I am currently looking at a 2001 Lexus GS430 with 290,000km (I'm in Canada, 180,000 Miles for the rest of ya). It is hard to find information regarding these cars at this mileage. A friend is selling this vehicle, which he bought and drove for a short period of time and then parked it because he had no time to work on it. He ran a code reader and its throwing codes: p1349, p1346, and p0325. He mentioned that an oxygen sensor code was also being thrown but it went away by the time he had received the part. From what I can tell, The VVTI sensors and the knock sensors will need to be done. It has decent service records and has had power steering pump done, tranny flushed, regular oil changes, new cat, and a few other regular things. I am mechanically inclined, but have never worked on a Lexus, and am willing to tackle replacing the knock sensors and VVTI sensors. I want to know if this car is worth putting money into, as he wants $2000 canadian buckaroonies for it. I have wanted a Lexus for quite some time now and I am on a tight budget and looking to replace my truck with something fun, comfortable and reliable to daily drive. Is this going to be a money pit of regret or is there potential for brushing off this diamond in the rough?

 

From the pics, the body looks clean and damage free. I would say it is worth the $$$, however see if he will knock some off the asking price.
If the engine/tranny was well cared for I would get it. I bought my 01 GS430 L Tuned for $1,400. back in summer 2018with 182K miles. I did all the maintenance suspension and such and she is now my daily driver.
There is lots of information on this site to help you along with all repairs and maintenance.
I would say go for it.
Just for refence see pics of my car when I first got it to how it sit currently. Hope this inspires you lol.



I have 187K miles on her now and she runs great. Same paint as when I got her just buffed and waxed the crap out of it.

 

car looks great! I think i will go for it, its hard to tell in the photos but its a green one, needs some polish love but it should look nice. Thanks for the advice!

 

I have a 1998 gs400 with 267,000 miles not kilometers in Florida. it has been a very reliable, fun and pretty quick car. I'm on the original tranny and have had it from 97,000 miles and 9 years with minimal issues. The starter is a bit of a pain to change and the vvti seals can be intimidating if you are not familiar with it but I have done all service myself including 2 timing belt changes. I have replaced the alternator, starter, power steering pump rebuilt, lower ball joints, upper control arms, fuel pump and multiple transmission fluid changes. The motor pulls strong to redline in the lower gears and the tranny doesn't miss a beat. I encourage you to do some research as to the reliability of Lexus products, especially the early stuff.

 

Yea, given the price, condition and your abilities I’d say it’s a good deal. I’d even frown and shake my head about “...the ball joints are notorious and the bmc may need replacing blah blah” to get the price even lower 😈

 

And someone correct me if I’m wrong but if those grill bolts were broken when it was removed, you may need to replace the hood or make some other way to attach the grill. But without the factory bolts, it’s gonna be easy to break off when you open the hood. Unless you remember to lift the hood from the side and not by the grill.