Hello all, I regret to report that my '94 SC300 was totalled. I got into a wreck on Christmas Eve and there was about 8 grand worth of damage. Now, I'm back at square one in looking for a car.

Now I am looking at a '94 SC400 in black. The car is in great condition, however it has 230k miles on it!! It's Lexus certified, one-owner car (older man driver), all service records documented, lots of new parts. They are only asking $5,000 for it and I am seriously considering buying it. There is one little problem that needs to be addressed. When the vehicle reaches around 40 mph, there is an odd vibration from the engine and it slightly affects throttle response. It's kinda hard to explain in words. From that vague description, do any of you have any idea what that might be? Otherwise, at all other speeds the car runs smooth. It's quite strange, and I hope it's not serious.

I still have my 318is, so I'm not in that much of a hurry, the Lex would be a project car of sorts for me. Please let me know if you peeps have any advice for me.

Thanks

 

Run a search for "torque convertor" and "lock up".

This is a common and nonthreatening problem in our cars. We believe the problem to be the TC stuck between 4th gear and overdrive. A simple jab of the throttle solves the problem for me, forcing the tranny to just downshift for a moment while I find a place to accelerate above 45MPH. The problem seems to occur right at 43MPH.

I've noticed that with the ETC on, the shuddering is less apparent. I haven't tried it with the ECT and OD off. I'm sure that would eliminate the problem, as the car doesn't have the option of running into OD.

 

More than likely its the torque converter issue Mongoose mentioned. Does it sounds as if you were driving over a "rumble-strip" on the side of a highway? If so, that's definately it.

If not, other possibilities are motor mounts and transmission mounts. Both can be DIY.

I would try to get a bit lower than $5k though. We all know that the 1uz will keep on pumping after 200k, but it is still over 200k!

Maybe between 4000 - 4500?

 

$5000 sounds a bit high for a car with that mileage. You can probably talk him down quite a bit more considering he's definitely got his money out of the car. With a car with that mileage, he's not going to have people lining up to buy it.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

 

yeah, I say talk him down a bit....at least 500 bucks, everybody is willing to come down at least that much when selling a car.....good luck keep us posted!

and heck, if it was that well cared for, then you got another 110K+ left on that baby