alexamparo

I dont even have a lexus car yet!!! I was previously a member of MAXIMA.org until my 1997 Maxima GLE was stolen and stripped. sooooo the only car i'm seriously considering is a 94-96 GS300. I know it's not as fast as my maxima and i don't plan to make any performance upgrades but i just wanted to know how expensive are parts for a gs300 and what problems should i look for. are their any specific defect they tend to have????? Also i here the gs300 has the same engine as a NA supra. can parts be interchanged??? what issues have clublexus members had with this particular car. any help is appreciated thanx

2Lexos

first off, welcome to clublexus!! From my personal experience i haven't had a single problem with my 95 GS300. I bought it used in 98 and it's still running like a champ. I believe if you are going to buy one you should make sure you are getting a car with a history. Like if you are buying one from a private owner ask for service records or ask to take it to the dealer for an inspection and the dealer will have the service history in the computer. Good luck in your search for a new car and hopefully it's a Lexus so you can stick around and maybe you'll catch the mod-bug that's been going around.

Rover

Welcome to the club, bro. It is a good feeling to welcome another first gen. fellow CL member. Not too many of us left out there. I have a 1994 Lexus GS300. I am the first and only owner of the car. Here's my two cents for the "bail bucket".
First off, like it was said before, make sure your car has a history. If the owner does not have any records, any Lexus dealership will have them on their computers, if this particular Lexus was ever serviced at any Lexus dealership. Then take it to the Lexus dealership to be inspected as well, just to give you a piece of mind, just like 2Lexos pointed out.
Now the things you should check yourself:
--- Oil filled shocks on the hood and the trunk. Those tend to go on almost all of the cars sooner or later. Just bring the hood(trunk) up and see if it stays in that position. If it does, you're good to go, if it goes back down, then they need to be replaced.
--- Cup-holder. This part brakes easily and on all of the first gen. GS3s. It is very expensive to replace, because the whole assembly needs to be replaced and not just the broken part. If the cup-holder is broken, it's $300 off the price (That's what the dealer will charge you for the part alone).
--- Master key. Make sure you get one, when you buy the car. It is pretty big and has a button on the side to lock/unlock the doors. If the owner does not have it, that's another $400-500 off the price (Once again that's how much you will have to give to the dealer to get one).
--- Check the front brakes. Our cars mostly use the front ones for braking in conjunction with the rear ones, but front ones get used more. Obviously if they are worn, ask the owner to change the brake pads, before you buy the car. And if he/she agrees, you might as well ask him/her to have rotors resurfaced at the same time "as a sign of good faith".
--- Power antenna. Make sure that works as well. If not, $150 off the price, because once again that's what you will have to pay to the dealer to get it fixed.
--- And last but not least, if your car comes with a factory CD changer, check that as well, that's $800 to fix.
Other than this small cosmetic problems, the car is solid, you will love it, you will pimp it, and trust me: you will start MODDING the car. It does not matter what you think now, and it does not matter if you have money or not, and it does not matter if you live in a bad neighborhood and you don't want any extra attention. YOU WILL MODD THE CAR. You see, as soon as you signed up with Club Lexus you got infected with the MOD bug. All of us love the cars so much, we just can't control it, and you are one of us now. Welcome to the family, and good luck, any questions just give us a holler.

2Lexos

:eek: dude......$300 for cup holder? $400 to $500 for key? someone is quoting you the wrong prices......@ my dealer the cup holder assembly cost me $120, and I asked about he key and they said $180 for the master with the lock/unlock button on it. something is wrong in smallville:eek:

Rover

2Lexos, you've got a good point. It is very expensive.
I was quoting prices that I got charged living in Connecticut.
In my opinion it is one of the most expensive states to live in, bro.
That might explain such a huge price difference between what you pay for parts and the amount that I get charged. I guess, life is better where you are at.
Regards.

2Lexos

Well there's plenty of room for you here in chicago......we always welcome another lexus brother.

VVT-i

One more thing you need to look for , the outside window molding. Look at the top corner of the driver and passenger door, make sure there's no gap between the molding and the door. That will created some wind noise and $400.00 to replace.
I agree with Rover, I used to live in Middletown, CT and it's really expensive over there. So, I moved to Atlanta 10 years ago.

Toog4me

Welcome to Clublexus!

The 1st. gen GS300 is a sweet ride. If only ROB were here to tell you that...

Anyways, the SC300 has the NA Supra engine. I'm not sure if it is the same engine. If so, yes, things can be interchanged. But if your not doing performance mods, it shouldn't matter.


WELCOME!

alexamparo

don't get me wrong I like performance mods but i don't know if thats safe to do on 100k+ engines. I modded the hell out of my previous nissan maxima however it only had 71000 at the time which it got stolen. i was runnin high 13's with it but i did learn that these cars are not intended for racing as i blew 2 auto transmissions in the course of two years. I wish the gs300 came 5 speed. I'm more concerned about the tranny than the engine. Are rwd trannys stronger than fwd trannys like the Maxima?? and does anyone have more than 110k on thier 1st gen gs300 and still modding???

NateInJapan

I have 1st gen Aristo about to hit 100k km on it- About to put 5 tv's in it and slide it sideways every chance I get- these cars are tha bomb! Mod that whip dogg- chicks digg mods.
Nate

Rico's Revenge

Welcome to the board! As Rover said, there are few of us 1st Gen. guys left.

What kind of mods are you talking about? Intake, exhaust, pulleys, computers, etc.. ? All the bolt on stuff is fine. These engines are almost bullet-proof. If you plan on doing forced-induction (or Nitrous), I would suggest having at least the bottom end gone through just in case.

As with the Max...the tranny is the weak link. It can only take so much so if you plan on doing a 700hp monster, you'll be building a new rear end as well.

As far as the cup holder thing goes...mine broke a couple weeks ago. Park Place Lexus here in Dallas told me $385 for the assembly. Guess what? I don't use the cup holder, I siliconed it in permanently!

I may have to call the guys in Chi-Town to hook me up!

2Lexos

for sure.....if your serious about getting one let me know and i'll go see what they are asking for one. I got mine about two years ago so i'm sure the price went up a bit but i doubt it went up over $300. let me know todd.

alex

indypwr

alexsamparo: welcome to the club bro. i hv 1996 gs 300 and it runs great. u can't say fr now, that u wont be modding yr car as soon as u get one but u will eventually; little by little. as for yr maxima, i think the engines on lexus cars are a lot stronger. thy can handle high hp w/o any mods on bottom end. heck, even getting a turbo kit fr the gs300, it will give you at least 320hp!!
you wont even thnk about yr maxima anymore.....

if u do get one, try to open up the exhaust more and probably get an intake. modding these gs are not cheap so be prepared to spend an arm and a leg if u do decide to add some bpu.

good luck, bro...!!!

blue wax

yo bro !!!!!!

welcome

I like people with good taste.... and 1st Gen is a very good sample of luxury, reliabilty and quiet smoothness.

enjoy that car......
have fun in the club too
everybody is very helpful here.

yezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Jmai22

GET THE CAR. I know todd is gonna say something about me obseessed with my headlights but here i go. LOL.

The first Gen is great. it comes with Projector lamps so it has a great cutoff line. Just go buy a set of HID's and put them in there and you'll light up 2 lanes to the right of you and 2 lanes to the left of you on the freeway like i do. LOL.

also i really doubt your car will stay stock longer than 2 months. some mods on the first gen are free and make the car look soo much better. for instance clearing out the front and rear TURN signals and putting blinding bright blinkers. OH YEAH!!!!

if you do plan to get a first gen GS. make sure it has original paint. i bought my car from someone and they repainted the car. and i hate it. its never as good as orignal.

ONE LAST THING. there is nothing wrong with modding a car with 100k+. these cars will go on 200K+ easily if you just change your oil everyone 4000 miles and oil filter and stuff you will be fine.