Obviously Toyota is reliable, but I was wondering how good the SC400's are with their reliability, and whether they require a lot of maintenance. I had a 1991 MR2 Turbo before, and it didn't require too much maintenance, and had a coolant leak and some abttery problems but that's about it.

I am now thinking of getting a 1992 SC400 and I am wondering if it is worth getting one, and also if it is fine if I get one with like 120 000 to 160 000 km on it.

Thanks for the help guys, any advice for a potential Lexus owner would be appreciated.
o.s.

 

it really depends on how long you want to drive it, normally the sc400 shouldnt require too much maintanence, at least not as much as a car like say a Supra TT.

 

The sc400's are really reliable cars if you keep up w/ normal maintenance. When I bought my 92 sc400, it had 151,000 miles on it. Now it has 163,000 miles. The only thing I had to replace was a battery and new tires. Besides that, I've only done 3 oil changes and a drain and fill on the tranny fluid. The V8 motors in the sc and the LS's are the same and can last up to over 500,000 miles if taken care of. Somewhere on this website they were talking about a LS400 that had over 500,000 miles on it. There are quite a few people here that has over 200,000 miles on their cars and still runs smooth.

If you do decide to get a sc, make sure the previous owner did a good job of taking care of the car. The previous owner did a ok job with mine, because there are a few things I have to replace, but nothing serious though. I'm not sure about what others think, but I think prices for parts on this car is rather fair depending on where you shop for parts. I just spent almost $700 on parts this month alone which includes 2 cap and rotors, spark plug wires, water pump, timing belt, 2 cam seals, front crank seal, and 8 NGK platinum spark plugs. All thses are oem parts, except for the spark plugs. I'm not sure if they are oem.

After this major tune up, all I have to worry about is just oil changes for a while. Other thing to look for is the power steering pump leaking. You should use the search option to find more about it.

 

the sc is very reliable i have a 180k miles on my sc300. It still runs like new. as long as the previous owner did all the tune up and timing belt and everything then your good. In my opinion its a bit expensive replacing parts on this car. But thats the price you have to pay for owning a luxury car. I already spent $1000 on a tune up and timing belt.on my car for my 180k tune up and i did most the work myself. and for the v8 you got 2 sets of rotors and plugs to change so it may be a little more. Other than that there shouldn't be any issues with the car and no extra expenses except for regular maintanence. It should run well over 300k with no problem and the engine will still sound like new at that mileage.

 

I do not know if we are thinking of different cars or comething. Maybe there is a difference in the way we think of what is acceptable in a used car and what not.
SC pass 100k miles is a high maintenance vehicle. There are countless problem areas. Suspension, interior, cooling sys, instrumentation etc.
Check planetsoarer.com and do search in tech forums here. It ain`t gonna be cheap.

 

Any high milage car is gonna need some fixing, but some more than others. If you want a car w/ very little to almost no problems at all, then a new car is the only way to go. I would not trade my sc400 for a new car because I know on the long run, my sc will save me more money. No car payments and it's not like parts on this car breaks on a regular basis. When I had a 94' integra, that thing would break down on me quite often, I don't know why. I thought honda was reliable, but maybe it was just my car. I couldn't save no money because the car it seemed always needed some new parts. I traded it in for the sc400 thinking I might be in a deeper hole, but to my surprise, I actually had more money in my account because the sc400 never crapped out on me ( knock on wood) the way my teggy would.

 

Hey there,

Where in Canada are you from? Like any car, the sc400 has some common problems. Information about the sc400 can be found at Rich's FAQ site: http://www.intellexual.net/

120-160km is little mileage for ANY Toyota. A 1992 sc400 should have about ~240 000km on it on average. So that sc was not driven much.

The best thing you can do is read the FAQ and search this forum. All of the "problems" the sc has run into have been discussed and answers have been produced. After you are fully informed, then make your decision.

Hope this helps!

 

J. D. Power and Associates give 1992 SC400s a 5 star rating for the following LONG TERM categories: Mechanical Dependability, Feature & Accessory Dependability, Body & Interior Dependability. That's a perfect score folks. Not very common. . .

 

I am from Toronto.

Thanks for all the help, looks like I have some research to do, it is harder to find info on Lexus's than some of the other cars on the net since they arent tooo many of them. But what you guys have said has helped a lot, I might need to save up some more $ because of insurance, and maybe a little emergency maintenence fund, but overall the sc400 doesn't seem like a bad choice.
Another quik qstn is how the car does in the winter? Is it pretty good, or do u have to drive it like an old lady on turns?

 

The SC is a rear wheel drive car, which generally is bad in the winter. However, the gas tank resides over the rear wheels, giving the SC an advantage over many other RWD cars (providing more weight on the driven wheels). On top of that, many SCs have traction control. As always, you'd want to take the turns slow on snow, but if you throw a few sandbags in the trunk and exercise patience, the SC can do just fine. . .

 

I have a 92 that I bought a month ago with 164k miles I had the print out of all the repairs done from 92-99 and the car is in pretty good shape. I have done the basic matenance which is timing belt assory belts wires plugs caps, tensioners. Diff fluid change and tranny fluid, filter and tranny gasket change.
Also expect to changed the Upper and lower front bushings and rear bushings cause this car is heavy and they go out. Also the shocks and struts both front and rear. And then finaly the power steering pump they leak so be prepared to replace or rebuild it ( I would go for rebuild). If the powersteering pump is leaking its gonna get on the altenator so check if its still good. Oh forgot about motor and tranny mounts! All of these things need to be done or checked, before you buy get a mechanic to check it out for you cause to do these things you need to set aside like 1 to 2k depending on the price of parts and labor at a shop. Also the dash lights go out as well so if the needles dont light up or flicker they need to be fixed. The car is a good car and I like my SC 400 I plan on keeping it for a while. Always get the car checked out and ask for any matenance records cause with any luxury car it needs to be pampered. If the previous owner cut corners or is not providing alot of details or is sketchy on when you ask questions about the history think twice. I like to buy cars from people who give alot of details on the car and dont hesitate to answer any questions or bring up concerns.

Good luck sorry for all the long reading I hope this helps.

Tommy K
Fresno Ca
92 SC 400 165K goin strong

 

I'm in Toronto too.

I have driven the sc in our winters with Toyo Proxes FZ4's and its abosolutely horrible. I would get stuck everywhere. Wheelspin all the time and slowly spinning out on turns. That all changed when I got a set of winter tires last year. They make a WORLD of difference. Keep in mind I didn't drive during the "storms" we had. I would always wait them out until the large snowfall slowed down.

So the bottom line is, if you are going to get a SC for daily driving in Toronto, you are going to need a nice set of winter tires.

 

so am I

 

Thanks for all the info, I am gonna need to save up some more $ for all the tune ups and winter tires, but the SC 400 looks like a nice choice. Looks like it may be a few more months though before I have enough $ for it on top of insurance payments.