Stroock639

you couldn't give me a brand new s class to replace my LS. i've sat in one, adjusted my seat, and it's still not as nice.

actually, maybe someone should try and see what happens lol

Stereorob

some call it the Ls400 death spiral lol. once you get one youll stay in them. ive had 4 in a row now, not planning on leaving Ls400 anytime soon. ill drive them till theres nothing left of these cars, and yeah, same thing with craigslist. I look at the ads everyday and want to get every one I see lol. if the wife and the neighbors would tolerate it, id have ten of them

matcotj

Same here 🖐🏽 I put my work truck for sale so I can buy me another ls400 so I can use for work 😁😁

Stereorob

something else I forgot to mention.. the smell they have. that old Japanese car smell. I love it. anyone else feel this way?

pmarr

My daughters '91 has that strangely appealing smell of the aging Lexus leather. My 97 and 98 not so much. I remember that smell you refer to rather well from my buddy's 78 Toyota Celica. Good times

Daspyda

iTrader: (1)

I started my current job in '98, the year of the LS I bought last year.

There was NO WAY I could have afforded a $67,000 car then, but it makes me feel all the years of working here has paid off by me experiencing a $67,000 car for less than a tenth of that.

Stereorob

1st gens have it the most. 95-97s have it too but not as strong. 98-00s have a different smell.

change in leather/glues/materials the cause maybe?

pmarr

Speaking of the Death Spiral, my 17 y.o. daughter is currently driving my '98 while I drive the '97, which we got for the kids to drive; $3 grand for a safe, well built tank, right? I commute and figured I would get more mileage out of the 4 speed tranny. Logic. So we trade off on the weekends and she remarked that she "hates that car". I asked why? The minor brake squeal that goes away, which I know where it's occurring, just haven't gotten to it, and it starts aggressively. She doesn't like the way...it....starts. Keep in mind it's a 97 with 184,000 on the clock and it's a smooth as glass ride. Nothing wrong with the car. Perfect shape. The '98 is a freaking cream puff though. Good grief.... Anything that kid drives from here on out will always be a downgrade. 18 years and counting and they drive better than damn near anything else new. Love these cars

Rdrcr

The LS400 is a special car.
There is no way to replace them...without buying another one...nothing else compares.

Mike

djamps

As a gear head who turns all his own wrenches the 1st and 2nd gen LS is a perfect mix of luxury and DIY-ability. I won't own a car I can't work on myself. Even my wife's '10 Infiniti QX56 (which is a '04+ Nissan Armada [based on a Titan truck chassis both with tons of community support]) isn't touched by any shop and I've had no issues fixing anything that popped up by just searching "armada xxxxxx" or "titan xxxxxx" lol.

I cringe at the thought of diagnosing and troubleshooting a truly modern luxury vehicle without solid community DIY support... no matter how much money I had I wouldn't own a car that requires dealer visits.

Stereorob

that's why we all have to do our part to keep as many of these cars around as possible. indeed the Ls400 is a very special car, and they wont ever build them again like that due to safety regulations etc. the newest Ls400 you can get is now 16 years old, which is old by car standards. the early ucf20 are all 20 years old now, and the early ucf10s are getting very close to the 30 year mark.

sadly the majority of these cars, once depreciated were not taken care of at all and the early ones are beginning to finally have catastrophic failures. im seing fewer and fewer on the road and the ones I do see have either been all cut up and modified, or absolutely beat to death. there will come a time in the near future that ucf10s will be on the brink of extinction and there are almost twice as many 10s as there are 20s. a world without the Ls400 would be a sad place.

mappo

This was a big factor when I was oringinally on the fence between getting a 400 or a 430. I only considered the 04-06 430, as the looks of the 01-03 just don't do it for me. But the 04-06 has that damned sealed transmission, which is both a huge DIY pain in the *** and makes it likely that the 10 year old example you pick up probably never got regular fluid changes during its lifetime.

Rdrcr

Much agreed.

That's why I'm in the process of reconditioning the '94 I just purchased. The car was already in remarkably good condition when I bought it but, like any aging vehicle it needs some TLC and I'm happy to make the investment.

Once I'm done with the '94, I'll be looking to add another LS to the garage. Perhaps a later model LS400.

Mike

Stroock639

i just love how it grows on you so much over time, and how if you've never owned one you probably wouldn't give one a second look. you can drive around secretly knowing that your car is just SOOOO much better than everyone else's, but you hardly get any attention. in that sense i think it's almost like the Phaeton, which in its case you're essentially getting a bentley continental gt, only for 1/2 the cost and its even better built. yet almost no one would ever give the phaeton a 2nd look. i believe "stealth wealth" is the term to use here. i know some people want others to be aware of how successful they are, and if you've worked hard to earn that i can totally understand, but i like the stealth of the LS.

also with the LS 400 you just get the sense that it's the smallest they could make it and still have it be this awesome, whereas when you look at like a cadillac fleetwood from the same era it's just like holy ****** why is this so huge. there's legit like a whole foot of completely empty space between the radiator and bumper, just to make it bigger for the sake of making it bigger. but in the case of the LS it's almost like they couldn't have it be any smaller without detracting from the experience in some way.

greg3852

I really want to buy another one, but my wife would murder me. I loved my 98.