midwest2

Hi all,

I have a co-worker who is "fed up" with her car. She said every few yrs it costs her a thousand dollars. Turns out it is a 95 LS400, crystal quartz metallic I believe. The latest problem is a leaking radiator and supposedly bad wheel bearings. She was quoted nearly 3k for repairs.

I went to look at the car, it is still in reasonable shape with good tires and original Lexus crome rims. The seats are kinda rough but not torn. It started right up, the oil was full and clean on both the engine and tranny. It has a cracked windshield and the steering tilt motor no longer works. She recently spent 2k on the front suspension, but I couldn't determine if the timing belt has been done. All the cluster lights work and the AC is cold. I know the radiator will be easy, but not sure about the tilt motor and bearings (if they are even bad).

Here is the kicker, she said I could take it for whatever a scrap yard would give her...she thought $200. Naturally i'd pay that, but I told her to call and ask---I don't want to take advantage of the situation. She also has a van that is going and they quoted $500 at the scrap yard so she thought that would be the price for the Lexus as well.

I forgot to add, it shows 180k on the odometer.

504

even 500 for a 95 ls400 is good. get it. radiator @ rockauto.com 130 and wheel bearings 40-60. so 2500 for labor, yeah right...

midwest2

Do the front bearings need to be pressed in? I've done hubs before but nothing else. She said it makes noise when she backs up. I didn't have time to drive it myself.

emarknot

in the right hands, it could be fixed. best thing to do is shop around for a radiator.

determine if the wheel bearings are bad or not...and shop for the best price.

and last, there is a thread on here for fixing the non-working titl which is just a couple dollars to fix.


its not a hopeless cause. if youre good with cars, maybe you could help fix it. or just give her the 5hundo, and have a project car.
or, be a suoer nice guy and be like....look, I understand your frustration, so I will go $1000 and that should help you out with the van because I feel 5hundo would be taking advantage of you.


or something like that.

Rdrcr

Sounds like a good deal to me, I'd go for it!

Mike

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

-tilt motor: search, could be a $1 fix or could be a dead motor (pain in the ***!)
-radiator: simple fix if it just needs a replacement
-wheel bearings: check to make sure it is the wheel bearings and not UCA or lower ball joints. If it is the bearings they do need to be pressed in and out, or just buy used knuckles if you arent up to it. fronts are relatively simple, rears naturally will require the axles to come out.

plan to budget for a complete timing belt/wp job if you arent sure when it was done, due every 90k and if don't and the belt snaps, motor is DONE.

McPierson

iTrader: (3)

I think you should be fair to her and atleast offer her $1000. She will appreciate your genuine thoughtfullness. She may still say she wants $200.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

with those problems and the big potential cost of a TB, i wouldnt say its worth more than $12-1500 as it sat ANYWAYS.

Kansas

You might be spending $4000 or $5000 or even more if you fix everything. I know it's been a long time, but in 2003 I sold a 1990 LS400 with 183,500 miles for $4,350. I had owned it since new and it had never missed a service including the full 180K service including the timing belt a few months before. The car looked brand new inside and out including a spotless engine compartment and included an extra set of OEM wheels with snow tires in excellent condition.

Now you are looking at a 16+ year old LS400 with a somewhat rough interior, bad wheels bearings, bad radiator, bad tilt motor and who knows how many other problem. The current owner certainly doesn't sound like a "car person" if she let all these problems pile up.

Maybe buy it if she'll take $200 and you really want this car. If not look for one nicer and better maintained. It's usually more cost effective to buy a car that is in excellent condition with all the maintenance fully up to date and with a documented maintenance history.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Yup, if you want a ready to go driver with minimal headaches find one in better condition right off. With all these it is no guarantees but some aspects that are in better shape are easier to deal with. If the fluids haven't been changed for example, this leads to big $$ problems. Some may respond quickly and easily if it hasn't gone too long but if neglected for many miles...

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

so basically, unless you're doing ALL the work at home, pass.

midwest2

Interesting responses.


I called the garage (local chain) where the car has been serviced, the man looked up the records and said the owner was "religious" about oil changes. It has had a few tranny services, front steering components (whatever that meant) all new brakes recently and a new ac pump. This was all within the last 3 yrs.

I would do most of the work myself with the exception of the timing belt.

I must say some of the responses have me a bit spooked. I currently drive a 96 Acura RL with 160K and it's solid as a tank so I'm not afraid of the high miles. With what I assume are Lexus enthusiasts telling me to pass on a virtually free 95 LS with a few problems--- it has me thinking twice.

deanshark

I would pick it up for a few hundred. The problem is she said she just spent 2K on the front suspension but you didn't mention that for what the garage said that they did on it. That was probably the "steering components" but who knows what they did. Maybe the steering rack and tierods. I don't understand why you would do all the work except the timing belt. If you can do the rest, then you can surely do the T-belt. You would be looking at about $1500 in parts alone to fix everything that was mentioned. So for less then 2K it can be in decent shape. Why doesn't she want to sell the car, she can get over a grand the way it sits?

RA40

iTrader: (6)

With the unknowns, we are presuming the worst case scenario. Under $1K I would say jump, just be prepared that it may take some $$ as you discover what needs to be corrected.

DonCorleone

iTrader: (6)

@ $500 I would totally jump. Hell I'd jump at $1k. That's just me though.