I'm just about ready to sell this thing, i'm so frustrated..
in the past 4 weeks i have a grinding noise coming from the right front part the car that i still havent figured out yet.. there is a strange whistling noise whenever i accerate coming from the engine.. and just today i noticed that i am now getting a loud "click" noise whenever i have my foot on the brake while being in park.. it seems to be coming from the gear shifter itself., basically whenever i tap on the brake it makes the noise and i can feel it clicking by touching the gear shift.. does anyone know what this could be ? i'm freaking out now cuz it seems that everything is going wrong on this car at once.. also, my suspension seems to be starting to rattle.. makes awful noises going over bumps.. my car is a 95, but only has 112k on it.. i dont know what to do at this point..

 

Well here is some food for thought. I just took my 93 LS400 in for service on new years eve. I got a clean billof health and spoke to my tech at great length. I told him we were looking for a 95 to 98 LS400. He quickly told me not to get a 95. He said that the 95 was the first year for a redesign and he has had lots of problems with them. He stated that Lexus usually tests their cars in japan for a year or two before we get them. In 1995 they did not test them and just produced them thus causing problems. He has seen the most rattles and noises from a 1995 model. He has also seen transmission problem i.e. when you let off accelerator at 35mph the transmission kicks down very hard.
NOTE: this is the opinion of one lexus tech. I would gather all the information you could to see if this is a common issue all around. I hope this helps and sorry for all your headaches

 

Clicking noise when you press brake pedal - this is a shift lock relay releasing your shifter. It always makes a little noise. Too much noise is a sign of a problem. In general, this is an easy fix and nothing to worry about.
About your suspension: @ 112K, your suspension should still be pretty tight, unless your car has been used as an SUV for a heavy off-road duty. I also live in NY and I know how often people around here play around with the mileage of cars. Suspension is a good indicator of how many miles a car has. For your suspension to be behaving the way you describe, your car must have over 300K miles.
In general, this year does have some problems, but it is still, by far, a more reliable car than any other comporable make out there.
I have a 97 which is the same car as yours. I've had some problems with it, but nothing major, beyound normal ware. I know that with this car, once I fix a problem, I will not have to worry about it for a very long time.
Fix your problems and enjoy your car. Whatever it may cost, it's still cheaper than buying a new car.

 

Sounds like some pretty sage advice.

If it bothers you that much you might need to bite the bullet and take in for service. As for buying a new car, unless you are buying a "Brand new" car, you're likely to end up buying someone elses problems. At least you know what needs to be fixed with your car.

 

I know the mileage of my car is accurate, because I did my research before buying it. Also, this car was originally from Massachusettes - bought it back in April of '03. I know it sounds like there are so many problems with it, but really there isnt. But it just seems like a lot of little things keep going wrong. I'm just worried that it may be a sign of things to come.

 

Wow.. that sounds a lot like my car, especially the transmission kicking down really hard.. and yeah, my car has some rattles, but nothing really bad.. i'm probably being too picky.. i almost want to go to a local dealer and test drive something between 96-97 so i can compare. Again, my LS has no MAJOR problems, but all these little things have me really worried that something bigger is about to happen. I'm wondering if i should just sell it and upgrade to a 2000.

 

I agree with Rice.

Take it in and point out the areas and have them make a go. When you get to driveline or electrical issues then I'd consider a replacement vehicle. Your LS is good for much more road time. Some periods just require some additional expense.

 

Let us know what the grinding noise is. I have a 95 SC400 and I have the same exact noise coming from the front end. I took both front wheels off and crawled underneath. I can't figure out WTF it is...it only happens after the car is warmed up and I can hear it clearly under 30mph. Maybe a wheel bearing?

 

You may need to check your tire wear( around the edges) and with uneven tire wears it will created the grinding noise as you described. For some reason the LS transfer more tire noise than any another Lexus. Or in the worse case, the noise is coming from the wheel bearing, but bad wheel bearing created more noise on turn.
The strange whistling noise can comes fromt the bad PS pump or pulley.?
The clicking noise when you step on the brake is normal.
The suspension noise is from the caster arms or strut bars that connected between the lower control arms to front part of the frame. It's very common of the 95-00 LS with a lot of miles. The bushing worn out and make a popping noise, especially when step on the brake real hard.
The transmission shift problem, there's a TSB for that, but your car is out of warranty anyway( 4 years/50K). The fix is the new ECM , spark plugs and Cruise Control ECU, not worth to spend over $2,000 for some minor issue.
How about take it the dealer and let them take a look at it.