Avnger619

Hey everybody!

I recently bought this wonderfully beautiful 1996 Renaissance Red Lexus SC400 with a surprisingly complete and thorough service history for only $2000. I am sure you can all imagine how I fell in love with it. I've had a couple cars before this, but this beats them all. In comfort, power and especially looks.

(For those that might be interested)
My old cars: Blue 1987 Toyota van, Green 1997 Ford Mustang, Silver 2000 Daewoo Lanos.
Current Cars: Silver 2000 Nissan Pathfinder, Red 1996 Lexus SC400

Now, I'd love to make this car mine... you know what I mean.

I have a couple ideas of what to do to it to make it better, like better rims, new paint job(will stay red.)

So far I've replaced the head lights and rear turning signals. It will definitely need some new Steering rack and pinion bushings once i find the time, luckily my mechanic will do that for less than $100. Sometimes I start it and it idles out a couple times then runs fine, usually that never happens, but when it does its no fun.
Also the first time I tried to open the fuel cap door, it just fell off..... Looked like someone had broken the plastic mounts holding it to the metal hinge and tried to super glue it back. I unscrewed the hinge and used Gorilla Glue to put it back together and I haven't had any issues since.
Also the previous owner said the car was hit while parked and they replaced the driver door, but they spray painted it to match the red!

I would love to know what you would do if it were yours?! Please give me some ideas!

This is a learning process for me, I don't know to much about cars. I do change my own oil, switch out head units, replace brake lights or any lights , Fix any electronic issue, but if someone starts talking about coilovers, struts, gaskets or body kits I will probably be lost.

Life is learning! Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you in advance.

More Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/pGiWV

DrAtomica

It's all a matter of taste, different people like to do different things to their vehicle.

First thing that comes to mind is start restoring it as best as you can. Also about the idle issue, you can try replacing the fuel pump and filter. Give the car and nice exterior and interior cleaning, preserve it's somewhat paint, wax it, condition the leather, maybe get new tires if these are getting rough. Check for leaks, monitor temperatures with an obd2 device while on the road. These are some of the things that can prolong the life of the vehicle just because you have an idea of how the condition is.

Congrats on your new ride, hope to see you on the road! (Which city are you in?)

Maximo018

Thats one hell of a mint interior. I wish mine were that good.

emLEX

The best advice I can give you is to go through it thoroughly and do any and all maintenance and repairs the car needs. Suspension, brakes, fluids, ignition... no fun in a car with cool wheels and slammed to the ground if it's broke down or undrivable in some way...or worse, it gets wrecked because of neglect.

Once those are squared away, start thinking about how you'd like to customize it to suit your tastes. Ask yourself what about the car you'd like to improve on. What are your priorities, performance, looks...? There's plenty that can be done, only you can know what you do and don't like. We can help steer you in a direction and make recommendations but, ultimately, it's up to you and your budget.

FSUsucks1

iTrader: (5)

Very nice find!

As already mentioned above take care of the maintenance stuff first then take some time and figure out what you want to change out or upgrade. It's all a matter or personal taste on how you want to fix up your car.

Luxurious

It all comes down to you. I would look at some SC picture threads and go from there. My 95 SC3 5 speed is in kinda rough shape. Everyone told me **** everything else, just get coils and wheels.

No. Take care of ALL the maintenance first so you don't need to worry about it down the road. You can try to make yourself 50/50 tail-lights and upgrade audio goodies and all that.

In my opinion, start with one project and complete it. Example? Get hid lights, then interior lights, plate lights, fog lights, door panel lights all changed so then that's complete.

Just my .02

myLEXsc400

as far as exterior looks, i would put a color matched lip, and 97+ sides on it. I'd also lower it. I did those mods to my 96 SC400

Devan

New Shoes! 18"-19"

The Ikon

Congrats!!! Get a complete detail inside and out and get it running right before you start any project! It's a great buy!

Avnger619

Thanks for all the reply's so far!

Btw I live in North Houston, Texas and its always fun to see these on the road of course!

Also, this post was more about me being very excited about my car. I really don't know any car guys, I'll start talking excitedly about my car to someone and I mostly get a blank stare.
It's nice to see other people are interested in this surprisingly amazing car. I could've bought some kind of beater for the price.

First things I've done so far is a lot of the basics. Oil change, car wash, Detail interior(the floor rug is spotless!), Inflate tires to proper pressure (Tread is ok and car came with receipt from discount tire from year ago.)

It really does run perfectly every time I drive it. Smoothest ride I've had... I'm lucky, the records show the struts were replaced around 175,000 miles.

One, of these days I will get new rims... probably 18" and lower it!

I would really love for it to be repainted and looking kind of like this one I found on youtube:
I looks like they might've removed the tint? Those rims aren't my style, but it sure looks good!

Better Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/pGiWV

Avnger619

Next trip is figuring out how to change the fog lights/Drls (Which one?) ... I know you need to at least partially remove the splash guards, remove some screws and it comes out?

Thanks guys

DrAtomica

Guess I'll be on the lookout for you then, good luck with the build! See you on the streets!