Million Mile Lexus US Roadtrip with Adventureholix
07-07-18, 10:33 PM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Million Mile Lexus US Roadtrip with Adventureholix
Hi Guys and Gals,
We managed to talk Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire to lend us his famous Million Mile Lexus LS400 1996 for a roadtrip around the USA. We intend to drive approximately 15,000 miles in 3 months (June-August 2018). So far we have covered 6000 miles across the Southern Route from LA to Florida. From now to August we intend to drive up the East Coast, back across to the West Coast and finally down to LA. Here is a link to our rough plan
https://trips.furkot.com/ts/v7K7o3
'Hobycat' from this forum dropped us an e-mail and encouraged us to write here so that we can meet up with some of you guys along the way and show off the Million Mile Lexus.
If you are interested you can find the details of our trip (which includes many automotive stops) on Reddit where people have helped us plan. https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/861di0/help_plan_our_roadtrip_in_matt_farahs_million/?utm_source=reddit-android
The best way to keep up with the progress of our journey and the LS400 is our Instagram account: ( https://www.instagram.com/adventureholix ), but we are more than happy to share our exleriences here as well and answer any questions you may have.
A few notes on the Lexus:
- overall the LS400 performs extremely well considering it is currently at 978,954 miles
- the engine and the gear box are definitely smoother than other cars with less than 200,000 miles we have driven before. It runs on premium gas and 5W30 Castrol oil.
- the only major issue the car has is that it burns (or rather leaks) 1 quart per 500 miles
- there are a couple of smaller issues too - the windscreen washer jets have been blocked by a shabby paint respray
- the oil level censor seems to have given up the ghost as the yellow light is constantly on but the oil level is fine when checked on the dip stick - we wanted to fix this problem at the last oil change but it seems like the oil pan has to come out for this
- the cruise control works most of the times, but occasionally has a mind of its own
- the check engine light is on due to a faulty O2 sensor according to Matt
- the airbag light is on as well
Issues that we've fixed along the way:
-break light sensor switch needed adjusting as we discovered the break lights were constantly on even when we weren't pressing the pedal. Someone else has tried to fix this issue previously by changing the switch but as this did not resolve the problem we decided to go for a crude and quick solution. We ducktaped a penny to the bracket which pushes in the switch when the pedal is released
- the front cigarette lighter burnt out on us while trying to use a tire inflation pump. We checked the fuses in the foot well but they were all fine. So after fiding a DIY solution on here we took out the center console and resoldered the blown connection with the help of a friend in Huston. Works fine again!
We are looking forward to answering more questions and arranging meetups along our rout.
Cheers guys,
Anton & Ana @Adventureholix
We managed to talk Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire to lend us his famous Million Mile Lexus LS400 1996 for a roadtrip around the USA. We intend to drive approximately 15,000 miles in 3 months (June-August 2018). So far we have covered 6000 miles across the Southern Route from LA to Florida. From now to August we intend to drive up the East Coast, back across to the West Coast and finally down to LA. Here is a link to our rough plan
https://trips.furkot.com/ts/v7K7o3
'Hobycat' from this forum dropped us an e-mail and encouraged us to write here so that we can meet up with some of you guys along the way and show off the Million Mile Lexus.
If you are interested you can find the details of our trip (which includes many automotive stops) on Reddit where people have helped us plan. https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/861di0/help_plan_our_roadtrip_in_matt_farahs_million/?utm_source=reddit-android
The best way to keep up with the progress of our journey and the LS400 is our Instagram account: ( https://www.instagram.com/adventureholix ), but we are more than happy to share our exleriences here as well and answer any questions you may have.
A few notes on the Lexus:
- overall the LS400 performs extremely well considering it is currently at 978,954 miles
- the engine and the gear box are definitely smoother than other cars with less than 200,000 miles we have driven before. It runs on premium gas and 5W30 Castrol oil.
- the only major issue the car has is that it burns (or rather leaks) 1 quart per 500 miles
- there are a couple of smaller issues too - the windscreen washer jets have been blocked by a shabby paint respray
- the oil level censor seems to have given up the ghost as the yellow light is constantly on but the oil level is fine when checked on the dip stick - we wanted to fix this problem at the last oil change but it seems like the oil pan has to come out for this
- the cruise control works most of the times, but occasionally has a mind of its own
- the check engine light is on due to a faulty O2 sensor according to Matt
- the airbag light is on as well
Issues that we've fixed along the way:
-break light sensor switch needed adjusting as we discovered the break lights were constantly on even when we weren't pressing the pedal. Someone else has tried to fix this issue previously by changing the switch but as this did not resolve the problem we decided to go for a crude and quick solution. We ducktaped a penny to the bracket which pushes in the switch when the pedal is released
- the front cigarette lighter burnt out on us while trying to use a tire inflation pump. We checked the fuses in the foot well but they were all fine. So after fiding a DIY solution on here we took out the center console and resoldered the blown connection with the help of a friend in Huston. Works fine again!
We are looking forward to answering more questions and arranging meetups along our rout.
Cheers guys,
Anton & Ana @Adventureholix
07-09-18, 08:21 PM
#5
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Yeah guys, we already left Texas. At the moment we are in Georgia. Tomorrow we will be driving the Tail of the Dragon and in the coming days Blue Ridge Highway.
Will do. Just need to find some time to upload some to a hosting site so we can post them here. Right now most of the pictures are on Instagram and Facebook if you wanted a have a peak before we get to upload them here.
07-09-18, 10:23 PM
#7
Racer
I'm glad to see its still in operation. I drove it back in Oct 15 when it was in phoenix for a week @ ONLY 922k miles lol. You might see my log entry in the book under Kai.
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07-11-18, 03:57 AM
#9
Racer
I will follow,would like to buy you guys lunch next time in LA.
07-11-18, 11:53 PM
#10
Lead Lap
when will you be going through long island? this will probably be my only chance to see the car lol
07-12-18, 07:32 PM
#11
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
07-12-18, 07:37 PM
#12
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
That would be at the very end of the trip. We should maybe organize a end of the trip meet in LA! Would love to show it off one last time before handing it back to Matt.
Probably in 2 days 😁 we will arrive in Greenlawn, NY on Saturday and are staying with friends there. Are you anywhere near there?
07-12-18, 10:26 PM
#13
Lead Lap
07-12-18, 10:36 PM
#14
Lead Lap
07-13-18, 11:20 AM
#15
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
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