Cheap Lexus LS400
Discussion
Morning
If you follow the bargain barge thread, this might be familiar to you, but if not then here is my latest purchase.
1994 Lexus LS400
120000 miles
12 months MOT
Just had a full service.
All for the princely sum of £595!
I'm selling my Evora at the moment, and needed something to tide me over for a bit while that sells and I look for my next car, so I had been scouring the ads for the past few days, only for this to pop up in the bargain barge thread. I called up first thing in the morning after seeing it advertised and bought it over the phone
I had an LS400 about 5 years ago, so knew what I was buying. It doesn't disappoint, mechanically she seems pretty good. No untoward noises, picks up smoothly, glides along as expected. Slight judder when at 80+mph but it has recently had a puncture repair on a front tyre and it wouldn't surprise me if that is the cause. Might get the wheels balanced and tracking looked at. Pretty much everything works in the cabin, the only thing that doesn't is the electronic boot release, although looking online that might have been me just being an idiot, I shall investigate.
Cosmetically she is a little tired but about as expected for the age, interior trim is in relatively good condition, a few marks and scratches, and the fuel cap release switch has snapped off at some point and has only had half of the switch put back on
Externally she looks great from a distance, rear bumper has a few scratches, and a couple of rust bubbles starting on the doors, but nothing major.
A bit of service history with her, but no handbook or service book. Last receipt is for a full service done 3 weeks ago, with new brake pads all round, so that should last a while. A note on there that the power steering is leaking a bit of oil, so i'll need to keep an eye on that and keep it topped up i expect. (also on the note that a replacement pump and pipe is £1400, so I won't be getting it replaced any time soon at those prices! However i can get a pattern part sent over from the states for £200-ish with the hose.)
Had a look underneath this morning and there are a few drops of fluid, time will tell how much it gets through and whether to bite the bullet and get the pump replaced, but i'm loath to spend too much on her. For £595 she is a bargain, but as I soon as I start spending cash on her then she starts to be less bargainous
I sold my last LS400 for spares on ebay for £300 (manifold needed replacing and it wasn't worth it for the price of the car) so even if it dies I shouldn't be out too much cash.
However, i'm calling round to get a few quotes for doing the pump replacement, and i'll most likely order the pump and hose from the US anyway, as I can always sell it on ebay if I don't use it and i'm certain I can get all my cash back. There has to be a market for cheap pumps in the UK, as it is a known fail point and in the UK you can only get official Lexus parts…
Might even try and replace it myself, it doesn't look too tricky and I have a friend with a lift.
I've also had a couple of requests for a video of how the exhaust sounds, so i'll try and work out how to do that. You may have noticed that it has been replaced (very recently in fact, by the look of it and what the seller said) and it now has a full stainless steel system. It looks awful, but sounds amazing, very muscle car. So against the character of the car though, and a ludicrous choice. Luckily it amuses me rather than annoys
If you follow the bargain barge thread, this might be familiar to you, but if not then here is my latest purchase.
1994 Lexus LS400
120000 miles
12 months MOT
Just had a full service.
All for the princely sum of £595!
I'm selling my Evora at the moment, and needed something to tide me over for a bit while that sells and I look for my next car, so I had been scouring the ads for the past few days, only for this to pop up in the bargain barge thread. I called up first thing in the morning after seeing it advertised and bought it over the phone
I had an LS400 about 5 years ago, so knew what I was buying. It doesn't disappoint, mechanically she seems pretty good. No untoward noises, picks up smoothly, glides along as expected. Slight judder when at 80+mph but it has recently had a puncture repair on a front tyre and it wouldn't surprise me if that is the cause. Might get the wheels balanced and tracking looked at. Pretty much everything works in the cabin, the only thing that doesn't is the electronic boot release, although looking online that might have been me just being an idiot, I shall investigate.
Cosmetically she is a little tired but about as expected for the age, interior trim is in relatively good condition, a few marks and scratches, and the fuel cap release switch has snapped off at some point and has only had half of the switch put back on
Externally she looks great from a distance, rear bumper has a few scratches, and a couple of rust bubbles starting on the doors, but nothing major.
A bit of service history with her, but no handbook or service book. Last receipt is for a full service done 3 weeks ago, with new brake pads all round, so that should last a while. A note on there that the power steering is leaking a bit of oil, so i'll need to keep an eye on that and keep it topped up i expect. (also on the note that a replacement pump and pipe is £1400, so I won't be getting it replaced any time soon at those prices! However i can get a pattern part sent over from the states for £200-ish with the hose.)
Had a look underneath this morning and there are a few drops of fluid, time will tell how much it gets through and whether to bite the bullet and get the pump replaced, but i'm loath to spend too much on her. For £595 she is a bargain, but as I soon as I start spending cash on her then she starts to be less bargainous
I sold my last LS400 for spares on ebay for £300 (manifold needed replacing and it wasn't worth it for the price of the car) so even if it dies I shouldn't be out too much cash.However, i'm calling round to get a few quotes for doing the pump replacement, and i'll most likely order the pump and hose from the US anyway, as I can always sell it on ebay if I don't use it and i'm certain I can get all my cash back. There has to be a market for cheap pumps in the UK, as it is a known fail point and in the UK you can only get official Lexus parts…
Might even try and replace it myself, it doesn't look too tricky and I have a friend with a lift.
I've also had a couple of requests for a video of how the exhaust sounds, so i'll try and work out how to do that. You may have noticed that it has been replaced (very recently in fact, by the look of it and what the seller said) and it now has a full stainless steel system. It looks awful, but sounds amazing, very muscle car. So against the character of the car though, and a ludicrous choice. Luckily it amuses me rather than annoys
Edited by trooperiziz on Friday 22 February 11:17
So it turns out the reason I wasn't seeing much of a leak was that it was collecting in the undertray. Haven't driven her all week and today when I moved off I had a trail of fluid on the floor
Took her in to Lexus for a diagnostic and they confirmed that it is the pump that needs replacing, their price for the pump fitted? £1100!
New pump ordered from the US for £127, which is a bit more palatable. Doesn't look like too tricky a job to DIY http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/steering/pspumpremo... but i'm idle, so i'll probably find a local garage and see how much they'll charge to do it.
Took her in to Lexus for a diagnostic and they confirmed that it is the pump that needs replacing, their price for the pump fitted? £1100!
New pump ordered from the US for £127, which is a bit more palatable. Doesn't look like too tricky a job to DIY http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/steering/pspumpremo... but i'm idle, so i'll probably find a local garage and see how much they'll charge to do it.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff