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Hello there guys I'm new to this forum. I am living in Cork, southern Ireland. My apologies for such a long winded first post.

Having recently parted ways with my lovely twin turbo Mkiv supra I see myself returning shortly to lexus ownership. A few years back I had an extremely clean 1998 GS 300, which to this day I regret selling. It was by far the most comfortable car I have owned and never gave me one ounce of trouble.

My dilemma now however is this; should I return to another GS 300 or move 'up' to what most people describe as the legendary LS 400? Is there any of you on here who have owned both that could possibly share your thoughts on these two cars? Having thoroughly enjoyed driving the GS will I notice any real improvement in driving an LS? Am I just paying for the extra toys when it comes to the LS? All of your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

As I have a van for work and herself has a diesel mondeo the lexus will strictly be a weekend car at most, therefor fuel costs dont really concern me. I am looking at cars between the years of 1998-2001. All that I am looking for in this current venture of mine is a car which is totally sublime to drive, no need for huge power figures or mind bending acceleration. I want to just sit in, completely relax and just get on with enjoying the drive.

I am being drawn to the latest of the ls 400's, the mark four I believe? I have already sourced one, a 1998 with 140,000 miles on the clock, with lexus service history up to approx 115,000 miles. Apparently everything on the car works just as it should and is described as 'stunning condition' although I have yet to verify this for myself. And at £1320 the price seems about right, no?

Like I have said guys all of your thoughts on this will be greatly received. Apologies again for such a long post.

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Hello there guys I'm new to this forum. I am living in Cork, southern Ireland. My apologies for such a long winded first post.

Having recently parted ways with my lovely twin turbo Mkiv supra I see myself returning shortly to lexus ownership. A few years back I had an extremely clean 1998 GS 300, which to this day I regret selling. It was by far the most comfortable car I have owned and never gave me one ounce of trouble.

My dilemma now however is this; should I return to another GS 300 or move 'up' to what most people describe as the legendary LS 400? Is there any of you on here who have owned both that could possibly share your thoughts on these two cars? Having thoroughly enjoyed driving the GS will I notice any real improvement in driving an LS? Am I just paying for the extra toys when it comes to the LS? All of your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

As I have a van for work and herself has a diesel mondeo the lexus will strictly be a weekend car at most, therefor fuel costs dont really concern me. I am looking at cars between the years of 1998-2001. All that I am looking for in this current venture of mine is a car which is totally sublime to drive, no need for huge power figures or mind bending acceleration. I want to just sit in, completely relax and just get on with enjoying the drive.

I am being drawn to the latest of the ls 400's, the mark four I believe? I have already sourced one, a 1998 with 140,000 miles on the clock, with lexus service history up to approx 115,000 miles. Apparently everything on the car works just as it should and is described as 'stunning condition' although I have yet to verify this for myself. And at £1320 the price seems about right, no?

Like I have said guys all of your thoughts on this will be greatly received. Apologies again for such a long post.

Welcome to LOC.

Reading your post It sounds like you've already talked yourself into an LS!

I can't comment on the GS but I suppose the best way is to drive both and see which hits the spot for you.

It's really down to personal preference. For me it would be very hard to find a car that would come close to the LS, just take your time, and let us know how you get on (with photos)

PS

Thanks for sending the rain over from the Emerald Isle, saves getting the hose out! :luck: :lol:

Phil

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Hi.

There really is no choice.

The LS will stand comparison with any aspirational luxury car. It will delight in every way and bring a smug grin to your face every time you get in to it. You will change the way you drive, you will cruise and smile yet again when you get over 30 MPG ( On a run ). The most important thing is that it should be TOTALLY reliable. If you were asked to drive 7000 miles in Europe, within a 10 day deadline I believe there is no better car to do it in and the only thing you would check would be the washer bottle.

Regards

Tel

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I live in Ireland as well and own year 1998 Ls400.

Since the tax difference is minimal I would go for Ls400.

V8 engine, looks better and about same to tax.

Don´t want to insult any Gs300 owners but I think Ls400 is way more interesting car.

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Where abouts in Ireland are you? How do you find it running such a big car over here? Have you had any real issues with your 400 or is there anything you could advise me on when looking at one? I am of the same opinion as yourself, while the 300 is a great car the 400 for some reason appeals to me much more.

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Hi.

There really is no choice.

The LS will stand comparison with any aspirational luxury car. It will delight in every way and bring a smug grin to your face every time you get in to it. You will change the way you drive, you will cruise and smile yet again when you get over 30 MPG ( On a run ). The most important thing is that it should be TOTALLY reliable. If you were asked to drive 7000 miles in Europe, within a 10 day deadline I believe there is no better car to do it in and the only thing you would check would be the washer bottle.

Regards

Tel

AND, sadly, the petrol tank !

:tomato:

Malc

Malc :tomato:

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Where abouts in Ireland are you? How do you find it running such a big car over here? Have you had any real issues with your 400 or is there anything you could advise me on when looking at one? I am of the same opinion as yourself, while the 300 is a great car the 400 for some reason appeals to me much more.

I am located in Maynooth, County Kildare. I bought the car in January and my idea is to take the car with me to Finland, where I will be heading next month. Yes the steering wheel is in the wrong side, but 2k in Ireland 14k in Finland is the price difference, so I really do not mind.

Ls400 is easy car to drive even the large size it is. You have to make sure not to cut in corners and if possible try to park the car that way so you can drive out from the parking spot and be careful with the mirrors, but it is not too bad even in the city. Visibility is great out from the car.

I have had some issues with brakes and now I have to change upper control arms before the trip. But nothing to major to be honest, specially considering the car has 150k miles. I did lot of cleaning up for the car, both inside and outside after I bought the car. Buy the parts from eBay, don´t bother buying them in Ireland (unless they are basic stuff like brake pads, air filter etc), for instance those upper control arms are 700e in Ireland (both) and 150e in eBay with postage to Ireland.

Service history is plus, but mostly importantly; check the paper work of the car (finance/stolen/crashed) and check the car completely. When I was looking for Ls400 there were a lot of dishonest sellers. Outstanding finance, ex-taxi etc. Test everything you can before the test drive, all the buttons, all the things in engine bay, for instance the colour of gearbox oil (HAS TO BE RED!), how is the coolant, engine oil, brake fluid etc.

If you do not know about cars, then get someone with you that knows, but I do not think that Ls400 is that complicated after all. Just check that everything works, both inside and outside. There are lot of buttons inside the car to be tested:) IF you go to test drive right away, you will be so amazed about the car that you will forgot to test / check important things.

MPG: 18 in the city, 30 in longer runs. Since I have written so much already, lets just say: LS400 is absolutely great car.

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Hi.

There really is no choice.

The LS will stand comparison with any aspirational luxury car. It will delight in every way and bring a smug grin to your face every time you get in to it. You will change the way you drive, you will cruise and smile yet again when you get over 30 MPG ( On a run ). The most important thing is that it should be TOTALLY reliable. If you were asked to drive 7000 miles in Europe, within a 10 day deadline I believe there is no better car to do it in and the only thing you would check would be the washer bottle.

Regards

Tel

Agree entirely but must keep in mind that on those rare occasions when something goes wrong the price to fix it can be catastrophic. I have a 98 MKIV LS400 which I really do appreciate however I now need to change the starter motor and the reduced price I was quoted from the local dealer is just under £700. It's also time to change the timing belt - between £500-£700.

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Hi.

There really is no choice.

The LS will stand comparison with any aspirational luxury car. It will delight in every way and bring a smug grin to your face every time you get in to it. You will change the way you drive, you will cruise and smile yet again when you get over 30 MPG ( On a run ). The most important thing is that it should be TOTALLY reliable. If you were asked to drive 7000 miles in Europe, within a 10 day deadline I believe there is no better car to do it in and the only thing you would check would be the washer bottle.

Regards

Tel

Agree entirely but must keep in mind that on those rare occasions when something goes wrong the price to fix it can be catastrophic. I have a 98 MKIV LS400 which I really do appreciate however I now need to change the starter motor and the reduced price I was quoted from the local dealer is just under £700. It's also time to change the timing belt - between £500-£700.

Hi, I for one would advocate getting a couple of non-dealer quotes for this work ....... can't belive that a starter motor and combelt change would cost £1400 ! There simply has to be someone competent around near to you that would be more reasonable.

Malc

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I think that owning an Ls400 also requires a little bit of creativity and planning. So for instance GEN you could go and buy the starter from local scrap yard and use that, or if unsure take the current starter from your car and take it to auto electronics specialist, who could open and fix the starter for you.

Also eBay is really good option for parts, but of course sometimes there might be issues with quality.

So I think that best option would be get an independent Mechanic that would be interested to help you or learn how to fix the car by yourself.

For instance, my Ls400 needed a new brake master cylinder so I used the internet to find the part from scrap yard, drove there to collect the part. They removed that from the car and I bought that, 100e was the price. Then my friend fitted that and bled the system completely with good results and I gave him 60e for his time.

Job done, I wonder would 1000e be enough for this if I would take the car to Lexus dealership.

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Hi.

There really is no choice.

The LS will stand comparison with any aspirational luxury car. It will delight in every way and bring a smug grin to your face every time you get in to it. You will change the way you drive, you will cruise and smile yet again when you get over 30 MPG ( On a run ). The most important thing is that it should be TOTALLY reliable. If you were asked to drive 7000 miles in Europe, within a 10 day deadline I believe there is no better car to do it in and the only thing you would check would be the washer bottle.

Regards

Tel

Agree entirely but must keep in mind that on those rare occasions when something goes wrong the price to fix it can be catastrophic. I have a 98 MKIV LS400 which I really do appreciate however I now need to change the starter motor and the reduced price I was quoted from the local dealer is just under £700. It's also time to change the timing belt - between £500-£700.

Oh the joy of the LS400 starter motor! I did my own repair rebuilding the original for around £15.00 with parts from ClickerFix,thankfully it's been OK since.

Cambelt kit cost me around $150.00 and my local independant garage made a mistake with their £100.00 labour charge but honoured it.

lexusstarter020.jpg

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Hi!

I do appreciate your suggestions as to how to deal with the starter motor and timing belt change but there are just a couple of small problems that I have in following your suggestions:

1. I have no tools of any kind, no place to work on the car and, most importantly, I wouldn't know a starter motor if it hit me in the face! I have both read and know from experience with my other car that the timing belt job is a long one as well as critical and the starter motor is equally a long one - Lexus quote 4 hours, but let's say they are being optimistic and for an expert like me it would only take 2 hours!?!

2. I do have a back problem which, assuming that I had the tools and expertise, would prevent me from such an undertaking.

I did get quotes from two Lexus specialists but the savings are minor. And, having learned the lesson on my own skin, I am just too poor to buy cheap...

I do congratulate and envy those who can do their own repairs.

Best wishes.

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Well guys just a quick up-date. The genius that was selling the affore mentioned ls400 has ended up writing it off. Apparently. I got the feeling however that I was asking too many informed questions for his liking. When it came to e-mailing detailed pictures of the car..... well you know the rest...

Anyhow,

in my travels i have come across a few others, but have also come across 1 or 2 very cheap Ls 430's. In fact i drove one today that had been standing for the past twelve months or so. With the help of a booster pack she silently burst into life, and quickly settled down to a very un-dramatic dead calm idle. Perfect. A little 'restricted' at initial pull off, but on a nice gentle ease in spin she performed just superbly.

Aside from the drivers wing mirror not functioning, everything else electrical on the car seemed to operate just fine. A slight concern though, was the engine management light which kicked in after approx 20 min. The dealer/gangster that was selling it, informed me that when run through a diagnostic test a faulty lambda sensor was the cause of this light. However after replacing one of the lambda sensors( apparently there are four in total ), this management light still remained on. Are these a common/ expensive problem on the 430's?

Luckily enough, because of our import duties over here, very few of the 430's have the sat nav, height adjustable suspension, or the massaging rear seats. So I am just curious, without these extra toys is there much else that goes wrong with these big ole' girls? I had initially dis-counted them on my quest for Lexus luxury because of problems with some of the above, but maybe I should re-consider?

Any and all of your opinions would be greatly received, Thanks guys.

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I have read threads on here and elsewhere about gearbox issues with the LS430 and also strangely ( but I can't recall where ) of a Lexus acknowledged " inherent defect " with the early LS430 gearboxes.

I would trawl around the internet some mnore before you take the decision to buy one.

Malc

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Well guys just a quick up-date. The genius that was selling the affore mentioned ls400 has ended up writing it off. Apparently. I got the feeling however that I was asking too many informed questions for his liking. When it came to e-mailing detailed pictures of the car..... well you know the rest...

Anyhow,

in my travels i have come across a few others, but have also come across 1 or 2 very cheap Ls 430's. In fact i drove one today that had been standing for the past twelve months or so. With the help of a booster pack she silently burst into life, and quickly settled down to a very un-dramatic dead calm idle. Perfect. A little 'restricted' at initial pull off, but on a nice gentle ease in spin she performed just superbly.

Aside from the drivers wing mirror not functioning, everything else electrical on the car seemed to operate just fine. A slight concern though, was the engine management light which kicked in after approx 20 min. The dealer/gangster that was selling it, informed me that when run through a diagnostic test a faulty lambda sensor was the cause of this light. However after replacing one of the lambda sensors( apparently there are four in total ), this management light still remained on. Are these a common/ expensive problem on the 430's?

Luckily enough, because of our import duties over here, very few of the 430's have the sat nav, height adjustable suspension, or the massaging rear seats. So I am just curious, without these extra toys is there much else that goes wrong with these big ole' girls? I had initially dis-counted them on my quest for Lexus luxury because of problems with some of the above, but maybe I should re-consider?

Any and all of your opinions would be greatly received, Thanks guys.

Hi

The learning curve for me on the ls400 as been 16 years and I have the no 97 car supplied back in 1990 It was mint when I bought it for 19k when it was six years old with 50k on the clock.The one previous owner only sold it because the farm he bought was a awful lane access and he could'nt bear to take the car along it.Now considering the car was 37k new back in 1990 half the retail price after six years seems a lot but bearing in mind there was'nt a lot of second hand stock about then it was par for the course.

It as been the best money I have ever spent on a car and the day I bought it I said to my wife do you like it? Yes she said, Good I replied and tounge in cheek I said it's the last car I will ever buy.

And sixteen years later I still believe that apart from the obvious, write off ,etc I have no reason to think that this car will fail me in the long term.

I look at the later models and the ls430 and apart from more gizmos and a bit more power it is the same car although having driven a friends 430 the ls400 as a softer less road feel experience.

A mechanic friend who helps with the big maintainence jobs summed it up.You know this car as well as yourself and to that end you only worry when it goes wrong not when is it going to go wrong .

Remember what the President of Toyota said to his engineers on the initail brief of the birth of the LS400. "Go and build the best car in the world" Nuff said.

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Crikey, you guys sure do love your 400's ;) .

I suppose the last of them had been in production and undergone several changes/improvements for about 10 years or so. Whereas the 430's that I am considering are the very first of them 2001/2002.

For me it is not about all the toys/gizmos that I get with the car, it is just simply about sitting back and completely enjoying tha ride. The softer, less road feel that Ambermarine speaks of in the 400 would probably suit me a bit better than the 430. Well off I go to drive a 1999 silver 400 that is supposed to be the ''cleanest in the country''. I'v not heard that one before. Thanks again guys.

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Well guys just a quick up-date. The genius that was selling the affore mentioned ls400 has ended up writing it off. Apparently. I got the feeling however that I was asking too many informed questions for his liking. When it came to e-mailing detailed pictures of the car..... well you know the rest...

Anyhow,

in my travels i have come across a few others, but have also come across 1 or 2 very cheap Ls 430's. In fact i drove one today that had been standing for the past twelve months or so. With the help of a booster pack she silently burst into life, and quickly settled down to a very un-dramatic dead calm idle. Perfect. A little 'restricted' at initial pull off, but on a nice gentle ease in spin she performed just superbly.

Aside from the drivers wing mirror not functioning, everything else electrical on the car seemed to operate just fine. A slight concern though, was the engine management light which kicked in after approx 20 min. The dealer/gangster that was selling it, informed me that when run through a diagnostic test a faulty lambda sensor was the cause of this light. However after replacing one of the lambda sensors( apparently there are four in total ), this management light still remained on. Are these a common/ expensive problem on the 430's?

Luckily enough, because of our import duties over here, very few of the 430's have the sat nav, height adjustable suspension, or the massaging rear seats. So I am just curious, without these extra toys is there much else that goes wrong with these big ole' girls? I had initially dis-counted them on my quest for Lexus luxury because of problems with some of the above, but maybe I should re-consider?

Any and all of your opinions would be greatly received, Thanks guys.

Hi

The learning curve for me on the ls400 as been 16 years and I have the no 97 car supplied back in 1990 It was mint when I bought it for 19k when it was six years old with 50k on the clock.The one previous owner only sold it because the farm he bought was a awful lane access and he could'nt bear to take the car along it.Now considering the car was 37k new back in 1990 half the retail price after six years seems a lot but bearing in mind there was'nt a lot of second hand stock about then it was par for the course.

It as been the best money I have ever spent on a car and the day I bought it I said to my wife do you like it? Yes she said, Good I replied and tounge in cheek I said it's the last car I will ever buy.

And sixteen years later I still believe that apart from the obvious, write off ,etc I have no reason to think that this car will fail me in the long term.

I look at the later models and the ls430 and apart from more gizmos and a bit more power it is the same car although having driven a friends 430 the ls400 as a softer less road feel experience.

A mechanic friend who helps with the big maintainence jobs summed it up.You know this car as well as yourself and to that end you only worry when it goes wrong not when is it going to go wrong .

Remember what the President of Toyota said to his engineers on the initail brief of the birth of the LS400. "Go and build the best car in the world" Nuff said.

Well said!

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Well guys, I took that Ls400 for a spin today.

Certainly not what I would have described as the ''cleanest in the country''. Perhaps it is just the silver colour that is difficult to get that nice bright shine up. Also a good wash wouldn't have gone astray, however with only 108 thousand miles on the clock there wasn't as much as a rattle or squeak out of it. And sweet Divine, Comfort!!! I now realise why so many of you are describing it as a magic carpet ride. It is, in my own opinion, streets and streets ahead of the newer Ls430 in terms of outright comfort.

Not as many ''toys'' but such a pleasure to ride around in. I just cannot get over it!! Even simply sitting in it while stationary it is extremely comfortable. My mind is now made up as to which model I shall be purchasing. The guy today showing me the car said that it had been parked up for two to three weeks without being started, but it still needed a booster pack to get going, is this normal with these cars?

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Not normal at all ......... it undoubtedly needs a new Battery, about £60 UK mainland. Don't stint on the Battery quality, the car depends so much on it to ensure the electrics and electronice stay sensible !

Malc

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The problem with Ireland and these cars is that is really hard to find clean one. Usually they are ex-taxis what has not been kept in good condition, so when buying one it is important to find clean example.

One car I went to see had service history, except the car had 217k miles and service history ended at 147k :)

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The problem with Ireland and these cars is that is really hard to find clean one. Usually they are ex-taxis what has not been kept in good condition, so when buying one it is important to find clean example.

One car I went to see had service history, except the car had 217k miles and service history ended at 147k :)

Indeed you are right itarumaa, there seems to be very few clean ones around over here. There is one however on carzone with full history and 118k on the clock. Silver is not my first choice in colour but I guess there isn't the selection of cars here to be too fussy. It does have a sunroof though ;) , not that it's needed over here!

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