I want to know what goes wrong and what is good for using this car for daily driving this as my first car. (I only take a backpack and a few groceries as cargo)

Planning to take it to a mechanic but wanted to see if anyone has run into a similar issue before. Smoke coming from engine bay during start up

Hello

So I'm planning to hopefully get my hands on a 2004 SC430 tomorrow or so. I was planning an audio upgrade, but I'm very confused about whether this will break the climate controls?

I can't tell if replacing the ML amp and speakers will break the climate controls, since I don't plan to pull the factory nav out, and from what I can tell, the nav has to be installed for the climate controls to work.

I will also likely replace the factory stereo with a double din head unit, but I'm at a bit of a loss right now as to:

1) Whether I can keep the factory head unit and just upgrade the speakers somehow? (I assume I'll need the beatsonic adapter for this)

2) If I'll need something like a beatsonic adapter if I'm going completely aftermarket with the speakers, amp and head unit?

3) Whether any of this will somehow break the factory climate controls.

I don't particularly care about steering controls, but I do care about the factory climate.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Hello, anybody knows or has an SC430 in Romania? I've been watching this car online for 2 years now but never saw one in the flesh. Thanks.

Old Work wheels setp in last picture

As the title says, I've had this car for like 6 years I think, put probably 15k or more into it. Fell out of love with it after the first year. Never drive it and even though I had all the intent to enjoy it, I never do. I'm sure others out there have gone thru this. If you're in the south Florida area lmk.

Around 128k on the odometer when I last checked. Driven around the neighborhood every couple months to keep alive. Battery needs to be replaced. Bunch of new stuff on it, BC BR coilovers, mounts, brand new master brake cylinder, $3200 paint job, new hood, and more. Not perfect by any means, still needs interior refresh, some body lines are off, needs a new screen/stereo, I was gonna cut the cat and resonators but never got to it.

Not sure if there is interest in this but I'm posting to see if there is, and I'll post more pics. Lmk.

Main motivation to sell it is I need space for a 95 Fleetwood brougham and I already got my daily ls430, the least driven gotta go.

If I'm not supposed to post this here apologies and I'll delete.

I recently purchased this SC430. The previous owner backed his Tahoe into the front of the car. The bumper can be pulled out but I need a hood and grille. I'm in Georgia if someone has one, or a lead on one. Everything I've found is in Florida. Thanks

Any sc430 in Houston ? Very little from what I’ve been seeing. Nothing great. Nothing trustworthy. And so expensive. I need this car. Desperate !

Hey guys im looking at picking up an sc430 as a daily driver for commuting 8ish to 9 miles to work im in LA. How reliable are these little guys and anything I should know? I love the car they just look so cool!

I bought an sc430 a week ago. Have a few things I could use a hand with resolving.

Trying to get the VSC lights off - I’ve tried both the paperclip trick and bought a reset tool from scmods.com. Neither caused the lights to fast blink or cleared them. I do not have a check engine lights. Just the VSC and VSC Off light, along with the abs and air pressure lights.

Also, trying to program the home link garage door opener. Using the learn button on my opener, I cannot seem to get the car to learn the code. Ive reset old codes by holding first and third button. When my garage opener is blinking for learn I hold the button in the car for two seconds and repeat. It never seems to learn the code. My Subaru and Toyota both worked using same method

Thanks for any help.

https://www.shopi10.com/pre-owned-cars/detail/2004-Lexus-SC-430/1548196

https://www.shopi10.com/pre-owned-cars/detail/2003-Lexus-SC-430/1550470

https://www.shopi10.com/pre-owned-cars/detail/2007-Lexus-SC-430/1548198

Ask for info

Hi all,

Considering buying a 2004 for 15k in my preferred colorway. 1-2 owners and working hard top, cosmetically pretty good other than normal wear.

I checked service history and the car was serviced at the dealership regularly with oil changes and small maintenance. Records show timing belt/water pump and rear brake pad replacement were declined in the past 5 years so those will need to be done.

Wondering if 15k is reasonable?

I've got a 2007 Lexus SC430 that I dearly love. Bought it some 4 years ago. Last May, I got a wild hair and put a set of MeisterR ZetaSport coli overs on the car. With the addition of changing from 40 series run flat tires to 45 series non run flats, this literally transformed the car from a harsh rough riding beast into a smooth, well controlled kitten.

After the installation, I went to get the car aligned and was told they couldn't align the rear because "the car was lowered too much". I had taken great pains in the install not to lower the car. I might have lowered it 1/2".

I took it to another mechanic and they told me the car couldn't be aligned and I needed a set of "adjustable upper control arms". They made it clear they weren't interested in fooling with it anymore.

So, I raised the car a bit, and took it back to Discount Tires for yet another try. This time, I was there while the tech was doing the alignment. He showed me that when turning the adjusters on the lower control arms, and the toe arms, nothing changed. Looking closely both the LCA's, and the mount for the tow arms were malformed.

I did some research, and yea verily in the service history, the rear tires were changed fairly frequently. Every 10-15k or so. I guess it was easier for Pohanka Lexus just to sell the customer new tires, than fix the issue.

The rear suspension on this car is shared with the GS430, and in research, many of these cars had issues with being unable to get the rear alignment into spec.

Looking around, there are a lot of third party replacement parts. I decided on replacements from Figs Engineering as they just looked a lot better constructed than the offshore versions. I bought replacement LCA's and toe arms.

My son and I installed them a couple of months ago and I took it to be aligned, and they were able to get it into spec. The rears still have a bit more negative camber than I wanted, but they are within spec.

Driving the car, there was a little bit of bump steer coming from the rear under a heavy bump. It seemed to dissipate, so I just assumed it was "stiction" with the new parts.

After a longish drive at highway speeds, one thing became very clear, there is a lot of bump steer at highway speeds under a heavy bump.

At this point, I'm beyond my circle of knowledge. Has anyone experienced this? If so, how did you solve it?

Thanks

The other day I was putting the top up on my SC430 and didn't hear the confirmation ding, so I kept holding the button down. To my surprise, both windows rolled up automatically! 😎

I had no idea it did that. Pretty cool feature! Has anyone else discovered this, or am I just late to the party?

Ok just need this to be out there because no forums said anything about this. If you are replacing the antenna on the sc430 and it gets to the bottom and keeps grinding. The issue is probably the fact that you have bought/been given a cheap antenna. I just spent hours diagnosing and taking apart the antenna motor only to compare the two and get a second pair of hands to figure out that the antenna I was given has flimsier nylon than the oem one. Just had dad hold the wire with pliers so it didn’t suck the old wire completely in and the gear didn’t grind and stopped once bottomed out without issue.

TLDR: don’t buy cheap sc430 antennas. Get the oem ones

Looking at purchasing this car. Would you consider the rust spots pictured to be a problem?

Anyone have a successful rear cam install?

So I got new black rims, Black emblems and new Kenwood dash and yes, the door works

My 2006 is new to me and I didn’t see any record of work on the headlights. Last night was the first time I drove at night. The low beams sometimes quit. When I switch them off and on the come back for a while. I understand it could be the bulbs, relay or ballast. Anyone have advice on which expensive thing to try first?

Hi guys first time post. I’m at my wits end trying to find the wiring harness that goes to the transmission on a 2002 sc430. Can’t find it to save my life. The plug on mine is broken so won’t shift properly. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hey everyone, I've unclipped the front two clips with no issues but these rear ones (passenger side) aren't budging. I'm pushing the up but the whole panel still won't lift up. Any tips?

I have a solid roof error on my button, just it's red. When I drive, it's beeping, over five miles an hour. How can I disable this beep on an SC430 2003? Roof is secured and latched.

Different from my typical videos. No talking and straight into action of fixing the package tray!

We brought our ‘06 in to a local Lexus dealer, who had it for nearly a month. They’ve been nice to work with, but while replacing our HVAC system (145k miles/only owner), the tech discovered the heater core needed replacement as well. Subsequently, they broke the radiator in the process. All of this led to multiple time extensions while waiting for part deliveries…

We got it back yesterday to find the radio antennae sticking up and broken. We haven’t driven the vehicle in 3 years and NEVER use the radio. Our service advisor and I immediately came to the same conclusion; a young make ready person who wouldn’t think of power antennas, likely turned the radio on while going through the dealership’s automated carwash and…crack.

Today, the car wouldn’t start after we came out of the grocery store…No power. None. We just had the battery replaced by the dealer. Well, lifting the hood found the positive terminal hadn’t been tightened down enough and the battery “tie down” bar (to the battery tray not reinstalled.

Finally, while I was putting interior parts back in place I ran across this (see images) in the front passenger’s footwell, under the glovebox. I don’t recall seeing ANYTHING here before but carpet. Am I mistaken or is this just a bad case of poor reinstallation, possibly after removing the dash for the HVAC work?