Vsx Platinum Edition

[Henrietta Naughton]

Ipreviouly owned a 1999 LS 400 (same color combination). From what I remember, the differences I see are: black emblems, black lower body cladding, alloy wheels with exposed lug nuts, maple wood accents instead of the darker wood accents, leather seat surfaces that are matt-finish instead of shiny leather, floor mats that say "Platinum" and side emblems that say "Platinum".

According to the window sticker from my 2000 Platinum Series package also included heated front seats, Nakamichi/CD audio system. and Platinum series badges on the sides. Apparently the content of the Platinum series on the 2000 LS varys a bit. I wonder if mine has a little more stuff since it was made at about the end of the 2000 model in June 2000.

Basically its just an appearance package, new wheels and badges, body colored trim as opposed to two tone, maple wood, and royale leather. All Lexus leather is matte (leather when untreated will buff up and get shiny with age) but the Platinum's has a textured surface on the insets.

As I wrote in a post on another similar topic, the Platinum Series of the 2000 model year and the similar Coach package of the 1997 model year appear to have been an effort to pump up sales at the end of a model (body style) run. The Platinum Series package was very heavily discounted right on the window sticker which made the options quite a bargain over what it would have cost to have purchased them separately. My late 2000 LS Platinum Series even included chrome Platinum Series wheels (like 2001 LS430 wheels) at no charge. Personally, I could care less about the package but I certainly was amused at the "WOW!-response" from a dealer parts department employee who looked at it last Friday to confirm a minor part I needed.

That was the whole point of the Platinum edition, the "Platinum" stood for the Platinum American Express card. If you look at the Platinum badges the font and background are the same as a platinum AMEX card.

Thanks for the responses - looks like I have an SF Platinum model based on your postings - It was leased new in Florida and does not have heated seats. Sorry I missed out on the AMEX membership payment.

I bought this car to replace a 1999 black on black LS my wife drove. I sold that car in January with 59K and bought her a 2002 LX 470. Based on her so-so reaction I honestly thought she missed the 1999 and was saying the 470 was just "OK".

So - I am driving the 2000 LS now - it is a great car but if I knew I was going to wind up driving it I probably should have strreeetched my outlay and purchased a 2001 LS 430. If I sell the 2000 now I will take a beating on the depreciation.

However, I have been told by a electronics specialist that he believes Lexus really cheapened whats behind the panels and the infrastructure of the LS 430 based on opening them up to install DVD players and XM radios. He suggests sticking with a 2000 or older LS for a more solid, over-engineered car.

I haven't heard anything to the point that Lexus cheapened anything in the construction of the LS430 over the 400, my experience with the two speaks to the contrary, of course I haven't opened either up...

We are getting off the original subject of this topic, but as one who used to have a 2000 LS and 1990 LS parked side by side in the garage and who has torn apart the interior and trunk trim of both when installing phones, I have to concur that the 1990 was in many ways superior to the 2000 LS. There was an interesting story on the news last night - I think it was on the PBS News Hour - about how Japanese manufacturers, including Toyota, began removing "unnecessary content" from their cars beginning in the mid 90's to contain manufacturing costs. The news story focused on how Japanese car manufacturers, following the lead of U.S. car manufacturers, learned that they could move hidden content that the customer would not notice. An example was given of how Toyota stopped painting the insides of bumpers. I remember when Toyota Camry purchasers complained loudly in 1997 when the triple door seals (just like the ones the LS has) of the previous Camry were discontinued.

One only has to compare the engine compartment of an old LS to a newer one to see some of this. The engine compartment in an old LS looks like a work of art with all the polished surfaces and the display of the mechanicals. In the newer LS, all you see is a big black bland engine cover. Actually, the larger tolerances and trim gaps in the 2000 LS made it much easier to install my hand held phone car kit and to route all the cables. The older and newer LS's are both great automobiles - they are just very, very different.

One of the other unique features of the Platinum LS400's was that the whole car was painted the same color. All previous LS400's had 2 tone paint. The top portion was one color & the bottom portion another .. The Generation 3's all come painted this way...

My 2000 Platinum LS is has a two tone color scheme - white body with silver lower plastic cladding - same as on the LS I purchased in early 1990. I really don't know which upper body colors, other than black, were available with the matching lower body cladding. I do know that by around 1993, the darker color cars were available with lower plastic cladding that matched the metalwork color. I remember that the owner of the lawn service that sprayed chemicals on my LS bumper ruining the paint in 1993 spend so much time at the Lexus dealer having my car fixed that he purchased an all black LS and also an all black SC400!

Actually the 2000 Plat is the first LS to be monotoned. Some colors had SIMILAR upper and lower colors, but they weren't the same. If your lawn guy bought an all black LS back then, it had to have been resprayed to match (which is somewhat common). The black ones all had grey trim.

The more I drive this car the more I like it. The ride is a little soft but the car is so quiet and smooth. It is getting >20 MPG in combination driving and has great power when you need it. I think the wheels are a big selling point over the standard LS 400 versions and I love the platinum emblems and mono-color theme. My wife got tired of putting gas in the LX470 and on Monday she said she wanted to start driving this vehicle.

A new question for you - what do you folks use on the interior transmission shifter plastic and on the woodgrain to keep them looking and shiny and feeling slick? My shifter indicator plastic has some minor hazing. I have used toothpaste in the past on plastic surfaces but this probably warrants some additional care.

I have a beautiful gold LS400 Lexus Platinum Series. It is in great condition. I just did a lot of maintenance to it. I have spent $1800. People act like I should be giving it away to them. It is a great car, kept in the garage. But people act like I am charging 25k instead of 5495. I would take a little less as well. It is just awesome but I don't need it anymore. These are special cars.

Why hasn't it sold? Harsh truth: It sounds like the market isn't interested in the car at your asking price, and it sounds like you're getting frustrated. I'm not a dealer (I enjoy cars waaaaaayyyy too much to do the car business for a living), but have some market observations and marketing insights I'll share:

Even in the midwest, I haven't seen '98-00 cars selling private party for that kind of money often lately. I've seen two nice ones at dealers in my region in your price range with lower mileage.... and they've been sitting for months. From what I've seen ('01--02 LS430s with comparable miles are currently running anywhere from $2500-5500), you're possibly asking too much if you're wanting to move the car in a reasonable time frame. I've spent too much time lately semi-seriously looking for a '430 or '98-00 LS400 to potentially replace my LS400, so that's why I know far too much about this topic.

I'm not sure what you're using as a market pricing guide for your read on the car's value to the market, but cars with money put into getting caught up on maintenance immediately prior to sale rarely get back what you put into them for major maintenance, unless you're turning the wrenches yourself.

A good analogy: You've probably heard that when you do a major kitchen or bath remodel in your home, it will only net you a percentage back of what you put into it when it comes time to sell. Depending on region, 50-70% for those things is not an uncommon return on investment... As a long-time Realtor, I tell my clients to do those projects to enjoy the use and utility first and foremost, and for the resale value a distant second... but I digress.

Back to your car and private party valuation: When I have sold cars myself, I typically have taken an average of Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds private-party pricing to come up with my asking prices, primarily because it's not easy to lay hands on the dealer's/your banker's NADA Blue Book or whatever industry valuation guide is commonly used there. I've found averaging KBB and Edmunds figures come out surprisingly close to market reality. In my region, KBB calls private party value with your mileage, options, condition, etc., at roughly $4500. Edmunds is usually much harder on used values, calling your car at $3100. Still, that's amazing resale value for a *19* year-old car. Averaging will likely get you closer to a sale at or near your asking price in a reasonably quick length of time. Other marketing ideas? Take *more* and better pictures for your ads, showing all angles of the car, inside and out. Try to use a real camera and not your phone, light things up/use a flash, even in daylight, so shoppers can see the condition of the interior clearly.

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