TampaLex

I have a chance to pick up a '99 from a friend's mother. It has been her 'milk run' car for 13 years. It just went over 89K and they had the major service done by Lex: timing belt/water pump/new rotors and brakes as well. Cosmetically it's hard to discern it's ever been used it's scary. But.....13 years is 13 years. I'd be grateful if anyone would mind sharing what they think the 470 would be fair and amicable price wise. Also, if there are any known issues I might need to look out for with a car of this age....possibly not realized yet by the current owner? Any and all input welcome....thanks all. I am a life long Lex lover and have had 2 LS 400's over the past 17 years. So, not worried per se, but not having owned an SUV from Lex I am just plain uninformed on them especially something of this vintage.

I have over 600K miles on two LS400's: '95 LS400 and '98 LS400. Loved both and the '98 still runs like a top, but my lifestyle has changed with respect to after work activities and an SUV would really suit me better. After looking at the offerings of Lexus and given my mom has a 2000 LX470 it's quite a range to look at. The reviews are all over the spectrum on reliability so I'm at a bit of a loss with what I read on the forum here, especially the issues I read on the older LS400's of which I have had none. I don't mind buying older, heck I'd prefer it and will do so from a private seller as I have a very trustworthy mechanic I will have look it over. Is there a consensus on a model/year range of the most stellar reliability on Lex SUV's? MPG is secondary as are all the electronic knick knacks. Seats are the number one reason I stay in the Lexus brand as I had have 2 back operations. Nav, ipod compatiblity, rear view cameras.....could not care less. Thanks in advance for any opinions you can share.

Yea definitely holding it down for a few seconds as that has always been my modus operandi.....wow just now realized I am in my 15th year on this thing! Love the Lex. I'm guessing it's in the car as I put my batter in the back up FOB and same result. Thanks though for the tip on windows

Have noticed that my trunk release button from the remote won't open the trunk. Release inside the car works fine. Put new batt in remote...still no dice. The light flashes on the remote when I press the trunk release, but no 'pop' on the trunk. I'm sure I did something to break it;) Did notice something I had never done b/f recently though. I *think* I hit more than one button on the remote and it opened the windows about 2". Weird. Did I perhaps activate some kind of programming by doing that and maybe disable the trunk release? Thanks all

I have several family members that are nurses in the VA system, and we just had a lot of experience with the VA system because of my uncle who passed away in December. It really depends on the VA. Some are better than others, but I do agree on the whole they are pretty depressing. A lot of that is funding problems though, as well as a general apathy for specifically veterans in this country. I don't think you can make the assertion that the VA is the best example of what hospitals in the US would look like with a single payer healthcare system. Look at hospitals in other countries with state run healthcare, they aren't that way. >>>>sorry messed up the quote thingy Well, we can just agree to disagree. I worked hand in hand with administrators, department heads and all the way up to the C-Suite to help hospitals curtail waste from intake to discharge. Sadly the VA's are no different than anything else the government touches. The bureaucratic waste of $ from front door to back would make your eye lids flip. The only hospitals that were interested in running a tight ship were for profit centers. Sadly, 2 of the best cost containment practices I learned were by looking at what the VA did and going the other direction. GREAT people in the VA's who work very hard, but they are too often hamstrung by bureaucratic nonsense. THIS is my biggest issue with the Affordable Care Act. I'm still looking for what they included in the bill to reduce the cost of care. All I see is they found a way to give health care to 35-40 million people, not reduce the cost. I will give you an n=1 experience on your 'other countries'. I have a Canadian friend who went to Salt Lake City 2 years ago to pay cash to have his ACL reconstructed. Why? He waited 18 months for his referral visit to the ortho and still no visit. 18 months! He and his wife flew to SLC, had it fixed and were home in 72 hours. His assessment of the Canadian system is more or less if you have a cold or splinter it's great, but when you need care 'now' it's a joke.

My mom and dad recently scrapped their systems in their 99 and 2000 LX 470's for updated nav/iPod compatible systems. Conveniently my 98 LS 400 is having an amp issue or so sayeth the stereo guy down the street. He was not sure if the LX470 Nakamichi amps would be compatible with my LS400.....anyone here know? I still have their amps in a box and would love to use one of them b/f buying one from the stereo guy. Thanks for my Lex stereo education:)

This is such a simple thing that so few understand, glad you see it! The primary care physician pool has been in steady decline since the late 80's. We just added an enormous amount of subscribers. Massive increase in demand.....decrease in supply. So, cost goes up and quality of care goes down exponentially. If you want to see how a state sponsored health care program works head down to your local VA. It's sad. The man and women who deserve the greatest care we can provide get the worst. Sure Walter Reed is a shining star, but by and large the VA system is a tragedy of quality. I spent almost 14 years working in the health care industry and saw it up close every day.

What blows my mind is the CBO's constant revisions of increasing costs. We still have yet to roll this thing out in entirety. $870B became $1.46T quickly out of the box. The CBO made an assumption of 100% compliance in Obamacare based on Americans propensity to fall in line with legal mandates whether they agree or not. With the generation of 'what's in it for me' kids I envision of pile of people who won't buy a dime of coverage until they need it. Once the true costs of this boondoggle matriculate into all areas of our lives it will be too late.

Newb here, but my family are Lexaholics. I had a 95 LS 400 with about 200K on it which was totaled by a drunk. Grabbed a 98 and have loved it....gas, rubber and oil with usual major service. My mom and dad are still driving late '90's LX 470's! Anyone out there with a 98ish LS 400 that has similar tech? If memory serves my year was the first year Lex used the 'fly by wire' accelerator. I only remember that b/c it's the only issue I have had and they resolved it for about $500. Anything else I should expect with my old timer? My neighbor wants to buy it from me, but it's paid for and so reliable I can't imagine what else I'd go to. The 430 body style isn't my thing and the 460 is out of my price range. Thanks for anything you can share.