ejthomp

Looking for some third party perspective guys!

97 LS400 with 204,000 miles that has had synthetic oil changes every 5k miles as well as regular tranny service it's entire life. As for the engine and tranny, I don't doubt they can go another 100k miles.

The car has run well, but I've had to deal with some issues of late and my question now is: Just how far should I go in fixing this car?

A year ago, the power steering pump was leaking, which eventually took out the alternator. Those have been changed. Now the car has a crankshaft seal leak that can't be ignored. Looking back at maintenance records, I see that the timing belt, idler pulleys and water pump were changed at 130,000 miles(75,000 miles, eight years ago).

So I'm tearing this engine apart to get to the crankshaft seal and making a list of parts to change while I'm there. The list quickly gets long....$800....

Crank and cam seals $40
Timing Belt kit with tensioner. $175
Radiator Fan Clutch Bearing Bracket. $110. (Seems 200k is about as long as these last and mine doesn't feel great)
Radiator hoses $20 (I actually changed the radiator last year)
Thermostat $30
Serpentine Belt kit $225
Spark plug wires $60
Spark plugs $40
Distributor caps and rotors $100

Add in the ECU capacitor change for $200 and I'll be $1,000 into this....

Am I going way overboard? What should I skip?

dicer

If the body and paint are top shape as well as the interior, then its worth it.
You can cut that list down some and add a few things that should be changed.
Spark plug wires ? Why easy stuff to do when its needed, are they needed now?
Distributor caps rotors etc. ? Just like with the wires are the old ones causing a problem?
Plugs maybe when was the last change?
NOW where the money NEEDs to go is for any thing that is turned by that timing belt, not just the tensioner.
And unless the parts for ignition system need changing now for some reason and since it seems your so concerned about the $$$ figure then don't do them. If the reason to change them is because you want to, then there is no reason to complain about the $$$ spent.
And in the end no matter how much the parts cost. If you are doing the work your saving huge on that, and your only spending this $$$ now and not spending thousands more for a down payment and then 200 to 700 every month for a car payment. So its like way better to spend $1000 or even $1500 right now, then its done. With a small 200 / month car payment you spend 2400 a year and unless your very rich that is not going to be a payment on an equivalent luxury car. So I have a difficult time hearing people complain about parts costs to fix a paid off or cheap used car. Its just money better spent than a high depreciating new car off the dealers lot.
And if you read posts about the problems with new cars you will see that the old one maybe isn't all that bad after all. There are lots of horror stories about new cars and problems.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Depends on what your wallet comfort level is relative to a replacement vehicle; insurance, car payments, etc. Ours has 205K miles and I hope to make 300K miles. It does the task of still being comfortable on long drives and I like aged cars anyhow. The key areas being the engine and tranny. If spending $1K keeps yours in good driving order for the next 10K+ miles that is pretty good IMO. Granted you've put other parts into this.

The annual maintenance estimate for ours averages out to be ~$500. Many of those years have been basic fluid changes so that drops it down to ~$50. When higher $$ repairs come up this is typical. We have some past threads talking about maintenance costs and associated repairs at higher miles.

What is your proposed replacement car?

YODAONE

At almost 20 years old consider that you are in restoration mode.

Anything elastomeric; seals/o-rings/bushings/hoses/couplers in body, suspension, engine, transmission, etc. is likely past it's prime from age alone.

Tackle one system at a time and you should be fine.

Bprakash

It is better to fix your car rather than buying a new one. I spent 8K on a 1994 LS 400. I drives new again.

ejthomp

Thanks guys. I'll be doing it all.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

I was asking myself the same thing the other day. Only thing left to change are control arms and some suspension bushings but I've been putting off a full repaint for some time now.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

this is more of a personal choice to spend the money or not. i enjoy driving older cars as well, and i would gladly spend that much money to keep my LS running. again that is just me, you must ask yourself if it's worth it, or if you can afford to keep the car.

Losiracer2

not to mention the insurance and registration costs of new cars....that'll add up quickly as well.

dicer

Buying a new car now is almost like paying rent to live some place.

Stereorob

the Ls400 is a special car. they are all getting pretty old now and they wont ever build them like that again. I have a brand new mustang convertible and my old, tired 200k 95 Ls400. truth be told I like driving the Ls400 more. its old enough to have that "classic car" smell and its got something new cars don't have. soul. I plan on keeping mine forever. beginning to get into restoration mode with mine. its got flawless original paint, perfect body, good interior that is just now starting to go. these are amazing cars and depretiation values have leveled off for the most part and are not worth much these days, but are still amazing cars. id keep it man

RugbyDad

I'd do it in a heartbeat. I've driven brand new cars that aren't half as smooth as the LS. I'm hoping I can get another 10 years out of mine. And that all depends on the availability of parts. But as long as the parts last, I'll b driving the LS. There are no comparisons to it without spending more than 60k on a new car. And that's nothing to shake a stick at.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Last week I took some test drives while the Corolla was in for the Takata air bag recall. Drove a '15 GS 350 $38K, checked a '14 LS 460 $42K and drove a '13 Panamera S $58K.

There are certain build qualities with the older cars that I feel Lexus has changed. Can't really say they are better or obviously worse, just "different". IDK about the newer generation of Lexus when they hit north of 100K miles. Different targeted demographic of owner, so much interpretation can be had.

As for my picks, I liked the GS but the engine noise was meh everything else was acceptable and Lexus like. I know how the 460's are already so that was why I didn't take it out for a drive. The Panamera but that pre-owned sample had some minor issues.Getting on the gas was in that car.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

spend the money, keep it nice, ..you ever see an armored car at the grave yard??

GasBuggy

I drove a car from 190,000 miles to almost 400. Spend money now to have a low cost gap later.

See if you can compile parts from RockAuto.com cheaper. I would skip the serpentine kit and only change the belt if there are cracks in the ribs. The timing belt etc I would not do unless 100,000 miles has gone by. As for the ECU, check my most recent post in the huge ECU thread. I just cut the old caps off and soldered the new ones to the old leads. Works fine and solved alot of my issues. The caps from DigiKey cost about $10.