Hey everyone, I have a Black 2004 Lexus LS430 with 278,947 miles. It needs a lot of work and I was wondering if it's worth it. My goal was to make this a VIP car but with all the repairs that it needs I am slowly getting discouraged.

Things that are wrong with it includes:
-Transmission (Skips 3rd and 4th gear and stays in 5th on highway) New transmission from spprecision goes for $2,400 including shipping. I found a shop and they want to charge me $800 plus an additional $250 if it needs to be programmed.
- Radiator leak. (I would do this myself) $100 rockauto price
- Driver side Mirror doesn't fold
- Driver side front making noise. Might be suspension.
- Passenger side grinding noise. (Might need new wheel bearing?) Might as well replace all 4.
- TPMS sensor light on.
- Cracked windshield
- Driver side headlight goes on and off. May need new Ballast
- A/C cuts out sometimes. Might need a refill.

I am sure i'm forgetting more things but this is all I could think of at the moment. Love the car but with the miles and any unknown additional repairs I might be overlooking got me thinking if this is all worth the money. How many more miles does the engine got and so many more questions keep popping up lol. Just need some advice.

 

What is a VIP car? You going to make money like Uber? Are you going to do all the labor on the repairs? If you have free time and can do the work, maybe it's worth looking further. Used parts or after market that are inexpensive. Regarding AC, often leaks are just o ring seals. Also that's a lot of miles. I'd add up how much it will cost to bring the car up to standard and compare it to buying an LS 460. I'm guessing that an LS 460 is the way to go in this case.

 

If the engine itself has been maintained per the maintenance schedule (proper oil, change interval) and not abused since day 1, it probably has a lot more miles on it and make it to 400,000 +. All the other stuff will really add up if you have to pay someone to do the work. Get estimates, sum it up, and compare to a used LSs with low mileage in good condition (typically anywhere from $ 5-10K around here). Probably makes more sense to sell it and go with a vehicle in better condition with much less miles on it - and therefore a longer life with less repairs down the road

 

For the sake of clarity R12 has not been used since 1993. 1994+ vehicles including the OP's 2004 use the readily available R134a, and some 2013+ vehicles use the also readily avialable R1234yf. There will be no need to convert the AC system, just to diagnose and repair it.

I am with TominPT. All those repairs are doable but the cost, time, hastle, and guarenteed urforseen complications will suck the life out of you. If possible find a better condition vehicle to start with.

 

Aren't ya kind of sick of it at 278k miles and lets face it wear is wear? I would just be looking for something different myself with all the repairs.

 

I was thinking the same thing !!!

All those years and miles have worn the car out IMO. Even the LS430 becomes a money pit. If you can't do the expensive repairs yourself, you are going to make your mechanic rich !

I am very fortunate to have a very good mechanic , an independent. Now when I take my car in for repair he usually advises me to sell the car, but I fix it anyway. One day I'm going to have to take his advice.

 

I would say no when I see the $3450 for a transmission. The rest I would say yes. But if you were willing to spend that on the transmission, let the shop get it for you, so they are on the hook and warranting it. Don't buy it yourself and ask them to install it, is my opinion. If the job has to be done again (nobody is ever for certain with a used part), that's on them, not you. my .02

 

Did you see the Zoom where Uber people were fired en masse, remotely, along with crocodile tears?

 

If you can afford to VIP you may wish to consider doing so with an LS 430 with lower miles which has been maintained to keep the cost of your build down. But, that will still cost you. You may wish to consider that a VIP LS 430 may cost you $15 grand or so for a basic build which you may never be able to recover along with maybe $5000??? for repairs or for another car. Do you have a better use for $20,000? Or, is worth it to you to have a VIP LS 430 and pay $20,000 that you may likely can never get back and also have additional maintenance expense to keep it right?

 

If you can do all the work yourself and the car is cosmetically near perfect it would be

 

You shouldn't VIP a car that you are wondering if its even worth fixing.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

A VIP car is a Japanese luxury car that is lowered, small. low wheels, wider stance, etc. Faster but not a 10 second car. Lot's of money to customize a car that one will unlikely ever get back when sold. Not sure if crazy amounts of bass are required.
No judgement, if someone wants to spend their money on that and have fun with the process as well as the finished product.

 

VIP car ... Usually Lexus and Infiniti sedans, traditionally black, white, grey, or silver, as platforms for VIP mods in the U.S. Lower the car as low as it will go using coil overs (for true VIP) and minimize the distance between the very wide low offset custom wheels (with smaller than recommended tires) and the fenders. Widen the car with a body kit and and full aerodynamics kit or lip kit. Custom interior. Insane sound system. Personal touches. And, a tassel to hang from the rear view mirror. $15,000 ++ for mods + cost of a car.

VIP not suitable for livery. Uber firing staff not drivers. Uber requires late model vehicles for its premium services and the LS 430 is much too old to qualify.

 

04+ cars are known for bad solder joints on the ECU causing transmission problems, look it up this could be causing your problem.

I hate this forum it's not an enthusiast forum, all people do here is whittle the prices of these cars down and talk about how many miles are too many and how much will go wrong with the car. If you could imagine a forum being an excel spreadsheet this is it.

 

Can you provide a link to this info ?