Being an LS430 owner I can offer some insight for potential owners. The LS430 is an extraordinary car, even at 17yrs old and 260,000k mine drives pretty much like a new car. Passengers are always amazed at how smooth and quiet it is. Interiors hold up amazingly well, the engine is incredibly smooth and sounds amazing when above 5500rpm. You can drive a thousand K plus in a day comfortably and on a long trip you will likely use about 9 litres per 100k. A few stats, I paid $16,500 5 yrs ago and have driven about 100,000 k at an total average of 10.1 litres per 100. No repairs have been needed other than a set of new front rotors and brake pads. It gets serviced every 10,000k and uses no oil between changes. Everything still works except the front drivers side squab seat heater which died a few months ago, but I don’t intend to fix it. If I sold it, I’d probably get around $15,000 on current values, think about that …..100,000k for $1500 and basic servicing. Cheap motoring in the lap of luxury. We are looking to buy a new luxury SUV when covid gets out of the way, but the LS will stay as our second vehicle.
Have to admit I’m a Toyota/Lexus fan. Owned many a Camry, Prado and LandCruiser and wifey currently drives a ISF 350 F sport, it’s an awesome car. My uncle bought one of the first LS 400 to come to Australia way back in the 90s. Bumped into my Aunty who was driving it when I was driving my WRX police car. Yep, I got paid to wring the neck out of Wrexys (and other awesome cars including Saab Aero, XR8, SS Commodores etc) 8 hrs per day. I Parked the fuzzmobile on the side of the road and went for a spin in the Lexus, I fell in love with that car. It had Lexus4 number plates, a truly magnificent car. I should tell you about the time I intercepted a Ferrari Testarossa, and a brand spanking Supercharged Jaguar XJR in the late 90s..and sat in a Mustang, the fighter plane, not the shitty car, but I’ll wait until you test those cars 🤭🍺🇦🇺
The LS430 is legendary, but I kinda prefer the LS460. It's a bit better styled. And like the 4.3 V8, the 4.6 is pretty smooth for what it was created for. I've driven a GX460 with the same engine (it just has 85HP less than the LS) and you could almost not hear the engine. And that was after 42,000 miles. I'd replace the IS250 with the ES300/330, or if you can find one, the ES350. Much bigger than the IS so everyone will be more comfortable.
I'm glad cars like this are out of fashion- they perform better in the city and the highway where I do 99% of my driving while using less fuel than SUVs. I have seen many large SUVs for sale in my neighbourhood since the petrol price went up this year!
Good video and solid list, cool to see the Optima made it to the list, they're heavily underrated here in South Africa. I was just viewing local listings for the IS250 before watching this video👌 Keep up the great content!
Noticed all the cars on the list are from Asian manufacturers lol. Not saying that's a bad thing but did you notice this when you compiled the list? Another couple idea for yourselves guys for a video is the best affordable cars on the market that give you the most horsepower for your dollar and cars that are P plate compliant that even experienced driver struggle to drive. Look forward to Friday's video and if you ever need help on here I'd be willing to try and lend a hand. Keep up the good work guys and stay safe.
yeah, nsw cops love them, especially in undercover trim. Which you can tell from the two separate square red and blue flashing lights on the parcel shelf.
The IS is a fantastic car, but it has a back seat far too tight to recommend it as a family car. You're not gonna be getting your inlaws or a mildly tall teenager in the back of an IS. Same for the boot, you'll never wanna do the airport run in it. An ES or GS can be had for similar prices and will make much better family cars.
Hey Mate. Great list and all but I'm pretty disappointed the Toyota Camry 03, 04, 05, 06, 07 all weren't apart of the Top 5. Not to fussy on the order but would have liked to see this :) All seriousness. Great list and I'm a fan of the slightly older Japanese Luxury range like the IS range. Not enough people recognize then as a bargain as some of the rest of us do. To your point on the IS250, most of what the 3.5 V6 on better performance tires fixed most of the boring car issue.
Heya Daniel. Sorry mate, was hoping I was clear at the start but maybe it didn't come across the way I intended. The Camry (and four other excellent cars) made it on our "Top 5 Family Cars Under $30K" list and our experts recommended the earlier variants of all those cars for this Top 5 but rather than repeating ourselves, we decided to go with an alternative group of 5 cars. - AK
@@ReDriven The comment was meant to come off completely sarcastic. Saying why wasn't the entire list full of Camrys from 03-07. XD XD. I guess I kind of made it seem too serious. Lol
You should do videos on cars for p plates. Especially with tons of foreign students moving to Aussie for studies and needing cars/wanting to know what sporty cars they can get. I'd suggest focus on VIC cos all the uni kids go there
Great to see some of the Korean cars in the mix. Had both the Optima and Sonata - both great cars and bullet proof. The 2.0 in the Sonata is a very nice engine. Bang for buck is miles ahead of the pack.
Idk if Australia has many of these, but in NZ I would recommend a 2007 Nissan "skyline" 350gt, quite thirsty, but nice ad interior, reliable, 310hp, rwd, mmm
Camry? It is universal. It is reliable. It does what it needs to good enough. It is affordable. And you can get it in a V6 which is smooth and very reliable.
100% Jurie. The Camry (and four other excellent cars) made it on our "Top 5 Family Cars Under $30K" list and our experts recommended the earlier variants of all those cars for this Top 5 but rather than repeating ourselves, we decided to go with an alternative group of 5 cars. - AK
If you’re talking about buying a family car, you’re really off point if you don’t want an SUV. Arranging small children at a low ride height is incredibly impractical. I’m sure Jim the mechanic might agree with me. If you’ve got a few of those little hell raisers, you’re lower back is in for some tough times in the future. The other great thing about having the higher ground clearance is that you don’t have to slow down for speed humps or schoolboys.
I personally don't fit but I'm 6'2. Kids however don't seem to have much of an issue. I have two mate that owned IS250's when their kids were young and they loved them, until they both had a third addition to the kid roster and had to delve into SUV world. - AK
