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anyway a few months have passed and i barley drive it. its so nice and im terrified something will happen to it so it spends most of its time in the driveway under a thick coat of wax with sunshades. there seriously isnt a ding the size of a pin head on it and i know i probably wont ever find another one like it again, so i just play it safe and drive my jade green 00 or my hooptie 95. well, i let it sit a little too long and the battery was dead when i went to crank it last week, so that was a wakeup call. reguardless of my paranoia i needed to get over it and just drive the damn thing already so i did. i hadnt been out of a 10 mile radius with it since i had it, and only drove it on the highway once so honestly i didnt really know the car all that well yet.
memorial day weekend was here and me and my girlfriend wanted to get away for a few days so we decided on the beach. she wanted to take her jeep i wanted to drive a real car so we took one of my LS400s. i decided on the 99. she was a little nervous since i had never taken it out of the area as was i, but figured worst case scenario if it broke down half way there id just tow it back and take one of the other cars.
one of the main reasons i decided on the 99 was because A i didnt really know it that well yet and was curious to see how it would behave on the open road sustained at 85-100 mph for a few hours, B because it was just shy of 200k and i wanted to roll it over. we packed up, gassed up, and hit the road..
we took the backroads, heading north to meet up with a friend to do some urban exploring and then headed south to St Pete beach. soon as we got out of orlando any kind of nervousness at all vanished out the rearview mirror and the car drove 40 miles north to the Leesburg area without any incident at all. frostie AC dead quiet didnt have as much as a hiccup.
our buddy, Clay who is a fellow local historian and junk hunter took us to this absolutley amazing abandoned house built in the 1870s. we got some great pics of it and we found a few treasures to take home
Clay was never really an Import kinda guy and always has driven old domestic cars with chrome bumpers, however he couldnt get over how smooth and quiet the LS400 was and now he wants one for himself.
the car has a perfect suspension system and it was actually pretty enjoyable whipping it through twisty country backroads. the LS400 has more life in it then most realize and can be alot of fun during spirited driving, if you know how to handle it.
we stopped at a local hole in the wall sub shop that has one of the best Italian subs ive had in a long time. if you ever find yourself on the backroads of northern Lake County and want something to eat, Lillys Subs is worth a look at.
also, while i was in the area, i re-created an old photo i took almost ten years ago with my 95 LS400, sitting at the foot of the Dead River.
after Leesburg we hit the highway towards St Pete. it was smooth and quiet down the 429 and didnt hit much traffic till Lakeland. she hit 200k just as we approached I-4
its funny, once it hit 200k it felt more real. well, its hard to describe i guess. i know 200k seems to be about the mid-life on these cars overall with some exceptions, but theres no running away from it not being an old car.
this is the 4th LS400 ive rolled over to 200k in. its special. my GF thought it was stupid but i didnt. 200k also seems to be the mileage people get sketched out about on cars in general "eeew 200k thats too many" "dont buy that car its got 200k on it" its a drop in the bucket for an LS400...
the Navigation system was completely worthless and didnt work for the whole trip down. kept getting the check hard disc warning but everything else worked okay.
what i really found to be amazing was of the almost 200 mile one-way trip, and for the entire weekend down there and driving back, not once ever did i spot another LS400 in traffic which is almost too far-fetched to believe considering i went between two major urban areas and another area of florida with the highest concentration of old folks probably in the country. these cars really are vanishing from the roads. never saw another one..
once we got down to st pete we realized the beach was going to be absolutley slammed so we didnt park there. we met up with a gal pal of my GF, stashed the car at her place, and ubered back down to the beach till sunset.
had some great food a few drinks then headed home.
later that night we couldnt sleep so we went exploring the area. ive been in florida my whole life and knew tampa well enough, but not saint pete. i always thought it was just a little beach side tourist town and had absolutely NO IDEA what a huge city it actually was.
we were staying with my GFs friend who had just moved in to her apartment and me and my girl honestly knew nothing of the area. well, it was 1 am when we left her place to go check out the area. we didnt get home till 4am..
we drove all over downtown St Pete and explored all the nooks and crannies of the place. it really is a cool area and i wish it was closer then it is.
however, we ran into a problem. the Navi system was on the blink, our phones were almost dead and we didnt have chargers. shortly thereafter, we found our self's totally lost.
for the next hour we were driving around, phones totally dead, wandering around and starting to get low on gas. stopped to fill up and when we did, the Navi system came on just long enough to be able to put her address in and guide us home.
thank god its an older area so the address showed up in the system. something funny. during our lost exploring, we were driving through a park and we overheard someone say "Wow look an LS400!" -have these cars really reached the age now that they legit break necks and stop traffic?? that was kinda cool honestly lol. surprising but cool!
anyway, the trip went beautifully without a hitch other then the buggy navigation maps. i achieved a tank avg of 18.5 MPG avg cruising speed 86 MPH top speed blast of a brief 135. not as much as a slight hiccup shake shimmy rattle knock clunk or stink. the car was and is absolutley flawless. it was a fun trip, and now i know i can trust it!
however, we ran into a problem. the Navi system was on the blink, our phones were almost dead and we didnt have chargers. shortly thereafter, we found our self's totally lost.
for the next hour we were driving around, phones totally dead,
Man, what would you have done 30 years ago before cell phones and GPS? Me and my friends used to drive around just to get lost and try to make it back home.
Anyway, seems like it was a nice trip. Road trips are the best way to take a vacation, even if it's just a weekend. Ya see alot more that way instead of taking a plane and going to one place only. The food looked good. Well, except for all that green stuff on the plate.
Nice trip story Rob.. my 98 fell into the same condition but for different reasons. Trans pan was leaking and did not have the time to deal with it so parked out front for almost 6 months, which then of course killed the battery. Recharged, replaced the trans pan gasket and got her back on the road this week. Been driving the Tundra in the mean time... nice ride, but does not compare to the smoothness of the LS. Almost 230k on mine and still running strong after all these years. Glad to have mine back on the road.
Sounds like a great trip! I'm genuinely surprised by your fuel mpg though, I periodically travel to and from Texas and this past weekend I drove up 5 hours to Colorado springs and 5 hours back straight and I averaged 25mpg on the freeway and I am at 215k miles
Nice trip, helped me calm my rattled nerves (if you see my post about unauthorized work, you'll see why). I am also glad to see that there is someone more paranoid than me! Actually, I am more paranoid about the way the car works (mine is a 1990 ls400) than little dings and such. I have a few, but they are mostly not noticeable, and my interior is ripping apart, something I am planning to deal with soon.
Anyway, I agree with cptnslo that your mpg is not that good. I can get easy 24mpg on a highway, and I usually push it hard - always over 75mph. The car loves it, it's almost like it feels the best when you stretch its legs: the engine becomes quieter, smoother, the car lowers a bit from air going over the roof, steering is more precise, it just turns into a perfect travel machine. And mpgs become insanely good - at least for me. For city driving though, especially in stop and go (more stop than go) in awful downtown San Francisco, I am lucky to get around 16mpg but that's because the car is idling and not moving most of the time.
I love your car btw! Lovely color and all. I am kinda thinking of getting another one, their prices seemed to have come down lately, (and still, no one is buying them)
06-03-19, 08:50 AM
First road trip 1999 LS400
except for all that green stuff on the plate. 
Actually, I am more paranoid about the way the car works (mine is a 1990 ls400) than little dings and such. I have a few, but they are mostly not noticeable, and my interior is ripping apart, something I am planning to deal with soon.