Highest Mileage

[sv7887]

Hi All,

96K on my 1992 LS. A wonderful car. I have the Temp LCD replaced, P/S Pump, Rack and Pinion, Rear Shocks and Stablilizer Bar Bushings. The Upper control arms were done by the insurance company. I bought a Corolla to supplant this car as a daily driver thinking that it was up there in mileage and could break down on me..Well looks like I was wrong! Then again can't argue with the 35 MPG the Corolla gives. Also, it will probably just make the LS last longer.

Anyone want to guess how long a LS would go?

Great Board I'm glad I joined!!

SV

96K on 92 LS400

4K on 05 LS430

'92 SC400 (370,000 km)

'91 LS400 (214,000 km)

Previous:

'92 Base model Camry (455,000 km - didn't die, sold it to buy SC)

'89 MR2 Supercharged (265,000 km - ran a .1 sec faster 1/4 mile than factory)

I didn't read the whole post but when figuring reliablilty, repair costs, etc. etc. you need to look at the big picture. Sure joe blow got 450,000 km on a 5.0L mustang, and maybe somebody somewhere bought a lemon camry once. The bottom line is the current NEW car manufacturer/nameplate with the fewest problems per hundred cars is Lexus. Period.

Now for old cars, well I've owned 8 Toyotas to date, maybe I'm biased, but I also never had a major issue with any of them. I've worked on a lot of cars, my sisters BMW, all my toyota/lexus', some of the trucks at the company I work for, my brothers and aunts Chryslers...

Anyway, needless to say when I look at the design of parts on other cars I say to myself "what were they thinking" and when I'm working on a toy/lex I think "now that's engineering...". And that's why I drive a Lexus. About the only non-toy car I would buy is the Lotus Elise. :)

Aaron

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[dcfish]

175000 on my 93 ES300 and runs like new.

[nc211]

I'm now up to 107,000 on mine. I'm slowly catching up to Blake! Although all that evacuation stuff he had to do has put me further back. Blake, here is that picture I mentioned in the PM. This is the only picture I've got here at work. She's the basic LS400, no mod's done except for autozone brake pads on the front. Everything else is stock oem parts. Not a very good picture, I'll get somemore later on. I was on a property insection for a strip mall loan I was looking at doing.

[blake918]

She looks great!! B) You've got a lot of catching up to do...something like 156,000 miles to add to your 107,000, and we'll be even! lol

[nc211]

It's been a great car so far. Most of my repairs were "elective" in nature. I really didn't need all of those new suspension parts, but just wanted to do them all at once. I've still got my old ones for emergency back ups. All except the front lowers all apear to be fine. I think the clunk noise I'm getting again when I hit a certain dip in the road in the morning is actually the black air intake piece under the hood, it's loose. Need new rotors on the front and a good alignment / caster-camber setting and it should be fine. Probably facing a rack in the next 20k miles.

yeah, i like those avalons too. Some are boring, but other models are pretty slick looking. Don't worry, with my future wife's love of travel, i'll be up to your mileage before we know it. funny thing about that woman, she fusses when I want to fix something or work on something for the car, but hates the idea of me getting rid of it for anything other than another LS400. The "Queen" has taken quite nicely to being driven around in a Lexus. Might as well call her Ms. Daisy, and me Hoke.

[ArmyofOne]

Hello everyone,

Some of you have been talking about the reliability of Japanese cars, and I agree that they’re very reliable. But, are Japanese cars more reliable in every aspect? I own a ’91 Saab with almost 200K and have driven it 3 times with the coolant boiling and nothing happened to the engine. Can you do this in a Japanese car? Also, my Saab has tougher suspension components than my LS400. Furthermore, I think it’s not enough to talk about reliability and neglect the cost of repair including parts.

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yes you can do it in a japanese car...ask JPI, my coolant in my ES250 boiled every time i drove the car for more than a mile or 2. i just didnt know it until he did the WP. LOL.

[monarch]

It's amazing the same owners who insist on using synthetic oil because they think its going to extend the life of their engines are the same ones who turn around and overheat their engines thinking it does no serious harm.

[ArmyofOne]

It's amazing the same owners who insist on using synthetic oil because they think its going to extend the life of their engines are the same ones who turn around and overheat their engines thinking it does no serious harm.

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if you are referring to me, i didnt know it was doing that...the *BLEEP*ing needle never went beyond half. ask toysrme. his never did either. the needles on those cars dont eveer budge.

im a mechanic, i know it does serious harm, but i didnt know the *BLEEP*ing thing was overheating.

[Toysrme]

Ya, chill monarch.

In Josh's defence, a cooling problem isn't always an easy to notice thing.

Unless you just happen to look at the gauge, you're not going to catch it until they're all ready boiling out of the purge tank. That is actually harder to notice than initially seems obvious because the hoods fit down tight enough to have all the padding to semi-seal it. What comes out is totally invisible when the car is moving. You can see a tiny bit of steam when the car is stopped.

If you don't catch the boil-over, you won't notice it at all until the head gasket<s> are blown & coolant starts dumping in the combustion chambers.

It's noticeble then because the engine bogs down during an idle, and when you take off from a stop, you get a huge cloud of white coolant from the tailpipe.

AFA overheating damage... It really depends on what's overheating & what is causing it.

If there is any coolant circulating in the system, it's counter-intuitive not unlike a tire blowout is. If a tire blows out, don't immediately let off the gas!!!You can easily loose control. Keep your foot on the gas, if not accelerate some to keep the vehicle stabalized. Then slow to a stop.

Overheating is the same boat. If there is coolant circulating, we all know to turn the heater to max, turn the fan on & roll the windows down. What many people don't realize is that if coolant is circulating, you need to raise the RPM on the engine, while raising the load on the engine as little as possible.

If you stop & cut the car off, you'll have a much higher chance to crack/warp the block/heads, or blow a headgasket. Same if you let the car idle, or drive at a low rpm. The coolant circulation greatly lowers, causing more overheating that is out of check.

What you should do, is speed the vehicle up to a slow highway speed (say 50-60mph), and stay in a higher rpm gear than you need.

This not only keeps coolant circulating more, but the added airfow throuhg the radiator by itself can take an overheating car back down into normal levels.

[monarch]

What I'm talking about is the owner who said "I have driven it 3 times with the coolant boiling and nothing happened to the engine." And then other owners agreed with him that nothing happened to the engine including owners who use synthetic oil.

The reality is overheating warps the aluminum cylinder heads and compromises the integrity and potential life of the cylinder head gaskets as well as the life potential of other gaskets on the engine. Not to mention cooking the exhaust valves and valve seats etc. These owners who think "nothing happened to the engine" are going to end up finding out the hard way they don't stand a chance of ever becoming a member of the Toyota 400,000 mile club even if they use synthetic oil. And when their cylinder head gasket finally does let go and the engine runs hot again what are these owners going to do? They're going to keep on driving anyway because they

think ""nothing horrible is happening to the engine unless the temperature gauge is deep into the red zone and coolant is shooting up into the sky"

[Lexuses71]

The "Queen" has taken quite nicely to being driven around in a Lexus. Might as well call her Ms. Daisy, and me Hoke.

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Oh, you are married to one of those Miss Daisy types, too? ROTF!!! Nobody can get a 'nose' higher than my Mrs when she's sitting shotgun. I'll bet that if she had HER way, she'd be sitting in the rear! But Homey Don't Play Dat! <_<

[Norris400]

Hi All,

I have a 1998 LS400 and have 215,000 miles, only Tires and oil changes.

I had one major sevice with timing belt and shocks in 2003.

I have just started having some issues with the Nakamichi stereo amp.

I'll probably be looking to replace the head unit soon.

Does anyone know where to pick up one of these units? At least a repitable place.

Cheers to All,

[daffy]

Hi All,

I have a 1991 LS with 430,000 kilometers(267,189 miles). Got to take her in for a starter tomorrow. :cries:

I have always replaced my own starters, but on a Lexus, a very big job!!

Thing is, it's the solenoid that is going, the starter still spins over fast. But because it is so hard to get at, you are better to replace the starter as well.

Well I guess after 14 years, that's not too bad.

My shocks and exhaust system are still original (amazing!). Daffy

[DOS]

Hi all.

I have a 1996 LS400 with 249,000 miles, runs terrific, timing belts done at 110,000 and 220,000 miles. Original engine, trans, even exhaust. Apart from a "fluttering" noise when cold and my radio display is gone, oil change every 3000 miles. I drive about 40K miles per year...it will be interesting to see how high this car can go! Awesome comfortable ride, and very quite....will get another one used for sure. dos

[Lst400]

B) In December of 2004 I gave my 1995 Toyota Avalon to my wife's cousin because she needed reliable transportation. Her 1994 Honda was falling apart. My Avalon had 294,000 miles on it and ran like a champ. Major repairs didn't take place until I reached 257k and were suspension and brake related. When the cousin visits I marvel at how its sheetmetal appears to be more solid and dent resistant then my 2000 LS. I put 48,000 highway miles on my LS since purchase in January 2005 and she's now at 117,000. I bought the only non-diesel car that I thought I could get 500,000 miles of comfortable, responsive, reliable transportation from that would rival or surpass that Avalon. I sometimes see the Q45s and Acura RLs and older 350S Diesels that I had considered, but I don't covet them over the LS and I'm glad I made this decision.

[davidk]

214,000 so far on my 92 ls

[Elsupremo]

I have a 2000 Millenium Edition with 77Km, Surprisingly nimble in the Snow (Have snow tires all around)

Question? Is it common to have members mention other cars mileages (Ie Toyota etc etc) I mean its a Lexus forum right??

[monarch]

Question? Is it common to have members mention other cars mileages (Ie Toyota etc etc) I mean its a Lexus forum right??

Yes it's common because every Lexus is a Toyota and many Lexus's share engines, transmissions and other drivetrain componets with comparable Toyota models.

[jc19907]

I've enjoyed reading all the booyah on Amercan vs. Asian. Army of One has performed an autopsy on the subject... My thoughts are: I'm a former mechanic and have owned 3 Asian Cars, 1 German car and 4 American cars.

Most of my life I haven't been able to afford a high end car until about 5 years ago. So, I've had to do what I've had to do. My LS has 89K on it and it is a 99. The best car I've owned. I love some of the American cars, but I had 3 Fords and each of them needed repairs very regularly - more than each of the other cars I've owned. I will never own a Ford again, unless Mustang has some sexy cars in the future. I do like the one thats out now. I had an Oldsmobile that I loved - a damn good car. All the Asian cars have outperformed the rest for me. Love Benzes, but pricey.

2cts

[sapper_daddy]

I've enjoyed reading all the booyah on Amercan vs. Asian. Army of One has performed an autopsy on the subject... My thoughts are: I'm a former mechanic and have owned 3 Asian Cars, 1 German car and 4 American cars.

Most of my life I haven't been able to afford a high end car until about 5 years ago. So, I've had to do what I've had to do. My LS has 89K on it and it is a 99. The best car I've owned. I love some of the American cars, but I had 3 Fords and each of them needed repairs very regularly - more than each of the other cars I've owned. I will never own a Ford again, unless Mustang has some sexy cars in the future. I do like the one thats out now. I had an Oldsmobile that I loved - a damn good car. All the Asian cars have outperformed the rest for me. Love Benzes, but pricey.

2cts

it's all in what kind of beast you want really i wouldn't dog out the american too much. when something goes out on my domestic stuff i can A) fix it myself for under 100 in the SAME DAY B) find any replacement part thats over 100 buck in a salvage yard all day long. So ford I-6 has a lot of miles and drives PERFECT and i only have a little bit of money in it. I mean for crying out loud a whole new head costs 250 BRAND NEW. Although i have a lexus when my pocketbook goes broke my american vehicle always seems to be running, and when i do regular maintainence on it it NEVER seems to break down. I ran my olds 88 to 200,000 plus miles too with no and i mean NO replacements except for a power steering seal until the timing chain popped then i threw the whole car away. But all in all the driving expereince is 0-60 with the Dom Vs Asian.

[92ls forhundo]

1992 ls400, rare rear retractable window shade,nakamichi ,trac, silver on gray, and 245,xxx miles.

[sgtm7]

1990 LS400 with 273,000 miles. Just had the transmission rebuilt last week. I definitely can't complain, since I have owned 3 american luxury cars that had to have the trannys rebuilt at under 100K.

[90LS400Lexus]

My 90' LS400 had around 240K when I sold it. My Mercedes now has 264K, still original engine and transmission, still in perfect running order.

Lucky so far.... :whistles:

[Brian Appleton]

91 LS400 with 285k.

[F1FTEENTH]

1995 ES300 251,--- still runs strong.... wish i could have drove one new...im still shocked at how nice it drives and the great performance even when i got it at 241,000 haha. Love my lexus. First one, and hopefully next will be as well