I'm new to the forum and was hoping I might be able to get the help of some of you who are more experienced with this car than I am.

I have found an 02 LS430 with 47k miles at a very good price that I would like to buy. The car seems to be in very good shape; it rides and drives really well and everything seemed to be in order, but, when I went to take it over to a local independent mechanic for a once over to make sure everything was kosher, the check engine light came on.

This happened as I was fiddling with all the buttons to make sure everything worked. I pressed the "VSC Off" button and found that the VSC would not come back on when I pressed it again or when I turned off and then restarted the car. And as I mentioned, the check engine light came on also.

The mechanic hooked it up to the diagnostic computer and a code (I wish I had the actual #, I forgot to get this) came up as something to do with a valve in cylinders 1 and 2 (I want to say it was something to do with electronic variable valve timing, but I don't remember exactly) which he said could have to do with anything from a computer module, to a relay, to not having had a prior code reset (i.e. nothing wrong at all), to a bunch of different things.

I went over to the Lexus dealer to get the service history and the history I got is kind of vague and abbreviated, but it says that an engine light came on at about 46k in January of this year (I would guess for the same thing?). Other than that, they had basically done nothing other than standard maintenance.

So I'm wondering what ya'll think about the car? At the price I'm getting, I'm thinking it would almost be worth it to try to deal with the problem, but I'm also very wary of buying anything that has something wrong with it. The mechanic I took it to didn't charge me to check it out, but now with this potentially larger issue, I'm thinking about shelling out $300 to take it over to Lexus for their very thorough 3 hour inspection. But I'd also hate to shell out the money for them to say, "well duh, the car is broken, don't buy it."

What do ya'll think?

 

save your 300 bucks, MOVE ON to the next one.

forget this one. The LS403 rarely has the check engine light go ON. it's a rarity and not a common occurrence. It could very well be the valves, in which case your fcuked !

 

...this guy that I quoted. He gave you the best advice!!!!!!

L.G.N.M

 

If it's enough of a deal then take it to a couple mechanics and see what they have to say.

 

if the car under $9000 its probibly worth getting.....

 

Yeah, I think ya'll are right. Good advice.

On the bright side, I found another (clean) one to purchase and I'm thrilled with it.

 

you'll know when u find THE ONE. the records will check out like clockwork, no hidden stories. you'll know. good luck.

try to get private party direct, 1st owner with perfect records. I'd stay clear of dealers, who knows how they got it, chances are they got it at auction. And if that's the case, why did it get to auction ? too much ???

 

(K)eep (I) (M)oving.... don't even bother as someone said on to the next one

 

auction cars are bad?

 

Most dealers cars come from auction. I dont see how thats a bad thing. It just depends on the type of auction they get them from. Any of the highline or reputable auction houses distribute a fair amount of the cars to local dealers relying on clean trades to stock their lots the dealers would go under.

 

really depends on the price, but even super clean(IE PERFECT) LS430's are selling for super cheap prices.

If the price is right, i would take the risk. You can rarely go wrong with any Lexus LS.

i bought a 93 ls with 210k from ebay and its been amazing these past two years.