Faults:

A/C wasn't working when I bought the car, which I knew. After a re-gas, it turned out to be the compressor, which was replaced under warranty.

However, the condenser also turned out to be holed, so I had to pay to get this replaced, too.

Then it turned out that the rear A/C didn't work - which includes the fridge in the back-seat, along with vents over the rear doors. The consensus is this is a common fault, and often, people just cap it off. (So, after three re-gases, a compressor and a condenser, I have working A/C - but not in the rear.)

Telescoping steering also doesn't work. In fact, the column is seized solid (despite the dealer history showing that it's been replaced at least once, along with the famous motor more than once). Luckily it's at the right reach for me, so I pulled the fuse and am living with it.

Throttle body motor magnet literally unglued itself, jammed up the T/B and I found it clinging to the armature. A new T/B cost £2k. (Yes it caused the car to break down at an inopportune moment - obviously confusing the hell out of the ECU which must have said 'This all doesn't compute, I'm outta here!') Very nasty. Somebody could have got killed by that.

Front door speaker surrounds had detached themselves from the plastic edge of the drive unit. (Luckily I was able to profile on a nice bead of clear silicone to reattach.)

One of the front parking sensors has failed. Therefore I have to have the Lexus Park Assist switched off at all times, otherwise it just screams at me.

Low Tire warning came on, on the motorway, during the drive home after purchase. No fault was found, I reset it, and this hasn't happened again. (Still very unnerving.)

General Comments:

The LS430 differs from the 1998-2000 LS400 in just about every way possible.

It has a lot of unnecessary features (IMO) which could easily annoy you. These might include: (1) self-closing doors (i.e. from ajar), (2) smart entry (which luckily you can disable), (3) both door mirrors dipping in reverse (when you might want full control, or it to stay dipped whilst you edge forward during parking), (4) auto-wiper speed overriding the intermittent setting - again, taking control away from you, the driver.

The LED rear light-clusters are another potential troublespot.

Where the LS430 scores over the '400 is primarily in its handling. It is simply outstanding. However, this comes at the price of ride comfort - being much firmer. (Nevertheless, the seats I think have the edge over the '400's.) Interior noise is very low generally, but road noise at speed is somewhat worse.

I can't fault its performance, but compared to the '400 it seems to lack that high-speed 'shove' that you might need for motorway overtaking. (Perhaps it's just my car.)

The ML audio system is the best I've ever heard in a car. It's monitor-quality, IMO. Because the door speakers use the door itself as their enclosure, and are not reflex-ported, they do not suffer the same boomy overhang and muddling of vocals/speech that you hear in the '400. (Plus, there's a lot of clever DSP to keep the time-domain response correct.) And the bass is just extended and clean. (I do miss the removable 6-disc CD cartridge, though.)

The styling may not be to everyone's taste. It does look quite frumpy, actually - and certainly not as poised as the '400. On the other hand, it's also a bit 'blingy' with its chrome adornments and gobo lights - which don't seem to suit its target audience! Oddly, it is a feature of the '430 that the rear wheels sit forward in the arch - looking very much like a mistake!

The interior has a very high-quality feel. I just wish there were more colour-schemes available!

Still a nicer place to be than any current car I know of.

Faults:

Sub woofer has never worked (a common fault).

Laser cruise control has an alignment fault and doesn't work.

Rain sensing wiper function doesn't work.

General Comments:

Faults listed as above. The premium Mark Levinson stereo is nice, but the sub woofer is a common fault and very expensive to replace.

The laser (dynamic) cruise control is also a great feature when it is working properly. It will even apply the brakes if you get too close to the car in front. Mine developed an alignment fault soon after I purchased the car. I took it to Lexus and they had to contact Japan for any info on the laser system. It would appear that the laser system was only used for one year before they went to radar, which was apparently more reliable.

The rain sensing wipers have never worked, but the car has a pretty intelligent intermittent feature that varies the wipe, so I have never worried about getting the rain sensing function looked at.

Overall I do really like this car, it performs very well and is not bad on fuel. There are too many features to list, and a lot of them are not obvious unless you are made aware of them. A few features worthy of mention are self closing doors, auto dimming mirrors, "smart key" keyless entry (puddle lights and interior light illuminate as you approach the car at night) - just touch the door handle and the car unlocks, full electric seats (heated and cooled) and steering column electrically adjustable up and down and in and out, all with 3 memory positions. The list goes on and on. On the safety side there are 10 airbags.