Nerpie Posted November 5, 2005 Share Posted November 5, 2005 Hi all. New member here. Well, I just got back from test driving my first SC's. I drove a total of 3 today, all SC400s. Here are my impressions.... Car #1: Red 92 SC400 170xxx miles. $7000 Dealer serviced to 60k, no records after that. Exterior was in good shape, no major scratches or dents of any kind. Seats were cracked (driver and passenger), window sill trim was cracked, and so was 1 of the AC vents. Car seemed sluggish at first not really willing to rev. After bout 5 min of driving, though, it redlined freely. The weird thing though, while I was in stop and go traffic on the freeway, the car suddenly stalled on me. It started up fine, but it shouldn't do that right? I was playing around with the traction control and ect buttons when it happened, maybe thats the problem? Car #2: Black 92 SC400 160xxx miles $5000. Manual is there, no service records. Exterior is same as above, but interior was much cleaner. No cracks in the leather seats, only on the window sill. There was a noise coming from the tramission during accerlation and liftoff. You can definitely hear it, sounds like its coming from right under the shifter. Engine also seemed sluggish at first and at low RPM Car #3: Red 93 SC400 131xxx miles $6500. No manual, no service records Exterior is best out of the 3. Interior is about same condition as Car 1. Car pulled strongly, but there is a tramission noise just like Car 2, but the noise is very faint. The dealer put some PS fluid before I test drove it, I know there are problems with the PS pump on older SC's, maybe its leaking? Now, I did notice there was some white smoke coming from the exhaust of all 3 cars when I first started it. Car #3 seemed to be the worst as puffs of white spewed when I reved the engine. It did go away however after a couple minutes of driving. All three cars also had dim gauges and the trunk would not stay open. All three also came with heated seats, and traction control. There also seemed to be a little condensation in the headlights on all 3. Sorry for the long post, but I'm very exicted to get my SC. I'm coming from a 97 mazda pickup with a 4 banger, so this is a HUGE upgrade for me. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated. Should I keep looking for a better condition SC or are these problems expected of 120k+ miles? Oh, all 3 cars come with engine/tranny warranty for 30 days/1k miles. Should I opt for the extened warranty (3years/36k miles) in case engine/tranny problems do arise? Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexus082 Posted November 5, 2005 Share Posted November 5, 2005 Most common problems are leaking power steering pump & condensation in the headlight assemblies, cracked ac vents mainly the center vent (probably will happen on every sc given enough time) and flickering or dead needles. Make sure you do a Car Fax on all three cars. There shouldn't be any noise coming from the transmission. The sc shouldn't stall out. Trunk would not stay open, most likely the trunks shocks. I would stay away from the white smoke and I would also stay away from the transmission making noises that you claim. Sorry to tell you, but to be honest I would wait and keep looking. You should be able to find one without the transmission noise and one that isn't smoking. That's my best advice. If you buy one that is in all right condition but still has a couple of minor problems that you know of, thats fine, but I wouldn't recommend buying something that has something wrong in the drive train like smoking and transmission noises with approx 150,000. sounds like all three might have been deglected. These cars are built very well, but if you dont take good care of a highly tuned machine ur asking for trouble. Lexus parts can get very expensive along with lexus's labor rate of $100/hr. I'm sure you can find something better take your time trying to find something better It will pay off in the end. Also, my other advice....If you live close to a Lexus dealer you could take the car to them and they will look it over (rather inspect it) and they can tell you whats good and whats not good with it. Its definetely worth the $100.00 they charge to do it. Dont buy a car with abnormal signs of wear. Spend your money on something thats worth it. Keep looking you'll be able to find a sc thats in better shape than the three you described. The common problems you will probably find at least onecommong problem on every used sc model. Luckily they all can be fixed:) Thats what you'll need your extra money for: to fix the common problems. Why waste it on having to buy a rebuilt transmission or spending all that money on a smoking engine. Or a car that stalls out on your test drive. Buy Smart you'll save more in the long run... Hi all. New member here. Well, I just got back from test driving my first SC's. I drove a total of 3 today, all SC400s. Here are my impressions....Car #1: Red 92 SC400 170xxx miles. $7000 Dealer serviced to 60k, no records after that. Exterior was in good shape, no major scratches or dents of any kind. Seats were cracked (driver and passenger), window sill trim was cracked, and so was 1 of the AC vents. Car seemed sluggish at first not really willing to rev. After bout 5 min of driving, though, it redlined freely. The weird thing though, while I was in stop and go traffic on the freeway, the car suddenly stalled on me. It started up fine, but it shouldn't do that right? I was playing around with the traction control and ect buttons when it happened, maybe thats the problem? Car #2: Black 92 SC400 160xxx miles $5000. Manual is there, no service records. Exterior is same as above, but interior was much cleaner. No cracks in the leather seats, only on the window sill. There was a noise coming from the tramission during accerlation and liftoff. You can definitely hear it, sounds like its coming from right under the shifter. Engine also seemed sluggish at first and at low RPM Car #3: Red 93 SC400 131xxx miles $6500. No manual, no service records Exterior is best out of the 3. Interior is about same condition as Car 1. Car pulled strongly, but there is a tramission noise just like Car 2, but the noise is very faint. The dealer put some PS fluid before I test drove it, I know there are problems with the PS pump on older SC's, maybe its leaking? Now, I did notice there was some white smoke coming from the exhaust of all 3 cars when I first started it. Car #3 seemed to be the worst as puffs of white spewed when I reved the engine. It did go away however after a couple minutes of driving. All three cars also had dim gauges and the trunk would not stay open. All three also came with heated seats, and traction control. There also seemed to be a little condensation in the headlights on all 3. Sorry for the long post, but I'm very exicted to get my SC. I'm coming from a 97 mazda pickup with a 4 banger, so this is a HUGE upgrade for me. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated. Should I keep looking for a better condition SC or are these problems expected of 120k+ miles? Oh, all 3 cars come with engine/tranny warranty for 30 days/1k miles. Should I opt for the extened warranty (3years/36k miles) in case engine/tranny problems do arise? Thanks for looking. ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerpie Posted November 5, 2005 Author Share Posted November 5, 2005 Thx for the reply. I just found a nice 93 SC400 with 97k miles. The seller is the original owner and he says he has all the service records and that the car is in "mint" condition. Sounds like good stuff Asking price is $8900. That seem right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexus082 Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 Thx for the reply. I just found a nice 93 SC400 with 97k miles. The seller is the original owner and he says he has all the service records and that the car is in "mint" condition. Sounds like good stuff Asking price is $8900. That seem right? ← Go to www.kbb.com and find out the blue book price on it and then go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexus082 Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 I would still recommend you take it to lexus and have them look it over if possible. Most common problems are leaking power steering pump & condensation in the headlight assemblies, cracked ac vents mainly the center vent (probably will happen on every sc given enough time) and flickering or dead needles. Make sure you do a Car Fax on all three cars. There shouldn't be any noise coming from the transmission. The sc shouldn't stall out. Trunk would not stay open, most likely the trunks shocks. I would stay away from the white smoke and I would also stay away from the transmission making noises that you claim. Sorry to tell you, but to be honest I would wait and keep looking. You should be able to find one without the transmission noise and one that isn't smoking. That's my best advice. If you buy one that is in all right condition but still has a couple of minor problems that you know of, thats fine, but I wouldn't recommend buying something that has something wrong in the drive train like smoking and transmission noises with approx 150,000. sounds like all three might have been deglected. These cars are built very well, but if you dont take good care of a highly tuned machine ur asking for trouble. Lexus parts can get very expensive along with lexus's labor rate of $100/hr. I'm sure you can find something better take your time trying to find something better It will pay off in the end. Also, my other advice....If you live close to a Lexus dealer you could take the car to them and they will look it over (rather inspect it) and they can tell you whats good and whats not good with it. Its definetely worth the $100.00 they charge to do it. Dont buy a car with abnormal signs of wear. Spend your money on something thats worth it. Keep looking you'll be able to find a sc thats in better shape than the three you described. The common problems you will probably find at least onecommong problem on every used sc model. Luckily they all can be fixed:) Thats what you'll need your extra money for: to fix the common problems. Why waste it on having to buy a rebuilt transmission or spending all that money on a smoking engine. Or a car that stalls out on your test drive. Buy Smart you'll save more in the long run... Hi all. New member here. Well, I just got back from test driving my first SC's. I drove a total of 3 today, all SC400s. Here are my impressions....Car #1: Red 92 SC400 170xxx miles. $7000 Dealer serviced to 60k, no records after that. Exterior was in good shape, no major scratches or dents of any kind. Seats were cracked (driver and passenger), window sill trim was cracked, and so was 1 of the AC vents. Car seemed sluggish at first not really willing to rev. After bout 5 min of driving, though, it redlined freely. The weird thing though, while I was in stop and go traffic on the freeway, the car suddenly stalled on me. It started up fine, but it shouldn't do that right? I was playing around with the traction control and ect buttons when it happened, maybe thats the problem? Car #2: Black 92 SC400 160xxx miles $5000. Manual is there, no service records. Exterior is same as above, but interior was much cleaner. No cracks in the leather seats, only on the window sill. There was a noise coming from the tramission during accerlation and liftoff. You can definitely hear it, sounds like its coming from right under the shifter. Engine also seemed sluggish at first and at low RPM Car #3: Red 93 SC400 131xxx miles $6500. No manual, no service records Exterior is best out of the 3. Interior is about same condition as Car 1. Car pulled strongly, but there is a tramission noise just like Car 2, but the noise is very faint. The dealer put some PS fluid before I test drove it, I know there are problems with the PS pump on older SC's, maybe its leaking? Now, I did notice there was some white smoke coming from the exhaust of all 3 cars when I first started it. Car #3 seemed to be the worst as puffs of white spewed when I reved the engine. It did go away however after a couple minutes of driving. All three cars also had dim gauges and the trunk would not stay open. All three also came with heated seats, and traction control. There also seemed to be a little condensation in the headlights on all 3. Sorry for the long post, but I'm very exicted to get my SC. I'm coming from a 97 mazda pickup with a 4 banger, so this is a HUGE upgrade for me. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated. Should I keep looking for a better condition SC or are these problems expected of 120k+ miles? Oh, all 3 cars come with engine/tranny warranty for 30 days/1k miles. Should I opt for the extened warranty (3years/36k miles) in case engine/tranny problems do arise? Thanks for looking. ← ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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