Hi all, my name is Mike and this is my story. I'm 24 and a graduate of the University of Louisville with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and haven't found a decent job. I used to own a 93 240SX hatchback which I painted Midnight Purple Pearl and three days after painting it I took a turn a bit too fast, the rear end swung out, front tires bit grass and I went down a hill into a tree head-on. I was fine the but the car died in the collision. Luckily I was laid off two days before that so I had zero income and very very little in savings.

After searching for a decent daily driver, my dad called me and told me he found me a car, a 1993 Lexus SC400. I had known of these for some time, and was very interested, especially when he told me the price: $1000.
The car is in pretty good shape overall, but it has it's faults, as do most cars with 200,000 miles on them. It was hit in the rear driver's quarter panel, probably needs a new quarter, which will cost me a good bit of money. Apparently a bundle of wires was severed in the collision, and I have no clue what they go to but I am hoping they can explain some of the electrical gremlins I am having. If anyone could help with them I would be very appreciative.

For one, the windows don't go down. The driver side makes a noise like it is trying to move but nothing happens. Both passenger switches are unresponsive. Secondly the stereo volume **** doesn't really function properly. It will stay at a low volume until turned 1/2 way up, then it will jump dramatically. The Nak changer works fine, but as typical with them, skips when I think about driving. Also, I am receiving zero sound output from the passenger side. Another fault is the needles decided to burn out, so it makes driving a bit uncomfortable.

As for my plans with it, I want to get a set of nice wheels and tires firstly. I'm thinking some Enkei RPF1 in 18x8 +35 fronts and 18x10+38 rears with 245 and 275 tires, respectively. After that I will see about getting the body straightened out, I was even thinking about a color change to RSP. Following that, maybe some coilovers, but I don't really want to sacrifice the ride comfort. I had stiff ones in my 240 and that's annoying driving everyday. I do want to get a nice sounding, free flowing exhaust too. Then maybe on down the road a nice turbo setup, maybe twin disco-potatoes or a single GT40r.

Anyways, that's my intro. On to the pics!

 

maintenance before mods.

grats on the new daily tho.

 

Agreed here.

 

jeez, we are stacking up the MEs on here...crazy.

Congrats on the buy. Welcome to CL

 

Congrats on graduating!

Re: Electrical Gremlins: These cars are full of them. I think I got lucky, as I only had to change the tips of the battery cables, and 99% of mine went away. Cleaning & checking all the grounds could be a good place to start as well though.

About the needles, they ALL do that. Best bet from what I hear is to send them to lextech to get them re-done.

About the windows, if it sounds like the motor is still going, it might be the regulator. I had my passenger one go out, I tried to repair it myself, but to no avail. There are a couple of vendors here that can get you parts for pretty cheap.

The good thing though, these cars are pretty well documented, so finding fixes on the board is only a quick search away! Every time I run into issues with my SC3, I just run a search, take the laptop out in the car, and start working. Never fails!

Me personally: I'd do a good tune up, get the 1/4 panel taken care of, and then get start with the fun stuff.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the warm welcoming! I've got a good friend who is going to be helping me do the body work, he painted my 240 and it was a great job. I'll probably be seafoaming the engine this weekend, followed by an oil change, plugs, wires and all that good stuff. I think I'll end up buying the Enkei RPF1s very soon, they look sweet and are priced decently on tire rack. Just need to wait on my next paycheck.