Wrecked Lexus LS Is One Cheap but Awesome Rebuild
A tiny outlay of cash and a lot of elbow grease is all it took to make this wrecked Lexus LS as good as new.
With car prices soaring in recent years, most of us must resort to the used auto market to score an affordable deal. But if you have a little mechanical inkling and even less coin, salvage cars offer up loads of opportunity. It’s a true risk/reward kind of situation, of course. But if you do it right, rebuilding a car like the flagship Lexus LS can be done for pennies on the dollar. We know this because Club Lexus member pmesfun is doing just that right now, right here in the forums.
“I picked up this ’04 Lexus LS 430 with 71K miles from the auction two weeks ago. Figured I’d share my progress here. Primary damage was at the passenger rail extension. After placing the car on the frame machine, the rail extension took all the impact. I took multiple measurements on the car and compared it to a non-wrecked LS and everything matched, drives straight and smooth.
I fixed the hood and bumper until it was warm enough to paint the replacements. Then I moved on to the passenger rail. I was able to fix the passenger radiator support since the donor clip was from an ’02 Lexus LS, which was different. Right now I’m waiting for a replacement passenger bumper support and headlight bracket. Also a universal aluminum power steering reservoir since I couldn’t find a reasonably priced OEM part.”
It’s pretty clear by the quality of work performed here that the OP has some skills. A little bit of disassembly, welding, and paint makes this Lexus LS look like new underneath. And with an initial investment of only $2,450, it’s a pretty safe bet that he’s going to make out well on this purchase, too!
Of course, it isn’t all about the money. As Bocatrip notes, rebuilding a car like this can be a very satisfying experience.
“Ultimately you should get a feeling of self gratification for such a huge undertaking. That has to be worth something and hopefully it will be for you. Good job and keep up the good work.”
Nothing like a little encouragement from others to help you keep pushing forward on a project like this. So that’s exactly what the OP did.
“Today I filled the power steering and cooling system and bled out the air from both systems. Then I put on the bumper bar and degreased the engine bay. The original power steering reservoir was broken so ATF was everywhere. You can see the $16 Honda reservoir, left of the airbox. I got it from Autozone and it works fine for now.”
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