Talk me out of a Lexus LS 430....

fracmeister

fracmeister

Petroleum Engineer
Joined
May 26, 1999
Messages
1,686
OK, the old beater car my kids are driving needs more repairs than it is worth and it is time to pass the cars down one level. My bride is thinking "Toyota Prius" and I am thinking "Ferrari 612 Scaglietti" but the LS430 is hard to argue with if you want reliability, comfort, speed and can afford the ticket. I compared it with a BMW 545, Audi A8, Q45, S350 and so far it sure seems rock solid. The S350 is very nice and the BMW has more snap.

Anyway I imagine some of you guys have car opinions in this range. Thanks for the help

(PS, I can get a 612 Ferrari nearly new but it is 275,000$)
 
well from a financial, and environmentaly freindly standpoint. the prius would be a better car.

lexus makes really nice cars though. . .so does ferrari. i never liked bmw, if i was going with a car like that it would be a jaguar hands down.
 
silenthunterstudios said:
I thought Lexus was the high end version of Nissans? Or is it Toyota?
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Toyota's high end arm is Lexus. Honda / Acura and Nissan/Infiniti. In the early days the low end Lexus (250) was on the same frame/body/engine as the high end T Avalon. No mas.


I guess Mercedes Benz is the high end arm of Chrysler and Porsche is the high end arm of VW!
 
Gollnick said:
Have you looked at the E500?
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I really like the S-class better. Of course you have to drop down to the 350 to get a comparable price point and that gives you less ponies than the Lexus and way less than the $ for $ comparable BMW. But BMW doesn't have new 7-series with the 3.5 liter jobs now. So the 745 price range is above the L430 or the S350.
 
Only other one I could think of would be the new high end infiniti.....can't remember model...... :confused: :confused:
 
Actually, the way I hear it, Chrysler is now the economy line of Mercedes. :)

The big thing for me is safety. I don't know is Lexus has the safety of BMW, Mercedes, Saab, or Volvo.

I have a good friend in Dallas, Texas who e-mailed me about a year ago excited about having bought a new E350. The next day, he sent pictures of him standing next to his new E350... or at least what was left of his new E350. He got T-boned by an SUV that blew a red light. Then he was pushed into the next lane and rear-ended by a car coming up behind him, pushed over into the next lane and hit head on. He had the essential TelAide experience waking up to hear the TelAide operator saying "Can you hear me?" But, he basically walked away unhurt. The firemen said, "Good thing you were in a Mercedes."
 
I've owned almost everything "desirable" on four wheels - except a Lexus. I've also had problems to varying degrees with everything I've ever owned - so MY choice would be the Lexus. None of my friends who own Lexuses (Lexi?) have ever uttered a single complaint about them! But, YMMV.

(what I *WANT* is a Maserati MC12! :cool: )
 
Fracmeister,

Forget reliability, safety, and all the other boring family man type of concerns and get the Ferrari. How many lives do you live? That's right, just one. Have fun mate! :D :)

BTW, I wish I had your problems.
 
Hi Fracmeister-

From an engineering/quality perspective the Lexus is probably the best bet. Like a cheap quartz watch, that brand of car simply has no soul at all. If I was spending my own money and wanted a balance of speed, strength, payload, appearance, gravitas, and sportiness, I would simply choose betweeen the Mercedes-Benz E500 or CLS500 (shown below) models:

CLS500C_main.jpg

~ Blue Jays ~​
 
The LS 430 is a gorgeous vehicle, rated way up there by car and driver and Consumer reports.

Superb ride, excellent power and all the bells and whistles. It maintains a great resale value, has an excellent repair history and did very well in the crash studies.

Of course it drinks only premium fuel but if you can afford the car who cares about the small increase in fuel costs!!!
I would take one over the Mercedes simply because they are less expensive to buy and maintain, the ride is similar, has better power [0-60], and gets a better insurance rate.

And it costs less.........................
 
Infiniti q45 has 50 more horses and is very similar in design....I wonder what it is about Nissan and Infiniti that some just seem to overlook even though they are leaps and bounds ahead in the perfomance department in almost every category. Titan....most powerful standard V8 pickup/altima 3.5 smokes camry in both style and substance/ q45 340 horses, lexus ls430, 290....I guess status is just more important than anything else to some people. I hear the fit and finish line alot, but I just must not be sophisticated enough to see the glaring difference....every time I see one of those god-awful homely Camry's when I'm driving my Altima, I feel bad for the person driving that grandma mobile. Back to the Lexus, the ls 430 and the Infiniti Q45 look extremely similar and other than performance, I have not compared the two, but I wasn't aware there was anything else that mattered. :D


"Even in today's horsepower war, this 340-horse, 333-torque Infiniti outpowers and outgrunts competitors like the Audi A8 (330 HP), BMW 745i (325), Jaguar XJ8 (294), Lexus LS430 (290) and Mercedes S430 (275). Clue: that's all of them. In terms of specific output, it's also more efficient than all save the Audi. Okay guys, this blowing-the-doors-off-all-competitors thing is getting old!

When you're fastest in a pack of V8 elitists, no request for speed goes unfulfilled, whether at rest, in the suburbs, or on the freeways. A more aggressive final-drive ratio (as of the 2003 model year) should have the Q45 easily beating Infiniti's 5.9-second 0-60 claim" Automotive.com review.
 
fracmeister said:
Talk me out of a Lexus LS 430
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Don't buy one.

It's a hideously expensive, gas-guzzling, planet-shagging status symbol.

Leave your grandchildren some air to breathe and buy a smaller, more sensible car. Even if you do get a Lexus, your neighbours will raise the bar next year and you'll beggar yourself all over again.

Escape the treadmill.

;)

maximus otter
 
If you want that Lexus, go get that Lexus. You've raised kids and passed the cars down. Do something for YOU. Or a nice Ferrarri. Can you imagine one of those?
 
Buy what you want. Probably can't beat a Lexus for a fast, comfortable and quiet ride. Cars don't have souls. "Soul" in a car is what you call it when it breaks down and you don't want to call it a piece of junk. If you want to be connected to the road, get a small roadster or convertible, not a big Bimmer or Merc instead of the Lexus.
 
maximus otter said:
... Even if you do get a Lexus, your neighbours will raise the bar next year ...
maximus otter
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Hey Mr. Amblonyx cinereus grande --- Thanks for the thoughts but on this count you are too late. My neighbors have these puppies as 2nd or 3rd cars.
:eek:
 
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