Sold my 2004 GS300 and ordered a GS460 from Copart.


While waiting for delivery, went to the junkyard and bought doors and side airbag.

 

I used to buy damaged cars from copart, iaai and others, many years ago. Becareful of buying sight unseen, be extra careful of who and where you buy from. Any vehicle from copart I would only trust insurance companies, or big brand name. Jo schmo auto sales, I would avoid, and I would avoid any of the major cities miami/LA/new york etc. Sellers always play a dirty games, they will buy smashed up cars, hammer out one the easier panels, ghetto fix suspension just to prop them up. When you receive the car its usually 4 times of what you expected to pay.

I once purchased a vw jetta from miami, and it had flaking paint in the center, and air bags cover replace with no air bags inside of it. After inspecting the vehicle well, we found out that the whole car was cut in half and rewelded a new section. Another miami story, was for a hayabusa motorcycle. The pictures were taken in miami lot, but the bike was being sold in jacksonville. When I the bike arrived, the whole fairings, brakes, exhaust, and many other parts were all stripped from it. Auction suspected the tow truck when he delivered from miami to jacksonsville.

 

Thanks. I took a gamble, and I may have to end up like one of those people who fix em up a little and re-auction it. It was delivered today. The car is beautiful, leather, engine, trans, electronics and suspension is good. However, the interior carpet is ruined, the sound system is broken, and most importantly, the BMS appears broken. And obviously the side damage from the accident. Had I known, I probably wouldn't have bought the car, but it is what it is. Im excited to see how things turn out. Everything else is doable, but the brake situation might be a deal-breaker (no pun intended). I recall reading that there was a recall on it, and If I can get Lexus to hook me up with a recall fix, Id definitely keep the car. Otherwise, it might be out of my price range. Shame, because the vehicle is beyond gorgeous.

 

I would keep it! Its got low miles and nice colors, she should last you a good bit.

 

Getting some supplies together in the meantime.


The beige carpet in the car is too dirty and stank. Which is surprised me because the leather seats were almost perfect.


Found a replacement.

 

Did the oil, air filter, and changed the diff fluid.

Doing the diff with no jack

 

June 4

June 8

June 9

June 17


June 25

 

Interesting...how many miles are on her?

 

A little over 98k

 

Then, it's worth it to rebuild her because you can easily get another 100k out of her. Mine is over 200k now and still going strong.

 

Update. Got some new wheels to replace the scratched ones. And the car is finally out of the shop.



First got rid of the nasty carpet

Much better

Curtain airbag

Took me two days but i got it in there

Now I need to get the rear seat airbag, reset the module, and figure out the ABS situation.

 

Dang u got some serious skilzzz. I can do basic car maintenance, but would not be able to take everything apart like that. Good work!

 

Great work! So nice to see a GS460 brought back from the dead. This is my dream car with the V8 but it was never sold here, so I settled for the 450h. The 3GS is so well built compared to the 4GS, and far better than my wife's X5, which drives very well but is comparatively a piece of junk when it comes to quality...

Looking forward to more updates!

 

Thank you Peter and Kev. Its been an equally stressful and rewarding experience.
Quick update:

Changed the mirror. Old one had the auto dimming fluid leak out.


And last but not least, did my first ATF drain & fill.

 

The body shop messed up the welded nut behind the frame that holds the door check, and tried to weld something in there. Unfortunately, it tore out a few days ago. Very disappointing, and the proposed fix was to cut open the frame, attach another nut, and weld back into place.


Ouch. Also, i passed the rebuilt inspection and finally got my title.

Got an M6 locknut from Ace Hardware.

Took out a bunch of panels and stuff under the left dash. I could tell that someone had attempted this earlier but couldn't. Somehow fit enough fingers in there to hold the wrench.

With my right hand in the frame holding the wrench, I used my left to ratchet the bolt through the door check and frame into the locknut.

Worked.