Tonight I just bought my first Lexus. A 1991 LS400 with 159k miles for $1300. It looks and runs perfectly so far but I just have 50 miles on it from the drive home. I found the original window sticker in the trunk, it sold for over $39,000. in 1991. I looked up the wiki article on it and all I can say is wow, I think I may have hit a home run.
A couple of things bothering me....
I topped off the tank before driving it home and used premium. I am not sure if I have an owners manual and I thought that I should err on the side of caution. A guy at the pump next to me who was driving a brand new GS was admiring my new ride and was telling me about his wife's LS400 with over 300k on it which still runs like new and he never used anything but 87 octane. I wonder if using "regular will give me problems down the line. Any advice would be appreciated.
I have no idea what maintenance has been done. I'm thinking I should change the oil and oil filter, check the air filter, cabin air filter (if there is one???), rotate the tires, inspect the brakes, pull a spark plug to see the condition...etc. Anything else??/ again, advice from a veteran is gratefully accepted. I guess I should invest in a manual.
So far i am very pleased with how the car ran for my first 50 miles. It seems like it is built like a brick ******house.

 

Sounds great. Welcome to the club.

Definitely use premium gas. It even says it somewhere - like on your gas gauge or gas cap lid (I have a '91 too).

Regarding maintenance/fluids, I'd assume the worst unless you can verify it's OK. Oil, ATF, diff oil, brake fluid, PS fluid, battery water.

You'll find all kinds of good stuff on here. The two main problem areas on this car are the PS system and the ECU capacitors (just causes weird stuff in shifting, driving, idling, etc. in most cases at first). Focus on those.

Other things you may be in for soon: engine + transmission mounts, front lower ball joints, fan bracket.

One nice thing for you is that your engine is non-interference so it will not be catastrophic if your timing belt breaks. So you can wait until it is convenient / cost effective to replace that if you want.

Good luck. Read up.

 

welcome! always perform the routine maintenance when getting a car of unknown background. the timing belt is one of the important ones.

you're in the right forum to get the most info for the car.

start here! FAQ
another good link is here! LexLS

 

Any and all worked performed on it by a Lexus dealer can be viewed at lexusdrivers.com with a VIN lookup. It's probably unlikely that a 23 year old car was still being taken to the dealer for repairs and maintenance, but it's worth a try.

 

You can also get a free Owner's Manual at the same web site.
If you need to get to sleep, you can also download a PDF of each chapter. :-)

 

Welcome aboard!

These cars are the automotive equivalent of granite. I'm sure you will love it

 

Ditto that. Whenever I buy a used car I just assume that nothing has been done. I also wouldn't recommend using anything but premium in a Lexus, regardless of the year or model.

 

Great advice. I did find the owners manual and I took it to a really good mechanic for an oil change and an inspection. He said the all the fluids and filters looked clean and new and I did the oil change with full synthetic.
The tool kit and first aid kit in the trunk have never been touched. The spare had a nice big rip in the sidewall though. I picked up a used tire and got that taken care of. I did notice that the tires on the car are 205/60-15 and the stock tire was 205/65. Any opinions on the different aspect ratio? I think I will get new rubber before winter sets in hard and i'm not sure if I should go back to the stock size.
The only other glitch I found was weak gas struts that don't hold up the hood any longer.
I got the message loud and clear on the octane. Premium only for me. Thank God that gas prices are lower than they have been.
Thanks for the 411 on the links.
Now optimistic and more confident.
Jim

 

You can get new hood struts on ebay for less than $40, and they're a very easy DIY install.

 

Last time I needed new tires for my '91 (205/65R15, with OE wheels), I took the opportunity to buy a set of 16" wheels with almost new tires from a clublexus member with a late 90's SC. That worked out great. Since many of the newer (than ours) Lexus owners look to upgrade their wheels, there is a good supply of old ones that can often be bought for a very good price.

Also, I'm still running the OE brakes, which are just fine. But many early LS owners like to update the brake calipers, which will not fit under the '91 OE wheels = another reason to move to bigger wheels when getting new tires.

 

Another 91 LS owner I have 318,000 miles and found that I had to replace many parts after 270,000 miles starter alternator motor mounts trans mounts upper and lower suspension parts radiator master cylinder cap liars etc. I found a place in Santa Ana here in CA that I get great prices and product comes from Japan. The motor trans and A/C is original. Something interesting I found a A/C shop in Garden Grove who changed my R12 Freon to 134 Freon for only $125.00 only changing the Schrader valves and pulling out the old oil and Freon I was told by many shops it would cost around $1000.00to $1400.00 to this and the system runs freezing cold. They wanted to replace the compressor, expansion valve dryer and one wanted to change the evaporator It's been 6 months using it every day here in HOT CA and so fare so good. I have been reading in this forum that changing the temp sensor make a difference I am now getting 24-25 MPG highway miles before I was getting 19-22 what a difference happy motoring .

 

Got 247k on mine. Alwsys used 87 octane no issues. If you're going to be driving it hard constantly then go with premium fuel