ScaddenMan

Hello!

I have been looking at buying a 90s lexus for a while now, either of the sc, gs, or ls line!

I found a 98 lexus gs400 for $2,500 with 258,000 miles. Usually I believe that would be to risky to buy a car with that many miles, but I do know that these cars are extremely reliable. The car body and interior is in very good condition, it is being sold at a smaller dealer that has excellent reviews.

Would you take the risk at buying a gs with that high of mileage?

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

It is true that these are very reliable cars and well maintained examples will easily top 3-400K miles. The key however with any car that is well over 15 years is maintenance. Even Lexus's and Toyota's require some maintenance. The good thing about the GS is that they are relatively easy to repair and have very common maintenance/repair items. This means that for things like suspension components, brakes, timing belt etc you could simply invest in all of these on your own and you will more than likely be able to run the car for several years without any problems. The one item that is difficult to determine is the frequency of oil changes. Although modern oils are actually very good and the Lexus V8 is for the most part a very clean running engine so not much of a risk there either.

If the car looks nice and runs fairly well and smooth I would probably risk the $2500 on it. It's not a big gamble at that price and chances are you wont find a better car for that price either. Even if you have to invest extra $2k for maintenance/repairs you will more than likely have a better car than anything else you could find for even $5K.

Littleguy

Agreed, if anything I would look for a 300 just because I think the straight 6 is so easy to work on.

kevin3344

Just helped my brother-in-law purchase a 1998 GS300 with 282,000 miles. Since I own a 1999 GS400 with 224,000 miles I knew the miles on these cars aren't a problem. Some things we were looking for and found were:

1. One or two owner (his was a one owner bought in 1998)
2. Recent timing belt / water pump service (his was most recently done at 220,000 miles)
3. Extensive service history (almost all service was done at the Lexus dealer)
4. Clean CarFax (no problems there)
5. Decent interior (I replaced the arm rest for him, it's a common wear area on these cars)

You can go to lexusdrivers.com, create and account and register the VIN to see the history done at the Lexus dealer. The CarFax should give you some detail as well.

Finally, you can't go wrong with these cars. I have a spreadsheet of all service done on mine going back to 1999. It's as solid as a rock. I plan on keeping mine forever.

firelizard

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't. Even with the engines being reliable, that's a lot of miles. Everything else will start to fail and be generally worn out. Especially power options. And you're going to be chasing suspension issues. Also, the GS300 is a dog, there's no point in buying one unless you want a cheap GS to TT swap or NA-T or something like that. The V8 is the one to get and they're hardly any more expensive.

But it's a $2,500 car, and you're probably going to get $2,500 worth of car, so if you just want a beater, go for it.

kevin3344

This. Keep in mind my brother-in-laws car is not without flaws at 282k on the odometer. Even after I checked the VIN, ran a CarFax and test drove the car it's not perfect. As long as you know that going in.

However, if something happened to my car like an accident (let's not hope that happens anytime soon lol) I would start looking for a one-owner 1998-2000 GS400 tomorrow for around $5k. These cars can't be beat for the price, as long as they've been maintained and you're willing to keep up on the maintenance.