daweeze02

Just bought this car, have to drive 3 hours from Tampa to W. Palm area to pick it up Saturday morning. I see from the carfax it was serviced at 77k miles, I am hoping that was the timing belt. Anyways I got it for $7500 what do you guys think?

http://goo.gl/aVAQa


Also on a totally different note, I have a 350z that I registered with carfax for there shady guarantee for lemons etc. I bought really cheap knowing it had been in a wreck. But after gutting the entire trunk for some speaker installs etc I noticed the entire rear of the car has been replaced and I know the front has been repaired as well. Does anyone know how to find out if this was a total loss vehicle that was repaired outside of insurance?

Mofoe

looks good now just needs mods

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

Great looking and my colors..... YEA ... gold emblems and chrome wheels and it will look like this

deanshark

It looks ok but can't really tell just by the pics, especially without any engine or undernieth pics. If it hasn't been serviced since 77K then I think you paid way too much. The 90K service is around 2K and then ya gotta think of all the suspension bushings among other things. You can run the VIN through the Lexus dealer site to see what has been serviced, as long as it was repaired at the dealer. Usually there's a sticker under the hood that says when the T-belt was changed.
You say you bought it but you have to drive 3 hours to get it and not till Saturday. Not to sound like a d*** but did you buy this over the phone? Or did you go the 3 hours to look at it and test drive it? For $7500 I would have driven 10 hours (at least) to inspect a car I'm buying.
I wouldn't trust a Carfax report as far as I could crumple it up and throw it. They don't show everything, just what's reported.
As far as the guarantee goes for the accident (total loss) thing from Carfax, that's just a bunch of BS to get your money, it's a scam. If the car was totaled and fixed out of insurance and not put in the system then they're not responsible for any guarantee on it. Their stuff, the way they word it, is if it was reported and they don't put it in their Carfax report, only then can you make a claim on it. Just like any warrantee/guarantee, it's all in the fine print, a total waste of money.

hobin5148

Awesome.

daweeze02

I bought it Saturday after I drove down there and test drove it. I just had it held for me over the phone so I could make it down there to get. My grandfather who is a dealer called the Lexus dealership where it was serviced regularly and they were very helpful in providing information about it. I will check for the sticker under the hood but I do not remember seeing it the first time I checked. The condition of the interior is spotless, I don't think anyone has ever sat in the back seats let alone in the front. The pearl white paint is awesome shape as well except for a few minor scuffs here and there that I will buff out. I will take some pics this week for better detail. Also I took a look at a few other LS's for 4-5k but they were POS and one 98 I looked at in very good condition but they wanted over 8k for it. I'd say for the condition this car is in it was the best deal in FL for sure.

deanshark

Sounds good, I was just curious b/c I don't see why some people buy cars over the phone for so much money without even looking at it. That's how some people get scammed. The T-belt sticker, if it's there, most places put it right in the center of the engine in front. Someone just had a post where he found the sticker inside the front door, he was happily surprised. Congrats on the new purchase.

daweeze02

Oh yea I would never just pay over the phone like that. The dealership that had the car was very nice, it was my best dealership experience to date to be honest. If the timing belt hasn't been done I think I am going to order the Aisin kit from CB Haus Performance Parts and have a local mechanic here in Tampa do it here unless I find someone from the forum that wants to tackle it with me one day lol.........anyone anyone haha

daweeze02

Actually it looks like its cheaper just to get the kits directly from rockauto

deanshark

I agree with you 100% on rockauto, that's who I use for most of my parts. I usually recommend the "Gates" T-belt kit from them. It's $10 more then the Aisin but it comes with the tensioner included. The tensioners are between $32 and $60 but they're all made by the same manufacturer. (NTN) If you do end up doing the T-belt/water pump job you should also get the front crankshaft seal and have that done seeing how everything is already off. The camshaft seals, only change those if they're leaking, they are a big PITA b/c the cams need to be removed to get those out. If I wasn't 1300 miles away from ya, I'd give ya a hand.

daweeze02

Hahaha damn but yea I was going to order these parts minus the camshaft seals now that you said that. I will check out the Gates kit now, thanks

WATER PUMP with GASKET
TIMING BELT
IDLER BEARING
TENSIONER BEARING
HYDRAULIC TENSIONER
1 CRANK SEAL
2 CAM SEALS
1 SERPENTINE BELT
THERMOSTAT with SEAL

daweeze02

Here are pics of the car

https://picasaweb.google.com/1063804...30746940/LS400

The one pic where you see some grey putty in the door jam I did. There was some rust there so I sealed it until I get it repaired professionally. With all this rain I didn't want it getting worse. I will take better pics this weekend in the daytime. My gf is using the car and gets back so late I had to take them in the garage.

deanshark

Looks pretty good, I see she's already just throwing stuff on the floor. It's a damn good thing that these cars have 2 positions for the memory seats b/c the way that seat is it seems like she is about 4' 8" to 5' 0". There's about 4" between the seat and dash. Definately get that rust spot taken care of asap so it don't get worse. Is that more spots under the grill? Other then that and the steering wheel it looks pretty mint. Nice car, keep it clean.

daweeze02

Thanks man and no those are water spots, she just pulled in from a storm and I wiped down most of the car.

daweeze02

I want to disable the steering wheel when the key is inserted. I know I need to unplug a wire in the ignition switch but cannot find a writeup for removing the cylinder. Does anyone know how to?