DallasJhwk

New to a 1998 GS400 (gold/tan) with 130k.
First owner drove into high water @ 30k, engine took on water, insurance titled it as a salvage.
Second owner owns a car repair shop and installed a new engine and his wife drove it to 60k.
My mom bought it ten years ago and drove it to 130k.
I bought the car from my mom when she bought an RX350 because it's fun to drive, gets better gas milage than my Yukon XL Denali and these cars have a great reputation for longevity.

Took it to Davenport Motors (good reputation independent Lexus repair shop in Dallas) and this is what they recommend:
1. 60k service: change oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid, difff gear oil, brake fluid, engine air filter, inspect everything ($639)
2. Timing belt/ water pump w/pulley tensioners and idler pulley ($1378)
3. Cam seal left ($757)
4. Cam seal right ($757)
5. Valve cover gasket with tube seals ($789 but won't need if already doing it for cam seals)
6. Rear brake pads & machine rotors ($283)
7. Rear door lock actuator motor ($321)
8. Cabin Air filter ($33)
9. Wheels are corroding to the point that the paint is bubbling and flaking.

I'm looking at over $3k with brakes, timing belt/water pump and cam seals. I don't know what the car is worth with a salvage title but one option would be to sell it and use the sale amount plus the amount I would have to spend to fix it ($3000+) to buy a newer GS. Or I could try to see if I could keep it and try to find a less expensive repair shop (if possible).

I'd appreciate any advice you guys might have regarding keep/repair vs sell/buy.
If you recommend that I keep/repair then what order should my repair priority be?
If you recommend sell/buy then what do you think I can sell it for and what year GS would you replace it with?

I love reading this forum. Great car.

BiGEZ

iTrader: (24)

I say keep it do the maintenance as you go since you know the car and it history. At 130K there is still a lot of life in that car. Break up some of the maintenance into smaller segments or do some of it if you are able too.

AmanO

Are you sure the decimal point is in the correct spot on those prices? They seem high. #1 is high, for sure. I think the shop I work at could do that for half.

You need to ask yourself how long you want to drive this car. If you plan on getting 5+ years out of it, even 3k is not bad at all.

If you decide to keep it, shop around. Seems like if someone is doing the timing belt/WP, the cam seals should not be NEARLY that much total, let alone each.
Also, I would make DAMN sure your upper ball joints are fresh and smell like sweet cream and buttermilk. If those or the timing belt fail, THEN you will be seriously thinking of buying different car.

The other stuff is less important.
If the braking is real weak, yes, replace pads. If the rotors are warped pretty bad, have them spun.
If the rims are leaking air, find a replacement OEM set when you need to replace the tires. (unless you find a set that uses the EXACT same tire size.
If the valve cover gaskets are not leaking bad, it is not a huge deal.

DallasJhwk

Thanks for the early replies. Sounds like the indy Lexus repair shop has prices that are only a little less than a Lexus dealer so I will take it to a smaller indy (non-Lexus specific) shop and I will proceed with keep and repair.

Questions:
1. If the air filter needs to be replaced is that the time to upgrade to a higher performance air filter? What does it cost and what are the gains?
2. Since the rear brakes need to be fixed does it make sense to upgrade the brakes? Is there any need to upgrade the brakes if I'm never going to take it to the track?
3. What is the reason/advantage of coil overs vs OEM?
4. I have a large console compartment but no cupholders. What does everybody else do?
5. I have the original base stereo (CD changer in glove), cassette etc... I'd love to have built in Sat radio, bluetooth, TPMS and back up cam. Any recommendations?
6. Where does everybody mount their phone? Any pics?

lextout

keep on telling my self i wanna upgrade my 98gs4 , but after the 08 recession quality control went down

kevin3344

Glad to see you want to keep and repair; the GS400 is a great car. I've got 224,000 miles on my 1999 GS400 and other than regular maintenance I haven't done much to the car. Just had my 2nd timing belt / water pump change so I would do that, the other things can wait and you can do them at your leisure. You can find a cabin air filter on Amazon for about $15 it's easy to change yourself.

Garz

Dude, go on rockauto.com for your parts. Replace your lower ball joints (both front tires) ASAP. Get the Moog ones. Google lower ball joint failure gs400 if you want to know why. I found out the hard way. All the other stuff won't kill you if you have an issue. Sounds like you are about as mechanically inclined as I am. However, I like to save money and do things myself or have a friend help. Brakes, air filters, ball joints, are stuff you can do. I got a whole brake system for about $240. Rockauto of course. Retailmenot.com for an extra 5% off. Get er done. Lower ball joints first order.

yada

What shape is the body and paint in? Hows the interior holding up? How do you like the looks of the newer models and interior? Are there any other cars youd prefer to own that are a little nicer. These are all questions you should ask yourself before you sink money into the car.

Edit
Charges for that 60K service are rediculous. You can do many of those things for much cheaper or you can split the cost by having some of it done at one time then some more later

tiguy99

Lots of great advice in this thread!
​​​​​​​I'd listen to what they're saying to the T

DallasJhwk

-Body and paint are a B+ (doesn't shine like a new penny)
-Interior is a B+ (minor wear on seat leather).
-I'm not crazy about the gold color. Seems like a dated color these days.
-I like the aggressive looks of the Gen 3 and Gen 4 models more than the Gen 2 but the Gen 2 looks amazing with a front air dam and a lowered stance.

Right now I'm going to take it slow by taking it to an affordable mechanic. The thing drives great. However I do get a left front tire on inner fender scraping sound on big bumps. Seems like there's an inner plastic fender skirt forward of and above the tire sticking down in the way that's not there on the right side.

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

Sent you a PM.