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I bought all the parts as cheaply as I could & do what I can myself. I have an excellent independent mechanic who helps me keep cost down.
Of all the work done only the alignment was at a dealer. The EGR pipe replacement is an excellent example of where the CL Forum has helped me save money. My total cost to replace that was around $100.00 or so (cost of the part). At a dealer you can spend $1000.00
Same applies to fixing your intermittent gauges.
2 Important notes. My goal since getting the vehicle was to have a nice driving vehicle until it hopefully reaches the 300K mark.
Of all the work listed in my post the only time the vehicle was inoperable was when the fan bracket support bearing failed. Had every piece listed on my TB change in a bag in my trunk but that damn thing, so I was well prepared.
Every bit of the maintenance I have done other than this has been preventative or performance oriented.
I feel very fortunate not to have gotten bit by any AC system systems issues. This cost big bucks on my fathers 90LS.
I bought all the parts as cheaply as I could & do what I can myself. I have an excellent independent mechanic who helps me keep cost down.
Of all the work done only the alignment was at a dealer. The EGR pipe replacement is an excellent example of where the CL Forum has helped me save money. My total cost to replace that was around $100.00 or so (cost of the part). At a dealer you can spend $1000.00
Same applies to fixing your intermittent gauges.
2 Important notes. My goal since getting the vehicle was to have a nice driving vehicle until it hopefully reaches the 300K mark.
Of all the work listed in my post the only time the vehicle was inoperable was when the fan bracket support bearing failed. Had every piece listed on my TB change in a bag in mt trunk but that damn thing so I was well prepared. Every bit of the maintenance I have done other than this has been preventative.
I feel very fortunate not to have gotten bit by the AC system.
wow, where did you buy all those parts? I am thinking about doing my timing belt and water pump, i figure maybe i should change a few of those along the way. what's the fan bracket support bearing? should i change it when i do the timing belt and water pump too? i think i have seen a thread about it. i am in michigan, and if i can have it my way, i will put 50,000 miles on this car this year, cuz I will drive it from here to Cali and back and all states in between. so I need it in solid shape. where did you get your parts again? thanks!
I bought my '96 3 years ago with 57K on it. It had a new battery, tires and brake pads per PO.
I've put an additional 50K on it. I have not had a breakdown that left me stranded or the car un-driveable. I've not thrown any OBD codes. I think that's pretty commendable of the car.
I've done all of the filter and fluid changes per schedule myself - probably spent about $150.
New tires - $350
New brake pads and rotors - $400
New plugs - $25
New fan clutch - $60
New trut rods - $200
New tranny mount - $30
I've carefully inspected the TB and it looks good.
No coolant loss, no oil loss, but...Small PS fluid leak (typical) - I'm still trying to track down the source. It could be a hose ($200), the rack ($800), or the pump ($50 for seal kit). At this point, it's just a nuisance...takes a little ATF every couple of weeks.
So at this point, I've blown a little over $1200 in part + $0 on dealer/indie labor. Not too bad for such a nice car.
Only just picked mine up, but I chose it because it had full service, cambelt & water pump change and an aircon regas in the last 2,000 miles. Suspension and joints overhauled 10,000 miles ago.
Now on 221,000 miles and feels like it has dne nothing like it.
i bought my 92 ls400 a year ago for 1500$. its done pretty well up until now. first thing that happened was that the idler pulley seized then it was the tensioner pulley. Both repairs ran me about 280$, oil changes are 11$ and it looks like im about to drop $1000 for an overhaul.
When I first bought my '96 in 2006 I spent about $700 in parts for it. Some of those parts got stolen. Later on I bought another $400 worth of parts for it that I hadn't yet installed.
The '95 I just bought two weeks ago has already burned straight through $1100 and there's another $800 left to go.