97 Gs300 Sport

[AlexusGS]

Hi all, New to the forum. First time owning a Lexus. Ive just put a deposit down on a 97/P one with 90k on clock, full lexus history to 04,at which time cambelt was done, same independant after that and regular oil/filter changes. I have booked an AA inspection of the car for next week.

I have read the main GS300 MK1 checklsit on here but. I have a few questions:

Is the ABS actuator a big problem on these and is it just a case of checking the abs light goes out when starting and actually checking the abs works, and if it does all is ok?

I understand these cars have alot of electrics, is there anything in particular i should check?

Sorry for all questions which have probably been asked a million times but want to get purchase right.

Regards,

Alex

[dave1]

Very good choice.

I had a Mk 1 300 sport for 6 years and had no real problems. Got it Lexus approved used on 86k miles and 6 yrs old, sold at 12 yrs old with 146k miles to get a GS430. It had full Lexus history when I got it and I also had servicing etc done at Lexus dealer. The car was just starting to have caliper issues when I traded it.

Are you buying privately or from a dealer?

[AlexusGS]

Very good choice.

I had a Mk 1 300 sport for 6 years and had no real problems. Got it Lexus approved used on 86k miles and 6 yrs old, sold at 12 yrs old with 146k miles to get a GS430. It had full Lexus history when I got it and I also had servicing etc done at Lexus dealer. The car was just starting to have caliper issues when I traded it.

Are you buying privately or from a dealer?

I am buying from a dealer (not lexus though) I dont know if I should get the car checked out with a full AA inspection just to be on the safeside, as the dealer only gives a 3 month warranty. I am a bit worried about these horror stories you hear about steering racks failing then costing £1000+labour etc.

[dave1]

Very good choice.

I had a Mk 1 300 sport for 6 years and had no real problems. Got it Lexus approved used on 86k miles and 6 yrs old, sold at 12 yrs old with 146k miles to get a GS430. It had full Lexus history when I got it and I also had servicing etc done at Lexus dealer. The car was just starting to have caliper issues when I traded it.

Are you buying privately or from a dealer?

I am buying from a dealer (not lexus though) I dont know if I should get the car checked out with a full AA inspection just to be on the safeside, as the dealer only gives a 3 month warranty. I am a bit worried about these horror stories you hear about steering racks failing then costing £1000+labour etc.

The only trouble with independant inspections by AA RAC etc is that if a fault develops in first 6 months then it would be harder to get dealer to fix under "reverse burden of proof" as he could then say that isf fault had been there or developing then it should have been noticed in the inspection.

Sale of Goods Act gives you 6 months warranty.

Check here

[samurai69]

had mine just under a year now, came with fulldealer service history, bought from non lexus dealer, had just under 100000 on the clock, been back and forward from portugal a few times and apart from 4 new tyres the only things i have had to buy where new rear silencer boxes and a new Battery...........apart from that its been great

[TigerFish]

Not aware of any comman ABS or steering rack issues on the mk1.

Brakes problems (sticking pistons and slide pins) seems a common issue across all older Lexus models.

I've had my fair share of problems with mine, blown head gasket, rear crank oil seal, suspension bushes etc. All been pretty costly unfortunately.

[AlexusGS]

Thanks for info on your experiences guys. What mileage did you get the blown head gasket TigerFish? Any idea of the cause etc?

BTW, Is there much in the way of tuning products for the mk1? The mk2 seems to have a comprehensive list of mods but tuning bits for mk1 seem few and fa between. I dont want to modify the exterior at all really, the sport looks pretty good stock, except maybe a Xenon conversion and a nice exhaust system.

[TigerFish]

What mileage did you get the blown head gasket TigerFish? Any idea of the cause etc?

Not sure of the exact mileage, but around 200k I think. No idea of the cause, could be realted back to the radiator going, but that was a good 8 or 9 months earlier.

BTW, Is there much in the way of tuning products for the mk1?

Not a tremendous amount. In theory anything that is for the N/A Supras sould work but there probably isn't much for those either.

except maybe a xenon conversion

I would go for a HID kit rather than messing with the Xenon bulbs. The HIDs on mine have vastly improved the lighting and appearance.

[Anuj's Bro Maneesh]

What kit you got Tigerfish?

Ive taken my GS off the road to get it tip top...Needs alot of suspension work done to it as well, may start buying it in slowly from the site you bought them from......Tie rods, ball joints, upper arms etc etc

[TigerFish]

What kit you got Tigerfish?

Ive taken my GS off the road to get it tip top...Needs alot of suspension work done to it as well, may start buying it in slowly from the site you bought them from......Tie rods, ball joints, upper arms etc etc

I got my HID kit from this seller a couple of years back. HID Kit, a 6000k set.

As far as suspension parts go, I have had arb drop links, bottom ball joints, track rod ends and tie bars from this eBay seller clicky. Front top arms I bought two complete front hubs with top arms, abs sensors etc from a guy breaking a GS just after I bought the car. Kept them in the garage as spares. Still have the hubs, one good top arm and one knackered one (that came off my car). The front lower arms (the trailing ones) I bought new from Lexus as the car was already in for the head gasket when they found the suspension problem while getting the car off the recovery truck. I have a suspision that I will need rear top arms soon. I already have spares for all four bottom rear suspension arms.

[AlexusGS]

How complicated is the suspension on these cars. Looks like suspension can wear so is there any job like replacing bushes, bottom arms which can be a pain and costly labour wise?

[TigerFish]

How complicated is the suspension on these cars. Looks like suspension can wear so is there any job like replacing bushes, bottom arms which can be a pain and costly labour wise?

It is relatively complicated. On the front you have the hub, which at the top has a top wishbone, at the bottom is the Balljoint, the main suspension arm and the trailing suspension arm. At the rear you have a top wishbone, two main bottom arms, and a trailing link. Plus there are the arb drop links front and rear which tend to rust to the point they are destroyed if changing the arm they are connected to. The rear hubs have bushes in them, which if they wear out, needs the whole hub changing. None of the bushes themselves are replaceable (not sure on poly aftermarket ones though) so it always the case that it is an arm that needs changing. None of which are cheap from lexus. The two trailing bottom arms were something like £180 each including LOC discount. There are aftermarker arms, by blueprint I think, but I didn't have the time to search last time. I needed to get the arms couriered to the garage asap. Top wishbones are about £80'ish on eBay, all the bottom rear arms I got from a breaker, £100 for all four.

As far as labour goes, there are some hidden costs that may bite. For starters, the trailing arms on the front suspension require the front subframe to be dropped a couple of inches to get them off, so extra manhours there. On top of that, on mine, the adjuster bolts were seized solid, so had to be heated/cut/ground to get them off, time consuming. Other stuff is a doddle to do, the front top wishbones can be changed with relatively basic tools (including a balljoint splitter - see my tutorial in my sig), so not all bad :)

[AlexusGS]

Thanks for info on suspension Tigerfish. Im picking the car up thursday night :) I have heard about these bushes and that Lexus only sell the hubs and not the hub bushes, but SuperPro do a poly kit for this, think its about £53. I think i might do a pre-emptive strike on the suspension and replace all bushes with poly items, and if I can find a cheaper source than lexus for things like bottom arms then might aswell do that while im there.

[TigerFish]

I think i might do a pre-emptive strike on the suspension and replace all bushes with poly items

That would be quite an expensive exercise to do them all. Let us know how you get on with this.

[AlexusGS]

...Picked up the car tonight. What a lovely drive, really smooth, refined and quiet. Perhaps not the quickest car ive owned but from its road manners definatly the most comfortable and effortless. Everything works great. Brakes are good, no wobble. All instruments light up brightly, stereo works a treat. Really impressed with it so far.

[TigerFish]

Good stuff mate, enjoy.

[Jemster]

...Picked up the car tonight. What a lovely drive, really smooth, refined and quiet. Perhaps not the quickest car ive owned but from its road manners definatly the most comfortable and effortless. Everything works great. Brakes are good, no wobble. All instruments light up brightly, stereo works a treat. Really impressed with it so far.

Got any pix?