Lexus LS

The fit and finish of the Lexus is what you would expect in a top of the line Lexus. All details are perfect. And, after a month, and after driving the car across the US during a vacation, I'm still discovering new features the car offers its lucky owner.

The Lexus 430 LS offers three suspension choices; regular, power and snow, that with a flick of a switch electronically adapts to whatever weather or road conditions you encounter.

The 4.3 ltr. 24 valve, 290 HP V-8 is flawless and provides all the power you'd ever need, from 40 mph to 80...right now. The engine is perfectly mated to a silky smooth 6 speed automatic transmission that also offers the option of manually selecting 2nd through 6th gear for either mountain or performance driving.

From the heated rear seats to the heated AND air conditioned front seats with every imaginable adjustment including upper and lower lumbar supports if you can't get comfortable in the Lexus, you are not trying!

In over 5000 miles, I've averaged 25.4 miles per gallon. The ONLY issue is that the high compression Lexus V-8 requires premium fuel. But for a big car, with big comfort and big time performance, the way I look at it, the mileage and performance more than makes up for the premium fuel requirement.

It's safe too. There are numerous air bags and side air bag curtains, and structural safety has been designed into this great automobile.

The quality and craftsmanship, not to mention the "when you put your foot down on the accelerator" performance, will take your breath away. It's fun.

UPDATE: I've now driven this car 12,000 miles and around town, it's getting 27.3 mpg which I think is outstanding for a large, powerful sedan like the LS 430. I took it into the Lexus dealer for service and although I considered the car perfect, they called and Lexus wanted to install a brand new transmission at no charge to me (a $9,000+ item) because my car's VIN was in a group that Lexus had found leaking transmission seals. My car was not leaking a drop but the dealer provided me another Lexus for a week (for free), while they ordered and installed the new transmission. Buy the Lexus. You'll never go back to anything else.

This is an exceptionally quiet and comfortable car. The second tank of fuel returned 22 mpg in mixed driving. I have heard these cars can achieve 28 to 30 mpg on the highway. As there is not a Lexus dealership locally the car can recieve factory level maintenance at the local Toyota dealership. This car is now almost 6 years old and still feels nearly new.

This car has redefined the meaning of "smooth" acceleration for me. It has power that is delivered to the wheels in a responsive yet aggressive way, thanks to the novel transmission. The auto park assist was a novelty for me but now it is used regularly. The stereo is awesome. 480 watt of power through 19 speakers - WOW! The sound is better than my home stereo system. The Mark Levinson system was worth every penny.

Dislikes: This car's previous owner had 20" chrome wheels installed. They looked real cool and gangsta-like but the thinness of the tires allowed road noise to come through into the passenger cabin. The car did not "sound" like a luxury car inside. I replace them with 19" Lexus wheels and boy what a difference. The road noise is almost non-exixtant and the ride is very comfortable.

I bought this car in December of 1990 as my christmas gift. It has 487,000 miles on the original power train and I have never had to add a drop of oil to any part of the power train between changes. I admit that it is getting a little tired and the power is starting to get a little weaker,but I will never own another car. I just changed the a/c compressor and some other a/c parts, on the second starter, 4 timing belts and I also changed water pumps w/ timing belt as a precaution. The only thing that I always wanted was outside temp monitor and the later models this was included. This has been by far the best vehicle that I have ever owned.

Best car we have ever had. Our other 91 LS400 was wrecked and this one was identical. It has 165,000 miles on it and runs like a dream. This was a one owner vehicle, and was immaculate. Our other LS 400 had around 225,000 when it was wrecked. It ran great. This has all of the bells and whistles. It is a genuine full size car. Try and get something these days for under $4,000 that is worth a flip. I would buy another one in a New York second.

I have owned several of these and they are by far the best car i've ever owned or driven. Once you drive one you will always have one around. I've had 5 first generation ones "90-94", a 98 model and an 01 LS430. I actually like the way the older ones drive better than the 01 did. The 2001 felt "tall" like an suv if that makes any sense. The 98 was the best one ever! The one i have now is a 91 model that just rolled to 300,000 miles. No one believes me when i tell them it's an 18 yr old car with over 300,000 miles on it. Typical issues to look out for on these cars are leaking power steering pumps, burnt out dash clusters, burnt out lcd temp displays, & worn out front suspension components "lower control arm", ect.. Also some of the engines will start to get a lower engine "tick" when they get alot of miles on them although the one i have now doesnt do it. These cars are very smooth and quiet. I would trust driving mine anywhere and have done so. Dont let the issues i mentioned scare you they are just common to the car. Out of the 5 first generation ones i had not all of them had these issues. Mind you i buy them with high miles and buy them really cheap because i am familiar with the cars and dont mind fixing things on them. Another cool thing is that nearly all toyota/lexus car rims will fit these. I had wheels from an 02 LS430 on a 91 LS400 and at a quick glance it looked like a newer model. Buy one of these cars! You wont be disappointed. I've owned about 60 cars anywhere from jags to mercedes and the lexus cars are the best!

If the car had been maintained properly, overall satisfaction is at the top. It is a very well made car, and built to last. It can cost more than other cars when maintenance is due. It requires different fluids than normal cars. TIV transmission fluid and automatic transmission fluid for power steering. The power steering pump is probably the most critical item that may not be obvious. If it leaks, it leaks on the alternator. There is a idle air control valve on the steering pump that should be changed when the pump is changed. Otherwise transmission fluid can go through the valve into the engine.

You can call Lexus and they will tell you the last time the car was maintained. After 15 years our dealership will not maintain the Lexus. If it has not been maintained properly, it can cost between $2000 to $10,000 to get it up to 5/5 satisfaction. If the owner is good at maintenance, the error codes can be read from the dash by putting in the proper jumper in the test connector. There are Lexus owner websites that will help you if you do have a problem.

Lexus is a great car and this one had the least amount of miles for the price.
There were a few things that needed to be fixed on the car and the Dealer fixed them on the spot. Great experience!!!

We had a great experience buying our cars on eBay but in both cases from sellers with a good rating. This time the seller -although sounds honest to me- was new to eBay with only one (positive) feedback. The car turned out to have multiple minor problems that while one might ignore some of them at least for now, would cost a lot to fix or soon turn into major issues.

The seller clearly did not know how to sell on eBay i.e., to check out the car after buying it in an auto-auction and fix any problems and then definitely do a test drive (the car stopped at a red light during my first drive off the truck after delivery and had to be towed, extremely embarrassing, has a broken side mirror, a broken antenna, a broken cup holder, its master alarm red light is always on and my mechanic cannot figure out why, its headlights are off balance even after fixing it once, etc.).

I have to mention that since the seller was new -but selling for a lower price- I had even asked a third party online service that advertizes on eBay and sends a mechanic to check a car for you. They totally missed all these issues and did not do a test drive, and gave the car a perfect bill of health. That is why I think the best safety is still the seller s good feedback i.e., you and I looking after each other.

I believe Bay should do something about educating new sellers to protect the buyers (although I realize that it was my responsibility to buy from a power seller but still new sellers are there too and ought to start from somewhere). I think eBay should come up with a sort of mandatory education for new sellers at least for expensive items like cares. Otherwise, people like me would start thinking of purchasing their cars directly from an auto-auction for a lower price -like the sellers do- and then spend some money on fixing any problems.

For now my recommendation is to stick with power sellers which has been working extremely well and is eBay s best feature in my view. Still I prefer to buy from an eBay power seller without having seen a car rather than a dealer in my neighborhood.

BTW, I would rate LS 400 and LS 430 as The perfect car; the above scores/rating refer only to this specific transaction and not to this class of car in general. Lexus is the best and I will stick with it.

I bought a 2001 Lexus because of owning a 97 LS400. The main reasons are the quality of the car,the craftsmanship and the way the car drives and runs. These car handle like a dream and is great on gas for being a V-8. It get anywhere from 24-30 miles to a gallon of gas and when you want to get somewhere quick all you have to do is press down on the gas pedal. I really enjoyed the transaction because of the person that I purchased it from was honest and up front about the car. He was willing to work with me and help make the deal go smooth. I have bought several vehicles and going through E-bay seems easier and you don't have the deal with all the pains of a dealership of trying to fight for a good price. This is by far the best car I have purchased. Thanks, E-Bay for being such a good way to shop for any and everything you will ever need!!!!!!!!!!