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Hi,
I'm sorry if I didn't see an introduction thread but anyway. I'm looking to buy a 1998 LS400. This would be my first Lexus and I really would like to drive one.
Could I have some advice? The ad is below. I want to know if this is a good price and what I should watch out for when I go to see it in real life.
Thanks https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...7225/overview/
$6k might a bit too steep...
Ask for service history, things like if the timing belt was done, suspension components like strut rods, struts, tie rods...
these are great cars, but even they will need maintenance and it can get expensive if you are not doing wrenching yourself.
$6k might a bit too steep...
Ask for service history, things like if the timing belt was done, suspension components like strut rods, struts, tie rods...
these are great cars, but even they will need maintenance and it can get expensive if you are not doing wrenching yourself.
Somebody told me maintenance was expensive. What am I looking at in terms of cost? My old Mazda 626 was a breeze
For your 1999 the timing belt and the water pump, tensioners, etc. were supposed to be changed at 90k miles. Ask the seller if has been done and if there’s proof. That’s almost a $1000 job. Most mechanics will want $600+ for the job and the parts kit is $250-300.
You can use the maintenance as a negotiating tool, you know and bring the asking price down ( if it hasn’t been done).
Drive the car, better yet, have inspected by your mechanic, to get a good picture of condition.
Sometimes you can one across a 100k car with like 17-20 dealer maintenance records and sometimes the immediate future expenses are relayed to you! Thousands of dollars difference!!!
Welcome! · DO NOT buy a car from an area where salt is poured on the roads in the winter! An old car that has spent a lot of time in the salt can be very difficult to work on. Bolts seize and break off, etc.
· A Carfax report is handy, but it DOES NOT show things about the car that ARE NOT reported, but they can give clues as to where it was operated and how many owners there were.
· Go to https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/ and register. This is a great way to see what the previous owner had the dealership do to the car, if anything. If you are lucky they changed the oil every 5k miles, had the 30, 60 and 90k mile services performed etc. If Lexus didn’t do the maintenance, who did? Get documentation if possible.
· At this point the 1998 you listed is 20 years old. Stuff happens, things get old, things break.
· I spent a solid week looking thru 7- or 8-years’ worth of posts in this forum and learned a lot about these two generations of the LS series. The FAQ section at the top of the forum is filled with information on both 1st and 2nd generation models, and of course I used the search feature—A LOT! I compiled all the information I thought was important into a document with pertinent links and saved it for future reference. I compiled word documents with how-to info and saved them as well. I saved as many videos and pix that I could find i.e. shots of parts front and back, R&R procedures etc. I put all this on a flash drive.
· Hopefully you have money, are mechanically inclined and own a good set of tools. Having a relationship with a good independent mechanic that works on Toyota vehicles is a plus.
· All Lexus automobiles are packed with electronics that can go bad. The gauge cluster can have issues and the ECU (electronic control unit, electronic control module, whatever you want to call it).
· Lexus recommends the timing belt be changed every 7 years or 90k miles.
· The power steering units leaking are mentioned here, strut bars go bad, and transmission and/or engine mounts wear out etc.
· Also, I noticed (and read about) rubber and vinyl items under the hood seem the get brittle and fall apart. I believe it is because Lexus seals this area up too tight—maybe for sound deadening purposes? There are rubber gaskets all the way around the engine compartment that basically seal the hood when it is closed—not good.
· It looks like this is on a dealer’s lot (not my favorite thing). They probably know little about the car, if anything. Do your research beforehand and inspect it thoroughly. If necessary have a mechanic look over it.
Welcome! · DO NOT buy a car from an area where salt is poured on the roads in the winter! An old car that has spent a lot of time in the salt can be very difficult to work on. Bolts seize and break off, etc.
· A Carfax report is handy, but it DOES NOT show things about the car that ARE NOT reported, but they can give clues as to where it was operated and how many owners there were.
· Go to https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/ and register. This is a great way to see what the previous owner had the dealership do to the car, if anything. If you are lucky they changed the oil every 5k miles, had the 30, 60 and 90k mile services performed etc. If Lexus didn’t do the maintenance, who did? Get documentation if possible.
· At this point the 1998 you listed is 20 years old. Stuff happens, things get old, things break.
· I spent a solid week looking thru 7- or 8-years’ worth of posts in this forum and learned a lot about these two generations of the LS series. The FAQ section at the top of the forum is filled with information on both 1st and 2nd generation models, and of course I used the search feature—A LOT! I compiled all the information I thought was important into a document with pertinent links and saved it for future reference. I compiled word documents with how-to info and saved them as well. I saved as many videos and pix that I could find i.e. shots of parts front and back, R&R procedures etc. I put all this on a flash drive.
· Hopefully you have money, are mechanically inclined and own a good set of tools. Having a relationship with a good independent mechanic that works on Toyota vehicles is a plus.
· All Lexus automobiles are packed with electronics that can go bad. The gauge cluster can have issues and the ECU (electronic control unit, electronic control module, whatever you want to call it).
· Lexus recommends the timing belt be changed every 7 years or 90k miles.
· The power steering units leaking are mentioned here, strut bars go bad, and transmission and/or engine mounts wear out etc.
· Also, I noticed (and read about) rubber and vinyl items under the hood seem the get brittle and fall apart. I believe it is because Lexus seals this area up too tight—maybe for sound deadening purposes? There are rubber gaskets all the way around the engine compartment that basically seal the hood when it is closed—not good.
· It looks like this is on a dealer’s lot (not my favorite thing). They probably know little about the car, if anything. Do your research beforehand and inspect it thoroughly. If necessary have a mechanic look over it.
Originally Posted by Fit1too
I like that one. White cars always look sharp if you keep them clean. The price seems right. Timing belt and rust.
Thanks for the advice.
I think I will go with the 2003 car and try to get the price down to 5500. I live in a salt belt state so I'd have to travel far or get lucky when it comes to rust.
Thanks for the advice.
I think I will go with the 2003 car and try to get the price down to 5500. I live in a salt belt state so I'd have to travel far or get lucky when it comes to rust.
I do too. Indiana loves to pour salt on the road in the winter and then fix them all summer. My 98 spent all its life in Atlanta Georgia. Owned by a doctor and not even a trace of Georgia red clay on the carpet or mats. Be sure to register at the Lexus site and enter the vin# to see what you can find out about it. Good luck!
[QUOTE=Fit1too;10332513] · DO NOT buy a car from an area where salt is poured on the roads in the winter! An old car that has spent a lot of time in the salt can be very difficult to work on. Bolts seize and break off, etc.[/QUOTE]
While I otherwise agree with everything Fit has to say, I would like to take a moment to discuss this
Many drivers do not have the choice of where they buy their cars. Instead of saying not to buy a car in a high salt area, maybe discuss dealing with salt and corrosion. Since we are all discussing cars no less than 18 years old, we are all going to be dealing with some level of it.
I live on the Oregon coast. I just picked up a beautiful black on black 1994 LS. Here is the engine bay:
LOOK AT HOW AWFUL IT IS! As one can see, it's got tons of rust and corrosion. This car was kinda abused as well, as it is missing some covers.
I picked up a 1992 to use for parts, but I'll probably flip it because of how solid it is in many ways! It spent most of it's life away from salt in Portland. Here's it's engine bay:
Simply beautiful.
So 2 points I'd like to make:
1) rust isn't the end of the world. Use a liberal amount of your favorite PENETRATING OIL.
P E N E T R A T I N G
Wait a good 15 minutes. Reapply. Use impact tools and have breaker bars handy. DO NOT RUSH.
2)The engine bay is going to tell you the most about a car. Look past any dealer spit polish and look in the hard to get corners. That's where you can find the hidden truth on any car.
· DO NOT buy a car from an area where salt is poured on the roads in the winter! An old car that has spent a lot of time in the salt can be very difficult to work on. Bolts seize and break off, etc.[/QUOTE]
While I otherwise agree with everything Fit has to say, I would like to take a moment to discuss this
Many drivers do not have the choice of where they buy their cars. Instead of saying not to buy a car in a high salt area, maybe discuss dealing with salt and corrosion. Since we are all discussing cars no less than 18 years old, we are all going to be dealing with some level of it. Both pictures you show would be in wonderful "rust" condition from a rust belt state.
I live on the Oregon coast. I just picked up a beautiful black on black 1994 LS. Here is the engine bay:
LOOK AT HOW AWFUL IT IS! As one can see, it's got tons of rust and corrosion. This car was kinda abused as well, as it is missing some covers.
I picked up a 1992 to use for parts, but I'll probably flip it because of how solid it is in many ways! It spent most of it's life away from salt in Portland. Here's it's engine bay:
Simply beautiful.
So 2 points I'd like to make:
1) rust isn't the end of the world. Use a liberal amount of your favorite PENETRATING OIL.
P E N E T R A T I N G
Wait a good 15 minutes. Reapply. Use impact tools and have breaker bars handy. DO NOT RUSH.
2)The engine bay is going to tell you the most about a car. Look past any dealer spit polish and look in the hard to get corners. That's where you can find the hidden truth on any car.
Good luck and welcome to the club!
Anyone saying "rust isn't the end of the world" hasn't worked on cars from a rust belt state. Penetrating oil doesn't do much to a bolt because it's mostly a rotted blob where it's hard to even figure out what size the bolt head is.
Anyone saying "rust isn't the end of the world" hasn't worked on cars from a rust belt state. Penetrating oil doesn't do much to a bolt because it's mostly a rotted blob where it's hard to even figure out what size the bolt head
In those cases you cut the bolt off and look at replacing the entire part.
Or you could make assumptions and snarky comments at it. Maybe that helps. I usually just swear at them.
Just make it easy on yourself and find a car from Arizona or California. My 97 is a breeze to work on. I removed my exhaust system without even having to spray any penetrating oil on the fasteners.
Suspension components came apart with regular hand tools. Its well worth it to find a rust free example when it comes time to fixing a few things for maintenance. Book a one way flight out to the Southwest and drive it back in 2-3 days and have a nice scenic trip for what these cars were meant for, long distance cruising.
Brake lines, parking brake cables, nuts, bolts, brake calipers, body panels, wheels, exhaust, the list goes on and on. I’ve purchased several cars that were from the rust belt and man what a pain. One was an early 90s model GM product. This was before I knew about cars. The car was beautiful, fully loaded, low miles, and drove like new. The problem was that the underside was eat up with rust. I blew out a power steering cooler hose and had to jack it up to get under it. The jacking points caved in and I had to use a friend’s lift to put it in the air. That’s when I discovered the bad news. I had another mid 90s GM car that had rusted brake lines. That was a nightmare! No more GM vehicles for me, but then again not many cars hold up well against salt.
Using PB blaster many times in a row before starting a repair is helpful. Lightly hitting the bolts with a hammer can help. Heat helps. Tightening a little and then loosening may help. For me it’s the breaking that sucks. You end up drilling out bolts and tapping the hole, etc. What if it’s a bolt that you can’t get at? I had a water pump bolt snap on my 98 RAV4 (and it’s from the south)! The mechanic thought he was going to have to raise the engine to get at it. Thankfully he was able to use a sideways drill or something to get it out.
After I submitted my post to Etain I thought, “Well crap he’s from the north”. My next thought was, “So am I”. That is why I went south to get my car. It wasn’t the exact car I wanted, but it was well taken care of (by Lexus), 2 owners (both in Atlanta), and was in my price range.
Finally, there are many cars from the rust belt that don’t have a speck of rust on them. I purchased a 1990 LSC for my birthday up in Canton Ohio back in 03. It was someone’s pride and joy and had ZERO rust on it. I loved it. I purchased a 2003 Towncar from an elderly couple in Cincinnati 2 years back. It had 65K original miles on it and ZERO rust. Point being, there are cars without rust on them—even though they are from the rust belt. On the other hand, there are cars from the south that are eat up with rust.
I can't argue that. I've lived around and rust is always a problem with vehicles. It's honestly all in how people care for them. I recommend at least a semi-regular visit to a car wash that has underbody wash.
As far as broken bolts go, I always start with a couple sizes down and use left-handed drill bits. Sometimes the oil, heat, and friction will break out the thread and one can avoid having to re-tap a new hole.
10-13-18, 06:21 PM
Looking to become an LS400 owner
