Guys I've owned my SC since May of 2023

Replaced the ECU, Rack & Pinion, Engine & Transmission mounts, Oil Pan, & now I have to replace the spark plugs, ignition coils, & spark plug wires by myself because the shop I go to wants $2500 for a valve cover job.

KISS MY ***!!!

I had some buyers lined up for it but they either wanted to haggle the price & get one over on me or I just didn't want to sell it to them. A big part of why I haven't sold this car yet is because I don't want someone to get a hold of this car & then do something really stupid with it like add a bunch of anime stickers or something...

Anyways, I plan on making a video soon about ownership of this car & everything I know about them from experience. I'm growing a love for the community of people that own these & I feel like there's probably not many people out there willing to commit to this car as much as I have so I'm going to keep it. Had a look at a Buick LeSabre & as much as I love those things I'd take a clean SC over that any day. So I'll just hold onto mine... here's a few photos ! (Yes I swapped the '98 front bumper off. It was in horrible condition & I actually like the original front bumper on these cars)

 

Yeh, thats about as aerodynamic front bumper you can get!

 

I feel your pain. I have a low mileage '95 SC400, which, since buying, have had the following replaced: timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt and associated pulleys, oil pan gasket and steering rack. I try to keep up with the market and, thus far, I'm disappointed is the low prices these cars sit at. I chalk this up to buyers being either unaware of the brand and model or are put off by the expense of repairing one. Like any classic, parts and labor come at a premium. It breaks my heart to see SCs that have been used and abused. I, too, have considered selling mine, but don't necessarily want to take a bath on the deal. As such, I intend to sit on mine and enjoy it, from time-to-time (I have an additional daily driver automobile). I'm hoping the market will improve, but we'll see.

 

Thats a beautiful car. These cars are (if they haven't been abused) are probably the most dependable and refined production cars ever made. At least that's been my experience. It's a 35 yr old car. The windows are original and still work good. The a/c condenser is original and will still blow you out of the car. Most everything is original You can put a wine glass on the motor and it's still so smooth you turn it on and the wine is still as can be. In fact that used to be a Lexus commercial.
The car is high milage, well over 300,000 miles. I drive the hell out of it, "long distances at hi speeds". Seems the harder I drive it the better it runs! Built to run and its been my daily driver the whole time, can't imagine driving anything else.
I've kept the car sparkling and the engine and engine bay immaculate. Least I can do.

For some reason Lexus never marketed it. Did a 9 yr run without doing much to it and then dropped it for probably the stupidest they ever built ___SC430 🤷‍♂️
They never knew they built one of the best production cars and motors 1UZ. Its still in many top 10 motors list

 

Theyre epic cars from an epic era. I was playing in the sand in kindergarten when my SC rolled off the assembly line. Im 33 now. Its been on the road the whole time. Everything still works, every damn sensor, ECU. ITS MINDBLOWING If this is my only project car in my life, it will be enough.

Imo its worth keeping for life

 

This is an excellent video which explains why Lexus (Toyota) abandoned the SC300/400. It clocks in at just under 23 minutes and explains how Toyota, sparing no expense and defying the accountants, built a car of uncompromising quality only to be undone by the capricious nature of the marketplace. While the SC430 is considered a disappointment to Lexus fans, it was largely successful because of the accountants/marketeers.

 

Very AI generated narration and assisted in the script unfortunately but it does tell the story of how the Z30 SC/Soarer came and went and the reasons behind the ridiculous level of over-engineering in our cars and how the economic shifts after it was developed affected its place in the market and future design and engineering considerations.

....

Even with some recent shifts back to *some* specific engineering excesses from around 2007 onward since Akio Toyoda has had influence as CEO and now Chairman it's never been the same.

I do think there have been specific attempts but in niche areas (some GR models and extremely high end Lexus models). We're supposed to see another shared platform Supra & Lexus coupe (maybe "SC") in the near future but while both will be great cars they probably won't be engineered to this level of excess in every single area. Still... they'll probably be a universe closer to what we've been wanting for some time.

The LC500 was something of an exception but the chassis isn't known to be the most rigid the company has ever made. The GR GT/GT3 and earlier LFA are much closer to zero compromise engineering cars.

There isn't going to be another Bubble Economy in Japan again. It was a tremendously interesting time which produced fantastic engineering feats in EVERY product area not to mention also in live action films, animation, music and literature. But for now it does look like even if cost-consciousness over total over-engineering is here to stay there is now a renewed focus, albeit in a limited sense and cautiously, on keeping alive *some* of the spirit of what we've admired most in automaker products of the high engineering showcase 80's-90's.

It would be amazing if more mainstream Toyota products would be given the kind of blank check carte blanche from top brass again but that was a limited window of time for such things to be designed across a company's lineup rather than just for niche ultra low volume and high cost halo models.

 

just watched Hoovies video with his Sc4 and car wizard charge him 650 for valve cover gaskets

 

Hi guys, I haven't been able to watch your video, I have signed out on uTube and X quite a while ago in an attempt to preserve my sanity (as much as I can). I don't need alerts and other folks' trauma coming at me. It has been kinda relaxing to turn that crap off as much as possible and just go on long trips w the "Bullet". Its amazingly rejuvenating if your someone like me.

I can tell you I am thankful I got one of those "ridiculous level of over-engineered cars". I made another decision that I would do no adjustments to the wonderful 1UZ, just leave it exactly the way it was designed to be and built by maybe the best car manufactures anywhere.
No way I could ever improve on them.
Boy did that ever pay off. Haven't spent much on maintenance for sure, just the normal stuff. Paid off on reliability. You guys see where I travel with it. Never took a crap on me.
What I was trying to say they went to all that expense and then as far as I could see for 9 yrs they did nothing except tweek the poor car a little and just let it die on the vine. Most folks never knew there was an SC400

 

You are a very, very lucky guy to have that car
The Japanese know how good these cars are. You will aways be able to to get high quality parts from Japan 🚙