1991 Lexus Ls400

[WFVETTE]

I just bought a 1991 LS400 no traction control no heated seats has everything else including upgraded stereo/cd. The car is absolutly in mint condition with 60k original miles. Lexus maintained. Paid $9000. Did I do ok.

[Lextreme]

Hard to say.. but i think u over paid about 4-5k

[93LSOwner]

You might run into electrical or other related problems that are going to be caused by aging. I wouldn't worry too much about these things though.

But, the engine and everything else should be in excellent condition.

For $7,000 people here [High Point, NC area] in put 91,92,93 LSs for sale with over 170k miles.

Good price. If I was the seller the price would have been in 5 figures.

[POS]

I guess where you buy it has everything to do with how much it costs.

I just paid $6800 for a '90 LS with 76k miles and all service done at dealer - oil changes every 4000 miles and all the regular service intervals. Interior looks spectacular, exterior has a few door dings, a few scratches, but the the car was garaged it's life and it shows.

I thought I got a decent deal - perhaps another buyer would have paid another $1000 down here.

[FreddT]

I like the mileage. Price is a little high, however.

However, if your location is "CT", (Connecticut) - that might be a problem, since I lived in Mass for a while, and found that older cars suffered from the weather. In a sense, the low mileage can be a detriment, since it means that the car was not used too often. If it was garage-kept, it might be a better buy-but how do you know?

Best of luck.

[monarch]

Yes you did great. A 60K mile '91 LS400 that was carefully maintained will still be in near new mechanical condition and will be reliable and drive like new for years to come. You did exactly the right thing by paying a slightly high price for a finely maintained car because your car won't have serious wear and tear like worn out suspension, engine / transmission mounts, steering racks, exhaust systems and catalytic converters, etc. like the $4,000 - $6,000 early 1990's LS 400's on the market typically have.

You do need to know, however, the early 1990's LS400's have a few mechanical quirks to beware of. The power steering system is prone to leaking from all sorts of places and can leak fluid onto the alternator and short it out and leave you stranded. So despite the care your car has received, plan on soon needing to replace the power steering pump and all hoses associated with the system. After 100K miles you may also need new lower ball joints. Run the AC system at least a few minutes every week or two throughout the year to keep it reliable.

The engine, transmission, rear axle, fuel and ignition systems of your car are the most important systems and they are bullet proof.

[93LSOwner]

Things to tell if the car was really "Garage kept"

1. The paint [usually the roof & top of the trunk] is weathering, or fading out [not chipping off] and faded so much that it has turned white from some places. This will usually happen in one circle then the circle grows. I'll be more than happy to show examples.

2. The leather is deteriating from places that are not used. For instants, the top back of the back seat [near the speakers] you will see hard wrinkles or if worse colonies of cracks.

Also, look under the car and observe it so see any rust. Always inspect the muffler to see a whole or rust. Ask a person to press the gas pedal all the way down and in the back the muffler should throw out a lot of Air [don't put your face or nose front of it, or you are going to get smacked by air or some hot oil might splatter out. If it doesn't then mostly likely the pipes some where are damaged.

For example: I was checking a 1994 Honda Accord with 14,xxx miles last year. Owned by a very old lady since 1994. For $9k, got sold for 8,800. Anyways, the muffler had a real big whole in the bottom, if I was serious I would have taken it to a mechanic and had it lifted to see for further rust. But everything else was brand new, except for some scratches.

I also didn't buy the car, because I don't drive a lot. So, 14k miles was not that important to me. I was looking for a car for show [high school] it was a 1994, nobody is going to know how many miles it has on it and that I paid $9k and not $3-4k.

This works great the other way around, buy a new model with high miles; are you going to know how many miles it has on it? NO.