Today’s Nice Price or No Dice GS300 was branded as a Lexus in America, but it went by the name Toyota Aristo when sold in Japan. Let’s see if this low-mileage four-door can now be called a bargain at its current asking price.
The most perplexing thing about yesterday’s 1994 Olds Cutlass Cruiser wagon was why it wasn’t already in a new owner’s hands. Sure, it did have the typical ’90s GM slap-dash interior, but its 3100 V6 and four-speed automatic drivetrain should offer unimpeachable service, and the car overall appeared to be a perfect package that’s just not seen at all in new cars these days. A $3,950 asking price sealed the deal and earned the Olds a solid 83 percent Nice Price win.
You’ve no doubt heard of the notorious comedian’s inside joke called The Aristocrats. The gist is an individual promoting to a talent agent a family act that is, at once, vulgar, obscene, and unfathomably transgressive. Horrified, the stammering agent asks what such an act could be called, to which the storyteller responds with a flourish of their hand, “The Aristocrats!”
Today’s 2003 Lexus GS300 does not appear to be vulgar or transgressive in the least. In its home market of Japan, this model was called the Toyota Aristo—apparently Greek for “the best”—and, naturally, that reminds us of the joke.
Whether GS or Aristo, this mid-sized sport saloon is based on a platform shared with the contemporary Toyota Crown and, in this model’s case, gets marching orders from a 3.0-liter edition of Toyota’s legendary 2JZ straight six. Today’s car hails from the model’s second generation. The first edition, released in 1993, featured that same JZ mill wrapped in cool Italian clothes, as the bodywork was penned by Italdesign, under the guidance of Giorgetto Giugiaro.
This second generation arrived in 1997 with in-house styling that adopted some of the cues of the first model but paired those with retro-styled lights in front, something that was popular at the time. Toyota also softened the car’s overall appearance to bring it closer in line with the larger LS sedan, admittedly making it look a bit less special and unique.
That’s damning the car with faint praise, though. This one, with just 91,000 miles on the ticker and wearing upscale-appearing metallic gold paint and chrome-plated factory alloys, still maintains a laudable presence. It also has the ubiquitous gold badging and wheel logos, which, admittedly, are a bit garish today. Aside from a few minor bumper nicks, this one also appears to be in fine shape.
It’s a similar story in the cabin. The handsome two-tone beige and brown color scheme is accented with real wood trim and a small bit of added brightwork. The leather and vinyl upholstery has held up well, although the seat-edge piping has not. That shows breaks on the outer edges of both front and rear seats, due to years of butt-swipes across them.
Also, depending on your opinion, the dark gray floor mats are either a nice touch of contrast or a cheap solution to keeping the carpet clean. This being a Lexus (at least here in the States), it’s naturally filled to the brim with comfort and convenience features.
As to the mechanicals, the seller states, “We have always maintained the car on time including oil changes, tune ups, tire rotation fluid changes etc, so everything is in great working shape.” Of course, they also misidentify the car’s engine as a V6, even after snapping a picture of the 225 horsepower straight six under the open hood.
That six is paired with a four-speed automatic and drives the rear wheels. The seller does note that the Bridgestones have “some threading [sic] left on them,” so potential buyers should probably be budgeting for new meats within the next year or so.
The car comes with a clean title and a recent reduction in asking price from $11,500 to the current $10,000. In your mind, is that enough of a drop? You don’t see many GS300s of this era on the road any more, perhaps because of attrition or maybe because they are not all that memorable a design. First-generation cars seemingly have almost entirely disappeared.
This one appears not only worth saving, but enjoying to the fullest. Could it be worth that $10K asking to do so? Or is that price for this Lexus just a joke to you?
You decide!
San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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