Gothere

Hey guys, I just joined today in hope that some of my questions could be answered here.

First, I'm looking at buying a 1993 Lexus SC400, I found one with 193,XXX miles, that I know is well taken care of, woman driven, and never wrecked. For $1800 (at the very most) I could not pass this offer up. I have driven the car numerous times, because the current owner is an old friend of mine, and I must say that it is a very nice car. She just put new tires on it and will be putting new brakes on it soon. Only a few things are wrong, the speedometer light is out and the A/C light is out, but both work, a small dent the in drivers quarter panel that I can fix, and the antenna is stuck down (I heard this is a common issue with these, but I'm not sure, regardless I don't listen to the radio).

Now, on to my questions, when I go for the final inspection before I buy it, what are the major things to look for that signify a dying car? Besides a motor knock or a rough shifting transmission, is there anything special that I need to look for that would save me from having to replace something major. While I'm new to this forum, I am not new to forums, my first car was a 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser, so I know certain models of cars have common issues that can happen after it has reached a certain point in it's life.


Also, if I do end up buying this car, I plan on changing out/adding a few things. Here is a small list of what I want to do to it in the few months after buying it:
-Fixing the dent and repainting the whole car.
-Alpine double din head unit
-Tint
-Exhaust (not far from stock, something noticeable, but I don't want a drone at highway speeds, so if you know of an exhaust that fits this description, please let me know).
-XS Power stock replacement battery
-Big 3 wiring upgrade to supply the upgraded battery
-Crescendo Audio Component 6.5" Speakers and Crescendo Audio tweeters (separate ones from the tweeters that come in the component set)
-CT Sounds 125.4 (mids and highs amp) and CT Sounds 1400.1(bass amp).
-Now here is where I seek out the audiophiles that run more that 2,000 watts in their SC's, does it run effectively, meaning is it clean and loud in the cabin, without having too much truck rattle? What is the rear firewall like between the cabin and the trunk? If anyone has pictures they can post, that would be fantastic.


That should wrap up my questions for you guys, if this deal does not work out for me I will definitely be looking at an SC over the summer. Thank you all in advance, I really hope this gets a lot of response.

oldManTan

if it's that cheap and in great condition then just get it. mine has 216k and runs awesome still, there's some minor things that happen with any car. just need to maintain it. here's a picture of what's behind the seats. it's basically nothing, except the gas tank is behind that.

Gothere

The gas tank is between the backseat and the trunk?

oldManTan

yes, big old thing is right there behind the seat

Duck05

At that mileage, a long list of things will start to pile up. That goes with these cars... If it has been garaged the whole time it will shrink the list of gaskets and rubber components that will eventually need to be replaced.

If the interior is in good shape, especially the door panels and window frames (which are, due to poor design, fragile) then you are way ahead of the game.

You seem to be heavy into the audio aspects so one big caution is that gas tank "shares" space with the stock sub woofer. You may want to research more on that as your options will tend to spill into the trunk area.

Good luck with your purchase - pictures of outside and inside will go a long way for the members to chime in with assistance....

Oh, and here is a picture showing the gas tank in the trunk that is behind the liner (but mine is a 300 which is the same as the 400).

SCereal

iTrader: (4)

I've got about 2KW in mine. You're going to want a sequoia or tundra 150amp alt. Stock alt is only 80 or 90 amps and barely puts out anything at idle. The truck alt puts out somewhere around 90 or 100 at idle.

If you're just going to stick a box in the trunk, the trunk is going to rattle but not as bad as a lot of cheaper cars. Yes they're $2000 cars now but they were $45-50k new back in the 90's. My 12's get plenty loud in my car and sound great.

Gothere

Thank you all for the help and the answers.

Duck05 is there any room on either side of the gas tank? If there is 4 inches on one side I could possibly build my box around the tank. And I don't have any pictures of it yet.


SCereal, what year alternator? I figure any year that has the 1UZ motor.

Duck05

You are going to need to look at it and decide what you can do with the deck. The stock and replacement subs that fit the space are fairly shallow due to the tank placement.

There are a lot of examples of what people have done on this site but most opt to build into the trunk a box with a large sub (or subs). I replaced the 20 year plus stock sub (since it was shot) and there are not a lot of options that fit. The sub in my Civic coupe sounds better due to it using the whole trunk as a "sound box" where the stock SC has that tank with the trunk liner that dampens the sound. All depends on what you want to trade off for improved bass.

SCereal

iTrader: (4)

Just realized you said 400 so I don't know If those alts will fit or not. They fit a 2jz with a slight mod but not sure about 1uz. Year range is early 2000s iirc.

SCereal

iTrader: (4)

Oh and there are plates you can remove in the deck to port sound into the cab.

- V -

iTrader: (1)

not sure what they sound like on the v8 engine but Tanabe Medallion touring exhaust is awesome on a SC300 2jz engine. I plan to get a set once i come to some money, its not insanely loud or obnoxious (at least to me) and has a nice deep tone to it.

car seems ok. You'll have some wear and tear components to fix. at 193k you should look at when some of the maintenance has been done. suspension, timing belt, accessory belt, starter, alternator, etc. Not saying they will need to be replaced, but if the car still has the original parts then id say you will be replacing those sooner rather than later.

the lights on the dash going out are a very common issue. there is a vendor here that will fix your head unit and climate control for a price. not sure if i'm allowed to post the link to their webiste, but here it is
http://www.taninautoelectronix.com/category-s/1860.htm

cant say much about sound except that i like the stock audio. i have my phone hooked up to the head unit via blutooth and it works flawlessly, clear audio, no static or anything like that, but if you want to upgrade your sound more power to you.