98 Ls400 Buy Or No Buy

[an ly]

Hi all, I always wanted a ls400, Carmax has a ls400 with 37,000 mile, car is in excellent condition, not even a sigle scratch,insided or outside, they wanted $19599 should I buy or no buy, what does member of this form think, thanks you in advance for your suggestion.

AN

[etex]

Sounds high to me, but it IS low mileage.

[landar]

No scratches is a nice starting point but you need to get into the mechanicals if you are truly interested.

One owner? Dealer serviced? What records are available?

Even with low mileage, its worth $15k, IMO of course.

[LScott400]

Trade-in value is $12,000. I agree w/ Landar.

[an ly]

Nice clean Carfax, one owner, Metallic Silver, with deep gray interior, nice new tire, very sweet ride, I know its a little above KBB, but it is so hard to find a nice low mile clean LS 400, but 19500 a little up there. not sure, anymore suggestion

An

[GKLCPA]

I'd try to get him to reduce it a bit, but at 37k miles, that car is virtually brand new. Whatever premium you pay, would come out in the wash considering you'll be able to get 200K+ miles out of the car

Nice clean Carfax, one owner, Metallic Silver, with deep gray interior, nice new tire, very sweet ride, I know its a little above KBB, but it is so hard to find a nice low mile clean LS 400, but 19500 a little up there. not sure, anymore suggestion

An

[1990LS400]

It would be good to find out if all the TSIB's have been applied when the car was under warranty. For example, if the TSIB's on the tilt/telecope issues have not been performed, doing the work on your own dime will cost at least $2K.

How is this car equiped? What options? (There were lots of options on a 99 LS and some of the optional equipment was standard or more common on the 99-00 LS.) Most of the options on the 98's were individually priced and there were few packages offered.

If the car has the OEM navigation system, I suggest that you pass on this vehicle - regardless of the mileage.

If the car is well optioned, without nav and if all the TSIB's have been applied, then this low mileage 98 LS could be a rare find and well worth paying a premium if you plan to keep it a long time.

[an ly]

It would be good to find out if all the TISB's have been applied when the car was under warranty. For example, if the TISB's on the tilt/telecope issues have not been performed, doing the work on your own dime will cost at least $2K.

How is this car equiped? What options? (There were lots of options on a 99 LS and some of the optional equipment was standard or more common on the 99-00 LS.) Most of the options on the 98's were individually priced and there were few packages offered.

If the car has the OEM navigation system, I suggest that you pass on this vehicle - regardless of the mileage.

If the car is well optioned, without nav and if all the TISB's have been applied, then this low mileage 98 LS could be a rare find and well worth paying a premium if you plan to keep it a long time.

hi, thanks for the reply, pretty well equiped, just no navigation. Not sure what you mean by TISB's, can you please explain

[an ly]

hi Jim, did some search and found out what you mean by TISB, not sure if this issue was fix, Jim does it pretty much affect all car from 98, is this like a recall to fix the tele/scope steering wheel. How will I know if this problem is fix or not on this car, will dealers be able to know if they enter the Vin #. Thanks hope you can help.

An

[1990LS400]

From what I remember, the tilt/telescope issues effected LS400's from 1998 until sometime in 2000 when the problems were solved by a redesign. My 2000 LS400 was made after the problems were resolved.

I thought I had posted the TSIB's but I searched this and another forum and I can't find them. You can find them in the EBSCO auto repair database in the on-line reference system of many public libraries -- you usually have to have a library card to view EBSCO. The TSIB's have the VIN numbers of the cars that had the problems. I think there are as many as three TSIB's about the problem -- there are at least two.

About the only way to tell if the car has had the TSIB's applied is to have a dealer look at the car's record. When I bought my 2000 LS400 in 2003, the local dealer verified that all TSIB work had been done.

As I posted previously, a co-workers 99 LS developed problems with the tilt/telescope at about 90,000 miles. The TSIBs had not been applied. BTW, the TSIBs are done for free if the car is within warranty. After the warranty has expired it is rare that the work will be done for free. On a 9 year old car, it would be very unusual for Lexus to fund the repair.

By "well equipted", does the 98 you are looking at have HID, wood wheel and shift knob, heated seats, air suspension, Nakamichi. Don't be scared of a 98 with air suspension -- the auto leveling is nice if you carry adult passengers in the back seat and lots of luggage in the trunk.

[Depot]

Although low mileage is desireable you really need to find out the nature of it. If the car was city-driven its entire life or even put up on blocks for several years you could be in for a slew of problems down the road.

[an ly]

thanks all, has the wood steering wheel, Hid,heated seats,air suspension, pretty much all the goodies, except nav. and no nakamichi sounds.

An

[an ly]

hi, call the lexus dealer and ask about the service history on vehicle, and ask about the tbis and any recall, they are not aware of any recall, or problem with the sterring wheel, the car was very well taken care of by the previous owner. Oil change at dealer every 5k, had front brakes done at 23K, Had the 30k service including tune up and flush out all fluids, the last service was done at 35K, the car now has 37K. although the price at $19599 is high, but well worth it I think, since the car is so well care for. Please let me know what everyone think? Jim any suggestion?

An

[1990LS400]

An,

I suppose the person you are speaking with may be being truthful and be unaware of the TISB's on the tilt/telescope steering wheel. I will plan on downloading the TSIB's from EBSCO tonight and post them on this thread. The TISB's involve changing both the tilt motor and the telescopic motor. Another TSIB involves substituting a rigid rod with u-joints for the flexible cable in the wheel telescope system.

At the low mileage of the 98 LS you are looking at, it is quite possible that there was never a problem and that the TSIB's were never applied. And, of course, even if the work was never done, the problems may never develop on this particular car. TSIB work is supposed to be done only if the owner complains about a problem but often dealers encourage owners to complain so that the dealer can do the work and get paid for it by Lexus.

The dealer should have access to all TSIB information for the 98 model year - even if it has been a long time ago. There are a few other TSIB's too. One addressed wind noise from the outside mirrors and involved stuffing various materials behind the mirror glass to reduce the noise.

Be sure to check the age of the tires! If they are original, at 9-11 years old they would not be safe and should be replaced immediately.

Also, the price the dealer is asking for this 98 LS really does seem quite high even with the low mileage and excellent condition. I paid a little less than $31K for my 2000 LS400 with the same number of miles on it in 2003 at a point when it was just over three years from its original in-service date. I suggest that you find out what the in-service date was on the 98 you are looking at to see at what point in the model year it was manufactured -- it could be as early as August 1997.

[1990LS400]

Oddly, two of the three TSIB's on the tilt/telescope steering wheel issues exclude the 1998 LS 400 and are apparently only for LS400s in the 1999 and 2000 model years. Very odd. Here are all three including the two that appear to be only for the 1999 and some of the 2000 LS400's.

TSIB_ST001_04.pdf

TSIB_ST003_00.pdf

TSIB_ST003_99.pdf

[an ly]

Jim, thanks you so much for all your help. Ever since college years always wanted a ls 400, these vehicle are extremely well built,reliability and the smoothest vehicle on the market. Been looking for a while for a nice clean ls400 with low mile, extremely hard to find, been looking for about 6 months now, with the right color and condition, will pick her up tomorrow. I love the classic design and body style of the ls400. Indeed Lexus makes one of the most reliable and smoothest vehicle on earth. Thanks again, will post some of her picture in a couple of days.

An