Agree. Rust bubbling is not nice. These cars have very very good paint. a little bubble here and there and you may have a lot of fixing to do if you want to have a nice looking car.
My 1998 had the starter replaced before 100k miles. The Engine feels like new and takes no oil. Isnt the starter going sooner or later on these cars?.
My opinion is that The Lexus LS400 is one of the cars where a starter fail feels more like a good opportunity to negotiate the price down hard. The risk of the engine having oter problems is quite small if you check the obvious things. It rotates. Prefferably check that The timing belts are not broken(moves when you rotate engine) , fluids not leaking , oil looks ok.

 

Yamae, your English is pretty darn good. Alot better then 90% of the people that live around me. From what you write on this subject, and others, is great. I'm not an electrical guy, never have been, and I'm learning more then what I have tried to learn working on cars for 45 years. I hate the wiring in cars, houses are fine.
Thanks for passing on the knowledge Mr. Teacher.