sayow

I have been actively looking for a near mint 98-00 LS ever since I bought my high miles 96 about a month ago. In my search I stumbled onto what looked like a well priced 93 with high miles.

The owner said it was in great shape inside and out and that while it needed a tune up, it ran well.
The price started at 1900 and I was only casually interested and because the owner was about 100 miles from me I quickly forgot about the car.

Fast forward almost two weeks. The owner contacts me says that he still has the car and is REALLY motivated to sell. I get on the phone with him and cover the basics. At this point we are in 1000-1200 range and so I decide to grab some cash, get a driver (my son) and head out to take a look.

To make a long story short, what he told me about the condition did not match reality... or even close. The issues are numerous (see below), but the interior condition is well above average. The owner says he has to sell it to pay taxes on a new car and that he is desperate to sell.

I tell him the car would only be good to me as a running parts car and offer $400 if the title is clean and clear, knowing full well he is going to tell me to get lost... to my amazement he says hell take $450. Stunned, I ask to review title again and see his ID!

All the paperwork is good, I get under hood, break out my tools and check timing belt... looks in good to great shape... look under car and see no oil leaks in the 30 mins we were there but a small power steering leak (not ACV into intake, looks like HP hose)... so I hand him 450 and I drive home a black on black 93 LS that has all the options (VSC, heated seats, etc).

Car purrs at idle and made it 100 miles home with no overheating but has numerous issues.

So my question, with the below issues, would you fix this car or part it out (I will post pictures when I can).

- Car has a severe lack of power, idles fine but under throttle it took 2 minutes to get to highway speed.

- Brakes are SHOT, like "should not be driving this beast" shot
- When braking i hear a clunk that sounds like perhaps a transmission mount?
- Needs an alignment (steering wheel is at 10 o'clock)
- Fuel gauge does not work
- RPM gauge does not work (speedo and temp gauge appear to work fine)
- All gauge lights work save for the "tips" of each needle
- Car will definitely need ball joints and maybe control arms
- Power steering leaks
- AC cluster display (clock and temp) LCD is blown out
- Shifter is super loose
- ABS light came on half way home
- Driver door handle cracked
- Two small surface "bubble" rust spots (front driver corner at bumper, rear pass wheel well)
- AC works great, heater does not work at all
- VSC does not appear to work
- Windshield has been replaced... poorly lol. lots of glue on roof line
- Car has 238k
- Tires are 30%

On the plus side, the transmission shifts smooth as silk, no check engine lights, no starting or idling issues (but the lack of power is stunning), interior is well above average, leather seats are in good to great shape, paint is good and the guy just put in a pretty nice and clearly brand new JVC head unit.

So would you sink any money into this car or just part it out? For under 500 I just could not pass it up and the idea of having a 93, 96 and mint 99 representing arguably the best of each generation is kind of cool.

Also garage space is not an issue

Thoughts?

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

sounds great to me, if I were not so old (79) I would like the challenge of fixing it up.... but either way you go it sounds like a winner..

MikeyF23

Well if you're willing to put money and time into it, I'd say go for it. I mean, $450 is steal, I wish I could find one for so cheap. But alas, if you do fix it, think: are you going to keep it because if you have intention to sell it, you probably will be lucked out and down in the money pit.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

if you have the time and garage space, and money to keep it registered and running, go for it! all the issues you mentioned have been covered on the forums here. the lack of power could very well be a capacitor issue, a very common problem.

cobalt91

Lack of power could be the timing belt installed in correctly. Check the marks on the cams with the crank. When i bought mine it had the same lack of power condition. I changed the timing belt and ect sensor. Big change in how it runs and drives. Dont make the same mistake i did, change the water pump and pullys for the belt at the same time. The electronic issues sound like symptoms of bad capacitors in the ecu. But follow standard diagnostic procedures before replacement of those parts.

LScowboyLS

while the transmission mount is very likely shot as well, the "clunk" on braking is likely a suspension component such as a strut bar bushing, upper or lower control arm, or lower ball joint.

This car is likely a steal if you can do most of the repairs yourself, if not, then not so much!

sayow

That statement would be true with about any car not deemed a "real classic" regardless of price

That said, I plan to do as much as I can myself and use a fair local guy for the stuff i cannot. Hoping to have a shop and lifts built in 2014 which would be a money saver given my penchant for bringing home stray cars.

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

If you have the space, time, and money, you can fix anything. Spend $1000 on it and see where that gets you in terms of "restoration."

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

between the parts you'll need for a full tune up (full ignition system), brake overhaul, suspension bushings, and the rust, and the time you'll put in to it all, you'll be in another 1000-1250 at least. (DIY labor).

the lack of power could be anything from ignition issues, fuel pump issues, electrical problems, incorrect timing when the belt was installed, or just the fact that it's a 20 year old car that weighs ~2 tons and only had ~180hp at the wheels on a good day. Do a full tune up on the car to eliminate a lot of questionmarks and because it's likely due for it anyways, then see how it behaves.

If having a mostly sorted but still not "pretty" LS for ~$2-2.5k sounds good, then go for it.

LANcr3w

I bought my 94 ls400 for $320 and i wasnt sure what id be going through. Shes up and running now.
First thing i had to do was replace the starter before i could even see if it was ran or not.
If you can do that you can probably fix everything else lol.
But like PureDrifter said id start with a complete tune up, that should solve your
power issues. I maybe spent another $400 or so to get it running good.

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

Some of the price estimates for the repairs you listed are a little low. The car sounds like in needs a fair amount of work and while none of it is very difficult work, the parts do add up. I just did just about all of the same stuff you will likely need to do, although I did them for piece of mind and not because they needed to be done, and I bought about $2500 in quality parts...

Start looking around on places like Rockauto and build your parts list... Then try and tackle jobs in groupings of overlapping jobs: timing belt + tune up + valve cover gaskets(because they probably need to be done anyways) and then all the suspension stuff in one go followed by a good alignment....


The clunk could also be the rear carrier bushings if they are bad enough and it's coming from the rear.

pl3wis

iTrader: (1)

Definitely a steal. Cant beat a a running car let alone a Lexus for under 500 bucks

sayow

That was my thought exactly. I did not even want a 93 but it drove 70 miles home with no surprises and it looks as though some of the issues are related to the ECU capacitors. Interior is pretty nice and the stereo probably cost 1/2 what I paid

Michael

I have 93 LS4 in northern Illinois and it seems like other than high miles, typical problems of LS4 which has not been looked into at all. If you follow LScowboy's thread and replace the caps on the Engine Control Unit, your half of problem will be gone. Then the other half is under the car.