billymild

I recently went through a garage fire loosing my 944 Turbo, Miata, and RZ350. I needed to buy a car to use in the meantime until I have another garage built and a "fun" car back. I wanted something that was comfy, had decent power, and rode nice. I looked at LS400's, GS400's, and a few other cars. I settled on the this LS400. Most people are shocked by the change of type of car. Going from a sportscar to a luxury cruiser. I have a lot questions that I will be asking over the next few weeks. So far I am loving the LS.

Here is a pic of my old cars/bike.







Anyways here are some LS pics.
1998 LS400 130,000 miles on it.







Overall its in great shape. I had a PPI done by a friend at the Lexus Dealer. His list of stuff to watch out for and what needs to be done:

Valve Cover Gaskets
Spark Plugs
Timing belt and water pump
Ball Joints(good for about another year)
Strut rods(looked okay, but may need to be replaced in my ownership)
Fluids(Transmissions, coolant, etc)

So overall a great car. I looked at about 5 other LS's but none of them had this low of miles and were in this good of shape. This one didn't come with any maintenance records, but I will get it all up to date and drive it for a while.

How can I tell what options this car has? Is there a VIN decoder that will tell me? I don't think it has heated seats or the Nakamichi stereo.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Welcome to Club Lexus and congrats on the LS.
Sad to see what the fire did. Your 944 looked in great shape.

Here ya go, I haven't used it so post back about it:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/vindecoder.php

LScowboyLS

wow, how did that fire occur?

on the LS400, I would replace the transmission mount with the real Toyota part as well as the strut rod bushings with the real Toyota part (properly clocked) - both of these will make a big difference and both are stupid cheap in both parts AND labor!

UNCNOR

iTrader: (1)

What is a PPI?

Jeremiah87

Looks nice and welcome!

You got a black with black interior....best combo. Lucky!!

Seems like the black interior is rare...mine is a 98 with the tan. Most LS400s I see come with the tan.

I would give my left toe for a black interior.

billymild

Pre purchase inspection. Go over the car. See what's wrong with it.

LScowboyLS

Pre-Purchase Inspection

deanshark

Is there an ehco in here?

Hey Bill, sorry about the fire and property loss. Hope noone was inside.
Love the black interior on the LS? Keep the maintenence up to date and it will last you forever. (At least a long, long time) I know what it's like to go from a sports car to the luxurious LS400, after a while ya dont want to go back.

billymild

I will be getting this LS caught up on maintenance fairly soon. The list I have is pretty short and I imagine over the next year everything will be up to snuff.

I just need to change the oil first, then the transmission fluid, TB and water pump next.

LScowboyLS

be sure and use genuine Toyota T-IV transmission fluid from the dealership, there is no real acceptable substitute on this!

on oil, choose a great synthetic 5W-30 or 0W-30 such as Pennsoil Ultra, Pennzoil Platinum, Mobil 1, Vavoline SynPower or Castrol Edge -----> German Castrol 0W-30 and Pennzoil Ultra 5W-30 are the Ferrari of motor oils for your car, however both can be hard to find!

if you want to treat the car to a great oil filter, hunt down the original part number Toyota p/n 90915-20004 (made in Japan by Nippon Denso) that came on the car (hard to find but available at Elmhurst Toyota for $8.50 I think) or if you are an oversize filter man, here are some other great filters

you are in luck on the timing belt/water pump kit - you can get all of the real Toyota OEM parts for the crazy price of $205 here - this includes AISIN Water Pump, KOYO Idler Bearing, KOYO Tensioner Bearing, NTN Hydraulic Tensioner, Mitsuboshi Timing Belt - which are all the original equipment brands. All that stuff would be $600+ at the dealership! - There may be cheaper sellers, but none I trust.