Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Also has a link to Lexus Hybrid site, not specific to the LS.
I heard an initial bang followed by a couple of minor ones. I thought the worst.
Luckily, my sunroof was closed and no one was injured.
Upon inspection, the screw landed on the roofline 1.5 inches from the left rear door pillar. I guess that is a strong part of the car, as there were no dents and only 3 holes made by the screw. The bridge was probably 30 to 50 feet overhead. I heard the screw rolling in the crevice where the back window and trunk meets. The screw must have hit the pillars, then bounce onto the back window and rolled down onto the crevice, and rested there.
There were yellow rust marks on the trunk door edge, but they rubbed off. Besides the 3 holes made on the roof, I see no other damage.
Thankfully, it didn't hit the rear window or windshield where my son was. My son told me that someone must have fallen onto the car from the #7 train.
The infrastructure in this great city is really falling apart.
That's one very well-designed site with many beautiful photos of the new LS430.
I'm at loss for words...
$2.199 for premium this morning in NYC, as I inspected the "holes".
On a happier note, the annual premium on my 2003 LS430 insurance is only 66% of my 2001 S500. The strange thing is that my next 6 months is $400 lower than when I bought the car just 2 months ago. Maybe due to the 2004 rollouts. Nice!
I think I'm going to take a sport suspension with that modern luxury package when my lease ends in January provided that suspension doesn't compromise the great ride.
Frankly, I notice nothing different with the different tires when I shopped. I do have that minor door noise when I ride on cobblestones and other rough NYC city roads, this might be worse with stiffy sport tires. If your area has fewer rough roads, this is not a problem.
In my long drives in and out of Jersey, the noise is hard to find. Impossible once the ML is pumping out the tunes.
The door noise was there again this morning on route to Starbucks.
I poked at the leather coverings while driving, and know the other side of the material is the source of the noise. There must be layers of air bags inside.
Ted, did you watch the service folks take the door panel off or ask about whether deactivation of the side air bags was necessary in steps to eliminate the door noise?
Getting rid of the door noise is great but is very minor if that causes the side door bags to malfunction !!
I too am interested in more information regarding the updated DVD. Unfortunately my salesman at the dealership was of little help. What did you mean by " it will not add any hardware upgrades to make it like the 2003/4 models in features"? I have a late 2003 and I assumed that the '04 navigation systems had been changed from the '03's. Look forward to learning more about this needed upgrade!
You guys try to keep dry now, and take care.
As for the question on my features comment, I was simply referring to the fact that the DVD does NOT upgrade any features in a 2001 system to 2003/2004 levels - in other words, if those newer models have new "buttons" on the screen for new nav. abilities, the DVD can not upgrade my system to do the same. Only the database is upgraded for us.
btw - to be at least partially on topic - I was gassing (is that a word?) up my GS300. :-)
In MA it's still 1.89 Gal for 93 Octane..
Some sad news...I was taking my 1992 LS 400 for it's weekly Saturday drive(Use the LS 430 for weekday stuff) and some fool blew a Red Light and slammed right into the Left Front Side..Oddly enough, I only heard a faint thump and the car did not move.
The young girl then proceeded to blame me (Although her light was Red and mine was green)..
Upon inspection the Left Front Wheel was completely bent in and the quarter panel was dented.
However, the paint only sported a few minor scratches..(I use Autoglym polishes, Great stuff). The Policeman refused to believe the car was 11 yrs old, as it looks showroom new. I'll get it towed to the Lexus Dealer on Monday..I bet I'll be fighting with the Insurance Company over the Aftermarket vs OEM parts issue. To heck with it, I'll just pay the difference.
However, if the car is written off, I'm wondering how easy it would be to get another 92-94 LS. Call me a sentimental fool, but I really like the car.
Your comments would be appreciated,
SV
I'm not sure about this, but I'm guessing the market for aftermarket body parts for Lexi might not be too big. I say that thinking that not many Lexus owners would be willing to use aftermarket body parts.
Knowing how people in general take care (or don't) of their cars, I'll bet it will be pretty difficult to find a '92-'94 that will come close to being in as good condition as yours.
Hope everything goes smoothly for you and works out well.
Thank you for your advice and info. It is greatly appreciated. The car has only 85K Miles on it. In fact I just got it back from the 90K service that cost $1,500.
It doesn't look too bad body wise. Quarter panel is bent in and the bumper is bent slightly. They should be able to straighten it out. The Wheel however is a different story. The whole assembly is bent in. (Tilted inside towards the wheelwell) The Lexus mechanic who works on this car is going to have a jolly time putting the pieces back together. I've already told Lexus not to put any aftermarket parts in it. I've never put aftermarket parts in this car, and don't plan on it.
Insurance companies ought to make the driver at fault liable for this sort of thing. Why should we be shortchanged because of what someone DID to OUR cars?! It's incomprehensible that insurance companies refuse to pay for Original parts on these sort of cars.
Gee35Coupe,
Take good care of that car!! It sounds like it's in lovely condition. Lexus sure doesn't make cars like that anymore. My LS430 lacks the flair of the old less perfect model.
Happy Motoring,
SV
I thought the timing belt was $6-800, and belts and things were on top of that.
Didn't think it would be over 1K.
Unfortunately, there were no witnesses so by the time the Policeman arrived, there was no evidence. I smell a nasty insurance fight. I love it when people do something wrong and try to blame the other party for it...
The 90K service involved the replacement of the Timing Belt, Water Bulb and half a dozen other fluids. The Labor Rate was $93.50/hr The Base Lexus 90K (W/out Timing Belt) is something like $700 dollars in MA. The Timing and Water Pump practically double that price. It is money well spent. When I got the car back it ran like the day I bought it. It was whisper quiet and drove like a dream.
SV
It is gorgeous. It is amazing to me how just a little design tweaking can yield such good results. The front fascia is more aggressive looking. The fog/driving lights are a little lower and more narrow and rectangular. And the headlights are projectors now. The headlight housing is more steeply raked back on the fenders with a sharper point at the upper edge. The rear fascia has narrower (lengthwise) tail lights and therefore a wider space in between. They've raised the height of the trim piece above the license plate area and made the Lexus "L" larger. And of course, the straight, chrome-tipped exhaust. Those are the main styling changes I could discern.
Oh yeah, new wheels. Much better looking.
I had my car repaired--$5,000. The paint (Flint Mica) doesn't match. The shop is going to re-paint it and I will probably trade it (with a big loss) on another Lexus.
The adjusters thought that since the other car was farther into the intersection, that it was more likely to have been my fault. I hit the car near its front passenger wheel. It had to be towed away.
Accidents Stink!
The sport package with the euro suspension is available with the modern luxury package and with the premium package (the latter lacks the ML or nav and will only be available as a custom order from what I've been told.) My dealer tells me Lexus will be shipping a lot of Euros outfitted with the modern luxury package in the early going. Apparently research tells them that it and the custom lux package will be hot.
I'm surpised they don't offer the sport package (euro suspension) on the custom lux car since that car doesn't have the air suspension. Sometimes I can never understand Lexus' logic. Lastly all cars come pre-wired for XM satellite radio and the Lexus link message (for those who hate it) remains unchanged.
Overall this car looks great and the new wheels are a big improvement.
Oh yeah my whole purpose of going was to take out a 2004 LX470 which they gave me to take home for part of the day. This truck is better than ever and the back-up camera is fabulous. The larger wheels they put on this truck in 2003 improve, rather than hinder, the silky smooth ride. My old one rode like an LS400 but the new one has more of an LS 430 ride. I'm taking one in December.
By the way, the 2004 in the showroom was Mercury with a black interior. When I pointed out the new Antique Wood to the salesman he said it was unchanged from last year. I told him it was new but he didn't believe me (I didn't look at the brochure until I got home, otherwise I would have pointed this out to him).
I believe that these are pictures of European cars. Check out http://www.lexus-europe.com and you will see that Laser Cruise is not an option on those cars. From what I can see they come with 18 inch 5 spoke wheels standard over there which explains some of the other pictures in the brochure.
Either they did not have a US custom or ultra available for the brochure photo shoot or they are deliberately trying to show as many pictures as possible with the 18 inch wheels because they look better.
Now the strange thing about this e-mail is it gives you a bold headline about the 2004 LS and invites you to build one. Click on that link and it brings you right to the source except that it is the 2003 that you are building. Stranger all the more since my dealer sold out his last 2003 weeks ago. Go figure.
It is possible that they were using pre production prototypes or European versions in at least some of the pictures. Bottom line is that as stated previously, some the cars pictured do not seem to match with the options described in the brochure.
Does anyone know what is going on? Is it history or has Lexus put it in the vehicles and forgotten about it?
I got that email as well from Lexus. Something of note: Do you all think the '04 is just a filler for the 2006 LS? I've seen some pictures (Autofiend.com) that supposedly portray the '06 LS. It would seem that LS is going to sport a completely different look.
Essentially, I don't as though I should be rushing to trade my '02 LS for an '04. The changes appear to be minimal with the exception of the 6 speed Transmission.
Scottphillip,
The young girl who hit my 92 LS definitely ran that red light. Everyone else at the intersection had already stopped. (My light, of course was green) Undoubtably she'll deny this to avoid fault. However, the physical evidence is in my favor. (She hit the Left Front wheel completely bending it into the car)
I asked Lexus of Watertown what needed to be replaced. Their response, "Everything attached to the wheel." They estimate the damage to be $2,000+ most of that being parts.
I was surprised at how quickly they got the parts. Whatever they didn't have was overnighted from Lexus in NY. (Do they have some Part stores there?
The quality of the Paintjob really depends on the shop. The body shop here, which is employed by the Lexus dealers, does a great job. You really have to nitpick at them, but they usually get it right.
Happy Motoring,
SV