SC430 Written off..replace or change?

[illwill89]

Was on the M25 on Monday evening on the way to my Father in law's when an HGV decided he liked my lane better than his and promptly did a perfect pit manoeuvre on me, ending my SC430 which I'd only just bought in November from Lexus Sidcup. Car has been confirmed as a write off and now waiting for the silly offer to come through from Hastings.

Question is do I replace it with the same or go for something different? I had just gone from an NC MX5 which was perfect apart from the fact that at 6'2" I couldn't really sit up straight in it. The brief is a comfy convertible for £10k ish, not a commuting car.

Obvious alternative is an SL but from what I can tell only the V6 is ULEZ compliant, and I imagine a lot of things could go wrong.

Any suggestions welcome chaps.

[griffsomething]

Sorry to here about your car being wrecked, that sucks.

How comfy are the the Nissan 350Z/370Z roadsters? Similarly as dependable as the Lexus and built with one eye on the American market so I’d imagine they are spacious too?

[trevalvole]

illwill89 said:

Obvious alternative is an SL but from what I can tell only the V6 is ULEZ compliant, and I imagine a lot of things could go wrong.

I don't know how you are checking ULEZ compliance, but I'd recommend typing the reg number into an online checker, rather than just using the Euro category for cars on the Euro 3/4 boundary. For example my 53 plate Merc with a 3.2 V6 M112 petrol is only Euro3, but when I check the reg it is compliant with all listed ULEZ schemes.

A fair bit could go wrong with an R230 SL, such as the SBC electronic brakes and the ABC suspension. An SL350 doesn't have ABC as standard. There may be a sweet spot with the last of the 3.7 M112 V6s and 5.0 M113 V8s, before they introduced the 3.5 M272 V6 and 5.5 M273 V8 which up to around 2007 can have sprocket wear problems, particularly the V6 where they are associated with balancer shafts.

[illwill89]

griffsomething said:

Sorry to here about your car being wrecked, that sucks.

How comfy are the the Nissan 350Z/370Z roadsters? Similarly as dependable as the Lexus and built with one eye on the American market so I’d imagine they are spacious too?

370z roadsters look great actually, maybe a bit out of budget but def worth a look I reckon, thanks!

[illwill89]

[/quote]

There may be a sweet spot with the last of the 3.7 M112 V6s and 5.0 M113 V8s, before they introduced the 3.5 M272 V6 and 5.5 M273 V8 which up to around 2007 can have sprocket wear problems, particularly the V6 where they are associated with balancer shafts.
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice, will look into these, a rust free M273 V8 would be spot on, loved the V8 of the SC430 although it wasn't particularly loud

[georgeyboy12345]

Yes.

What about a BMW 650Ci? Kinda weird how the seller has included no pictures of the front - makes me a bit suspicious
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201121...


Or slightly smaller than an SL, but more practical - what about a Mercedes CLK350?
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112140...

[jhonn]

Gosh, that must have been quite terrifying.

Prior to me owning my SC430 I ran an Audi 3.2 TT convertible, and although not in the same league of luxurious, smooth, refined, ample power as the Lexus it was a comfortable, powerful car that was nice inside and (mostly) well engineered. it won't have the same sense of occasion as the Lexus, but might be worth considering?

[Jamescrs]

griffsomething said:

Sorry to here about your car being wrecked, that sucks.

How comfy are the the Nissan 350Z/370Z roadsters? Similarly as dependable as the Lexus and built with one eye on the American market so I’d imagine they are spacious too?

I'm 6ft4 and recently tried a 350Z Roadster for size and I found it really tight inside the cabin, I found the steering wheel position gave me no room to stretch my arms, I recall actually thinking I would need T-Rex arms to be comfortable.

The 370Z may be different I don't know.

I ended up buying a 986 Boxster which I find a good fit, I also find the NC MX-5 to be comfortable though so the OP I'd guess is proportioned differently to me.

[Mr Tidy]

Sorry to hear about your Lexus - I hope you can get a decent settlement from your insurer. Just don't accept their first offer, unless it is more than you paid!

If you liked it why not have another?

But if you fancy a change maybe a BMW Z4, either E85 with a softop or an E89 with the folding metal roof. They are all ULEZ compliant too.

[ooid]

Horrible view, I love sc430. I was gonna suggest the same, either SC430 again or z4 (3.0 engine ideally). The rest is bit meh on that price range, and I would steer away from boxster unless they are gen 2 engine (2.9), and quite difficult to find one below 16-17k!

[cerb4.5lee]

illwill89 said:

griffsomething said:

Sorry to here about your car being wrecked, that sucks.

How comfy are the the Nissan 350Z/370Z roadsters? Similarly as dependable as the Lexus and built with one eye on the American market so I’d imagine they are spacious too?

370z roadsters look great actually, maybe a bit out of budget but def worth a look I reckon, thanks!

I've got a 370Z Roadster and the ride is nice and comfortable, and the seats are good too. The only gripe I have is that there isn't any reach on the steering wheel, so in my favoured driving position my arms are a little more stretched out than I would like. I'm only short at 5'8" though.

[cerb4.5lee]

I actually used the 370 for the first time today in 6 weeks. It was a bit chilly roof down though to be fair.


I hope that you get something sorted soon OP, and it is really sad to see your car like that. I've always really liked the SC430 a lot.

[Shifter1]

I think the last good looking SL was the R129. The R230 SL is probably the ugliest ever. I dislike the 4 eyed Mercedes in general.

So from the mentioned cars I would go with the 370Z if that fits your bill. Probably a lot more reliable as well. And looks loads better than a R230 SL or the Bangled up Z4.

[joropug]

Sorry to see this - I have a soft spot for these because I did work experience in a Lexus dealership in 6th form and drooled over them.

I think it was 2006 so I was driving my Peugeot 106 at the time, there was a metallic deep red one with tan leather in the showroom. I'll never forget it, because a professional looking woman turned up one day, had a look at it, sat in the driver's seat and said that she wanted to buy it. I think it was £45k at the time and she had said that within 5 minutes of seeing it. Even the sales staff were shocked.

I really liked the way they operated too, they did a lot of home test drives which I thought was a nice touch and gave a feeling of premium customer service and full attention to the customer. I have no idea if they still work like that but for me, the newer lexi' are primarily CVT and this puts me off even if they are great cars.

I'd try and get another one, or look at a cash in lieu settlement, retain the salvage and look to get yours repaired with the cash (hoping that there will be some left over to cover the difference in value it will have being categorised.