NorCalF20

hey guys my name is jon and i purchased my first lexus yesterday, it's a '97 ls400 and i love this thing already! looking to chat with fellow enthusiasts and look into how to tastefully mod this land yacht.

NorCalF20

here's a few photos of the new ride!

hayafalcon

NorCal: Hi, she's a beauty!
I too am considering a LS400 as a daily driver. I'm actively checking the local ads and web daily. I am fascinated by the development of this car and by the amazing lack of problems historically. I was wondering what motivated you to buy this car? Haya....

NorCalF20

honestly i was originally considering another '89-'92 toyota cressida since i've had a couple but i wanted v8 power, so i ended up looking at a couple of these and fell in love. this car is an amazing piece of automotive tech even for it's age, and after driving one my mind was made up. you won't regret it so i say go for it!

hayafalcon

I have an Audi, a VW, and a Toyota Highlander. The A4 is a fun car but a challenge regarding maintenance. My next car was going to be an A6 but after some web research and after watching an old episode of the British TV show "Wheeler Dealers" (they had an LS400 episode) I said to heck with Audi. Too much hassle and cost. The LS400 just looks awesome from a longevity and reliability standpoint. I especially like the very earliest 90-92 models. Right now there is an dandy LS right in Grand Rapids for $4,000. I'm gonna have a look tomorrow. Thanks again, Haya....

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Welcome and congrats on the LS! We'd had the MX-73 Cressida. Loved that car and even today miss some of the aspects about that 5M motor. The LS is a nice step up in terms of the stock engine although those 5, 6 and 7 M motors can be fun. Then there is the 2JZ.

Scraape

Welcome to Clublexus! The LS400 is the most reliable car ever made. Doesn't mean they're perfect, you just have to know what maintenance is the most important to increase longevity of the cars life!

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Welcome! Looks good. Where in NorCal are you? From the photos, it looks like you could live right down the street from me.

EENCIZO

Welcome to the club!

NorCalF20

I'm located in pinole, ca what about you?

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

lovely car, very similar to when mine was new in my possession, gold emblems and all!

such a different car compared to the Cressida, but if you appreciate that chassis then you will appreciate the UCF20. it's certainly much much more reliable, so with that get your maintenance in order before you start modding. what's your plan?

NorCalF20

oh yeah this is definitely a step up from the mx83 cressida chassis, I'd like to throw on 20's and get a little low. my car has factory air suspension so I have no idea how I'd lower it.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

I just finished responding to another question regarding air suspension in that it is not a matter of "if" it goes bad but "when".
Unfortunately they are prone to failure and replacement is very costly at about $1000 per corner (air strut assembly)!

back in the day with air suspension what folks did to lower the car was to trick the car into thinking it is riding high by adjusting the height sensors on the suspension itself or via air controller which was installed inline with the suspension ECU.
it did work however doing this would over stress an over-20-year-old suspension dramatically speeding up suspension problems.

best way to lower the car is to convert to conventional strut/lowering spring combo, or obtain full coilover suspension. these have their own pros and cons.

creilly

Welcome! I'd say if you have factory air and want to get low then fitting some form of conventional suspension is probably for you. Coilovers or what have you are probably going to be a lot less of a hassle than trying to track down and use a factory air controller, and from what I've heard riding around with the factory air low is surely the quickest way to kill it.

Otherwise it's a beautiful car- I'm partial to the square headlights so the 94-97 cars are my favorite of the UCF2xs. How's the interior?

NorCalF20

yeah I was thinking coilovers would be the way to go, and the interior so clean I can't believe this car is 21 years old. supposedly this was the coach edition but I don't know if it is or not.