Question about potentially buying an LS430
Hello all,
I've been a fan of the LS cars for a few years and a dealer near me has an 2004 ls430 custom luxury for sale. It's got 121,000 miles, mercury metallic paint, black semi-aniline leather, smartaccess, laser cruise, and in general looks to have been well taken care of. If it's still around this weekend I'm planning to go check it out in person. I'd include a link, but it looks sub rules don't allow it.
My questions are the following:
-
They're asking $9300. Does this seem reasonable considering age and mileage? And if not, what sounds reasonable?
-
I know timing belt/water pump service at 90k is something that needs to have been done, or to plan on doing soon. Are there any other major service items that I need to know about?
Anything else I should keep in mind?
Thanks in advance.
Posted Nov 29, 2018, 6:11 AM UTC
For my area(Nashville) even with only 121k miles $9300 is very high. I know the LS430's can have issues with the Mark Levinson audio system, the sub can fail, and I believe door lock actuators are common. Avoid an Ultra Lux model, because they have air suspension and it is stupid expensive to fix properly(but can be converted to normal struts and springs) and LS models like to eat front suspension bushings, so if you hear any clunking or creaking, that's where you'd want to look.
If there is no receipt of the timing belt/water pump being replaced it needs to be done immediately, as they are an interference engine and if the belt slips a tooth or breaks it'll bend valves at a minimum. I would expect no less than $850 from an independent shop to replace it.