Customizing Your Car....

[imtheking]

I use to drive a Honda before I bought my 98 gs300. with the honda, I lowered it, put intake and the overall works in that car. Pretty much like fast and furious. Most of that stuff ruined my car. Lowering my car trashed my suspension, rack and pinion and lots of damage was done to my honda. To make a long story short, after the hell i went through with my honda damaging this and that, theres no way i would touch my GS especially with the price of lexus parts.

Does anyone think about the damage that could be done to your car by changing all those things like lowering car, intake etc? just wondering. i dunno, i personally cant turn my $40,000 car into a fast and furious type car. I would rather do it to a honda, toyota type car than lexus, mercedes etc..

hope no one feels like im bashing them. I actualy ike some of the hooked up cars ive seen here. just wouldnt do it to my car.

[HotBlue400]

well the SRT intake/ecu upgrade wont hurt anything at all. suspension all depends on how far you go.. if you go for the Tein edfc and trd sways and maybe tom's brace for the back. your not gonna hurt anything running that type of set up..

[LEXUS420]

I live by the motto of, "You get what you pay for." If you put the right aftermarket parts on your car, you won't have the problems it sounds like you had with your Honda. I"m going TRD and L-Tuned for my supension upgrades. There are a lot more peeps on the board that give you a lot better advice as to what parts to get for your GS. Good luck and welcome to the board.

KJ

[alexR]

How did you lower your car? I cant imagine a nice set of Eibach or Tien springs ruining your suspension...

[SUPRAboy80]

yep...sounds like faulty installation to me. If you buy quality parts and have them installed correctly, then you shouldn't have any problems...My problem with cars is that I CAN'T leave anything stock!!

[Neo]

So far so good for me. :)

I know a number of people who modified their Lexus without cutting corners. When they sold their cars after going back to stock, there were no problems.

[WhiteCracker]

first of all, who would want to customize

an expensive car like lexus and drive around

like some drug dealer i mean don't ya agree that

most ppl who do that kind of thing to cars like that

are and then end up in the state surplus auction!!!

[Neo]

first of all, who would want to customize

an expensive car like lexus and drive around

like some drug dealer i mean don't ya agree that

most ppl who do that kind of thing to cars like that

are and then end up in the state surplus auction!!!

Whoa! Major generalization there. Most of the guys I know who fixes up their cars range from engineers to doctors to upper management types and so on. A lot of what we add is to address the things that Lexus did not cater to. For many, the Lexus is just right. For others (like myself), we like the looks, service, and reliability of a Lexus as a basis for change.

As an example, for my GS (a sport sedan), I did not think that Lexus took it far enough so I added braces and support bars to help the responsiveness of the car. I love how it drives now. It is not as soft and cushy as the stock version, but I like it this way. I also added larger wheels for looks and handling. There are some body tweaks on the car too but nothing too outrageous (IMHO). I bought a 98 when it came out without Nav. I've learned to see the benefits of Nav so now I am adding an aftermarket one. I'm also upgrading my sound system since I have the stock Pioneer and the ML was not available at the time.

I find these changes useful and add to the enjoyment of the car. I also like BMWs but do not like their service, attitude, and reliability history. What I've done is to get a Lexus that drives extremely close to a BMW.

I respect your opinion that a nice luxury car like the Lexus should be left alone. (I actually once felt that way until I found how I can customize this car to be what I like.) In return, please respect other's decisions to fix up their cars without being compared to drug dealers and so on.

I hope that you read this as a glimpse in the mind of someone "on the other side." I tried to make it sound as neutral as possible (which is the intent) but if it reads differently (in a bad way) to you, then I apologize.

[imtheking]

I love hooking up cars to. But with my gs300 the only thing I did was change the radio and put a nice system in it. Kinda made me mad that many audio shops didnt wanna touch that car. They kept complaining about the fact they have to re-wire the amp etc etc. Im dying to put rims on it. But once again, im afraid anything over the stock 16' will mess up suspension and the overall handling.

I was looking to replace the upper control arm because the rubber piece was ripped and when lexus told me $475 for the control arm , I changed my mind about replacing any of the stock parts on that car. I said to myself, what if i lowetr the car and mess up the muffler or exhaust. Theres $1000 down the drain. I just cant afford to take the risk of messing anything up. ie..lowering car and damaging the bottom, exhaust, etc etc.

But again, I like what ive seen so far on this board. Some of you have done a nice job on your cars. Maybe if I hit the lottery, Ill go all out and change everything B) (after I buy my lamborghini of course)

[Lexdiamonds]

I think to call customizing a car a drug dealer thing is so closed minded and stupid. Its what you like, There are drug dealers that keep the rims on the S500 stock. I have 20's on my grand prix and i work very hard for my money.

[SKperformance]

his name is white cracker, do you really think it would be a positive answer, just another member looking to incite public reations

[JPI]

I guess I'm a drug dealer since I'm going to have a turbocharger on my GS300. Actually I do have taste.......

jpi

[93LSOwner]

Hey, JPI how many hp do you think it will put out.

[JPI]

looking at 500whp ;)

JPI

[HREWheelMaker]

I actualy ike some of the hooked up cars ive seen here. just wouldnt do it to my car.

So, what's your point? Sounds like you've already decided to stay stock.

Those of us who do fix-up our cars are typically enthusiasts, and like to have unique things. We do it out of passion, or to make a statement about our personality- or even to show that we are "gettin' paid."

Modifying a Lexus is completely different from modifying a Civic. The Civic market is totally whored-out... 85% of the aftermarket parts for the Civic are CRAP, so you can't even compare this to the Lexus aftermarket parts world. Heck the WHEELS on my GS 400 are worth more than most Civics!

If you DO decide to fix-up your checkbook, bring your wallet.

You've got to pay to play!

[Neo]

Heck the WHEELS on my GS 400 are worth more than most Civics!

Haha! LOL! :D