Tonino

Hello All,
I just purchased a 2000 LS400 with only 23k miles on the odometer. Its my second LS400 -
the first being a 93 many years ago. The 93 was the finest car I've ever owned and I'm hoping
my 2000 does just as well. Looking forward to participating in the various threads and communicating with other LS400 owners.

Thanks and Regards
Tonino

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the forum! Check out the '95-00 FAQ stickied at the top of the forum - let's you see all the hot topics concerning our cars (got a '99 myself).

Just out of curiosity, what part of FL are you in, and where did you find this? I'm over, south of Tampa and got my car from Naples. In all my searching of Craigslist and eBay (boredom), I've never come across that (though there was an eBay listing for an LS with ~12k miles).

LScowboyLS

the 23K miles will be wonderful as far as how the car looks, but a 14 year old car that has 23k miles has sat parked for long periods, which is not good for some of the systems in the car (A/C, VVTi, ECU, etc.) so don't be surprised if a few areas start having problems initially and you think you bought a lemon, it is just your car complaining that it has sat so much and needs to be driven. I would budget for some of these things, but after a year or so it should be up to full LS400 reliability after those things work themselves out.

and use things like the A/C year round, it doesn't need any more sitting parked for long periods!

I would also recommend that you, surprisingly, check the tires for age!! - I have seen several of these snow-bird low mileage Florida cars with tires in like brand new looking condition, that are totally shot due to age, and yet only have like 5,000 miles on them! - if the tires are over 4 years old, I would replace them, for both ride, safety, and handling!

Legender

Excellent find and good luck with the new toy.
And yes... heed LSCowboy's advice...

Tonino

Hi Mike
These "snowbird" cars seldom appear on craigs list or other private listings. They are owned by "money" people and when they get tired of looking at them after some years, they take them to a dealer and just trade them
on something new. Money isn't an object with them and they certainly don't want the hassle of dealing with phone
calls. The only ones I've seen like this have been at dealers. Been looking for 11 years for the right one but was always a day late and a dollar short. I ran across this one the first day they listed it and I called right away and got in first. The car was traded on a Mercedes at Mercedes-Benz of Naples. I would have preferred the Nakamichi
audio system, but the car was too nice to let go. Its Millenium Silver over gray. The car is like new. The tires are
new and yes, although everything is working just fine right now, I expect some things will start rearing their heads
because of age. I'm betting the first item will be the hood lift struts. I ran my 93 to 135k and sold it to my son. He
ran it to 175k and sold it to the Lexus tech who serviced it. Nothing ever broke on the car in all those miles. just
routine maintenance.
Tonino

Tonino

Hi LS Cowboy,
I hear you and agree. She's got a lot of "hangar" time. The tires are new and although everything is
now working just fine, I do expect something to pop up after I start putting some miles on it. Like I told Mike,
I predict it'll be those blasted hood lift struts.

Tonino

Sorry Mke,

Sorry Mike, forgot - I'm located in St. Augustine Florida. When I search for one of these cars, I routinely check all the luxury car dealerships down South i.e., Lexus, Cadillac, Mercedes, etc. around Naples, pompano,
Ft. Lauderdale, Miami - all the high rent districts. Thats where you find them.
I saw the car w/12K on it. He'll be running a museum up there at $25K. We also have a 06 Pt Cruiser GT
turbo, and a Subaru Forester. The LS will be used occasionally for long trips and special nights out around
town so I don't anticipate piling up a lot of miles on it in the near term.

LScowboyLS

just make sure the tires are "time" new, just because they only have 200 miles on them, doesn't mean they aren't shot, even though they may look brand new with the little **** even still on them, when were they actually purchased?

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

Oh no haha, my name isn't Mike, it's actually Preston. What you see there in my "signature" is a quote of an extremely entertaining observation of this thread's title Since you're new to the forum, you won't immediately get it but one of the many moderators (or, "mods") you will find on Club Lexus is PureDrifter and he tends to be quite active on the LS400 board (mainly because he owns one - 98-00 model, to be specific) so put two and two together and you'll find the answer

Also, I noticed you had the Pioneer Premium Sound system. Don't necessarily take it as a bad thing, as in the event of failure (i.e. the OEM head unit stops working) you will have no issues switching to an aftermarket system, while retaining the stock sound you have, presumably, come to love. If you find yourself opting for an aftermarket unit and plan on taking the DIY route, send me a private message and I will gladly offer some insight on how I did things.

cobalt91

Speaking of dry rot, pull the covers off the timing belt.Being mostly rubber it can be effected by sitting allso.

LScowboyLS

you only have to look as far as this thread from 2 days ago to see that a super low-miles car that has been parked a whole lot can have all kinds of strange time-related issues from non-use

Tonino

The Tires were put on by the dealer. They are new Khumo Extas. Not my favorite tire,
but they'll do until they wear out. Took a 700 mile trip this weekend and the car ran flawlessly.
With the cruise set at 69mph the trip computer was showing 28.5 - 29.5mpg average with
and without the AC running. Impressive.

Tonino

Hi Cobalt,

Thanks for the tip. That belt has been on the back of my mind. Will do.

Tonino

Yikes,

Well so far so good. I have a good tech as well who can work on the car for me when It needs
servicing that I can't handle. Right now, after approx. 1,000 miles everything underneath and up
top is dry - no oil leaks. Lets hope it stays that way.

Tonino

Kansas

Money, even relatively small amounts, IS almost always an object to those with any decent level of wealth. There is a huge difference between "having money" and "having wealth".

Low mileage, originally expensive cars are sometimes sold privately by word of mouth or though postings on bulletin boards of members-only organizations. Or they are passed to younger friends or relatives like we have done with our vehicles. Another common disposal method is donation to a nonprofit to get a tax deduction after which a vehicle can end up at a car dealer who bought it at auction.

For example, a friend donated a Mercedes sedan to a nonprofit organization a few months ago. If a friend or relative doesn't want my 2000 LS400 when it's time to go, it will likely be donated. (Toby, are you sure you want that ugly gray LS460L instead of my pretty white LS400?)

A car does not have to be driven very many miles per year to stay in excellent condition as long as it is otherwise properly maintained with fluid changes by time and not by miles driven. A few hundred evenly spaced miles per year are enough.