20220

Hi there,

I've been looking for a vehicle for quite some time to replace my 1988 Toyota Cressida. I found a nice 1994 LS400 for sale. The car has 117,000km (approx. 72,000mi) on it, has had 2 previous owners (current owner had the car since 2002 and is in her late 50's) and is in excellent condition, inside and out, never winter driven, etc.
I expected a lot from the car when I took it on a test drive, and it definitelly delivered. It was extremely smooth, quiet and refined. However, I have one concern: The car seemed quite slow. I know the LS isn't built to win any drag races, but I expected a lot more from a 4.0L V8 with 250hp. My dad owns a 2005 4Runner V8 (4.7L 2UZ-FE with 270hp). It's also a heavier vehicle, but it accellerates significantly better than the LS I drove today. I would say that my current Cressida with its 2.8L inline 6 accellerates just as fast, if not faster, than the LS. I'm not planning on driving the car much above 2500rpm anyway, and if you guys tell me that this is normal, I'd certainly be content with the power. I just want to make sure there is nothing wrong with the car, or if I should get it checked out before I buy it. Thanks in advance for the responses.

Bradster

Clean throttle body,Seafoam treatment on the engine and have fuel injectors cleaned and it will make a noticible difference even if the vehicle is well tuned...

steve2006

Bear in mind these cars weigh in excess of 2 tonnes and are designed to be smooth and silent.
Did you run the car in normal or sports mode? moving the switch near the selector as this makes a difference to gear changes and performance.
Also flooring the throttle closes a switch which will make the transmission immediately shift down 1 or even 2 gears dependant on the speed.
In sports mode and the gas pedal to the floor and kept there these engines will red line in 1,2 and 3 before settling into overdrive 4, if you want a more sporting drive than that switch the overdrive off but you will then be paying for the performance in higher gas use.

Have a look here.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...s400+0-60&aq=f

Bradster

Actually 3623 lbs for a 1990 according to my title...

deanshark

Even with that little mileage, it's still a 17 year old car. It's mainly regular maintainence that keeps a car up to it's full potential. Any car, including Lexus, will lose power over the years. If you search through this forum you will find many members have had the same loss of "umph" problem. Most are minor DIY repairs and aren't too expensive. (Like normal tune-up and some sensors) If you're really worried about it then yes, get it checked out if you can't do it yourself. The LS400 is a wonderful car, very comfortable and reliable if ya keep up with maintainence. And seeing how you're not gonna drive it like a race car it will last many, many years. Good luck with the decision on your possible future purchase.

emarknot

do you slow like, laying the hammer down as soon as the light turns green? of so, I read somewhere on here that this is the way they are.
........but if youre doing 40 mph, then hammer down.....its a completely different story.

I have a 91 with 304500.

20220

Thanks for the reply guys. I checked out the videos on youtube, and they definitelly seem to accelerate faster than the car I drove. I also figured out that the car uses premium fuel, so I decided not to go trough with the purchase at this time.

Rdrcr

Agreed.

My '96 with 77K ran pretty strong when I made my purchase but, I had an induction service performed and it is running much better. Plus, it picked up another 2 MPG.

Mike