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So I'm playing with the idea of buying a 98-2000 LS400 with under 120k on the clock. I was hoping that as I start my search this forum could assist in detailing some of the things I should be looking for and/or what questions to ask about maintenance records, etc. I'll be looking for cars mainly up and down the east coast (Think NJ to Georgia) and I plan on using it as a daily driver.
Plenty of info here... use the search function for similar threads. Most would recommend purchasing from FL or TX or south and west from where you are to avoid rust on 20 year old cars. Low mileage, well maintained cars owned by retired persons out of Florida seem to be the top choice, though TX, NM and AZ has some of those also. Good luck in your search. Might be ready to pay up for what you really want.
I picked up my 99 at 118k in 2013, and it has never given me an issue bigger than the clutch fan bearing letting go at ~170k, and a power steering hose off the reservoir started permeating fluid pretty quickly back around 145k. It was super brittle and had micro cracks all over it. I ended up changing many of the liquid and vacuum rubber hoses under the hood.
I just replaced my front lower ball joints and control arm bushings a month ago, I'm at 178k now. Everything else over the last 5+ years has been pretty standard maintenance.
Use the search function in the 1st and 2nd gen LS homepage. You will be able to find all the info you should need. You've got great odds at 120k though, enjoy.
I bought a 1998 LS400 in April of 2017 with 129k miles on it. Since then I replaced the starter (5 hours labor), steering rack (3 hours labor), front brake calipers, strut rods (cheaper labor than replacing just the bushings). The biggest headache so far is with the suspension. If you can check/replace bushings and shocks you would be enhancing the drive considerably. My LS rides nice but there is lack of confidence with handling sometimes and I attribute that to worn shocks. The engine is flawless and at idle can't be heard inside the cabin. Just remember, yes these cars are very reliable but they are also very old at this point and things do wear out. I was a little surprised how much I've had to put into it in the first year. The previous owner down in Florida spent even more. He changed the steering pump among others things at the dealer. Currently the fuel gauge and engine temp gauge are not working properly in the cluster. I've had the car aligned at a Toyota dealer but when traveling at highway speed I have to turn the steering wheel slightly right to go straight and I am finding this frustrating. If you keep the steering wheel straight the car will pull left but only at speeds above around 40. One mechanic said "yes, the LS, I have a few customers with this car, the engine is indestructible while everything else falls apart". That's a bit of an exaggeration but does have some truth to it. So yes you would spend less generally owning an LS than you would a 7 Series or S-Class but don't expect to put zero into the car over time.
You should be able to check with Lexus website or stop at dealer to get dealership service history.
Check if there has been work done , or check the condition of :
Starter, strut rod bushings, motor and trans mounts ,oil leaks from valve covers, temp sensor, timing belt and water pump, black trans fluid, power steering fluid leaks from hoses and o-rings, serpentine idlers, rotors, front wheel bearing noise, crappy tires that will not track right .
These are some that come to mind.
the telescoping steering motor was broken on mine when i got it ($900 at the dealer back in 2011) and the radio LCD. luckily the LCD can still be bought from the pioneer parts store (CWM5077 is the part, and the specific head unit is KEX-M9076ZT) for like $140 and isn't that tough to change yourself. if it has the nakamichi then i'm not sure.
apart from the usual, expected suspension work, i've had to do the power steering pump, and definitely consider taking off the throttle body intake because it probably needs a bit of a cleaning. be VERY careful about the vacuum hoses connected because they're all gonna be brittle at this point. also i'd just take some rubber or acrylic tubing, stick it down the transmission filler tube so you can pull out some fluid to check the condition without having to undo anything. overall it's an unbelievably fantastic car and if you can find a good one you'll probably end up falling in love haha...
the telescoping steering motor was broken on mine when i got it ($900 at the dealer back in 2011) and the radio LCD. luckily the LCD can still be bought from the pioneer parts store (CWM5077 is the part, and the specific head unit is KEX-M9076ZT) for like $140 and isn't that tough to change yourself. if it has the nakamichi then i'm not sure.
apart from the usual, expected suspension work, i've had to do the power steering pump, and definitely consider taking off the throttle body intake because it probably needs a bit of a cleaning. be VERY careful about the vacuum hoses connected because they're all gonna be brittle at this point. also i'd just take some rubber or acrylic tubing, stick it down the transmission filler tube so you can pull out some fluid to check the condition without having to undo anything. overall it's an unbelievably fantastic car and if you can find a good one you'll probably end up falling in love haha...
· Do not buy a car from an area where salt is poured on the roads in the winter!
· A Carfax report is handy, but it DOES NOT show things about the car that ARE NOT reported. I can tear the side off my 20-year RAV4 and have it fixed without telling my insurance company anything about it. It can be flooded, and I can dry it out for a month and not tell anyone about it. I had the ability to run a free Carfax on a vehicle I was selling a few years back. I thought it would make a good selling point for potential buyers. Guess what? It showed it was involved in an accident during my ownership—NOT true. I had to contact Carfax about it and provide documents that proved I was not even in the town where the accident supposedly took place. They fixed it, but stated that ‘due to lack of sufficient evidence’ they would remove it from their records.
· The drivers.lexus website is a great way to see what the previous owner had the dealership do to the car, if anything. If you are lucky they changed the oil every 5k miles, had the 30, 60 and 90, 120k mile services performed etc. If Lexus didn’t do the maintenance, who did? Get documentation.
· At this point, as the other member mentioned, even a 2000 model year is 18 years old. Stuff happens, things get old, things break. If I sat out in the cold and/or heat day in and day out, I’d be dead by now!
· I spent a solid week looking thru 7 or 8 years’ worth of posts in this forum and learned a lot about these two generations of the LS series. The FAQ section at the top of the forum is filled with information on both 1st and 2nd generation models, and of course I used the search feature—A LOT! I compiled all the information I thought was important into a document with pertinent links and saved it for future reference. I compiled word documents with how-to info and saved them as well. I saved as many videos and pix that I could find i.e. shots of parts front and back, R&R procedures etc. I put all this on a flash drive.
· Hopefully you have money, are mechanically inclined and own a good set of tools. Having a relationship with a good independent mechanic that works on Toyota vehicles is a plus. I use a local Toyota dealership in Madison, Indiana for work I can’t do on my cars (all Toyota vehicles), i.e. timing belt, water pump etc. Their mechanic is outstanding, and I have only had one bad experience there (over pricing) and it was just a matter of miscommunication on my end—they made it right immediately with no drama what-so-ever, even though it was my error! They did ask me not to cuss though!
· All Lexus automobiles are packed with electronics that can go bad. The gauge cluster can have issues as well as the ECU (electronic control unit, electronic control module, whatever you want to call it).
· Lexus recommends the timing belt be changed every 7 years or 90k miles. At this point that would mean it should have been done twice—maybe more, depending on mileage.
· The power steering unit is mentioned a lot and the strut bars. Transmission and/or engine mounts wear out etc.
· Also, I noticed (and read about) rubber and vinyl items under the hood seem the get brittle and fall apart. I believe it is because Lexus seals this area up too tight—maybe for sound deadening purposes? There are rubber gaskets all the way around the engine compartment that basically seal the hood when it is closed—not good.
· People often ask how my wife and I afford such nice cars. We have had Cadillacs, Lincolns, 7 Series, Q45s and now our LS400. Oftentimes I don’t think they realize just how old our cars really are because I keep them up so well—shiny does not mean new!
· The Internet (including this site) is crammed full of information on any car you want to drive and how to repair it—or at least learn about what is happening when the ‘Check engine’ light comes on etc. You either rely on someone else to diagnosis and fix it, or you do it yourself. If you cannot do it yourself, you can at least make informed decisions.
· I love my LS400. It is fast and the V8 will growl nicely when prompted. It pulls hard, shifts nicely, and I like the look of it—especially the hood and grill (mine is a 1998 model). Finally, do the Research and be realistic about your resources and abilities!
oh and i just remembered this after the guru Yamae posted about it (i forget exactly what he called it) but there's a small metal plate on the top of the throttle body held in by 2 phillips screws (arrow pointing to it)
which has to do with idle speed and such, and it's probably all dirty inside if it's never been cleaned. with the engine running, spray throttle body cleaner into the holes. i just found his post where he goes into more detail about it, but it's a very simple, straightforward procedure that if left unchecked can make you think a whole bunch of other stuff is wrong.
·
· The drivers.lexus website is a great way to see what the previous owner had the dealership do to the car, if anything. If you are lucky they changed the oil every 5k miles, had the 30, 60 and 90, 120k mile services performed etc. If Lexus didn’t do the maintenance, who did? Get documentation.
· At this point, as the other member mentioned, even a 2000 model year is 18 years old. Stuff happens, things get old, things break. If I sat out in the cold and/or heat day in and day out, I’d be dead by now!
· I spent a solid week looking thru 7 or 8 years’ worth of posts in this forum and learned a lot about these two generations of the LS series. The FAQ section at the top of the forum is filled with information on both 1st and 2nd generation models, and of course I used the search feature—A LOT! I compiled all the information I thought was important into a document with pertinent links and saved it for future reference. I compiled word documents with how-to info and saved them as well. I saved as many videos and pix that I could find i.e. shots of parts front and back, R&R procedures etc. I put all this on a flash drive.
· Finally, do the Research and be realistic about your resources and abilities!
Just what I did.Then when I found a potential car I posted it and got advice on buy or not.Folks here will know,just ask.I did,and I LISTENED to them and the folks here got me a great car.
Pretty standard depending on the weather you're experiencing... grease is causing the needle to stick on the back side of the gauge. There's a thread on how to disassemble and clean, but very infrequent for me... so I just let it go and give it a light whack while starting off as needed.
09-05-18, 04:27 AM
Buying a 98-2000...What to look for?
