ChrisTorr

So I'm looking fro my first car and I'm looking for an older Lexus. I came across a1996 Lexus Ls400 in my local area it has 123K miles and they're asking $2700. I know it won't get great gas mileage since it has a V8, but what are some things I should look for? Also I heard the starter is hard to replace as in you have to take part of the engine apart to replace it how bad is that? Any advice is appreciated.

spuds

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lexus/comme..._buyers_guide/

spuds

General consensus is starter repair is about as hard a repair to do as possible.Mine ever needs one Im having a shop do it.

Im getting 17 mpg almost all city,mid to high 20's on freeway doing 75+ mph.

Also service is key.repeat.maintenance is key to a good car.get the VIN number,sign up here and read the service records.its free.

https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/history

Bylan

I bought my ls400 as my first car at 18 over 3 years ago. $1850 for a gold/beige 1997 with 170k miles. First 20k miles were relatively trouble free, car had a few small leaks but nothing major. At 214k miles now and I have since had to do a front main seal and cam seals, timing belt, water pump, and a general tuneup of wires , caps/rotors, and ignition coils. I've also had to do other maintenance things like rear brakes, Trans filter and fluid change, fresh toyota red coolant. Some things for these cars are very reasonable priced, some aren't. I have DIYd everything on my car, and learned an insane amount. Unless you've got a really well maintained car and a good personal mechanic, I'd recommend something simpler as a starter car. I'm in school for mechanical engineering and I love learning about how this car is designed as I have to slowly fix everything on it. I would have spent probably over $10k in shop prices if I had mechanics work on my car, shop labor is a killer. Good luck on your choice! All this said I love being in my old Lexus, the old leather interior smell and 1uz V8 sound can't be beat for ~$2k

Stroock639

the whole starter thing is sort of a double edged sword, it's literally between the cylinder banks at the back of the engine so it's annoying to get to (although i've read that the 98+ engines aren't as bad), but also by being there it stays better protected from the elements and likely lasts longer as a result

apart from power steering leaks and other various little things one might expect a car of that age to have, the ECU capacitors apparently have a high failure rate on earlier LS's, but apparently isn't too tough of a thing for anyone handy with the soldering iron

also idk what kind of driving you'll mainly be doing but the mpgs can be surprisingly good if you're just cruising around, i usually average in the mid to low 20s in mine from mostly highway and a bit of around town driving, actually on the highway though it'll get like over 30 from just going along at 70-75

i've driven many cars but i still say that the LS is all things considered the best there is, it has no major achilles heel, and there's really nothing on the car that isn't high quality and intelligently thought out

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

we all here will attest that it's a great car, but keep in mind it is over 20 years old and it does have a fair share of maintenance (one of them is timing belt done every 90k miles).
make sure that job has been taken care of or you're looking at $700-$1k addition to your expense to keep the car running solidly.

I think it's a great first car, but it will spoil you!

Stroock639

for this exact reason, i've said it's not a good first car, because once you've reached the top there's nowhere further to go!

Stereorob

100% truth. ive been in the Ls400 black hole death spiral now 15+ years. i just cant keep myself away and out of them. nothing else is as good. NOTHING. not Benz not BMW not Audi, Cadillac, jaguar, Lincoln, infiniti, Acura, none feel as good. newer or older. just nothing at all compares. TERRIBLE first car choice!!!! yes very reliable but they really will spoil you and you should give some other stuff a chance first before the Ls400 ruins the rest of them for you.

Stroock639

thanks to its complete animal psycho of an engine and late 90s / early 00s ergonomics and design, i'd say the E55 comes close. so close that i needed to own one at least for a little bit. E500? nah, not worth it. E55 though? LS is still the better overall car, but DAMN all that supercharged torque does NOT get old. put it in 3rd gear when merging and you can legit recreate a 737 taking off whenever you like. i definitely amused myself and my friend by going faster on the way to ride kingda ka at six flags, than the actual kingda ka itself lol.

the E55 is better when it comes to impromptu drag races, impromptu highway roll races, passing another car when there's not much space to do so, having to slow down a lot VERY quickly, and fast sweeping corners... but the LS is better at literally everything else. i find it funny that when i drive one car, there will inevitably be some circumstance where i wish i had the other lol... but if it only had to be one, no question it has to be the LS!