gngai

Good Day Forum,

Need some feedback please. Here's the situation.

I've got a 1997 Lexus LS400 currently with 150k miles. Picked it up used at 95k with no maintenance records. At 100k I changed the timing belt, H2O pump, and the tranny fluid. Maintained regular oil changes every 5k and brake work. It's been running fine up until a few months ago where it wouldn't start and ultimately it ended up being a faulty wire with the fuel pump (that was a fun time). I have been noticing slight oil leakage and requested that they inspect it. They noticed oil leaking from the valve covers, cam plug, and the oil pan gasket. And, additionally some leakage from the power steering pump (this has been an ongoing issue where we have just topped it off). The car bluebooks about 2k.

I'm wondering if I should keep it and put more money/work into it or to go searching for another used car. Waiting to get more insight from the mechanic, but I thought I'd reach out to this community. How do I go about assessing approximate costs to bring this up to a reasonable functional level? Dare I ask how many more places this car can leak from? Or what other problems I may encounter?

Thoughts? Appreciate any insights.

AandSC

You've got a car that's capable of going for many more years with proper upkeep.

If it were me, I would go ahead and do another timing belt/water pump changes and replace all the leaking seals/gaskets. Replacing the cam/crankshaft/valve cover/oil pan seals/gaskets and the timing belt/water pump/pulleys would give you another 100K miles without those type issues. I would go ahead and do a cooling system flush, replace spark plugs, clean the intake (throttle body) and replace the radiator hoses since you've already got access with the other repairs. If you were to pay an independent repair shop let's say $1,800 then you shouldn't have to worry about anything other than oil changes for another five or more years depending on your annual miles.

What other car this nice can you buy for that price and not have to worry about anything other than routine maintenance?

KJG92

He is right. These are kind of a hard sell around here anyway and what are you going to get for $2k plus say the $1800 so $3800? You know this car and its quirks so it would just be better to fix it and drive it for a while longer.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Welcome to Club Lexus.

Good maintenance practices helps these go many-many miles. One of the keys to this is regular fluid intervals. That keeps the power steering, tranny and brake systems happy. As well the differential and engine oils. The rest of the aging issues are pretty known to deal with.

Depends how long do you want to drive the car? If you want a year or so then your maintenance practices will reflect that and the possible next owner will inherit the issues. Should your desire be 250K miles and beyond then performing the repairs would be the choice. This balances with what a replacement car and insurance will cost relative to any out of pocket expenses against the LS.

gngai

Thanks for the responses. Still finding my way around this forum as I am a newbie. Where can I find mechanic references in the San Jose, CA area and a '97 LS400 maintenance schedule please?

dicer

I saw an SCION 2006 for $1500 on craigslist, all it needs is an engine. For that matter you find all sorts of much newer cars for or under what your cars blue book is. So whats that tell ya? Yes you could get a much newer car and end up with something way worse. Not only are the newer cars butt ugly like the Scion is but they have some super nasty electronics in them, and are likely way costly to fix and buy parts for too. I think its a real easy decision, what you need is another Lexus enthusiast in your area that could do some of the work at a better rate, even a kid interested in cars, I was doing automatic transmissions at 17 or so and other stuff way earlier. There are a few out there that could handle some of the stuff you need done.

t4l

iTrader: (1)

Just fix it. The only way that you will ever have a car that doesn't need work is if you buy it new with a warranty. The leaks that you mentioned are all fairly easy to repair with minimal cost. Just some elbow grease and man hours.

Remember you are driving a car that, when new, sold for close to $50k. It's going to cost a little more than a corolla to maintain (although not nearly as much as you think). For a very small fraction of what a new car payment would be you can keep this one going for many years and hundreds of thousands more miles. Plus I challenge you to find a newer car that is build like this and will need less servicing in 20 years. They are not making any more of these cars and they are not throw away cars like you have today.

Legender

What makes you happy? That's the real question. I'm happy keeping my 98 LS400 on the road and running smooth. It's a great car with a super ride and loads of power and comfort. Love the look and feel. I've done the belts, pumps, hoses, gaskets to the tune of just over $2k and now that it's a solid car with over 210K miles on it. Hope to drive it a long time. I'm not looking for other bells and whistles on newer cars.
The question to you is, are you trying to save money? Or wanting to keep a nice car working well?
If you want cheap, then get you a Camry or something and just about anyone can work on it but it won't ride like a Lexus... I can't even get my Mom out of her Lexus into a newer Avalon...
In the end what are you trying to accomplish? If this car does not meet your transportation and emotional, yes emotional needs, then maybe you need to move on.
Sorry, we're Lexus enthusiasts here and guess we might expect others to be the same...
and... you've just put 55K on the top end of 100k with very little repairs. It can go further if you take care of it.

gngai

Appreciate the input from everyone! Now just need to find a competent and fair priced mechanic to do the work. Any references for the San Jose, CA area? Thanks.

SteezyLS98

No refrences but when you find out let me know ive been looking lately

9000revs

Foreign Affairs (Bay Area) did a PPI on my NSX a couple years back and also did some work to it. They repair all kinds of imports, so I would recommend them.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/foreign-affair-santa-clara