New member here, longtime Ls 400 driver

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04-27-13, 12:22 AM

Stereorob

Lexus Test Driver

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New member here, longtime Ls 400 driver

Hi my name is bobby and I live in beautiful west palm beach, fl. My obsession with the Ls 400 started back in 1999, at 16, when I rode in my old bosses brand new Ls 400. I thought it was the coolest car ever and I wanted one so bad I couldn't stand it! After two years of busting my *** and saving my $$, I ended up with a pearl white 90 Ls 400 with a grey leather interior (closest thing I could afford to a 99 lol) I had a few cars before that one and many cars after, but holy **** that car was the love of my life. Got it from the original owner and with all it's original paperwork and matenence records going all the way back to October of 89 when they bought it new, and got pretty damn lucky with it. It was comfortable fast fun to drive and at the time it didn't look too dated, It lasted me almost 8 years, 8 very hard years, racing it, wrecking it twice, doing all kinds of stupid things with it like putting it sideways at 130 mph and living to talk about it lol. Didn't know about the timing belt deal till it snapped on me in 2005 at 209k miles.. Well I got another one put on and it kept running fine. Smooth and quiet but with jaw dropping power when stomped. I drove it all over the country and aside from the timing belt snapping once, it never left me stranded anyware, when something did go on it, it would atleast limp back to my driveway. After shelling out serious $$$ for repairs I started doing all the work on it myself and learned my way around the car, I even got a really ugly 91 that didn't run right and totally dissected it and learned every damn thing I could about what made a Ls 400 tick, anyways almost 8 years and 250k miles later, she was finished. Battered bruised and slap wore out. And really big stuff was going on her so I let her go in the summer of 08. Funny thing was.. At that point the car had become more than just a car to me, it became a way of life, the mrs talked me into getting us a grand Cherokee and drove it for 4 years of misery. Seriously there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't miss that old Ls 400 that was so good to me all those years ago, well back in February, the jeep reached the end of its days and I decided I wanted to go after another 1990 Ls 400. I didn't even consider a 2nd gen model cause the original ones just have something special about the way they ride and feel, unfortunatly these cars don't age well in south Florida and although there were a ton on the market, at 20 something years old every one I looked at was trashed. There were a bunch of 91s for sale, and alot of 92s and 93s, but I never did find another 90. -guess there so old at this point in the game there almost extinct.

not to mention I had to keep the mrs happy and she dosent have the soft spot for the really old ones like I have and she threw a fit when I told her I wanted to get a 23 year old car as our main vehicle. So I compromised, I started looking at the early 2nd gens and even those are so old now there hard to find in respectable condition, but I test drove a 95 that was beat down and very tired, but I liked the updated interior look and some of the cool features it had that the 90 didn't. So the hunt began, (tracking down a clean early 2nd gen Ls 400 was a adventure in itself) but after 39 test drives, and 200 miles down the road later, after 5 years of absence, I'm back behind the wheel of a Ls 400. I looked and looked and looked, and decided to head up north to orlando, (where in from originally) to visit family, and figured I'd have better luck up there in my search. Unfortunatly it was the same old song and dance, just more cars, all were ragged out bombs, on my last day up there I was right about to give up, thinking I wouldn't ever find a nice one that didnt have 400k miles on it and ripped up seats, after a day of 8 different test drives all more dissapointing as the last, I was ready to cave in and head to the Hyundai dealership for a 2013 sonata, I was driving down the road literally on my way to get the new sonata when something told me to look to my right. There in a dinky little car lot sat what looked like a early second gen Ls 400 in good condition. If I hadn't glanced over when I did, I wouldn't have saw it, and I'd be driving a stupid Hyundai right now. I pulled over frustrated tired and moody to look at one last Ls 400 that was probubly going to be another 400k smoking faided mess but was delightfully surprised at what I saw, it passed the cosmetic test. Glossy nice paint, good clean interior and everything looked ok! My heart started racing and I asked for the key, I opened the door and sat on the drivers seat. Aside from some minor scuffs the leather was still soft and supple, free of cracks and holes, the dashboard was nice, all the buttons were there and the woodgrain panels were ok, I slid the key in the ignition and the wheel tilted down as it should, I bumped the key and she started right up, smooth and quiet, the AC felt ice cold, idle was right and it wasn't overheating or smoking, the stereo worked perfectly and all functions did what they were supposed to do.. Then came the road test.. Hmmmmmm.... The dealer rode with me as I dropped it into drive and pulled out onto the road. NO PROBLEMS!! Tranny felt solid. Power steering was working breaks were working right, everything felt good! Than came the "drive like a *******" test, I downshifted and slammed the gas. Did some weeving, blasted down a side street at 70 mph lol, scared the **** out of the dealer when I did a giant powerslide in it back out onto the main road.. YEP!! IT WAS A REAL LS400!!! FINALLY!!! YEAHHH SCORE!!!!!!! The final test was popping the hood after driving it aggressivley and looking for smoke or funny smells, -nothing. Nothing but the clickety clack of the fuel injectors just doing there job and the sound of the AC compressor shutting on and off. And to top it off, the car had the timing belt changed at 125k and it was only at 158k so that wasn't a problem. He was asking 5500 for it but I talked him down to 4700 for it. Plopped down the greenbacks signed some paperwork and off I went. It drove fine back down to west palm beach, doing between 80-90 mph all the way back with short bursts of 120-130

and aside from a few squeeks and rattles that's to be expected of a car that's almost 20 years old and the occasional hiccups in the tranny the car is almost perfect! I've had it just over a month now and there are some small issues showing up now that ill mention in another thread but all in all, she is solid as a rock! I will say this though, she isn't as fun to drive as my old 90 was, it's too refined and laid back, and dosent have the road feel my 90 had, not the **** your pants jaw dropping acceleration my 90 had, but it's still a damn nice car. I got all the goodies with it too! The toolkit is all there, the first aid kit is unused, jack and spare tire there, owners Manuel and even the original window sticker showing the $57,650 price tag from 1995. It's a one owner car so I lucked out there and it was Always maintained. I think I did good! "Diamond pearl white" with tan leather guts, and shiny 16" chrome factory rims without a single scuff or scratch on them! Glad to be back in a Ls 400!!!! Woohoo!!!!