Question On 93' Air Suspension

[BigBuggie]

Hello guys!!!

Another potential candidate has arisen. I have a question though. I have not had a chance to bring this car to my mechanic yet or drive it. However judging by it's condition after a walk around it seems to be in excellent condition. Leather looks new, paint is almost perfect (except for a baseball sized indentation on the rear fender).

93' with 130k on it. Unfortunately it has the air suspension. I have two pictures here of the left and right profile. The left rear wheel/wheel-well clearance seems to be noticeably less than the right rear wheel. I really dont have the experience to draw any conclusions from this, logic tells me this could be due to a suspension problem. I really can't tell, maybe the wheel is slightly raised (on higher ground) in comparison to the other wheels?

Here are the pics, what do you think?

Thanks again guys!!!!!

[eatingupblacktop]

Hello guys!!!

Another potential candidate has arisen. I have a question though. I have not had a chance to bring this car to my mechanic yet or drive it. However judging by it's condition after a walk around it seems to be in excellent condition. Leather looks new, paint is almost perfect (except for a baseball sized indentation on the rear fender).

93' with 130k on it. Unfortunately it has the air suspension. I have two pictures here of the left and right profile. The left rear wheel/wheel-well clearance seems to be noticeably less than the right rear wheel. I really dont have the experience to draw any conclusions from this, logic tells me this could be due to a suspension problem. I really can't tell, maybe the wheel is slightly raised (on higher ground) in comparison to the other wheels?

Here are the pics, what do you think?

Thanks again guys!!!!!

Left rear definitely looks low. Are you on level pavement with no grade, is the car running and is there someone in the driver's seat? SK has air on his 98. He could give you a qualified opinion.

[BigBuggie]

I was wondering that myself actually, I can't tell if it is on a graded surface. There is someone in the drivers seat. I don't know if the engine is running.

[90LS400Lexus]

Yeah, it looks to me like the car may be on uneven pavement....

[ono8ono]

the air strut on the left rear is already leaking so it is lowered; it will sink all the way down after park overnight; DON'T EVER BUY any LS with air suspension; I learnt a lesson and that cost me $1,400 to replace just the right rear air strut; RUN no matter how nice the car look unless you willing to pay over $4,000 to replace all 4 strut eventually. plus some other component of the air suspensioon may fail too such as the compressor etc etc. :o

[eatingupblacktop]

Personally, I'd walk away from an air suspension. There are enough regularly sprung ls's out there in good condition. Is it worth the risk? Air sus is a well known problem with these cars and not inexpensive to repair. And last question. What's the payoff for having one?

[nc211]

I wouldn't buy that car, period! It's not that the air suspension is problematic, it's that as with all things, they do wear out after time, and need replacing. When the air suspension goes, the car is nearly sitting on the ground, making it practically undriveable. SK has the knowledge, tools, experience and contacts to make his air suspension affordable. It takes all four of those skills to do so. Arnott Industries has an aftermarket product for the LS air suspension, but there have been some mixed reviews on here about them. Quite frankely, the normal suspension is nice, soft yet responsive, and requires much much much less parts/connectors/money to replace. I hear the air suspension is increadible to ride on, but it's not like a night and day difference, just an even softer ride, on a car that is already worldly known for it's soft ride to begin with.

You buy that car, and you'll be spending a few extra thousand on those shocks within 18 months, guaranteed.

Remember, there is a reason it's sitting on a used car lot, and not in the owners garage. Most folks who get rid of their LS's either need a different type of vehicle altogether "SUV, Minivan, Truck", or know of some pending problem that they're wanting to avoid. The original owner of my 95' traded it in for a new 2004 LS430 just to avoid the 90k service charge "and he wanted navigation". That's it, that's the only reason. He knew, at 84k miles, that at some point in the next year he was going to face the $1,800 90k service, so he decided to just trade it in for a new one instead. THAT'S the kind of stuff you have to watch out for, and is usually why you either see used LS for sale between the 80k-100k mile mark. The car doesn't drive any different than at 40k miles, but it needs service. THAT LS there, I'm willing to bet, the original owner woke up one day, saw the tail pipes sitting on his driveway, went to the dealership, and was given the repair quote, and once he regained consciousness, traded it in somewhere for something else. I'd also be willing to bet that the air suspension switch inside is set to HIGH, which is keeping the rear end up.

[Ridgerez]

The air struts are gone on the rear left of that baby i your picture. Just found out about mine (front left)...dealer quoted $1,133/ea for replacement. However don't panic. There are conversion kits and rebuilt oem replacements. check this link: http://www.suncoreindustries.com/lexuspage.asp.

OEM is about $300.00 each. They come with a lifetime warranty so I'll stick with the air struts. No conversion for me.

[SKperformance]

Well it looks lower but without inspecting the car on level ground and hoist their is no way to know.

I love air and wish i could have bought mine with it. A well maintained car with air that has the undercarriage and suspension washed will last longer . None the less it can be expensive to replace depending on what it needs.

Arnott i have no experience with but some are happy and others are not it is hit or miss.

If the car is a great price then buy it . If the rest of the shocks are in good condition their is nothing to worry about.

No one here can say 2 months before the owner sold it the car had 3 shocks replaced and only 1 is left and they got tired of fixing it . It may be a perfect easy fix. Hell it might be just a $5 line that needs replacing.

Do not listen to anyone other than someone looking at the car personally. Have a tech look at the bags for leaks cracks or anything else and you might have a diamond. After all it could have sat on the lot for 6 months because no one is into LS's in your area and so a small leak will look big after that. All air suspension will loose air over time. Just depends on how long that time was.