What year ls400 to get?
#3
Driver School Candidate
I have a '92 and it runs like a champ with 193K but I wish I had a black on black 98-00. I actually prefer the 400 body to the 430. I read that the '94 and '98 were best for reliability. Idk...
#4
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: fl
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personally i have a 92 ls400 and i love it, and think the ucf10 has the best looking body, but the 93 94 have bigger brakes and a couple more small improvements. but the later the year the more hp they have. they should have made the 95-97 with the 90-92 rear end.
#6
Driver School Candidate
Whatever your budget, you have to be patient. I checked craigslist for 3 months before I pulled the trigger. The one I found was well kept and maintained with a stack of maintenance records. Anything older will probably require a little bit of fixin of some sort.
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#8
I just recently bought a 91 ls4 with 300k on the clock. the p.o. took really great care of it. its still as smooth as glass and has lots of power. everything still works.....minus the antenna. the plastic track thing is broken, so its a manual set it and forget it thing.
the timing belt is due and the rear main leaks a lil bit. but I have the parts to fix it. I just got to stop being lazy and replace them.
ive had a ls400 and a 430 come through my shop this week. the 430 was a pre-buy inspection. lots of bad things. it was in a front end collision and repaired but not very well once you got to lookin at it.
and the 400 was a 96. but not taken care of. it was garbage. it needed everything. 2 downstream o2 sensors...the wires were just gone. the bottom of the motor was covered in oil,...bad motor mounts and a trans mount...and more...........it had 125k.
what ever year you get, have it inspected BEFORE you pay, not after......trust me, there are a lot of people who post-buy inspect, and their faces just go blank.
the timing belt is due and the rear main leaks a lil bit. but I have the parts to fix it. I just got to stop being lazy and replace them.
ive had a ls400 and a 430 come through my shop this week. the 430 was a pre-buy inspection. lots of bad things. it was in a front end collision and repaired but not very well once you got to lookin at it.
and the 400 was a 96. but not taken care of. it was garbage. it needed everything. 2 downstream o2 sensors...the wires were just gone. the bottom of the motor was covered in oil,...bad motor mounts and a trans mount...and more...........it had 125k.
what ever year you get, have it inspected BEFORE you pay, not after......trust me, there are a lot of people who post-buy inspect, and their faces just go blank.
#9
I have a '92 LS400 as well and It is the most perfect car ever. UCF10=Game Over.
#10
Driver School Candidate
#13
Lexus Champion
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me too............. I have owned them all, and they dont make a bad one. I currently have two 99's. my opinion follows.
90-92 probably the best built of all (trying to get in the market)
93-94 upgrade brakes & wheels.. good improvements.
90-94 had their own problems, cluster, blackouts & thin door handles
95-97 probably the most trouble free (tough as nails) and strongest of all.
98-2000 my choice of them all, the looks are just what I want, inside and out. and I love the mechanical changes they made, the bodies are not as well put together as the earlier ones, but are very good also.
SO.... what ever floats your boat..... you cant go wrong with an LS.
.
90-92 probably the best built of all (trying to get in the market)
93-94 upgrade brakes & wheels.. good improvements.
90-94 had their own problems, cluster, blackouts & thin door handles
95-97 probably the most trouble free (tough as nails) and strongest of all.
98-2000 my choice of them all, the looks are just what I want, inside and out. and I love the mechanical changes they made, the bodies are not as well put together as the earlier ones, but are very good also.
SO.... what ever floats your boat..... you cant go wrong with an LS.
.
Last edited by billydpowe; 05-01-11 at 07:22 AM.
#14
from reading this forum for a few months and almost buying a car that had stock air and right before i was about to buy, they blew, i would say do not buy one with stock air suspension unless your getting it for a fantastic deal and are going to replace with aftermarket very soon. i recently bought a 97. this thing feels like its a tank and is going to last forever. like someone said before take your time finding the right one. i spent about 5 months roaming these forums and craiglists doing my research and settled on the 97 for numerous reasons. first reason is its riddled with airbags. then earlier models only had a drivers side airbag. then they gave the passenger side one (i think in 94?) and then in 97 they gave it side air bags. just keep reading these forums. look at all the body styles and figure out which one floats your boat. for me i didnt like the body style of the 98-00 so i went with the only one that had the older body style and still had airbags.
have fun looking and gl.
have fun looking and gl.