I agree with you about these newer cars.

I have a 1990 Lexus LS400 (first year for Lexus) and in my opinion- the 1990-1994 Lexus LS400s are better cars than the new LS430s. The 1990-94, 95-97 & 98-99 LS400s are built like tanks. I have absolutely no complaints with my 90 LS400. It has 225K and still runs like new and is still 100% squeak and rattle free. Engine is so smooth and quiet- I have to often look at the tachometer to see if the engine is still running. Very impressive.

On the Lexus forums- similar to these- many LS430 owners originally owned a LS400 and I have heard that the LS400 is a better car. Same with Mercedes. I think the newer cars (especially Japanese and German cars) do not have a quality as high as the 80s-early 90s models. I would rather have a 1981-91 Mercedes S-Class sedan, or a 92-95 S-Class Mercedes over a new S-Class, or a 1990-94 LS400 over a new LS430.

I think if you were to drive a 1990-1994 Lexus LS400- even one with high miles- you would agree that the workmanship and quality of materials on the 1st generation Lexus LS models is better than the new one. Same with the Mercedes. I have heard that on the newest S-Class Mercedes, that they switched to a lot of hard plastic panels, such as the glove box door and trim around the bottom of the seats. This was unheard of on a 1980s Mercedes- where high quality materials, with lots of padding prevail in the cars. Same with Lexus (and all other Japanese makes). Almost EVERY interior panel in the 90-94 LS400 is a high quality padded panel, with top notch fit and finish. On the new Toyotas (maybe even Lexus) they switched to a lot of hard plastic on the newest models. I have heard same is true for Mercedes.

I also agree about the ride quality you mentioned. The 1990-2000 LS400s had the smoothest ride- especially the air-ride suspension models. Still, the non-air ride models had about one of the smoothest ride of any car in the 90s. I have heard that the ride quality went down on the 01-03 LS430. For 1993- the LS400 received larger brakes and tires. Also- the 90-99 LS400s are rear wheel drive cars.

The 84 Mercedes 300SD I test drove had a extremely smooth, soft ride. I think the newer Mercedes have a firmer ride.

Despite these minor complaints, the LS430s are still fine cars, but not like they used to be.

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2004 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4wd
1991 Lincoln Town Car Executive
1991 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1988 Mercedes 300SEL
1972 Chevrolet Caprice Kingswood Estate 9-passenger wagon
1973 Pontiac Grand Ville
(Prior MB's: 1974 240D, 1985 380SE, 1984 190D, 1993 400SEL)