Hello fellow LS'ers: I hope all of you are doing good. It's been fun hanging out in here, so I figured I'd take it a step further.

I have a '98 LS400 and while in generally good condition, there are a few items needing replacement or repair on it. I've searched for a mechanic here in Seattle familiar with the LS, but have come up empty so far.

I'm placing this ad on here in my attempts to find someone local that is familiar with these cars. You don't have to be a mechanic per say. I live in a condo and am not allowed to do any mechanical work on my car.

Let me know where you live and your situation - I would be more than willing to come to you and compensate you for your time. Thanks in advance to everyone.

 

I cannot help with your question, but just wanted to say as a UK LS400 owner that I had the pleasure of living in Seattle from 89-94 and it is a beautiful and wonderful city. Great beer too!

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/151190121662380/

come here and check out the locals

 

Clunkfish - glad you got to experience our city. I moved here some 25 yrs. ago and each time I'm away in another country or city, I realize how much we have here in the Emerald City. You're always welcome to come back and visit anytime.

 

IS3 - thanks for the heads up on the Facebook group for Lexus owners. I'll check it out as soon as I can.

 

my name if Phreaking on there. Cant miss me with my aussie as my profile pic

 

That's very kind of you. I'd love to go back - haven't visited in 10 years now, but still have friends in West Seattle. Cruising around the Puget Sound area in an LS400 - that must be bliss

 

98 's are different animals as compared to Gen 1 and 2's. If you plan on keeping it you should look for the manuals.
How did the trunk lid seal work out?

 

Dicer, after drying out my trunk and waiting to observe the results, a funny thing happened. Living in WA yourself, you are no doubt aware that last week brought lots of rain. Well, long story short, my trunk stayed dry.

My conclusion: it seems after all that the trunk seal is not the culprit of my wet trunk. Another poster (I can't remember his name) in an associated post about leaking trunks made mention of the water seeping in through the bolts (bolt holes) that secure the bumper, if not properly sealed.

At any rate, I am back to square one, but thinking my leak might be tied to the bumper bolts or some other yet undiscovered cause. On another note, since you live here in WA, do you know of any good mechanics (other than the dealer) or someone you would vouch for? I need to get my suspension properly diagnosed, and need someone familiar with these cars or at least someone who can work on Lexus.

Any help or recommendation is greatly appreciated.

 

Me. But like you space is the problem. Wish I had a nice large shop and lots of extra space, then I would take on some projects. I could help with some things but just can't get tied up with something too major, I'm over loaded with work and honey do's and my projects.
Trouble shooting the leaky trunk seal was not an easy thing to do, had to remove the liner around the rear and could see the water running into the trunk. Its funny that LS's have that problem it really isn't designed much different than say a Subaru legacy and they don't have a trunk seal problem.
As far as the front end you could jack it up and grab the tire and try to move it up and down in and out, side to side etc. see if you have looseness. I'm not sure about the 98's but the gen 1's the upper control arm pivots seem to go, and I suppose lower ball joints aren't a long lived item either.