I got mine for a stupidly low price for the miles and condition. Ill keep it for quite a while. It a second car at the moment for our family. So the miles are going up very slowly.

 

I’m planning to keep mine for as long as possible. I like it as a daily driver better than my other two cars.

 

What are your other two cars?


Never mind I see it in your signature now. :-D lol

 

For the price you can get them for, coupled with their comfort, reliability, power and smoothness, they make excellent commuter cars. I do 20 miles a day round trip and enjoy the ride. But over the weekend I got the dreaded Tail lamp failure message on the dash. Guess not as reliable as I thought..

 

A little black tape will fix that right up.

 

You use yours as a daily driver? I just had my transmission rebuilt so I'm trying to save mine by using it less. I agree that they are very comfortable to drive however.

 

I've had a 2000 daily driver for a couple years. After working on a 92 and a 96 since then, the 98, 99 and 00 are much simpler and much nicer. Coil on plug, 5 speed auto, variable valve timing and stability control are the biggest things in my opinion.

I rarely see 98, 99 or 00s on craigs list. Lots of 90-94s.

 

I just got back from a banzai run up to Atlanta from the Pensacola, then to Rochester NY from Atlanta and back to Pensacola. In that 2,000 + miles, I saw exactly one other 1st Generation Lexus LS400, and a 430 that caravanned with me from ther middle of Pennsylvania to Rochester. We chatted it up at a gas stop. The husband and wife both were on Full Nostalgia mode, telling me that they wished they had not gotten rid of their 1992. Something about how good the dealers *used to be* and how reliable *that car was*, and even a comment from the wife about how the earlier ones *just look better." I agreed with everything.

Yes, there is inexorable attrition as people are less and less committed to fixing every little thing. That is a problem with these cars. They are magnificent at 10/10ths, but they lose spirit quickly as the list of no-longer-functional details add up and that damn Japanese penchant for interiors turning sick colors of green as the dyes leach out.

I am completely committed as an owner who isn't going to sell this car to the elegant simplicity and good looks, and I pray that I can keep on top of the little things as new parts get harder to find and used parts get more and more beat/sun-bleached/broken.

I have seen used LS400 prices plummet as the economy grows stronger and Americans dive back into bloated trucks and SUVs.
Colin

 

I had that same thing a few weeks ago on my '91. Quickly found it to be a broken (yellow, I think) wire by the left trunk hinge. Easily fixed of course.
BTW on that - looking in the user manual, the warning light is supposed to come on when either a taillight or brake light is supposed to come on and does not. So if you had a brake light bulb out, the light should not come on until you stepped on the brakes. In my case, I had no actual light failures. Everything was fine except the bogus warning light, fixed by repairing the broken wire (that may have been broken by piling too much stuff in the trunk).

Other than that, my '91 with 197k miles is running perfectly (EDIT - oops, except the tach and speedo are not working right. I can live with that.). Probably worth $2,000 on a good day out here in CA. I have 2 Porsches and a BMW and this Lex is my go-to ride. So given the value to others vs. the value to me, I don't see myself ever being able to sell it. I expect many other owners are in a similar position.

I know the purists will hate this part. But another nice "feature" of the 90-94 is the non-interference engine. So if you've got a $2,000 car and are considering a $1,000 timing belt job, the risk factor in that decision is different than for the newer cars.

 

I totally get this, maybe not exactly for that reason, but at least for the peace of mind. It's nice to know that even if the worst happens the engine isn't a boat anchor.

 

Not at all. No harm, no foul. Just have Plan B ready when the engine quietly spins to a halt.
If that were my $2,000.00 car, I would do the belt myself for about $200.00 and twelve hours of my free labor.
Whereas, when you are driving your 1965 Ferrari GTB 250 Testarossa when it lets go of a chain, have your cyanide pill nestled in a molar.
Colin