Lexus LS400. Ruinous or bargain?

Lexus LS400. Ruinous or bargain?

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Discussion

itz_baseline

Original Poster:

820 posts

220 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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So I have just sold my car and after a bit of a stop gap before committing to something fast and longer term. I have a bit of a hankering for a gen 1 Lexus LS400 and they can be had for under a grand. I get that they will still have the running cost of a £50k car, but I'm reading they are pretty bullet proof and built to last.

Has anyone run one for any length of time and how did you find it? I'm think 6 months of depreciation barging whilst I find what I want could be fun. But will it be ruinous for my wallet or good reliable fun? I have heard of plenty going well above 400k miles, so getting one with 150k miles that has been looked after and doing only a few k miles over 6 months might be a good itch to scratch.

Appreciate thoughts and real world experiences.

redtwin

7,518 posts

181 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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If you can live with 20 MPG and sometimes struggling to park (and still open the doors) then go for it. I had an L reg with 170K for about a year and only had a rear coil spring break in that time.

Fattyfat

3,301 posts

195 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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Unfortunately the LS400 has the reputation of being pretty much unbreakable if looked after, which it more or less is. Abused examples can throw up big bills on er..... I think suspension is fairly expensive to refurb...

My money would be on a late Mk4, better economy and if you buy a good 'un for between 2-3K, you'll probably get every penny of that back.

I loved my 1995 Model - Do it!

belleair302

6,835 posts

206 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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I have a lovely Mk 3, 1997 car with 126,000 on the clock. No issues regarding electronics, gearbox or engine. They are heavy on tyres, windscreens can be a pain to replace and some trim parts are NLA. If you can find a good one, buy it and enjoy, but have the alignment checked, look for rust, and make sure everything works. Quick enough, they don't drink fuel unless driving in an urban environment all day long and for distances they just soak up the miles. Put on some decent headlights and happy motoring.

larsson7

305 posts

141 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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I had a mk4, fantastic for wafting along, every single switch still worked after 156k miles, it's a big heavy car so obviously consumables do wear out at a faster rate than a lighter car, that's to be expected. I averaged around 19 mpg, over 30 was possible on a long run but anything other than a steady paced motorway run and it will be a fuel junkie. One thing that can cause problems but is very rare is the gearbox solenoids failling, each solenoid is around £275 for the parts alone and their are four of them. That said if you are looking for a barge they are probably the safest bet financially, but definitely not the best handling or best looking.

Sump

5,484 posts

166 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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One of the best barges you will ever buy.

Just watch out for the starter motor job.

dbdb

4,311 posts

172 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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It may well be reliable, but there are more interesting and characterful big cars out there.

Sump

5,484 posts

166 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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dbdb said:
It may well be reliable, but there are more interesting and characterful big cars out there.
Some people find travelling on car that acts like the Shinkansen express quite characterful.

itz_baseline

Original Poster:

820 posts

220 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Thanks all for the replies, think I will lull the trigger on one as soon as I find something suitable.

dbdb said:
It may well be reliable, but there are more interesting and characterful big cars out there.
I'm sure there are more interesting and characterful cars out there, but I'm after reliable as a stop gap (feel free to suggest a car that ticks all 3 boxes for under £1?) whilst I find my more interesting and characterful car long term car (thinking along the lines of 996 911 turbo or Noble M12).

itz_baseline

Original Poster:

820 posts

220 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Soooo, just to add an update to this. I pulled the trigger on a 1997 LS400 over the weekend. Took me a while to find a good one as most of them had either lots of rot, issues with electrics or were gold in colour (not for me :-).

Picked one up with 89,000 miles on the clock, 12 months mot and full service history, not a spec of rust on it and baring a couple of stone chips and a little trim tidy up is in really good condition. Wafted along on the 4 hour drive home and it was impeccable.

Will treat it to a full detail, a new set of car mats and a bit of leather treatment and I really can't see it losing any money. Everything is tight as a button and not a creak in site....a couple of little things I hadn't really noticed before such as electric head rest adjustment, electric seatbelt adjustment are really nice touches.

Truely happy with it (once I found the right one!).

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Very nice, happy barging!

Ghost91

2,964 posts

109 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Pics please!!

Barchettaman

6,282 posts

131 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Great find OP, and thank for the update. Now you just need to post some pics!

Soupie69uk

922 posts

216 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Great, it would be good to keep a thread on this purchase as I would be interested to read about it.

aww999

2,068 posts

260 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Nice one, my '98 has twice that many miles on and is in similar (perfet!) condition.

TrivsTom

129 posts

166 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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A mate has a 1998 with around 130k on it. He had the backboxes removed and replaced with straight pipes which is a worthy mod! Great cruiser, puts up with many burnouts and town driving alike, enjoy!

itz_baseline

Original Poster:

820 posts

220 months

Monday 24th August 2015
quotequote all
TrivsTom said:
A mate has a 1998 with around 130k on it. He had the backboxes removed and replaced with straight pipes which is a worthy mod! Great cruiser, puts up with many burnouts and town driving alike, enjoy!
lol....there does seem to be a modifying culture for the LS400 for some reason (VIP stance??) but I'll be keeping mine as standard as possible. I even like the way the 16" almost look too small for the car....it's all just really pleasant.

Will start a thread in readers cars and look to get a few pics up after a detail this evening.....

SuperHangOn

3,486 posts

152 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Great buy.

Google the 900,000 mile LS400!

Vacumatic

188 posts

112 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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The waitress where I have a coffee gave a grand and a shag for a P reg Lexus, never spent a penny on it in 3 years.

She said he was an espresso, dunno what that means.

muppets_mate

771 posts

215 months

Monday 24th August 2015
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Sounds like a tidy example. Look forward to seeing a few pics after you've cleaned it up.

Was it for sale from a dealer in East London somewhere by any chance? I thought I saw a car that sounds remarkably like yours on AutoTrader. It looked good for the money they were asking.