding they do is just dead-on.

Acura has less of a Luxury branding than Lexus until only a few years ago when they finally got on the "marketing" bus.

I haven't had this problem but I want Reverse Tilt OFF.

Some guy posted to turn them off, but didn't post how. Can someone post how? I don't see the option.

Hi all,

I've just sold my 05 545i (didn't like rough tranmission on V8).

I've looked around but not much choice for me.

One I found is 2006 GS430 black on black, 29k miles, Mark Levinson, Nav

I think I can make it at $27000.

What do you think?

Another choice is 2006 MBZ E350 44k mile, no option, but $17000.

Thank you all...

For 27k, a gs430 with 29k miles would be a great price

I'm 27 too. I drive a 2006 GS430.

I feel like an old fogey, because it's mostly old fogies driving these kinda cars around here.

Glad to see another guy my age driving these things :)

I just found another: 06 is not compatible with an ipod. You have to buy some $250 gizmo.

frickin lexus. I've wanted one my whole life, but between all of this and that totally stupid left-knee-fold-out-control panel, I'm beginning to get discouraged from getting one.

A used Lexus is a decent deal.

If everyone wasn't so ga-ga over the damn new Shelby GT350s at the time, I should have gotta one. I really wanted a 2007 Shelby GT-H.

But for the price, the Lexus is a better deal.

any Lexus dealer will replace it for free.

I was charge $15 at the only lexus dealer in las vegas.

....wow.

People, do this:

1.) Go to Fry's, Radio Shack, walmart, target, etc. and grab a CR1632 battery. I paid a whopping $1.49.

2.) Pop open the keyfob my pulling out the metal key, sticking it in the keyhole in the keyfob and turn it.

3.) Pull the little circuit board out, pop out the battery by pushing the teeth that hold it in

4.) Pop in new battery, fit circuit board back into keyfob (it's dummy proof), and snap the keyfob back closed.

It's easier than Sunday morning.

overfilled twice... thats just some rotten luck... i've never had anyone overfill any vehicle I've ever gotten an oil change for... How did you estimate that it was 100% overfilled?

Sorry, I ment to say a quart overfilled last time.

This time it's about 1/2 quart overfilled.

Took my car to Lexus in Westminster for service, and they did almost everything right except for the Engine Oil:

They overfilled it again. They really need to do quality checking. I used to ignore overfilled oil in my last car, but after seeing oil leaks caused by overfilling, I don't ignore it anymore.

The last time they filled my oil, it was overfilled by 100%

No leaks though, but probably parts are still solid and new in this car.

It's cheaper and easier to re-tune your brain to stop wanting the New Car Smell (glue sniffing), and appreciate other things.

I like the smell of freshly conditioned leather now. And if it's been getting a tad stuffy, a good scent is My Shaldan's fruit smells. Like Apple. I like their apple smell.

The newer 2009 GS350

1.) saves more gasoline

2.) Has much more horsepower

3.) Bluetooth integrates easier to the newer phones

4.) Navigation screen looks prettier

The design is the same. They might change the wheels, but should be the same.