Hey Everyone,

Im a newbie to this forum, I have been reading it and I am glad there is such an extensive forum for Lexus since I am such a fan of most Lexus vehicles.

Let me give you a little background, I'm 24 years old and I own a 1994 5 speed Camry, which I love. The car has 280,000 on it and it still runs like new *knock on wood*. I have always been a fan of the Toyota/Lexus but being that I'm only 24 I haven't been able to afford a Lexus or more appropriately the maintenance involved being that my car is for the most part maintenance free. I now have a decent job so I have been looking at some used Lexus but I have some questions.

First I will show you the two cars that I have been looking at:

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...QAdIdZ35938406

This next link might be tricky, you will have to choose Nova Scotia as the region and then you will have to click the link again. I know its a pain but I appreciate your patience:

http://www.canadatrader.com/result/d...6&pgno=1&srt=1


I haven't looked at the cars physically yet but I do have a couple questions. First and foremost, how much life do these V8s have in them? How long has yours last? As you will notice, one of the cars has 230k on it and the other has 194k on it. I'm just wondering how long these last for before they become maintenance nightmares, as I'm not a mechanic though I do have mechanic friends.

These cars are rare in Nova Scotia so I don't have anyone around here to ask these questions, which is why I'm happy to find this Forum. If I did purchase a car like this it would be my summer car and I would keep my Camry so its not like the Lexus would be my only form of transportation but I cant afford for it to be in the shop monthly.

Thanks a lot for your help,
Randy

 

Welcome.

The first guy is an idiot so I would pass that up immediately. The car does not get 28mpg, nor does it have a 4.3l motor. Not to mention it is "very quick and very fast"

The second car does not have a "desirable interior color" - it is the one everyone has

Moving along. Buying an older SC can be troublefree for some, but for the most part you will be looking at some maintenance costs. Ther motors are generally pretty solid so I wouldn't worry about that.

Suspension components will probably fail soon, PS pump, Heater Control valve - but none of these should offset buying an SC. It is a love/hate relatoinship.

Out of the 2 you posted, I would go with the 2nd one. The 95 has the updated tailiights which most people prefer over the outdated 92-94 tails.

Good luck with your search.

Have you looked at www.intellexual.net ?? I would give it a quick once over

Regards,
Jonny

 

I know Canada SCs are higher than the U.S. for some reason. If I were you, I'd first look in local classifieds, like craigslist, to see what kind of prices and SCs are in there. I, personally, wouldn't purchase from a dealership again because my SC needed almost $2,000 in maintenance soon after I got it... They're sneaky. It would be nice if you could get an SC that's been serviced within a year or two, the more recent the better. Also, the later the year, the better; 97+ are very sought after because they have all the upgrades, from the engine to the body, etc.

As for reliability, the 1UZ-FE V8 is legendary as being extremely reliable. I've read somewhere that every 1UZ is still running today that wasn't abused by racing, etc. The SC (and Lexus', in general) are known as being reliable so you'll probably feel like you're driving a new car. I haven't had any problems with my SC.

Yeah, I think you should keep the Camry. Unfortunately, I traded in my old Civic when I bought my SC because I was really needing some money but it was a mistake because now I'm looking for a cheap "beater" that's good on gas that I can drive when the weather is bad or whenever I don't want to get the SC out. So, looking back, I should have kept my old car, too.

 

Thank you both for the quick replies. As for the first guy sounding like an iddiot you are right, he is. I sent him an e-mail about the 1993 sc and he filled it full of sellers BS and ended it with "Sweet Dreams, Brad" hahaha, so yeah I dont think I will reply to that nut.

The second car is the one I want to go look at and as for it not having a desirable interior color, it looks good for me. Im not really looking to change the color scheme so far as there are only a few in Nova Scotia im not too worried about it looking common. But its defiantly a good thought for the future. I would keep the Camry for a couple reasons but #1 being that I would never drive a Lexus in a Nova Scotia winter, its just....wrong.

If I go to look at the 95, how can I tell if it has the 1UZ-FE V8? And are there other things that may not be obvious that I should look at?

Also, Thanks for the www.intellexual.net link, I will take a look at it.

 

the 2nd one looks like my car, even up to the oxidation on the rear bumper! but mine came wit a front lip, lol. looks nice, but yeah. the interior...i don't like it, but i figured i'll be keeping the car for a while so i can change it out later.

you'll be able to tell because it'll say 1uz-fe on top of the plastic engine cover i think, lol. i forget and i'm not gonna go outside to look at my car.

just make sure u drive um and stuff before buying. but dam so expensive wit that many miles. 10.9K?!

well if it's a rare car up there...then i guess it's rare and no can help. =/

either way i'm lovin it so far, haha. have to fix like one minor thing but it's nothing too expensive i think. and it has the r-134a air con in it so won't have to put in the other one. unlike me who has r-12 and it recently crapped out on me. >_<

Peace out

 

The 1UZ-FE was the one and only V8 offered in these generation SCs. I think the light grey interiors are rarer than the tan interiors. Most people with SCs have a tan interior. The second SC looks to be in nice condition. I would ask them when the last maintenance/service was done on the car, along with a CarFax report on it. Not digging these Canada prices for the SC, though. I looked on the Canada/Nova Scotia/Halifax Craigslist classifieds site. I didn't see any SCs in this particular area/region but maybe there are others nearby, not sure. I did see some nice prices on Lexus', though. Here's the link: halifax.craigslist.ca in case you want to browse it.

 

Cobain,

I have been shopping for an SC 300/400 for over a year and FINALLY bought a 400 this last weekend (pics to follow). I paid a little over $8K for a '93 with only 47K miles (about 75K km). I bought the car in Florida.

Car #1: As other readers have stated ... this guy is smoking crack. He is asking about $10,800 USD for a car with 230,000 km (about 143,000 miles). He seems to know nothing about the car (it has a 4.0L V8 and gets about 21 MPG) or he is outright lying. The car is an automatic and fairly common (still) here in the states.

Car #2: Has about 121K miles, looks a bit dirty but has a nice color combo for the interior. Again, the price is all out of whack at about $10,800 USD.

Have you checked ebay? Knowing that you live in NS you might consider saving thousands by coming to the states and driving your car back ... if this is legally and logistically possible.

 

LMAO----> "I have the highest respect for this car because it is as tight today as it was when the 1st owner drove it off the showroom floor." Who uses the word "tight" anymore?

Anyways, I think the second car is a better choice but I would highly recommend you looking around some more before making a decision on these two cars.....which both seem kinda steep in price even if you are in Canada.

 

Think back to 1992 Canada-US exchange rates. Also, Any 92-00 SC is very rare in Canada. In BC and Alberta, Soarers are more common, and cheaper.

cobain_:

Of those two cars, the second is definitely the best choice. $10 900 is too much for the kilometers. I paid significantly less for my '92 with 130 000km. I would advise that you keep looking. There are definitely better SC400's out there.

In terms of reliability, check if the power steering leak has happened, or if it has been fixed (search forums for more info). Anything other than that is are maintenance items that you would need to replace with any other car 10+ years old.

Another option to consider is a Toyota Soarer (JDM Lexus SC). Most of the ones in Canada have under 100 000km, and they can be had for cheaper than an SC400. If you get it with the 1JZ-GTE, it will get slightly better fuel economy than the SC400, while offering 276hp. There are a bunch for sale in Quebec. Only downside being that it is right hand drive.

Good luck with you search. Hope you find the right car.

 

I would not pick any one of those as both are way too much over priced. If you take your time looking for one you could come across a $5-6k dollar range sc400 in better condition. I also don't know how to go about buying here in the states and drive it to canada but if you can find out how you'll be surprised how cheap you can get it here. I don't think you'll end up paying close to $9k all in all buying it here and bringing it there, that's thinking if they do charge you a high amount of import tax, etc. Well worth looking into if you have time.

 

I'm in Ontario, and bought my SC400 this past fall. Ignoring the first car you linked to, my take on the second car would have been to offer them $7500 CAN$ for it as is, if you were really interested. With that mileage and year, he's dreaming if he thinks he will get $10,900. Blue book value for a car with those miles (190,000 kms = ~121,000 miles) and year (1995) is $7300, and that's IF it was in excellent shape -- a big "if".

Go see it in person -- it's at a dealer, so that makes it easy.

Get them to put it up on a hoist if you can. The interior looks clean, but I would be extremely curious to see what the underside looks like with regards to rust. Nova Scotia is no better for that kind of thing than Ontario (maybe worse with the ocean salt breeze). Unless it has been rust proofed every year, and/or stored through the winters, it probably has some rust going on. Rust Check will usually inspect it for rust for free for you before you buy it!

And, definitely run the CarFax report on it! You can run unlimited cars through CarFax for a month if you buy their $29.99 package. Best case, the car has a clean report -- worst case, it has some issues you should know about, that you can use against the dealer to negotiate a better price should you so wish.

I can appreciate that an SC400 could be a rare sight in Nova Scotia -- they're pretty rare to see on the roads in Ontario in my experience, other than a few SC430's cruising around in the summer. However, to me, that wouldn't make paying for the convenience of buying it locally worth $3k (40-some percent in this case) more than Blue Book value. US dollar and Canadian dollar are close enough these days that buying in US is a non-issue in regards to differences in the dollar (unlike the old days).

Personally, given a choice between these two cars, I would pass on both, and keep looking for one with lower miles. There are lots of guys who will scout a certain model for you at local and remote auctions, and find what you are looking for. Ask your friends or family if they know anyone locally in NS who can do that for you. Even a friend from a dealership can do that for you sometimes.

 

First off, I agree with all of you, the two cars listed are way overpriced. I dont think I will find one cheaper in Nova Scotia, so I guess the only option is to look further and ship it or go get it myself.

I think I'm going to go take a look at the second one, just to get a good feel for the car. I have seen them on the road (rarely), researched them on the net but I have yet to ride in one let alone drive one. So I'm going to take advantage of the dealer and try to get a test drive out of it. I fell in love with the look and I no doubt will fall in love with the feel. I know someone who owns a dealership who spends a lot of time at car auctions so maybe I will talk to him see if he can get one for a decent price.

Does anyone know the process of buying a car in the US and driving it across the border, the type of fees involved, etc? I don't exactly like the idea of spending money to go get a car I haven't seen in person.

Thank you all for your ideas, they are putting me on the right path to get me behind the wheel of a sc400 (even though it will take some time). The car is just so damn sexy, I think we can all agree there.

 

Here is the government information on importing a vehicle from the US.

There are five or six listed on the Ontario auto trader website now, but most are high mileage or 1992 / 1993 models. This one has high miles, but sounds like it may have been well maintained and in good shape.

Keep looking.
Run the CarFax report on the VIN number when you are serious.

 

trackball, thanks for the info. I'm defiantly in no rush so Id like to put some time into it.

 

Cobain - I am surprised noone has recommended doing a search of the forum yet for common issues with the car and things to be aware of. I didnt see it in your 1st posting so I apologize if you have already run these bases.

Maybe someone can provide a solid query for him to use but quite a few people have VERY cleanly outlined the common issues to look out for on the car, both cosmetic and mechanical. I suggest you educate yourself on those items so you have some common points of reference when you look at all these cars. It helped me tremendously when I was going through my search.

Good Luck and TAKE YOUR TIME!