Newbie, Seeking Ls400 Advice.

[jeffro]

hi all.

i hope to be the proud owner of a ls400 sometime soon, once ive sold my classic austin mini.

just at the starting stages of my research.

i was thinking of buying a 95-97 model, mk3 i think that is, but have been reading about people with cars mk3's cutting out on them and leaving them in dangerous situations, ie motorway sliproads etc.

does this just effect the mk3?

what is the best model to own?

should i go for a real early car 93 year (US website) is said to be the best year of the early cars? or is a mk4 the one to have ( does this have above problems, or something scary of it own?

what colours range do the ls400 come in?

will i struggle to keep my car on the road, or are all spares easy to get hold of via lexus ( worst case) ?

thanks in advance for any info.

jeffro

[ManicMark]

hi all.

i hope to be the proud owner of a ls400 sometime soon, once ive sold my classic austin mini.

just at the starting stages of my research.

i was thinking of buying a 95-97 model, mk3 i think that is, but have been reading about people with cars mk3's cutting out on them and leaving them in dangerous situations, ie motorway sliproads etc.

does this just effect the mk3?

what is the best model to own?

should i go for a real early car 93 year (US website) is said to be the best year of the early cars? or is a mk4 the one to have ( does this have above problems, or something scary of it own?

what colours range do the ls400 come in?

will i struggle to keep my car on the road, or are all spares easy to get hold of via lexus ( worst case) ?

thanks in advance for any info.

jeffro

Hi Jeffro

The 95 model mark3 is the one that has a problem cutting out a 96/97 should be fine, the mark4 is the one to go with if you have the extra few hundred to spend.

spares are no problem ( a bit more exspensive than on a mini though)

check for suspension clunks or creaks , warped or worn discs & history make sure cambelt has been changed or allow £600 if it hasn't.

Outher than that its all your normal checks ( make sure everything electrical works) Engine & gearbox wise they are bulletproof so dont be afraid to look at higher miles examples ( if they have full history).

Test a few & you will find a good one.

Spares are not too expensive ( bearing in mind the class of car) & are quite easy to work on apart from the starter motor.

Good luck Mark

[AdeV]

what colours range do the ls400 come in?

I see the more difficult questions have been asked, so I'll take the easy one

As the LS was (is, even) a luxury executive saloon, the colours tend to be pretty sober and fairly dark: So, dark blue, dark green, black, silver (light & dark versions), grey, and white. Most are metallic (not sure about the white ones), and some are two-tone (green over silver, for example)

Ironically, the dog-rough Mk3 I saw (subject of another thread) also had the nicest colour (IMHO), a sort of wine-bottle green metallic over silver.

Interior seems to be a choice of black, cream or grey/blue. All made out of dead cattle, of course. No velours were harmed in the making of the Lexus interior :winky:

[M.IQBAL]

hi all.

i hope to be the proud owner of a ls400 sometime soon, once ive sold my classic austin mini.

just at the starting stages of my research.

i was thinking of buying a 95-97 model, mk3 i think that is, but have been reading about people with cars mk3's cutting out on them and leaving them in dangerous situations, ie motorway sliproads etc.

does this just effect the mk3?

what is the best model to own?

should i go for a real early car 93 year (US website) is said to be the best year of the early cars? or is a mk4 the one to have ( does this have above problems, or something scary of it own?

what colours range do the ls400 come in?

will i struggle to keep my car on the road, or are all spares easy to get hold of via lexus ( worst case) ?

thanks in advance for any info.

jeffro

Hi Jeffro

The 95 model mark3 is the one that has a problem cutting out a 96/97 should be fine, the mark4 is the one to go with if you have the extra few hundred to spend.

spares are no problem ( a bit more exspensive than on a mini though)

check for suspension clunks or creaks , warped or worn discs & history make sure cambelt has been changed or allow £600 if it hasn't.

Outher than that its all your normal checks ( make sure everything electrical works) Engine & gearbox wise they are bulletproof so dont be afraid to look at higher miles examples ( if they have full history).

Test a few & you will find a good one.

Spares are not too expensive ( bearing in mind the class of car) & are quite easy to work on apart from the starter motor.

Good luck Mark

Mark just out of curosity why is that the 95 only suffers from cutting out and not the 96/97 as you say - did lexus change something?

[ManicMark]

hi all.

i hope to be the proud owner of a ls400 sometime soon, once ive sold my classic austin mini.

just at the starting stages of my research.

i was thinking of buying a 95-97 model, mk3 i think that is, but have been reading about people with cars mk3's cutting out on them and leaving them in dangerous situations, ie motorway sliproads etc.

does this just effect the mk3?

what is the best model to own?

should i go for a real early car 93 year (US website) is said to be the best year of the early cars? or is a mk4 the one to have ( does this have above problems, or something scary of it own?

what colours range do the ls400 come in?

will i struggle to keep my car on the road, or are all spares easy to get hold of via lexus ( worst case) ?

thanks in advance for any info.

jeffro

Hi Jeffro

The 95 model mark3 is the one that has a problem cutting out a 96/97 should be fine, the mark4 is the one to go with if you have the extra few hundred to spend.

spares are no problem ( a bit more exspensive than on a mini though)

check for suspension clunks or creaks , warped or worn discs & history make sure cambelt has been changed or allow £600 if it hasn't.

Outher than that its all your normal checks ( make sure everything electrical works) Engine & gearbox wise they are bulletproof so dont be afraid to look at higher miles examples ( if they have full history).

Test a few & you will find a good one.

Spares are not too expensive ( bearing in mind the class of car) & are quite easy to work on apart from the starter motor.

Good luck Mark

Mark just out of curosity why is that the 95 only suffers from cutting out and not the 96/97 as you say - did lexus change something?

Hi yes I think they changed something on the ecu or throttle body to stop it cutting out. Its only the early mark 3s that do it normally after a spell on the motorway or dual carrageway & coming to a stop. Cleaning the butterfly flap on the throttle body has been known to cure it.

[ultimatequinoxe]

Hi ! And welcome !

I just bought an LS400 a couple of weeks ago, its a 1993 ( so MK2 I think ) and I paid £600 for it, and its been neglected so I'd say its one of the worst examples you could buy, and this is what I have found about the whole Lexus thing so far ( having come from Skylines, Stagea's etc ).

There are lots that could go wrong,as with mine, but its rare that anything does go wrong in terms of usual worries, such as gearbox&engine failure.

In example, So far I have found ( I'd say the car has been sat for ages, like years maybe ) the brakes need attention but only in the servicing sense, I bought new pads for the back, but most of the little shims and things were rusted to dust, and the calipers are all a bit semi-seazed ( But this is my own car, and a poor example for a Lexus ). But the job was easy ( using the tips on lexLS.com ).

The track rod ends were loose ( typical issue ) but bought new ones ( fair price, not the cheapest car for parts, but plenty of 3rd party suppliers on most things ), they were fitted. However my rear tracking could not be done as all the bushes are shot I was told, so I will check that myself before shelling out. ( someone can correct me on this ) but there are a lot of bushes and wishbones and what-knot, but I don't fear this bush issue myself, not for a 17 year old car with 200K on it.

The exhaust gasket ( manifold to cat ) is gone on one side, and thats proving a bit tough for me to get hold from here, either Lexus or Toyota only seem to supply ( no 3rd parties ) but its cheap as chips to buy, when you can find one, fitting is not a major job by any means at all.

Engine has a bit of tappet noise, but can't be heard inside the car. And the dash/display has the other typical lexus issues, the Climate control display fades, clouds over or just goes entirely requiring replacement of the screen ( or whole unit ) which seems to be about £50-£300 depending ( again, thats open to correction, I'm new to this ), and the flickery dash lights is down to resistors on the back of it failing under cold conditions and eventually packing up so you can't see your speedo, rev counter or fuel/temp gauges. Resistors are just a few quid off Maplin for example if you are good with a soldering iron there are plenty of self help's on this forum. Otherwise, get a new instrument panel £30 ( 2nd hand ) to a few hundred new/refurbed.

Overall, even though such a lame example, I feel confidant with it. Because of the age some nuts and bolts are tight, even to tight. But its solid, it starts and stops dependably, everything else works ( except the seat heaters :-( ), and I'm happy. Get a good example and you'll be chuffed I am sure !

[MAT_8N]

buy mine!

mk3 in black.

[steve2006]

what colours range do the ls400 come in?

I see the more difficult questions have been asked, so I'll take the easy one

As the LS was (is, even) a luxury executive saloon, the colours tend to be pretty sober and fairly dark: So, dark blue, dark green, black, silver (light & dark versions), grey, and white. Most are metallic (not sure about the white ones), and some are two-tone (green over silver, for example)

Ironically, the dog-rough Mk3 I saw (subject of another thread) also had the nicest colour (IMHO), a sort of wine-bottle green metallic over silver.

Interior seems to be a choice of black, cream or grey/blue. All made out of dead cattle, of course. No velours were harmed in the making of the Lexus interior :winky:

Apart from JDM models which had velour interiors with leather as an option