2006 Lexus LS 430 Review

The Lexus LS 430 is a perfect car for those who lament the loss of big, roomy, powerful and generally soft rear-wheel-drive American luxury sedans.

Cadillac, Buick, Lincoln and Chrysler once built many such autos, but the Lincoln Town Car is the only big domestic rear-drive rival to the LS 430 with plenty of luxury, roominess and isolation from the outside world.

The Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne aren't quite on the same playing field as the LS 430 because they're front-drive autos that lack the inherently better balance of a rear-drive auto. European rear-drive rivals such as BMW sell more harder-edged sedans than the LS 430 to maintain their sports/luxury sedan status.

The motoring goal for General Motors fans long was to gradually move up from a Chevrolet to a Cadillac in the GM pecking order, although some only made it to Oldsmobile or Buick. Those who favored Ford Motor got its Lincoln Continental, and the old Chrysler Corp. offered its boat-like Imperial.

Things seemingly changed overnight in the luxury car market here in the 1970s, when Mercedes-Benz began stealing buyers of U.S. luxury cars with big, powerful sedans. They had more status than a Cadillac, but Mercedes buyers who'd owned posh American autos silently grumbled that the Mercedes seats were too stiff and that the ride was too firm.

Enter Toyota's upscale Lexus division in late 1989, which introduced the new rear-drive LS 400, with "LS" standing for Luxury Sedan and "400" designating the car's 4-liter V-8, which has been enlarged to 4.3 liters for the current LS.

Mercedes thought its big luxury sedan was fine for both Americans and Europeans, who needed a firmer suspension for Europe's more demanding roads. However, Lexus found after studying the U.S. market that most Americans wanted a softer luxury sedan than the one sold by Mercedes.

The big Mercedes sedan was no thing of beauty, and neither was the LS 400. But never mind, because the Lexus looked somewhat like the top-line Mercedes, cost considerably less and had softer seats and a more comfortable ride.

The LS was an instant hit. If it lacked the 100-year-old heritage of Mercedes, who cared? Everyone knew Lexus was from Toyota. And if Toyota was known for anything, it was known for the reliability and craftsmanship of even small economy cars. Nobody thus feared an LS would break down and leave them stranded or that its dashboard would begin to disintegrate after 10,000 miles.

The LS got upgrades in late 1992, and a second-generation LS 400 went on sale in late 1994. A third-generation model arrived in October 2000 with a larger 4.3-liter V-8, and the 2004 model got a more assertive-looking front styling, new six-speed automatic transmission and suspension and brake improvements.

Through it all, the LS continued to look much the same, and its styling continuity helped it consistently retain high resale value. For 2005, a firmer "European-tuned" suspension option substituted 18-inch wheels for the standard 17s and provided slightly better handling.

The 2006 LS 430 is virtually unchanged because a new model is due next year.

The $56,525 list price of the LS 430 gets its buyer plenty of comfort and convenience equipment, including everything from a power sunroof to a power trunk closer.

The host of safety items include front-side, front-knee and curtain-side airbags.

Helping both safety and roadability are an anti-skid system and anti-lock all-disc brakes with a brake assist feature for surer emergency stops.

The LS 430 has accurate steering, a magic-carpet ride, good handling and powerful brakes. It generally can't match harder-edged European sports/luxury sedans, but isn't supposed to.

An $800 Sport Package with a "Euro-tuned" suspension and wider tires on 18-inch wheels sharpens handling without hurting the ride, although manually adjusting the suspension to the "sport" setting causes the ride to become jerky. The price of this package jumps to $2,500 if chrome alloy wheels are added.

The smooth, quiet 278-horsepower V-8 works well with the responsive automatic transmission to make this a fast car (0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds) despite the fact that it weighs about 4,000 pounds.

Estimated fuel economy is pretty good, considering the car's weight and performance: 18 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway. Premium fuel is required.

Options include $486 XM Satellite radio and a $1,000 keyless access and starting system, although a driver still must turn an ignition switch (without inserting a key).

Some of the numerous seductive options have over-the-top prices, and they raised the cost of my LS 430 test car from $56,525 to $74,750.

The ultimate package is suitably called the Ultra Luxury package. It costs $13,570. That's enough to buy a decent economy car, and the package cuts down a bit on rear trunk room.

The Ultra Luxury option contains many items, including a front/rear obstacle-detection system with a rearview camera, air suspension, rear-cabin air conditioning and power seats -- and adaptive cruise control that uses radar to help prevent the LS from hitting a vehicle ahead of it.

There's plenty of room for four to five tall folks in the tomb-quiet interior, which has high-grade materials and electroluminescent instrumentation that's easily read under all lighting conditions.

There also is good cabin storage for various small objects, and the big, easily loaded trunk contains plenty of room.

The LS 430 has a lot going for it, and some consider it the benchmark for luxury sedans. 
2006 LEXUS LS 430
PRICES
$56,525

LIKES
Luxurious. Roomy. Fast. Superb construction.

DISLIKES
Undistinguished styling. Costly options. Less sporty than German rivals.