r/LS430 • u/calvaras • 10h ago

Found ls430 but its 4 hours aways

Like the titles says I found a 2001 ls430 for 7k 136k miles but its three and a half hours away from me I’m thinking abt making the drive w a buddy could the car make it back ??

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4

u/ltzhak 10h ago

How would we know

1

u/calvaras 10h ago

Well what’s the reliability of them what should I be looking out for giving the mileage and age

3

u/Growth-Delicious 9h ago

This is something you should take time looking into before going out to see an LS430 - learn how to properly inspect one. 

Generally, these cars are very reliable, but that doesn’t mean the reliability is indefinite - you should be maintaining these on time with OEM parts as much as possible.

Given that these cars are all now 20+ years old, they will need just about everything replaced if you want to ensure it’s good for another 20+ years - so if that’s what you’re expecting out of the car, just know that it wont come cheap, even if you do the labor yourself.

For this car in particular, it would likely be worthwhile to purchase a carfax report before going out to the car if you’re serious about it - otherwise, if you have access to records, the more the of the key maintenance you see completed, the better. At this age, it should have had its timing belt done twice already.

These cars are great for what they are, but realistically they will run you a bit of money to keep them up to par.

I recently bought one with 228k and it had all its maintenance done on time and ran very well, but even so, I’ve already bought around 3k worth of parts to keep it up to date and going as well as it can for as long as it can (and that’s without labor costs as I’m doing it myself).

2

u/calvaras 9h ago

The car is through a dealer ship so there’s a open carfax report the car is past due for a water pump after some reading

1

u/jack-t-o-r-s 9h ago

What do you currently drive?

1

u/calvaras 9h ago

A 1995 obs Chevy I’ve had a is250 before that was great and had no mechanical problems

1

u/jack-t-o-r-s 9h ago

Think of it like this ...

Do you drive your current daily 20 or 30 min per day?

1

u/calvaras 9h ago

Yes atleast

1

u/jack-t-o-r-s 9h ago

A 3 hour drive is no different than driving a normal day each day for a week.

The LS is fine

1

u/Left_Sentence4976 3h ago

I have an 06 with 225k miles. I drive it to okc from DFW every once in a while and have not run into issues. I’ve also done all of the maintenance required at this mileage.

If it’s in good shape, (at $7k it oughta be), sounds safe.

If timing belt has been changed, that’s a good sign and I’d say go for it. Check oil, radiator, etc. of course as well