Thursday 5th May 2011

PH Fleet: 1997 Lexus 4.0 V8

A bargain barge isn't always what it seems (But didn't we know that already..?)

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Pushbike helps keep the fuel bill down

The trouble with the PH classifieds is the amount of money it costs to browse them. You spend an evening at home clicking on random categories thinking 'what if', and before you know it the calculator is out and you realise that a purchase is imminent.

It was on such an evening that I spotted the Lexus you see here. I was happy with the W124 estate and wasn't thinking of another car, but this looked cheap enough at under £2,000, especially with a full and comprehensive service history. I told the Mrs we should take a look, and she knew that meant I was going to buy it. You, dear PHer, probably knew that too...

It was being sold by a nice chap not too far from my home and we struck a favourable deal. The MOT had just expired so he put a fresh ticket on it and I collected it a week later. So how is life with a 1997 Lexus powered by a 4.0 V8? Costly is one way to describe it, enlightening is another. Overall I'd describe it as 'pleasingly expensive'.

Not a Lexus main dealer...

After a run of Mercs, the Japanese equivalent takes some getting used to. You feel you are in something special, yet it smells like a Japanese car, not dissimilar to a Carina E. Driving it feels wafty and very luxurious, yet pedestrians don't glance at your limo as they would a W126 SEL. But the Lexus is as well built as any German counterpart, it doesn't rattle and the engine remains silent at tickover.

The audio is better than the set up at home and the performance is there - although it feels uncouth to exploit it. Fuel consumption is quite alarming, but what did I expect? It's a large, automatic limo with over 110,000 miles, pushed along by a 4.0 V8 designed before efficiency was the buzz word. In town (where it mostly lives) I'm seeing late teens to early twenties, but on a run this can go up to late twenties or even early thirties. This makes me so excited you'd think I'd managed 60mpg, but when you own two V8s 30mpg is welcome indeed.

So, that's the end of the story - a successful purchase made, and all going well? Of course not, I'm never that lucky...

Work stopped - bigger hammer needed

My first venture out of town was a few weeks after purchase and my smug grin was replaced by a sinking stomach. The steering wheel wobbled like crazy at 70mph, and the Lexus floated over bumps like I was riding a waterbed. In fact the whole car felt loose and unstable. Gutted.

The car was despatched to friends in the trade with Lexus connections for an honest appraisal. A few days later and the verdict was in, the rear suspension was pretty well shot but they agreed that at town speed it wasn't that noticeable. I requested a list of parts needed to fix it, and needed a sit down when it arrived:

2 x rear dampers
2 x hub carriers
2 x anti-roll bar links
2 x rear wheel bearings
4 x oil seals
2 x deflectors
1 x OSR upper wishbone
2 x front control arm bushes

Tyres too, please. Never mind the cost!

That's over £1600 at Lexus prices and no pattern parts are available, but I managed to secure a deal on the lot through the aforementioned trade contacts (thank God). Fitting was down to me though, and fourteen years of road dirt and suspension that hadn't been touched since the day it left the factory meant lots of seized bolts and head scratching for the mechanics at the local garage. It took a long time to get everything on, and by the time I had added a four-wheel laser alignment and wheel balance to the bill, I needed to pay another £1100.

The lack of alignment had caused some uneven wear to the front tyres, and as my car has Dynamic Handling Pack wheels it meant tyre choice was limited due to their unusual size. Two Pirelli P-Zero tyres were ordered and fitted, lightening the wallet by another £500.

I could have done more, but finances and common sense (Cough... splutter! Ed) stopped me from ploughing any more into it. The LS now rides as it should do, but to get that true magic carpet ride I am considering a swap to the smaller, standard alloys. Only after I have got some wear from the costly rubber just fitted, though.

V8 power - the only way to travel?

Everyone covets a bargain barge, but cars like this were very expensive when new, they are fast, weighty and built without compromise (be in a Lexus, Merc, BMW etc) and this means the purchase price is just the start. It's a great way to travel, just don't expect it to be frugal. As a considered purchase though, there's no better way to travel - even if I do miss that three-pointed star on the bonnet.

In other news, the TVR is away at car hospital but will return for Le Mans with a newly de-catted exhaust. But that's another story.

PS. Thanks to S&J Motors in Teddington for their assistance with my LS, it certainly made them work for my money

[tonym911]

Looks about ready for me to buy it now - £995?

[lankybob]

I kind of agree with the Crack Fox on this one. However, as I have found, it's very easy to do. My car, for instance has had far too much money spent on it already to just throw it away when it goes wrong. It's only a rubbish old rover but I like it and now when it needs something I pretty much have to buy it to justify spending all the other money on the other repairs.

[louismchuge]

I like it. Sod it that it doesn't make sense, remeber this is the guy who took a beaten old Porsche to the main dealer to get some bits sorted! If you can afford it, spend it how you wish.

[Guvernator]

I have to agree with other posters. Lovely though it is, I would have cut my losses on this one and got rid. Unless you plan on keeping it for 10 years, that's a lot of money to blow on repairs on an old Lexus. Still, I have to salute you for your dedication to the cause....bargetastic!

[Garlick]

True about the costs but bear in mind I paid nowhere near full price on the parts, I got them at such a good price I can't mention it (or everyone will expect that price) as I called in a few favours within the trade the retail price were I to buy at full retail is genuine though. Gulp.

Do I enjoy the outlay? Nope, I wish I'd bought a sorted car and that was that, but now it's done I'm resigned to the fact that I'll need to make it earn it's keep, so perhaps I'll LPG it and run it to death.

[Digga]

Guvernator said:

that's a lot of money to blow on repairs on an old Lexus

I've driven a lot of LS400s - four I think. (And I owned a GS300, was was a bit pants; understeered to the point of utter frustration.)

There is something about an LS400 that you have to experience to understand. They really do feel unburstable and unflappable and very, very discreet.

[newdogg06]

Nice barge, have to agree. Not something I would do however, chucking that money at it! My father-in-law had a GS300 which in the last 30,000 miles of it's eventual 210,000 miles, needed similar attention and in the end, he cut his losses. But that had 100k more on the clock than yours, so maybe not-so-large barges are the way forward?

[richardxjr]

Nice honest report

I found that wrt vibrations and ride quality LS's are incredibly sensitive to tyre pressures. On the 16's 33 front & 38 rear is the sweet spot on mine.

I too had/have a vibration but at 85+: mostly cured by using these pressures: it was incredibly bad when I first drove the car hard, and then found the OSF was only half infated.

[S3_Graham]

Garlick, i have the same disease as you. Even things that arent going to make the car fall off the road and die but could do with looking at just have to be done.

My 328 has had loads of bushes and bits'n'bobs changed. 2 front tyres were changed last week as they were a crap make and i like to have 4 wheels with the same tyres.

I'm pretty confident (without totting up bills) i've spent around £2,500 on the car which cost me £1,800.

Nevermind, give it another 6 months, something else will break and i'll get fed up - chuck the towel and and buy another shed which needs loads of money spent. Meanwhile the lucky buyer of previous car gets trouble free motoring at my (great) expense!

I put it down to my OCD and i'd have it no other way, i love my 328!

[300bhp/ton]

Garlick said:

True about the costs but bear in mind I paid nowhere near full price on the parts, I got them at such a good price I can't mention it (or everyone will expect that price) as I called in a few favours within the trade the retail price were I to buy at full retail is genuine though. Gulp.

Do I enjoy the outlay? Nope, I wish I'd bought a sorted car and that was that, but now it's done I'm resigned to the fact that I'll need to make it earn it's keep, so perhaps I'll LPG it and run it to death.

All that aside, would you still recommend a LS400?

[infradig]

I think that swanning around in shiny new test cars is making you expect a bit too much from the old girl. Lets face it,it's got an MOT and they floated and wallowed when new( at least my non- Dynamic Handling Pack one did).You even admit it spends most of it's life in town, I know logic should never come into what we spend on cars, but in the modern vernacular, WTF?

[tonym911]

There are a lot of people around who like to take a punt on potential moneypits and who are quite content to accept the downside of having to restore them as they go along. I think it's an entirely worthy pursuit. I'm quite surprised nobody has tried to set up a web group of such people who would trade cars exclusively between themselves, safe in the knowledge that they are buying from like-minded people. It would take a lot of the risk out of older, high quality car purchases. There is a US-based site for 'loved cars' but it's not as focused as what's in my mind. The entry criteria would have to be carefully worked out to keep it safe from abuse. Outsiders could buy from the site but only at a premium. Members' rates would be like mates' rates.

[Fetchez la vache]

Always had a huge soft (or should that be wallowy?) spot for these things. Funny you mention the audio. When these came out Ford bought one for competitor appraisal for the audio alone...

[Parrot of Doom]

I think most people asking why Garlick spent the money have probably never driven an LS400. I bought one a few weeks ago, so far I've done:

LPG conversion, now getting about 300 miles for about £35. That's a hell of a lot cheaper than my E300TD.
2 new bottom ball joints (Lexus parts)
2 new front top wishbones (Ebay parts, feck paying Lexus for those)

It needs other things doing; something isn't right with the steering (inner track rods I'm guessing), the bonnet struts are shot, at least one rear brake disc is "warped". Then there are little jobs, like the cupholder isn't quite straight, the front cigarette lighter needs looking at, there's a pesky little creak in the roof lining somewhere. The coolant needs flushing (wrong sort), and there's an idle problem (probably the electronic idle control gummed up).

All those things cost money, but when you're gliding around (and I do mean gliding) in a car with an almost completely silent engine, and gearchanges that are barely perceptible, in seats that are supremely comfortable, with toys in front of you that all work, I don't care. These cars exude class like nothing else, you can see why BMW/Mercedes at the time the LS came out must have fainted, they are massively superior to the competition.

[infradig]

tonym911 said:

There are a lot of people around who like to take a punt on potential moneypits and who are quite content to accept the downside of having to restore them as they go along. I think it's an entirely worthy pursuit. I'm quite surprised nobody has tried to set up a web group of such people who would trade cars exclusively between themselves, safe in the knowledge that they are buying from like-minded people. It would take a lot of the risk out of older, high quality car purchases. There is a US-based site for 'loved cars' but it's not as focused as what's in my mind. The entry criteria would have to be carefully worked out to keep it safe from abuse. Outsiders could buy from the site but only at a premium. Members' rates would be like mates' rates.

Apart from the safe from abuse bit,RetroRides almost fits the bill. the for sale boards always seems a bit incestuous and they love a barge.

[tonym911]

Last year I interviewed Glen Obee, the MD of Motorline as part of a '20 years in the UK' Lexus celebration. Motorline was one of the first dealership networks to take on the Lexus franchise here. 'The big S-class Mercs and 7-series BMWs were the prominent luxury cars at the time, but the LS made them look crude and antiquated,' he said. 'I remember Top Gear putting a 50p coin on the LS engine and winding up the throttle. The coin just stood there until the fan eventually blew it off. You couldn't do that with another car of that size at that time. That V8 engine was a fantastic piece of engineering.'

[richardxjr]

I agree. You have no idea of an LS's qualities without having driven one.

Most of us that do take the plunge on such nicely depreciated things are happy to choose to budget £2k a year on maintaining perfection, instead of spunking £2k a year depreciation on some depressing mundane new stbox.

OK, Garlick's blown his budget in his first year, but it's sorted now and this will NOT cost £2k a year to keep tip top.


But, Paul, Seriously: NEVER buy an M5!

[chazwozza]

Love it, if I could afford the fuel and a 3rd toy then maybe!
Not sure why people are critiscising this, if someone wants to run a loveable old barge then so be it, bit more charachter out there on the roads for the rest of us in the know to enjoy when it (silently) wafts past

[Johnboy Mac]

Great buy, cracking barge. As for the suspension repair costs at 110k/14 years, not susrprised and really it would be no different even on say either a W126 or W124 as you mentioned in your artical at this mileage/time. You comment about the MPG is rather pointless if you don't mind me saying so - 4.0L/2 tonne car. I used to get 16-18 around town and up to 25-28 on a run which I was very happy with that considering, well put it this way I was'nt expecting to average 30mpg! Great car. Enjoy.

Edited by Johnboy Mac on Thursday 5th May 11:17

[cpl_payne]

I'm not following the logic here - people berate Garlick for spending so much money on the car, yet when it comes to buying them everyone wants a bargain at somebody else's expense.

Buying cheap and then making sure the required work is done to a good standard is just as valid as buying expensive with all the work already done (supposedly). At least if you do it yourself you know it's done properly: there is no shortage of sellers and traders that try to polish a turd by waffling about 'one careful vicar owner, maintained at no expense spared' without having any proof.

edit: tongue slip, not enough coffee!

Edited by cpl_payne on Thursday 5th May 11:23