So for the last 14 years I've owned a 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser. I just passed 240,000 miles when I was hit by a driver with no insurance. Took out the whole passenger side of the truck. Age and mileage made it a total loss. I had uninsured motorist coverage with my insurance carrier and I just took the settlement.
Spent 2 weeks looking for a replacement, something different and smaller because my kids are all grown up now. Even spent a week in a rental because I was having such a hard time finding something in budget & wasn't a steaming turd in person. Picked up an 06 Acura TL with good maintenance history. Drove that for 2 weeks and the day after I transferred the title into my name I was hit by a lady in a 13 Escalade who cut over 2 lanes to the far left lane where I was without looking or stopping. Took out the passenger side front fender. Again, age & mileage made it a total loss. Started looking for a GS300 mostly because they are made in Japan and I've kind of always wanted one.
Found a 2 owner GS from a private seller with 138k miles at a good price. Paid cash and drove it home.



Had new tires, A/C system was replaced 4 years ago, interior is clean, driver seat is not ripped or split, all the other leather seats are still soft. It needs some basic maintenance and I've already started buying parts to replace, ball joints, tie rod ends, cam seals, VVTI cam seal, timing belt & water pump, thermostat, radiator, rear diff fluid, oil & filter.

First thing I did was get it into the garage and clean up the outside. Clay bar, polished the paint then ceramic coated the paint and glass.

Right after I bought the TL, a set of 19" Infiniti G37S wheels with new tires showed up locally for sale at a price that I couldn't beat. They were even powder coated graphite by the previous owner. Bought them the day after I saw it for sale. I only had them on the TL for an hour to test fit and test drive. They needed hub centric spacers which I hadn't bought yet, so I pulled them off and put them in the garage. Did a lot of reading here and as soon as I knew I was getting the GS, I ordered the correct hub centric rings to fit. Installed the wheels and no vibrations, no fitment issues even with 245/40/19 tires at all 4 corners.







Fits nicely in the garage with my wife's 13 GX460. Ignore the 88 Accord coupe to the left I bought for $350. It was sitting behind a house since 1991. I bought it the day after I bought my house, had it towed home and have slowly been bringing it back to life. Only has 100,000 miles on it, but needs a lot of work. All the rubber hoses and belts are shot, fuel system needs cleaned, timing belt, fluids, etc. Have a set of Tokico blue shocks w H&R springs for it, looking for a set of Integra GSR blades for wheels. Will eventually need paint after I get it running.

After I get all the maintenance out of the way I have a list of upgrades.
- coilovers
- LS400 front brakes
- new rear pads & rotors
- front sway bar
- upgraded bushings
- front lip
- headers
- full exhaust

I'm in Houston, so if you see me around, give me a wave.

 

Nice find car look solid and is pretty clean. Good that you got all the maintenance out of the way.
Once you install the coil overs it will sit very nice with those wheels. Keep up posted with you progress.

 

Took advantage of some cooler weather this afternoon and knocked out the front lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends and sway bar end links. Changed the rear differential fluid and the oil. Also began degreasing the front half of the engine due to the slow oil leaks that were never addressed with the previous owner. Still collecting parts for the timing belt and associated seals/gaskets that go with it. Going to put in some new plugs & wires while I have everything apart.

 

Looks like a great car to bring back to life. Low miles and good condition.

 

Not much of an update. Did some more cleaning in the engine bay. Pulled the upper timing belt cover and found a gates belt instead of Toyota that felt like new. No signs of cracking or unusual hardness associated with age. That's a good sign it's been changed at least once and fairly recently. I'll just hang onto the kit I bought along with the oil seals and keep an eye on things over the next couple months.

I've been reading a lot of threads here on the forum and learning a lot. I am going to need to buy a replacement set of radius arms because I have the common steering wheel shake at 70, but it's not terrible.

I did pick up a pair of 96 LS400 front calipers at pick n pull for 40% off. Going to buy new front rotors, 17mm roll correction adapters and stainless lines. I cleaned up the calipers and should be able to get them painted this week.

Pending list :
- replacement radius arms
- used steering wheel with better leather
- coilovers
- LS400 front rotors
- stainless brake lines
- new rear pads & rotors
- front sway bar
- upgraded bushings
- front lip
- oil pressure gauge
- water temperature gauge
- headers
- full exhaust

 

Interested in a TRD CF License Plate Garnish or L-Tuned sideskirts? I'm in Houston as well. Check my profile for the listings.

 

Driving home from work Friday the car left me stranded with a bad accelerator pedal position sensor. Went into limp mode less than 5 miles from home with no response to the gas pedal even though the engine was running. Made it into a gas station, opened the hood with the car running and even turning the throttle body by hand, no change in RPMs.

Called AAA and had it towed to a nearby shop. My schedule was full this weekend with retiling a bathroom among other things. Shop called me Saturday while I was in the middle of laying tile with the diagnosis of the sensor failure. Shop tells me they can't source an aftermarket part and the only place they can find it is through the dealer. Quoted me $1100 to repair it. Needless to say I told them I'm having the car towed back to my house. Paid the $130 for the diagnostic time. At least it came with a comprehensive report listing some additional things that I need to replace, O2 sensors and a couple other things.

AAA came again and moved the car home. Located the part number here and ordered it on Amazon for $200 on Saturday. Was supposed to arrive on Sunday. Best case I would get it early enough to have it on the road that night so I can get to work Monday. Well, that didn't happen. Part showed up at 9pm. My daughter let me borrow her CRV to get to work. It's always fun driving her car. It's been a father/daughter project for the last 2 years. 16x8 BBS wheels, Yonaka coilovers, bunch of cosmetic and preventative maintenance work.




Got home last night and was able to swap out the part. Cleaned the throttle body and upper intake manifold runners while I had it off. Got the throttle cable adjusted and the car runs smooth again. Ordered new O2 sensors plus some other maintenance parts to install this weekend. Still trying to locate an oil leak, my best guess is the front crank seal. I degreased the top half of the motor a week ago, but still seeing fresh oil on the front lower, more on the driver side.

 

Get one of those UV oil leak kits. It makes it much easier to see exactly where the oil is coming from

 

WOW!! was this before you came by to pick up your part?! I feel totally bad man but looks like you got it worked out? Thanks for everything and your GS300 is looking real nice 👍!! Let’s trade rims lol love the crv with BBS!!!and the g37 wheels!
yes man my is300 has problems after problems but it was a pretty rough example but I loved it and wish to get another one day
here is a photo of when My harmonic balancer said FU lol!! I’m not joking as it was as it shows, I mean the Accessory belt didn’t even snap it was still rotating on the car!! When ahead a bought a $50 one from amazon and it worked perfectly! I’ll be following your build!

 

I was looking for an IS300 after my Acura TL was totaled. I came close to buying a white pearl IS300 from a guy in Phoenix, even had my brother go look at it for me, but it turned out to be originally a New Jersey car for the first half of it's life plus had 2 minor accidents with the previous owner. I'm real paranoid about buying cars with accident history. It was one of the cleanest IS300s I've seen in a long time aside from the minty yellow one with Florida tags I saw in north Houston a month ago. Owner wasn't willing to sell it though.
I'll have to post up some photos of my previous project cars. I'm never happy unless I have something in the garage to upgrade.

 

Dude I feel you! I traded a 2001 s430 for that is300 with primer.... every is300 I know of had a accident wth including mines I didn’t realize until later