dicer

A few weeks ago there were at least 2 cloth seated no moon roof LSs on local cl. I've seen lots of ads with cloth seat interiors, and no moon roofs. Always always they are the base of base cars, zero options. What is rare is full options and pristine, low miles and a decent color, by decent I mean not white, and not black.
I'm pretty sick of the ads that say "loaded" and there are no options. For some reason people seem to think an LS could be bought like a geo metro with no power nothing. And have no idea an automatic was not an option, nor was power windows, nor power seats and mirrors, locks etc. they think that means loaded.

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

In 1991, here were the possible options as listed in a Lexus brochure:
option code :: price :: description
DC :: 900 :: Remote 6-CD Auto-Changer
FT :: No Charge :: All-Season Tires
LA :: 1,400 :: Leather Trim Package
MO :: 800 :: Memory System
NK :: 1,000 :: Lexus/Nakamichi® Premium Audio System, requires DC
SA :: 1,500 :: Adaptive Variable Air Suspension, requires LA, MO and SR
SR :: 900 :: Power Moonroof
TN :: 1,600 :: Traction Control System (TRAC) with Heated Front Seats

So anything not on that list (power locks, leather steering wheel, etc.) was not an option. So these cars were pretty well loaded, even with no options selected.

But now that the car is 26 years old, I'm happy to not have some of these options that would be more likely to cause repair problems than nice features - e.g., air suspension, sunroof, TRAC, memory system, CD changer. If the premium audio caused no problems, that would be nice, maybe. After 26 years and almost 200k miles, I'd take the original cloth seats over the original leather any day.

Yes, advertising something now as if power windows is a good selling point is not very helpful. I think some of the online auto sites do that automatically - give you a huge set of check boxes to choose - you're choosing "features" but they call them "options."

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Do you know what the actual relation is between the last 5 digits of the VIN and the production sequence? I know for many cars it is sequential, starting at 1, but ...

My understanding is that for my year at least, 1991, about 40k were built - my Lexus brochure thing says 41,228.

But the last 5 of my VIN are 58769. Just curious.

RyanLS

Stereorob

close to 30 years old pretty much ANY 1990 is a rare site these days in my area

creilly

You should post some pictures of it! I don't know if there are any others here regularly with cloth interiors.

CELSI0R

I am another member.

creilly

Oh cool! Yours looks like it's in good shape, did you have to look hard for one with cloth or did it happen to come up?

Amskeptic

How are your front seats? We have a good same-color cloth interior LS400 (1990) sitting here at the Pick Apart and a relatively decent set of wood trim.
Colin

CELSI0R

Thanks! I actually came across the car for sale during a drive home many years ago - I guess I was at the right place at the right time. I wasn't aware that cloth and moonroofs were an option beforehand.

EDIT:My front seats are in great shape. The previous owner put seat covers on them to prevent further wear. I would consider picking them up and the trim if you can; I'm searching for another set myself. Don't forget the door trims and the center console arm rest, too. They are very comfortable.

I have attached an old photo that I took shortly after purchasing the car.

EDIT2: The shifter is also different. It is vinyl instead of leather.

creilly

Your shifter is vinyl? Does it not have any stitching on it? I've actually never seen or been in a first generation LS with leather seats but mine seems to have a leather shift lever. I wonder if that's another of those minute differences between the LS and Celsior.

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

My 1991 LS400 was built with cloth seats and no sunroof. At the time of original sale, the dealer installed leather interior. I bought this from my in-laws, who were the original owners, so I know the whole story. I never paid much attention to the shifter, but looking at it now, it is not leather.

nthach

When I had a LS400, I only had the leather and sunroof packages - most of the UCF10s I see in the Bay Area had at the least the leather/sunroof/Nak packages on them. And most of those are in rough shape - the junkyards are never without one, I've seen a few creampuff UCF10/20s drive around Walnut Creek or even Lake Merritt on occasion.

CELSI0R

To answer your question, there is no stitching on it - correct. It is vinyl that's wrapped around the handle. From what I've seen, all Celsiors had leather shift levers - it didn't matter if the interior was cloth or leather. I hypothesize that all RHD LS/Celsior models just had leather shifters, for ease of manufacturing.

That's very cool - and there's the proof right there! Nice, I guess the dealer didn't know. The leather shifter feels nice, but I like the vinyl.

Very cool. I wish there was a place by me where I could go and grab spare parts from - that's a nice resource.

Lutherus

1995 5 speed teal with grey interior

bought it yesterday