Introduction and Questions about purchase
 

Hello everyone,

I'm a new member of the forum, and joined because I just recently purchased a 1990 LS400 with 83,000 miles on the clock. I purchased it from a dealer in Philadelphia, and from all appearances and photo's it appears to be in excellent condition. It has spent much of it's like sitting in a garage, and has only been driven a few thousand miles in the past four years, and has averaged only 4K miles a year over it's life.

I ran the service history, and it has had all major service performed, including the water pump and timing belt at only 58K miles back in 1999. It also looks like it's had the power steering pump replaced or serviced during that time frame as well. Everything is supposed to work as it should. What do you guys think about this car? I've been reading up and it appears that all the major problem points have been addressed previously, and all of it's service has occurred at one Lexus dealership in New Jersey it's entire life. This is a one owner car. Interior is in great shape, minus the worn steering wheel leather, but I can get that replaced.

Pics are below...anything I should look out for? Thanks for bearing with me, I'm new to Lexus's. My other car is an E46 BMW 3 series coupe, so that is where all my expertise lies. Only other Japanese mark I've owned is a 2000 Toyota Solara that I bought new. That was a great car.

I'll be asking lots of questions and doing research, as I want to put bigger rims on the car and update some other things on it like the stereo system and lighting.

Thanks.

That thing is nice and clean. Can almost eat off that engine. I wouldn't worry too much about that car, it looks like it's been taken care of very well. He probably took care of all the normal things that go wrong with these cars. Definately hasn't been driven in the snow, that's for sure, except when you took the pics. Nice purchase. Treat it right and it will keep ya happy. How much??

I picked it up for about 4 grand. More than most 90's but the low miles and condition make the extra worth it I think.

Nice car. I see that it has air suspension (switch by the shifter). You might want to check if it still has that system or if it was swapped out. They fail all the time, in which case you can replace them with aftermarket bags (Strutmasters?) or conventional struts/springs. Coilovers are a nice choice if you want to get lower/improve handling.

Looks like you have traction control and heated seats as well! :thumbup:

Yeah, this car seems to be loaded with pretty much every option available in 90. As far as I know, the car still has the air suspension...as soon as I actually have the car in my possession I'll check that out. According to the seller, every option works, and I can tell from the service history that most of the problematic things have been replaced, even with the low miles. My only concern at this point is that the car has done a lot of sitting over it's life, so not sure what kind of issues that may cause.

agree. it's nice. Good purchase. Enjoy

Hi jdog. Nice purchase. She looks really pristine. Congrats. I also have a 1990 (though mine has 225k miles) and I am located in Denver. Maybe I'll see you some day. Good luck.

I can see in the pic of the engine bay you do still have the air susp. It gets to be pretty expensive if something breaks with the air but there is replacements you can get w/o the air. 4 grand is an excellent price for the miles and condition. The thing to worry about it sitting for long periods would be bushings and hoses and anything rubber b/c of dry rot. Even if you have to put a little $$ in, it's still worth it. :thumbup:

Thanks for the info...yeah I'll need to look into the rubber components. I hope everything is in good shape or at least good enough to survive a road trip. The car is in Pennsylvania, and I need to get it to Florida where I'm working for the next few months. Don't know if I'm going to ship it or drive it.

I'm looking for a job, I'll drive it for you. :D But I might just drive it to Ct. instead of Fla. :cool: J/k I think Amtrak has an autotrain that goes from New Jersey to Orlando, Florida. It might be cheap.

Thanks for the compliments...I got this car to be my "beater" second vehicle to save the miles on my BMW. But I'm pretty excited about getting her and checking out how a Lexus feels. I'm already researching tire/rim combinations, because those OEM 15 inchers have GOT to go.

If it's a beater, the 15's will spin easier:D

But that's too nice to beat

No way, a "beater"? You want to do that buy a Honda or something, not a beautiful Lexus like that. That car is way too nice to beat on. You'll probably find out that you like the Lexus MUCH better then your BMW and then you'll beat the BMW instead. (hopefully) Please don't beat the Lexus, Ill come beat you. :p

LOL...no worries, definitely didn't intend any disrespect to the car or to Lexus's. I've always admired them and just never had the opportunity to buy one. I started out looking for a cheap second car, and I've become very excited about this car the more I've read up on it. I'm really looking forward to picking it up and checking it out. I'll report back once I've been able to drive it. Thanks for the comments!