Lexus LS 400/LS 430

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#4595 of 8462 rugeti by lenscap

Sep 10, 2003 (7:06 am)

The current LS is not fairly new. It was unveiled in January 2000 at the Detroit Auto Show and went on sale in the fall of 2000 as a 2001. It is now entering its fourth year.

Lexus does not have long model cycles. Typically their cars run for five years, with a cosmetic freshening in the fourth year. So, what Lexus is doing follows their history. Compare this to Mercedes and BMW, who usually keep model runs around 6-8 years. With Lexus there are exceptions, as the old SC and current GS have runs longer than five years. Also, the last LS ran an extra year because it wasn't quite ready yet after five years from what I heard.

As an LS recap:

LS 400 gen I - 1990, 1991, 1992
LS 400 gen I freshened - 1993, 1994
LS 400 gen II - 1995, 1996, 1997
LS 400 gen II freshened - 1998, 1999, 2000
LS 430 gen III - 2001, 2002, 2003
LS 430 gen III freshened - 2004

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#4596 of 8462 Leonard by paulchiu

Sep 10, 2003 (7:10 am)

We cancelled our driving trip when we read that it was going to rain Labor Day weekend. Turned out that the weather reports were partly right, as it rained after Monday. So still only about 600 miles on my LS.

An update on the door noise. I noticed that if I parked the car under the hot sun, I can drive it for a long while before I hear any noise. I can hear it easily in the early drive to Starbucks. So maybe temperature and humidity affects the plastics/materials within the door linings.

Music from the ML drowns the noise even at mid levels, but business radio doesn't. The ML soundstage is just so good. But you know that already.

Again, I won't attend to this until my first 1K service at Ray Catena.

At 600 miles, the LS seems to be accelerating even better, or maybe it's me getting used to it.

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#4597 of 8462 Driver side door noise by jcast

Sep 10, 2003 (8:13 am)

My LS 430 also had this noise. It couldn't be duplicated by the service tech (at Catena) since he drove it when it was hot out. I identified it once the temperature dropped - it's the plastic window guard between the window and the door frame. For the price we paid for these cars you'd think we'd have better snap in pieces! All in all, Catena service great - now if we could only identify where the vibration is coming from.

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#4598 of 8462 Jackie by paulchiu

Sep 10, 2003 (8:29 am)

Car noise like what we experience is a problem with most high end cars, as I can now say with some authority. I had a Mercedes S500 for 3 years and I learned to live with these noise.

I also noticed iritating noise with the BMW 7 series and even in a Rolls.

The real problem is that the overall sound level in these expensive cars is so low that minor noise like ours are so easy to spot.

BUT everytime we drive that "loaner" home, doesn't our "noisy" car seem so much better when we pick it up again?

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#4599 of 8462 Updated NAV System by jbianco12

Sep 10, 2003 (10:17 am)

I was just reading one of the reviews of the 04 nav system and that it was updated from 750,000 destinations to several million. Does anyone know if the update is available for 02 models and how much? I heard past updates can cost upwards of $500-$800. Thanks.

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#4600 of 8462 Jackie by paulchiu

Sep 10, 2003 (10:28 am)

Car noise like what we experience is a problem with most high end cars, as I can now say with some authority. I had a Mercedes S500 for 3 years and I learned to live with these noise.

I also noticed iritating noise with the BMW 7 series and even in a Rolls.

The real problem is that the overall sound level in these expensive cars is so low that minor noise like ours are so easy to spot.

BUT everytime we drive that "loaner" home, doesn't our "noisy" car seem so much better when we pick it up again?

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#4601 of 8462 PaulChiu by michael_mattox

Sep 10, 2003 (2:58 pm)

The Prior LS 430s cannot be upgraded to the 04 level at any price. (5 million destinations)

I have been told that the Hardware will not support the upgrade...

I would be interested to know if anyone else has heard something different. It never hurts to double check especially when it is a brand new item.

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#4602 of 8462 ljflx by lenscap

Sep 10, 2003 (3:39 pm)

In an earlier post you thought it was doubtful you could get a 2004 with both sport package and custom luxury package. It looks like you can because all the photos ciculating have the 18" wheels of the sport package plus the small round sensors in the bumper of the parking assist from the custom lux. So it seems like you can get both, although I may be wrong.

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#4603 of 8462 Nav update by splogue

Sep 10, 2003 (3:55 pm)

Well, if it is true that my less than one year old car can't use the new nav DVD, I am *not* going to be a happy camper. I really hope that isn't true.

The price on the DVD update started off at $500, but was reduced in the following year to $250. So, that's a good guess on how much this one will cost (if it works in the older 430s, that is).

Sean

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#4604 of 8462 lenscap by ljflx

Sep 10, 2003 (4:43 pm)

I hope you are right. I'll find out at the end of the month and let the board know unless someone else posts it first. I'm starting my negotiation on an LX470 at that time and want to take the 2004 LS out for a spin as well. The new ones are due in on September 26th at my dealership. I hear that many are already presold though.

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