jvcn

Blake's mpeg is really cool. But there's no way I would try that with my new "baby". I want her to just cruise around, though I have tried some passing manuevers around aggressive dorks in sports cars on the freeway who might have been a bit surprised .... ;)

I agree! You knew what you're doing. So have no regrets no matter what. Congratulations and smile when you drive!

Hah! I've already gotten offers at $10K and $11K. Not a chance. I just have to add. I've been so pleased with this LS and so annoyed by the remarks of posters in various places about what's wrong with the car that I have to say: 1) PLEASE LEXUS, Don't listen to those who want the LS to imitate the harsh ride and hard seats of the BMWs and MBs, 2) PLEASE don't feel pressured to keep adding gadgets, and above all 3) PLEASE go back to something like the LS400's styling!!! I know that I'm probably just a snowball in hell but the constant nagging by the press to make the Lexus more "exciting" or Bimmer like is slowly causing Lexus to keep changing their perfect balance. For me this is almost EXACTLY what I want. [Only improvement is a better stereo than the NAK] When I look at the 430s I think -- maybe I should buy a 1999 or 2000 and mothball it somewhere so that it'll be available for me when this 95 finally croaks in about 10-15 years.

Thank you for your kind remarks. Brought it in for a Mobil 1 oil change. The mechanic -- who follows this forum -- was really happy to work on the car. The other guys in the shop said that he (the boss) said it was his baby and that he was practically jumping up and down while working on it. He told me: "The guy who sold it took BETTER care of the car than he said. " I love how my friends and neighbors react when they see it (and now I've really improved the paint with a polisher and multiple layers of sealant and wax)! My wife says that friends who drop in just notice it sitting in the garage and ask about it. The sequence is usually 1) You bought a Lexus! 2) Is it the v8? 3) That's 9 (NINE) years old??! 4) You paid HOW much??!!! 5) You got it through EBAY!!???!!! and sometimes 6) You've gotta help me get one as well. B)

(JN, the seller said he was fanatical, but any fanatic would notice a grinding antenna! That noise could drive anyone insane. lol Case and point. Just to clarify. The antenna problem developed a week after I received it. I'm willing to cut him slack on that. Again, you're right if you must drive the car. But if I did that I'd have to have paid $3000 more for a similar car in St. Louis or waited until a car dropped in my lap. Believe me, I enjoy watching the Lexus car market here and there's nothing I've seen that would make me say Gosh, I should have waited and bought car X in St. Louis. The bottom line is not whether the car truly is worthy or not, it's how you convince the buyer of that. Great as your car sounds, I'd bet that you'd have a hard time selling it at a fair price to anyone but a friend or acquaintance who trusted you. Of course, that means your friends are blessed. Happy Turkey Day and let us give thanks for our good fortune to be driving such wonderful autos.

Blake, When I bought my 95 I had to buy sight unseen. In that case, detailed service records were very useful information for me. They verified that the guy had indeed spent $5K fixing up all the things I would want fixed myself at 90,000 miles. The extra work he did just months before selling also verified his claim that he was careful -- in his words, fanatic -- about maintenance and that he had not planned on selling. This convinced me that buying the car was a good deal and a worthwhile risk. If you can inspect and drive directly, it sure helps. But in general, good records will make it easier for you to sell your car to others, especially with very high miles. Often, we are faced with a limited selection of slightly expensive cars or a wider selection of cars out of state that involve much risk at a possibly lower price. In the latter case, all info for the buyer is useful. best, jvcn

Did a search but couldn't find a straightforward answer: Can a wood shift knob from a 99 LS400 or 2001 LS430 be attached to a 1995 LS? Is it a straightforward switch? Thanks.

This is probably obvious, but look at Ebay and especially go through the completed transactions. Note the differences between what people ask for and what they really get. Also note which cars don't sell at all because the sellers ask for way too much. Ebay is the best indicator of current market conditions. The market seems to have dropped as we approach the end of the year. Usually you can do a little bit better than Ebay if you find a local buyer but of course you have fewer buyers. Good luck.

Look at the bright side: If it IS the new LS there'll be lots of cherry LS430s and LS400s on the market, as those who have to have the newest dump their older, classier vehicles. And we get to buy them cheap. B)

A quick followup: Just did the fix. Easy and perfect. No more buzzing. The cable was stripped and broken. Now the radio is good to go and there's no more grinding sound. Best to do this with two people -- one to pull out the old antenna and one to turn the radio on and off as necessary. The only complication was the difficulty of unscrewing and then tightening the outside nut. Needle nose pliers worked but were cumbersome. I can see why pros would have a specialized tool for this. Still, for a grand total of $25 all costs included, this was a heckuva good deal. I recommend it to anyone whose Lexus antenna is having problems. You'll save off the usual dealer charge of $100-$125.

After reading this whole thread, I think you're looking for the impossible --- or at least highly improbable. You want something that's a real cream puff, yet has all the features you desire, is within travel range so you can check it out, and is still underpriced. You also want to be SURE that you won't have to do expensive maintenance. And it sounds like you don't want to risk buying on Ebay. My guess is you don't want to spend the $8K-$10K necessary to get a very clean, one owner 93 or 94, since you can also get good Gen II 95s in that range. The fact is, you must go into this budgeting at least $1000-$2000 for repairs. Of course you could get lucky but it's foolish to assume otherwise. If you buy something under $5000, the odds of repairs go up substantially. You either have to know someone who knows someone who just has to get rid of their car quickly or you have to take risks with classifieds or Ebay. I believe that I lucked out buying off Ebay, but I did my homework and budgeted for mistakes. I also think that Lexi are a bit cheaper and slower to move in the Midwest. I think there are more Lexi on the coasts, but demand is also higher and unless you know someone who must sell, there are likely to be fewer bargains. Sorry if this sounds harsh. It's meant to be helpful. But you have to bite the bullet and decide which tradeoffs are most important. Otherwise you're just praying that something falls into your lap, and even then you won't really know for sure. Good luck.

That is the thread I got the instructions from but it doesn't work. I don't even get to press the remote. It's not cycling at step 8. You said yours worked. Hmm...

Just a quick followup: After over a week of driving I have to say, THIS IS THE BEST CAR I'VE EVER DRIVEN!!! No idea why I didn't do this before (Oh yeah, I thought new was too expensive and dismissed the idea of used). It is exactly what I was looking for -- a luxo barge, that wasn't a total marshmallow, that goes fast, but is very quiet, smooth, comfortable and solid. If future repairs and maintenance don't turn out to be a pain, I will never go back to newer cars again. [i only wish Lexus would go back to the style of the 1998-2000. I guess I'll get a 2000 when I replace this baby in the future.] And the Germans can keep their uncomfortable, driving excitement tin cans to themselves. This is all the excitement I want. And this also means that I'll never have to drive tiny cars again.

i'm sorry for your difficulty but sounds like you still got a decent deal. When I bought off Ebay, I purposely assumed that I'd have to spend up to $1500 or so to cover unanticipated problems. So far I have had no major difficulties (knock on wood) from my purchase. Ebay is a great place to get lots of things including cars. The risks are just different from buying in person. You get more choice but have less info going into the deal so that has to be factored in. One should only get something if the price is much less than locally. Even a defective 93 LS with only 83,000 miles would be at least $6000-$7000, probably even >$9K if in flawless condition, around here. So you weren't taken, despite your disappointment. I'm sure that once you get your fixes sorted out, that you'll have a great ride. Me, I've been enjoying tooling around in the 95 LS I got a couple of weeks ago. Hoping these posts help you feel better about everything.

I decided to order the replacement radio mast that is sold on Ebay. I've seen from other posts here and on the Web that this guy comes highly recommended. I got in touch with them and they thought it was almost certainly the plastic ratchet that's deteriorated not the motor. I tested the antenna several times today and it was clearly the source of the noise. So, crossing my fingers, I ordered the $19 part and we'll see if I am not too much of a klutz to install the "simple" fix myself. Thanks for helping nail this problem guys. One trip to the mechanic saved!

It's a sort of BZZTTTT! or BRAATT sound, sharp and abrupt from the rear of the car. I thought perhaps the parking brake or else a seat belt tensioner. Now I'm wondering if it is possibly something to do with radio antenna mechanism. Sometimes there's no noise, like this morning.

So everything was going great with my 95 LS400. But now at startup, there is often a weird, abrupt noise. It sounds like a belt or ratchet detensioning. Sort of like a seat belt was being retracted and failing. It's very abrupt and sometimes comes before or after I release the parking brake. Sort of sounds as if I stepped on the brake too hard. It only happens at ignition. The car had just been checked out last week and had gotten a clean bill of health, as well as passing safety inspection. Oh, and the weather has suddenly turned colder. Any ideas? Brake lube? (It has fairly new pads all around).

Here's the baby after its first bath and polish with a PC and meguiar's DACP. Wax and sealant to follow later.

These questions usually come down to how risk averse you are and whether you can find a good independent shop to help you save money. Think about it this way: If you can handle a $3000 hit in the unlikely event it becomes necessary, don't buy a warranty. The warranties are sold assuming that on average the repairs won't add up to anywhere near what you paid, and independent companies may give you a hard time paying for repairs. It is likely but NOT certain that you could do better by saving your pennies and just doing good maintenance. I looked at Certified Lexus 430s and 400s and in almost every case, you could do better with an uncertified model and pay for the warranty separately. My guess is that not buying the warranty is equally efficient. Even observing mid 1990s LS, sounds like people are putting no more than $3-$4K into them with serious repairs. Bear in mind that those include wear items which won't be covered in any warranty, apply to much older cars, and are a worse than average case scenario. After all, if you can't trust Lexus reliability, what cars can you trust? But you have to decide your own comfort level. If you'd rather pay $2k and feel safe, then maybe you should do so. But even with the warranty, there will be some hassle, and not everything you want will be covered if there are problems. The worst situation is to pay for a warranty, have something bad happen, and then find it isn't covered or worst of all, that the company has abandoned their customers or is giving them the run around.

My observation is that KBB is quite unreliable in predicting market prices for very old, high mileage vehicles. Repairs on these things are expensive. With 1993-1994 models selling for under $8k <100K miles and no obvious defects, it's hard to sell a 200k Gen 1 car just because the risk is higher. Of course some high mile cars are gems, but how does a buyer know that? A poor choice could mean a black hole of repairs. Also many private sellers don't want to acknowledge that they usually have to offer cars that are cheaper AND in better shape than dealer cars given the uncertainties arising from private party trades. I don't know how many times I called someone who wanted a price that was higher than was being asked by dealers with cars with the same general characteristics. The stubborn ones usually had cars that went unsold for weeks or months while the value continued to drop. I just moved on and contacted someone else.

Surely $5500 is overly optimistic, unless it's in really good shape and he can find a local to fall in love with the car? 200k miles scares off a lot of people. When I was looking I would have dismissed someone asking over $5K for a gen 1 car with that many miles. Local dealers are asking (and not always getting) $8000 for 1995s with about 150K miles. Make the appropriate adjustments for age, higher mileage, and lower price for private party sales. If it were me I'd start at $5K and be prepared to negotiate downward.

Orange hand cleaner is too abrasive. A no-no. If it works, go ahead. But I wouldn't try. Check out Autopia for lots of good suggestions.

Oh, and as to the leather: It's mostly dirty, but it also seems a bit dry. Not horrible by any means. That's why I'll get some Lexol locally, but I'd like to try Leatherique, especially if I can get a small amount.