I'm looking at buying a '93 Sc400, and the motor has about 290,000km on it. How reliable are these motors and on average how long do they last?

If you all would be so kind as to give me some ideas as to what to look for (common problems if any) I would greatly appreciate it

(I was told all it needed was a side light and an e-brake adjustment to pass safety)

It all depends on how well they were maintained... I'd look more for problems on the car than the motor I mean look to see if its pouring fluid out somewhere maybe check the timing belt for cracks and such but check the undercarriage for rust and rot, it will most likely have dead needles and a bleeding climate control

Oil leaks.

Bulletproof if maintenance has been completed and done as required. Some have 400k -600k miles not km.

That's rather impressive. The guy i'm buying from says he's kept it well maintained, but that could just be the whole sales speech. On a side note he's only asking just under $2,000. And apparently it comes with some extra parts he had laying around (including a spare set of leather heated seats)

All you really have to do is browse through the Suspension/brakes and Performance/Maintenance forums. You'll see a ****load of issues with what people have dealt with that are common issues.

Other problems stem from (as mentioned above) lack of maintenance and neglect/abuse.

GL

That price is very good, if the car isn't all rusted out, and the interior is nice.

This. I treat my 400's like my ***** and they have never given me any problems. Even running nitrous through one of them. The 1UZ is a tank.

The 1uzfe is one of my favorite engines next to the LSX

Not going to go wrong with it. For the most part. Handle NOS very too within limits.

<- 300K in miles.

Only thing I had to do was head gaskets at 280K.

Didn't even need a head job....man I love this motor lol