H2OMAN

What I know about the '95.

This month the owner serviced the timing belt, idlers, and tensioner, water pump, cam and crank seals, plugs, distributor caps and rotors, power steering pump and hoses, valve cover gaskets, climate control LCD, plus recent leather interior, brakes and rotors, rack & pinion, balljoint, deck lid struts, driveshaft bearing, and the struts & Eibach springs have about 85K on them.

He purchased it in '97 as a CPO car with 17K on it, the original paint still looks great.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

That's a heck of a lot of maintenance work done over the past month, plus it's got by far my favorite Lexus wheels (GS300/400; edit: make that GS400/430) on it. Either the seller was really on top of maintenance, or it was a ton of deferred maintenance that had to be done before selling it... Seems unlikely it would be the latter.

H2OMAN

From what I can gather the owner is really on top of maintenance & repair because he drives 50 miles a day for work. Soon after he did all of the work he landed a new job with a big pay increase, so he bought something that delivers much better fuel economy to replace his SC. I plan on seeing & driving it this weekend.

oSUPRAo

It looks nice, but personally I won't buy a car with a lot of recent work done. It doesn't make sense to do all of that and then sell the car. Just like any time I see a stick shift car with a new clutch for sale. I assume that something went wrong and now the car feels like crap. Especially when the timing belt and water pump are involved. That would lead me to assume that they neglected the car, the timing belt snapped, caused damage to the engine, and now they're getting rid of it before it goes to crap.

H2OMAN

The way I understand the chronological timeline is that he did all of the work with the intent of driving it a few more years himself, he then landed a new job with the big pay increase that enabled him to replace the SC with a new higher MPG vehicle.

oSUPRAo

I understand, but I don't trust a thing sellers say. I look at the history report, I look at the sellers demeanor, and I look at the condition of the car. The car could be perfect and it's exactly like he says it is, but always assume it's not imo. I would definitely bring it to a shop to get inspected, and preferably a Lexus dealership. Might be up to $100, but it's better than spending $1,000 down the road. I always want to put them on the lift regardless to check for rust and worn suspension components. Good luck, and hopefully it's everything he says it is.

H2OMAN

I hear what you are saying, and I will proceed cautiously.
Thanks.

LEXXIUM

iTrader: (1)

If you aren mechanically inclined take it to the shop it's a small price insurance against big bucks later, that way you can point out those things to the seller to get the price lower so you can spend that cash on needed replacement or mod parts!
drive both cars and get the one that you think suits you best!

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

What you're saying makes sense in general, but '95 is a non-interference engine, so there's no reason to assume the major service interval work done is somehow hiding other damage. Maybe if the water pump failed and it overheated badly... It would be going way overboard to do that work just to sell the car, knowing there's no way to recoup that value.

If the seller seems honest in person, I would side with that being a very sound story. You may have lucked into one of the few cars being sold for a reason other than it being too much trouble.

H2OMAN

What do you mean by 'too much trouble'?
Everything that I've read indicates that these cars are some of the most reliable 90's luxury sports cars on the planet.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Most cars are sold because there's something wrong with them and the owner is tired of the money pit or looming one.

Well, you just lumped every uber unreliable car category together, so anything remotely reliable will shine in that company. These cars are known to run for a long time, if not forever, but they definitely require some knowledge and TLC.

Ramblerman

Sorry, IGet that mixed up once in a while beccause of the split years. I think we got zero interference then, and of course vvti in 98. :-)

H2OMAN

My plan is to leave it as close to original as possible, no modifications, just drive it & maintain it.

oSUPRAo

That's exactly what I was going to say next. Even if it didn't overheat, and even if it is a non-interference engine, a timing belt whipping around can wreak some havoc. Doing a bunch of work and then selling it just doesn't sit well with me. That's like buying breast implants for your wife and then divorcing her...

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

^ Except that it's the sort of work that adds pennies on the dollar to the value. That would make even less sense on the seller's part.