SWEETSOUND2001

Hello. I just registered today and im new to this forum. Currently i drive a 97 nissan maxima. Im planning to buy a 91-94 ls400 within the next 2 months. I love the ls that has the cloth seats as i had the opportunity to test drive one. Does anyone know which years had this option and if it was standard or optional. Or maybe even if i do buy one with leather is anyone on here willing to trade for their cloth seats. I want black or grey cloth seats..Any replies are greatly appreciated..Thanks

Harrier

Wow, that's a first for a luxury car...a customer who prefers cloth seats. Sorry I can't tell you which model year had cloth seats, but I'm sure that they were standard equipment, with a VERY limited production run. Good luck finding one; it might be pretty hard.

SC400onDubz

I have seen 2 in my life. I am a wholesale dealer also...

They had to be ordered with Cloth new from the dealer.

That is what I was told by a Lexus dealer.

I think it was only offered in 90 maybe 91.


If you do find one, lowball the seller b/c not many people will want it at all!!!


Scott

Stephen

Only offered in 90, standard from the dealer leather was an option. Actually in an older car like that cloth might be preferable to leather because its bound to look better after 10 years of negligence.

SWEETSOUND2001

Thanks a lot guys. Looks like it might be a long search for a 90 ls400 with dark cloth seats and good cond/mileage. I was also interested in 95 ls400. KBB trade-in is $17-18. I have a dealer auction connection. Is it possible to get this car for $15k from an auction with 80-90k miles?

SC400onDubz

Sweetsound,

YOu should be able to find a 95 at an auction for 15 grand. I just saw a black one go through for 15,300 at Nashville last week. It had 85k miles and it had some ugly wheels(but you would probably change them anyway).

I am waiting for one to get traded in at the dealership. They are actually giving only about 13 at the dealer. The next black one that gets traded in has my name all over it!! I can't wait to get one. 95s are much better than the 94 back models!!

Forget about cloth in 95.


Good Luck,
Scott

GlobeCLK

iTrader: (5)

cloth seats are still everywhere in Japan, even in the MOST luxurious cars. Nissan President and Toyota Century, 2 cars that are both larger than the LS430 and the Q45, and both cost close to 10,000,000 yen (close to 80000 USD). Both have cloth seats and NO LEATHER OPTION.

SC400onDubz

Damn that is crazy! So Japan loves Cloth seats. Is the cloth a real crazy pattern or Color??

Maybe it is the Climate difference, most likely cultural differences...

America Leather = $$$$$$
America Cloth = Cheap but comfortable

Japan Cloth = $$$$$$
Japan Leather = Cold in the winter, hot in the summer!

SWEETSOUND2001

when i test drove a 91 ls400 with burgundy cloth seats i checked out the interior really well. the build quality and the overall quality of the cloth was amazing. It was firm and seemed to be made of fleece? the only reason i did not buy that car is becase the rack & pinion was leaking. Did i make the right choice? Overall, the build quality of that lexus was excellent, even for a 10 year old car. Did i find a rare gem or what? since it wasn't a 90 but a 91?

ChasFenwick

My 1990 LS400 had cloth seats. The fabric and design seemed to be of very high quality. I drove it for 7.5 years and they looked exactly the same the day I sold it as they did the day I bought it, in Feb. 1990. But it only had 35k miles on it.

Yes, cloth seats were standard, and that's what I wanted. Apparently Lexus hadn't bothered to convene any focus groups in the U.S. The dealers quickly discovered that Americans who pay that much for a car expect leather. Japanese (and Germans, I've heard) find this an amusing aberration of the American psyche.

Lexus dealers became desperate trying to unload their cars that had the cloth seats. The exterior of my car was "taupe" colored and the cloth seats were sort of a dusty brown that I thought was very attractive. However, some of the other seat colors were awful, which must not have helped the selling challenge.

Anyway, a little-known factoid is that a number of these 1990 models that came to the U.S. with cloth seats were sent out by dealers to local upholstery shops for conversion to leather! Not only was I told that by the dealer, but I actually saw a brand new LS400 with the interior gutted; seats and door panels had been sent out to an upholstery shop. So some of you that have leather interiors do not have "factory" leather.

I'd still rather have cloth if it weren't for the resale implications.

P.S. It is also a fact that the Lexus folks hadn't realized how hard over the inscrutible Americans are about the exterior color of their cars. A big percentage wanted white. Some wanted silver. But a big percentage of the original shipments of the 1990 models came in very dark colors. Black. Two shades of green; one looked very nearly black. Deep red/maroon. The dark colors had the irritating characteristic that "swirls" showed badly in bright sunlight. They were having trouble moving the "colored" cars as well. I just saw one of the forest green ones on the street the other day and it certainly has a distinctive appearance.

LOTC

Wow clothed seats in a LS.I wonder how it feels like.

Would anybody happen to have some interior pics of one?

Francis K

an ES with cloth at an auction

TheKevin

iTrader: (6)

if i had the choice, i would pick cloth too. leather looks good but i hate it when its really hot and really cold.

ChasFenwick

Not only that, but it has been my experience that the surface of leather deteriorates much more over the years than does really high quality fabric, which Lexus was using.

I have a 1997 GMC Yukon with leather seats. It has less than 30K miles on it, but the driver's seat has deteriorated to an alarming degree whereas the other seats (rarely used) look like new. Cracked, discolored, etc.

LOTC

I like leather more than cloth,but yes it does burn in the summer and freeze in the winter.The headrests in the back of my LS's has hardened a bit already it think i gunna have to tint my windows to protect the interior.

For those reasons i would like cloth more,but leather is more luxurious.