What Is The Biggest Trouble Spot With Your Ls400

[Falcon6]

I was thinking about buying a Lexus as a weekend car/backup car. I had a MB 300E which was a great car but I gave it to one of the members of our church who needed a car.

I have done alot of searching on this forum (which is awesome) and it seems that along with the expected items listed in the buyers guide, you guys seem to deal with alot of electrical gremlins. I do undersdtand that we are talking about a potentially 16 yr old car.

What maintenance item would you say has been the most troubling for you and your LS.

The other cars I have been considering are the Infinity Q45 (94-95), MB 560 SEL (87-91) and BMW 525i (89-91).

I thought I had it narrowed down to the Q45 and LS400 and I have been going back and forth in my mind ever since. I think the LS400 is timeless in design compared to the others. I have had very little if any trouble out of my MB (1988). I am just looking for the least potential for hideous maintenance out of the cars I've mentioned. I like the looks and positive things I've heard about the LS. I just don't want a 4000lb piece of driveway jewelry.

Thanks,

Falcon6

[sweetls]

Well next time you are going to give a car away look me up. Seriously though, with all due respect why not just go find a nice clean low milage Maxima, Camry or Accord? More common, cheaper, less to maintain, better on gas. I would go that way if as you stated, you just want something for a weekend/getaround car.

I would also stop looking at the first gen Q45's if that is what you are also considering. Talk about potential maintenance headaches. Don't take my word for it. Just go to the NICOclub.com G50 forum and peruse that for a while. The early Q's are beautiful cars but if they were not maintained by a Infinity trained technician on a regular basis stay away. Add to that the fact that IF you buy a first gen Q you had better have a Q45 mechanic lined up before hand because you are going to be on a first name basis with him soon. I would love to own a 94-96 Q but I got scared off because of the potential recurring issues with the cars.

That said any expensive luxury car is going to cost big bucks to keep in like new shape. That cost just keeps going up with the age of the car too. A 14 to 16 year old LS is going to cost you dearly in proper maintenance if you don't want to be left stranded on the side of the road. I think if you still only want a Q, LS, or BMW, for reliability purposes only I would stick to the LS. Right now on AutoTrader there are some super looking low milage first generation LS's for sale. Just MHO.

[93LSOwner]

What is your price range and miles you want the car to be in?

If your price range is above $8k, than 1995-present would be the better choice.

[Falcon6]

Well next time you are going to give a car away look me up. Seriously though, with all due respect why not just go find a nice clean low milage Maxima, Camry or Accord? More common, cheaper, less to maintain, better on gas. I would go that way if as you stated, you just want something for a weekend/getaround car.

I would also stop looking at the first gen Q45's if that is what you are also considering. Talk about potential maintenance headaches. Don't take my word for it. Just go to the NICOclub.com G50 forum and peruse that for a while. The early Q's are beautiful cars but if they were not maintained by a Infinity trained technician on a regular basis stay away. Add to that the fact that IF you buy a first gen Q you had better have a Q45 mechanic lined up before hand because you are going to be on a first name basis with him soon. I would love to own a 94-96 Q but I got scared off because of the potential recurring issues with the cars.

That said any expensive luxury car is going to cost big bucks to keep in like new shape. That cost just keeps going up with the age of the car too. A 14 to 16 year old LS is going to cost you dearly in proper maintenance if you don't want to be left stranded on the side of the road. I think if you still only want a Q, LS, or BMW, for reliability purposes only I would stick to the LS. Right now on AutoTrader there are some super looking low milage first generation LS's for sale. Just MHO.

Let me clarify. By "weekend" I meant fun and enjoyable. I do understand that when you are dealing with luxury anything, you are looking at higher maintenance. I forgot to mention that rear wheel drive has spoiled me. I went to the NICOclub.com forum and found exactly what you said. That's not the route I want to go.

I have been looking at some rather nice 400s and I think I'll take my chances with Lexus. Because it will be a weekend only car, I feel that I will be able to deal with whatever maintenance that may be needed. I will keep searching this forum for common areas and address accordingly.

I plan on spending between 4-7k on the car and it doesn't seem like that will put me in 94+ territory. I like the 90-93 just fine though.

Thanks for your feedback. I'll be reviewing this thread just in case someone has something to add. You guys are great.

[OmarG]

You can get a perfect low mileage one owner 93-94 ls for 7k. Those are the years you want because of bigger wheels tires and brakes, lower cladding, and r134 ac( if you want a first gen). The only probs you might have are power steering, and alternator troubles ( they are related... the power steering fluid leaks onto the alternator and kills it). There are really no other problems that would be differrent from any other car. You know motor mounts, suspension components, bushings. Finding a well cared for example is easy.

And unless your a perfectionist, repair bills wont be too high if you have a trusty mechanic. If can work on your car... even better becuase you'll never be in a rush since its a secondary vehicle. The LS is pretty easy to work on, but is tedious.

good luck on the search!

PS even high mileage LS400's shouldn't be knocked off your list. If they were taken care of they can be just as reliable at 200k.

Lexus published an article about a guy who had upwards 500k on his LS. Original engine and Tranny.

[CUMan]

A very common problem on the mid-90's LS models involves the dash display. Some of the capacitors in the circuitry fail and need to be replaced. This is not a high cost repair - IF you have it done by someone other than a Lexus dealer. If you are looking at one of these models, ask if the instrument panel has been repaired. This problem (failure of the panel to light up) occurs primarily during cold weather. The display may work perfectly during the spring and summer and then fail to come on when the weather gets cool.

Another very common problem involves a broken wire in the wiring harness attached to the driver side trunk hinge. This causes numerous strange electrical problems.

The power steering situation has already been discussed. A very common problem area in the power steering involves the failure of the air control valve. This valve screws into the bottom of the power steering pump. Seals inside this valve tend to fail. This allows power steering fluid to be drawn into the intake manifold and be burned with the fuel mixture. If the car is losing power steering fluid with no obvious leaks, and there is a puff of white smoke when the car is started, this valve is probably bad.

Replacement of the air control valve is not an expensive repair. The valve itself costs around $80-90. An experienced do-it-yourselfer with a good assortment of tools can probably replace it fairly easily.

I have owned my 93 LS for a bit over eight years now. The repair costs have been no more than what I spent on several Hondas (and one Acura) I owned previously. There are several keys to controlling repair costs: (1) Avoid Lexus dealer maintenance and repairs; (2) do your own maintenance if you are able to; or (3) if you don't feel confident enough to do your own maintenance, find an independent service facility that specializes in Lexus repair and maintenance.

[InnovexGolf]

A very common problem on the mid-90's LS models involves the dash display. Some of the capacitors in the circuitry fail and need to be replaced. This is not a high cost repair - IF you have it done by someone other than a Lexus dealer. If you are looking at one of these models, ask if the instrument panel has been repaired. This problem (failure of the panel to light up) occurs primarily during cold weather. The display may work perfectly during the spring and summer and then fail to come on when the weather gets cool.

Another very common problem involves a broken wire in the wiring harness attached to the driver side trunk hinge. This causes numerous strange electrical problems.

The power steering situation has already been discussed. A very common problem area in the power steering involves the failure of the air control valve. This valve screws into the bottom of the power steering pump. Seals inside this valve tend to fail. This allows power steering fluid to be drawn into the intake manifold and be burned with the fuel mixture. If the car is losing power steering fluid with no obvious leaks, and there is a puff of white smoke when the car is started, this valve is probably bad.

Replacement of the air control valve is not an expensive repair. The valve itself costs around $80-90. An experienced do-it-yourselfer with a good assortment of tools can probably replace it fairly easily.

I have owned my 93 LS for a bit over eight years now. The repair costs have been no more than what I spent on several Hondas (and one Acura) I owned previously. There are several keys to controlling repair costs: (1) Avoid Lexus dealer maintenance and repairs; (2) do your own maintenance if you are able to; or (3) if you don't feel confident enough to do your own maintenance, find an independent service facility that specializes in Lexus repair and maintenance.

Cuman... How does one go about finding an independent mechanic that has good experience with Lexus vehicles? The one thing that Lexus offers is the loaner car - which would be of value to me IF the local mechanic was any more than a few miles from home / office.

Is there a website that lists mechanics across the US and the types of cars they work on?

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

[05IS300]

As a Parts Mgr at a Lexus Dealership I would say ps pump and line,ac compressor and clutch,instrument cluster,heater display,upper control arm bushings,lower ball joints,starters,alternator from the leaky ps pump and that should be it.I would like to say I stock all those parts for the early LS but keep in mind I personally have one with 285k so we see all the high mileage cars also.They are GREAT cars and VERY reliable.

[nc211]

As a Parts Mgr at a Lexus Dealership I would say ps pump and line,ac compressor and clutch,instrument cluster,heater display,upper control arm bushings,lower ball joints,starters,alternator from the leaky ps pump and that should be it.I would like to say I stock all those parts for the early LS but keep in mind I personally have one with 285k so we see all the high mileage cars also.They are GREAT cars and VERY reliable.

I agree....

I'm not sure what you mean by dealing with electrical bugs? There is really only one cause that I know of that creates electrical gremlins, and that is that little wire on the trunk hinge, which is easily fixed with some electrical tape. The dashboard, ac/heater read out and radio display simply wear out over time, not due to bugs in the system, but simply due to wear and tear. Trust me, if you're left stranded on the side of the road in the LS, it's probably because you ran out of gas, or your alternator died, becuase your power steering pump leaked on it. You want to talk about one of the greatest engines ever built...then you're talking about the 4.0 liter Toyota V8. Sure, things wear out...but not prematurely, not even on a regular schedule like other car makers do. If you have clean fluids in the parts, have a tune up, then you're pretty much good to go.

My biggest problem, as seen in my signature, was due to a devil vibration that I clearly misdiagnoised...see my wobble thread. It turned out that my drive shaft was bad. But, for all of those parts listed below, and the man hours put in by both me, lexus, and indi mechanics...probably a grand total of $4k. But, I purchased the car for $14,200 at 81k miles. So, at $18,200, I have a pretty darn near lexus ls400 with 120k miles, and at least that many more to come over the next several years. I have never had to replace anything electrical, except for the computer. But, Lexus picked up the dime on that one since I discovered it right when I bought it, and enforced the 90 day / 3,000 warranty.

You've named some nice cars in your search...The Q45...no thank you... The BMW....you want to talk about gremlins, good luck with that one.... The MB, can't say anything bad about that one. That model year, and that 5.6 V8 is pretty tough to beat. My dad has a 85 500SEL, all in italian. And that car is nice. But, not NEARLY as plush as the LS400. I don't think it rides as nice, operates as smoothly, and certainly isn't as quiet on the road. But, the V8 is amazing! I think you could run that car on a tank of watered down gas. The compression ratio on that thing is so low, a !Removed! could make the engine turn over.

[Falcon6]

I really appreciate the input. I feel alot better about going after a nice LS. I do understand and am prepared for expected maintenance on an older car.

Are there any catalogs or dedicated parts web sites for the LS? I'm about a month away from purchase and I want to start pricing some things.

Anyway, thanks again. This is exactly the info I was looking for.

[nc211]

www.parts.com

drill down to Lexus, and you'll see quite a few places, that are actual dealerships, that sell parts for a ton cheaper than your local dealership. I like www.lexuspartsonline.com myself, but have used the Hoy Fox one as well. Hoy Fox is usually a couple of bucks more though. Just to give you an example: Front brake pads. I can get them from the lexuspartsonline for $52 bucks for the car. Or, I can go buy the exact same part at the dealership, for around $110. Plus, not to mention the fitment kits, and anti-squeel kits. Online, they're about $15 per kit....at the dealership...$50.

I think you'll find that if you are DIY type, you'll find that these cars are actually quite easy to work on, for the most part. There are only a couple areas that are a tight fit, and require a special tool. I think you'll also find, that if you buy your parts online, and do the repairs yourself, or even take the parts to a local indi mechanic, that owning a LS400 doesn't cost that much. Sure, it's more than an Altima, but nothing even close to a MB, BMW or Infiiniti. I would ball-park the comparision to somewhere close to maybe a Camry?? But, you've got to know a few things, like you've just learned, which is where to buy your parts. The biggest cost of owning the LS400 isn't in parts, its in Labor. When mechanics see the Lexus badge, they usually tack on a steep premium because they think you can afford it, when in all reality, they're one of the easiest cars to work on. Heck, even Toyota does this. You can get an oil change at the Lexus dealer for $90 bucks, or you can get the exact same oil change at the Toyota dealer across the street for $49.

[blake918]

Are there any catalogs or dedicated parts web sites for the LS? I'm about a month away from purchase and I want to start pricing some things.

I compare prices at http://www.lexus-parts.com and http://www.newlexusparts.com for the best deals on parts. Newlexusparts is usually cheaper because they have free shipping, and another plus is, they have an extensive online catalog so that you don't have to email a request to them if you want a part that isn't on their list of common parts.

[Falcon6]

Thanks alot. I have realized over the years that there can be a huge difference in price even locally among the auto store chains. Shopping around definately saves huge $$$.

You guys just saved me a ton of time shopping for good prices on genuine stuff.

I am the DIY type and actually enjoy working on my cars. I don't enjoy it enough to buy a Q45 but I enjoy it at any rate.

Thanks