Lexus SC430

For about five years, I owned a small used car lot. Not the best five years of my life, I have documented the experience elsewhere on this site. Anyway, one of the cars that passed through muy hands during that time was an early, relatively high mileage black SC430 with the “pigskin” interior option. It was a beautiful car and, after my shop went thru it and did motor mounts, timing belt and a lot of other really expensive stuff, it was a pleasure to drive. Read more...That car sold and went away, but I had been bitten by the bug. I have always admired the SC430 and felt that it would become a classic down the road. The low sales volume bolsters that, along with the attached Toyota reliability. Recently we decided it was time to replace my wife’s 2002 Accord and we were in a position to do something interesting, so I looked at E-bay and lo and behold, there was a two-owner SC430 that met three criteria: 1. It was low mileage. Only 50K on the clock. 2. I was local. Easy afternoon drive to look and test drive. 3. It was reasonably priced. We drove it home after the test drive.

My Review

My first revelation on driving this beauty was that the front end was “skittish.” It would react to every bump and crack in the road. The British call it tram-railing or trying to follow defects in the road surface. When I looked closely at the low profile tires I found that, while they had little wear, they were about eight years old and had some dry rot and cracking, so I invested in some nice mid-priced replacements and the problem was solved.

The front end of the car is particularly good looking and when I bought it, it has not been befouled with the front license plate required in Virginia. I decided to tempt fate and go as long as I could without mounting it, but the car was due for inspection so I left it at my shop and when I came back it had a new inspection sticker and my great staff had mounted the plate.

The convertible top is a marvel. Watching it operate is fun and scary at the same time. Scary because you know that one day it’s not going to work and there will be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth. But I’m sure, if it’s still mine when it happens I can fix it. One thing you sacrifice for this top is obviously trunk space. The top won’t operate if there is stuff in the boot. There is a small cavity big enough to hold – what else – a golf bag or a couple of small overnight cases.