I am shopping for a lexus 1993 to 1997 which is better and and cost less to maintain gs 300 es 300 or ls 400. This will be my first Lexus ,just want it to drive no mods or performance items,also how many miles are too many to buy on the car.Please help as iam new to this web site

 

es cost the least to maintain because it shares parts with the toyota camry. However the other two are very very reliable too so you should not run into problems. It all comes down to preference at this point. Lexus is the most reliable car you will own so make your choice on which one you like best because you cant really go wrong.

 

If you have the money, go with the GS300 or the LS400. They're the upper scale vehicles of Lexus instead of the entry level one, so you most likely won't be wishing for features that the car doesn't have.

Anything Toyota is going to last you a long time. I can speak from experience, and my family has owned a 95 LS400 and we never had one problem with it all the way through until we bought the 98 LS400 (redesigned).

Too many miles in a 97 would be 110k+. Expect to see a lot of cars around 100k or so, but don't be discouraged by the mileage since Lexus's can be driven well past 200,000 miles.

 

Totally agree. I want to add also when you get ready to buy the car, get a car fax report, and bring along a mechanic to inspect the vehicle's engine, breaks, etc.

If the car has a salvage tag on car fax report, DON'T BUY IT!

 

Welcome to CL. We're happy to have you.

All other things being equal.....which they rarely are......the LS400, being the flagship, will have the most expensive parts but traditionally was the most reliable of all Lexus products until the IS 300 came out in 2001......newer than the model years you are looking at, so with a used LS the chances of having to buy those expensive parts are less to start with. The only significant LS400 weak point was the tendency of early models to warp brake rotors from the car's heavy weight and load on the brakes....you can minimize this with moderate driving and braking.
That is not to say, however, that other Lexus products are unreliable....far from it. The ES, GS, and SC were all three well above average in reliability compared to other cars during the same model years. Service on the ES in some ways is a little more difficult due to the front-drive...you have to do more work up front with things like brake jobs, wheel bearings, etc......and sometimes have to re-align the front end after this type of work. But jhenty's point is well-taken, too. He is correct.........the ES shares some parts with the less-expensive Camry.

How many miles on the car? Obviously, in general, the fewer the better, but HOW the car was driven....and how well it was serviced........is more important than the total mileage. In general, among Lexus products, though there are some exceptions, the Lexus SUV drivers are the easiest on their vehicles, followed by LS owners, ES owners, GS / SC owners about in a tie, and IS owners the hardest.
One thing.....with the 3.0 liter V6, it is VERY important that the car have regular oil changes....otherwise sludge and gel will build up in the engine and it will be ruined. Do NOT buy an ES300 or an RX300 with an undocumented service history.