Jbthompson

Hi everyone. I am jumping over from the LS430 forum. I have owned two 430s and absolutely loved those cars and became a Lexus fanatic because of it. I am looking to get into another LS, and to save money I am looking for an LS400. My budget is 6k max, but I'd like to be in the 4500-5k range. I have two cars I am interested in but the prices seem high. One is a 94, single owner with 120k. This car has impeccable maintenance, and the timing belt has been replaced twice. It is listed at 5500 and is out of state for me so id have to travel or ship it. Second one is local, two owner 94 with 89k miles for 5k. Maintenance looks good but looking at mylexus it looks like the car might have had some body work done but there are no accidents on the carfax. I also can't tell if the timing belt has been done, most likely not. Are these prices reasonable? Looking at KBB private party these cars in excellent are around 3800. Is it worth the extra money?

I want to get a great LS, with good maintenance but I also don't want to overpay. Any advice??

peterls

For that money you should be able to find a 1999 LS400 with about 150k miles. It has many advantages over the 1st gen LS400 which is what I have: 5speed transmission, ironed out bugs, better brakes, more room to work on the car (its a bit larger) and so on

Jbthompson

Thank you. I had originally wanted a 98-2000 but am just not finding any close (I'm in north Texas).

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Just be patient and keep looking. You can get the 98-00 with your budget. Even if you have to travel some it would still be a good deal.

Jbthompson

Thanks. Do you think a higher mileage 98-2000 is better than a lower mileage mid to early 90s?

Kansas

Are you aware that HID headlights are available only on the 98-00 and that the 98-00 were the only LS400's that came standard with VSC like you have had on your LS430's? Watch out if you consider a 98 - lot's of them had halogen headlights. And lots of early LS400's didn't have traction control and TRAC on the early LS400 is pretty bad.

The 98-00 has VVTi with the same engine power and a similar 5-speed transmission as the LS430. The 95-97 has the same engine power as the 90-94 with a 4-speed transmission.- OK, maybe add 10 hp more for the 95-97 but it is still essentially the same engine as the 90-94.

Brakes on the 90-92 were especially bad ... a little better starting in 1993 and a lot better starting in 1995. Same for headlights - 90-94 were awful, 95-97 was big improvement, 98-00 with HID even better. I sold my 90 LS in 2003 after driving it 13 1/2 years mainly because the headlights were so poor I couldn't see to drive it at night on rural roads.

The following webpage has a great summary of the changes over the years: http://www.lexls.com/info/lsgenerations.html

AndyTTT

Personally I'd always buy on condition unless you want a particular spec which only comes with a particular year. I started looking for an early LS400 and almost ended up buying a late 430 simply because the later the car the more toys they have. I finally bought an 80,000 mile '93 in very good condition and after doing a few simple jobs have recently driven it on an 800 mile trip to Belgium from England. It didn't miss a beat, turned in 26 mpg [imperial gallon] and was extremely comfortable. I think whatever year you buy you'll like it.

Jbthompson

Thanks for info. I would absolutely want a 98 or newer, but definitely want a car that has been well maintained. The search continues!!

Legender

Check cl in DFW. There is one listed for $7k or OBO...low miles and clean looking two owner car. It's gold, though.

Jbthompson

Yeah I've seen that one, hate the gold. They are several private sellers in the DFW area and they are all around 7-7.5k with KBB giving it $6000 in excellent condition. Are these prices inflated or is that realistic?

Legender

Another one posted last night...very clean looking 2000, Looks like it's from a dealer but may be worth looking into. Not sure how he got it, but with the VIN number on the lexus site you could check the maintenance. They will go for a premium. I use the NADA site and it ranks them higher than $6k. This guy is asking more, but may be able to get him down.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/4421325438.html
I can't tell the color in the pics, but might be that light green color...or maybe silver.
Good luck in your search and yes, hold out for what you really want to increase your happiness and your pleasure.

Jbthompson

Thanks all for the input. I am considering this one. There are no service records for it past 2009 and the owner doesn't know about timing belt.

http://m.cars.com/for-sale/index.html#vdp?listingId=601671461

Legender

I forget that cars.com is still there I use CL so much...
Looks like a good .... timing belt is real question mark on that one... should have been done by now for sure.
Be careful.
How long has the current owner had it? Surprised if they don't know. That is an expensive task. I would think you'd remember.
Looked through the pics.. poor camera. The coolant level is low, bu the color looks good.
And the price... $5499... sounds like a local small time dealer...though it does have plates on it... usually they are paper plates if they are flipping from the local auction out of Grand Prairie

peterls

That's too much. I'd be looking for a '99-2000 at around $4000-6000 depending on what work was done or what I need to do to it, with one or two owners and all service records, possibly driven by an old lady or something like that...

Best deals are to be found in rich areas - those people make hundreds of dollars per hour, all they are looking for is a little more money than a trade-in and no hassle; they don't want to spend more than 5 minutes selling the car.
So look for lawyers, doctors, and such, not for young people or curb-side used car dealers. If the ad sounds impersonal, stay away from it. Like "I have a 99 LS400 in great shape, good body, clean interior, low miles" - that's a curbside dealer.
Honest sellers go something like this: "I've had my LS400 since blah-blah and got it from my so-and-so and its been in our family since whatever, and we have all service records..." that's the one you should check out (provided what they claim is true - if I find even one lie or something important that was not disclosed, I walk immediately).

Jbthompson

Yeah he has had it for 3 years, I think he got it at around 120k miles. He says he doesn't drive it hardly at all. Its a private owner. The timing belt is worrisome to me. Is there a way to visually tell if its been changed? To me a good price on this car would be 4600. What do you think?