TheSteve

Hello!

After much searching I have decided to purchase a 1994 LS400 from a local dealer here in Florida. Its a dark green color with a white suede/vinyl roof (I do not know the exact material). It is carfax certified clean and It is a one owner retiree car, always garage kept, service records show the owner had oil changed every 4k miles, its a non smoker car (basically your classic Florida retiree ride).

They want $3900 for it, I am trying to talk them down to $3500.



Anything I should be on the look out for? (besides the dashboard issue and the usual stuff I have read about).

Thanks!

denverdog

is this the only ls on the planet with a suede/vynil roof?

Jelous400

No there was a miami dealer that sold them with the emblem "West Beach Edition" or something of the sort, they are all pretty hideous (no offense) everyone has their opinions. It basically wants to be a Cadillac. Ha. Anyway as for the price, 3500 is as low as your going to get from a dealer, especially if they have timing belt maintenance and water pump replacement proof.. It is not an especially good price since I just picked up a fully loaded and dealer maintained 99 LS400 w/ 120k for only 5100 via private party... It's up to you if you want to do the work and dig through the retards on craigslist/ebay until you find someone that has a decent car. Just be aware that deals like the one I just bought are out there. BTW, off topic, but I thought you might want to know.. You might want to save up for the 98 and up LS. They are so much better. I have a 94 LS before getting this one and let me tell you the difference is night and day. No. 1 The car rides smoother, No. 2 Gas mileage is better due to Variable valve timing, No 3. Power.. 90-94 LS400's go 0-60 in almost 8 seconds. 98-00 go 0-60 in 6.3 and are pretty much as fast as the LS430s up to 2006 i believe..so you are getting modern acceleration (i just beat my friend's Acura TL 2010) No. 4 Better sound system. No. 5(IMO) Better styling. Just something to think about, if your going to spend over 4G's (After Dealer Fees and Taxes) , you might consider just saving a bit more for the 98-00 model.. i'm telling you man to man..its worth it. believe me.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

i would subtract ~$500 just for that roof.

not out of sheer spite, there's no guarantee on paint condition under it.

TheSteve

I saw the car in depth today. Its actually the "Palm Beach" edition. The suede roof is actually tan, you can't tell from the photo. The car DID have the timing belt and water pump replaced at 94,000k. the fuel pump and the CPU unit were replaced by the dealer selling the car. The service records show the one owner religiously changed the oil every 4k (they actually have all the receipts dating from 1994). The suede roof is still tightly attached to the car, with no tears or gaps anywhere. There is NO rust above or below, no chips or faded sun marks either.

I am taking her out Monday for a long road drive. Will make the decision then. I think she is a keeper.

Kansas

Hey, an LS400 with a vinyl room sounds fun. Might be a "chick magnet" - hope you prefer women over 80! I don't know when Lexus of Palm Beach stopped doing this to cars .... here is a photo of the LS430 version.

YoshiMan

If it has been maintained well and you either like the roof, or it doesn't bother you too much, i say go for it. Any car with service records and proof that it has been well maintained to that degree is kind of a difficult find these days.

Heck, I paid $2700 for my neglected 95' with absolutely zero ANY history whatsoever, other than the fact that the timing belt still has a good 20,000 miles left on it. Needed a few things here and there but these are rock solid cars by design.

ls400geek

I can say being a 98 owner, one of the CONS of the 98-2000 is that it is a very expensive job to replace camshaft seals (due to VVTi).. 10 hours labor instead of minutes labor of LS400's prior to 98.

TheSteve

I just test drove the car over 55 miles with the dealer riding shotgun (we actually also went to lunch at a local Hooters lol).
The car rides like new. No rough idling or bucking. Accelerates like a champ, straight as an arrow no pull to the left or right. Brakes fine. Everything works, all lights functional (no dash cluster issues). Sound system (Pioneer) works fine. Cruise control works, power roof has no leaks (took it through a car wash to test it). Had car on lift, no rust issues or anything below. Tires have about 1/2 life left on em.

I am buying it Monday!

ls400geek

Enjoy the car and welcome to the club!

Jelous400

Congrats and welcome to the forum, even tho i'ma noob as well and just got here a few days ago, i feel like there should be a welcome party for both of us...whose buying the cake..