FrankReynoldsCPA

Update: Well, it's been a long time since I used any of the tools in my dad's garage. Went to go work on her and realized most of his sockets and wrenches are missing and incomplete. Can't find crap. Especially in the metrics. So I just said screw it and took it to a mechanic. He said it'll run me about $150-$200 to get that o-ring changed which sucks, but I can live with it just to get my car back on the road. I appreciate the help, sorry bout being difficult. I'll let you know when I get the car back if it fixed the problem.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Turned out the whole pump was shot, so I got her replaced. Steers really nice. They said the timing belt is looking a little cracked. Since this is a non-interference engine, and I don't have the cash saved up just yet, I'll run it for a while, or until it snaps, and then replace it and the water pump and idler pully.

I took my antenna motor apart today and pulled out the old cable so that the new antenna will retract all the way. Worked great. Very easy to do........

Problem is, the JVC stereo just died on me shortly after. I think it was already having problems as it would act sporadically from time to time. I guess it's time to replace the JVC crap and put in an Alpine or Kenwood.

95lexsc300

Great car on the long run you will be lucky you bought a lexus ls. It's reliable, youre fixing the common things that go wrong. The car hardly will give you any problem, but when it does ,it can be very expensive. Toyota are great car, so you can expect better quality than the normal Camry, Corolla.

FrankReynoldsCPA

That's my thought. I was juggling the idea of selling it with all the problems I've had, but then I realized that i'd probably lose a few hundred $$ in the sale, plus the money i spent registering and insuring it, I wouldn't get back the money I've spent on repairs, then i'd buy another similar age car that would just start having those problems again..... At least with this car, I know that I've had the things done that will enable it to give me at least 100k more miles without any real problems, and I can do it for a couple of payments of around $500-$1000, instead of 5 years of a $500 monthly payment. This car is paid off, so it stays for a long time.

On the toyota thing, yeah, i'll say they are definitely fairly good on quality. All makers have their issues of course. My personal favorites are still Ford and GM, but this Lexus is growing on me. Just keep me the hell away from a Chrysler product. We've had 3 fall apart on us. Our Ford is still going, it's a 92 like my car, never left us on the side of the road. My GM had a few issues, but it was a 200,000 mile car, and our Toyota van has been pretty decent too, a 99 with 179,000 on it. All 3 of these brands have had issues, but they have been pretty good to us.

But my personal preference when it comes to working on cars, is a pre-80's ford or GM. So much easier to get to everything. I can almost sit in the engine compartment of my dad's 67 Firebird while I work on it.