blake918

Thanks for your response! I knew that Dells where cheaply done(my brother and sister have the same notebooks, but earlier revisions. I think Insp. 8200 and 8500), but I was able to get so much more performance for the money with Dell which is why I decided to go with them. I regret every minute of it too. I just kills me that I didn't go with the Powrbook. I see so many people with them, and they make MS Office for Mac, so I don't think I would have many connectivity issues, and their notebook case is made of aluminum, so I wouldn't be having all of these annoying quality issues. Great idea on the lock; I'm going to go pick one up. The first time I called Dell when my speakers went out I actually spoke to an American. He was rude, but atleast I could understand him! I love the Norton, but since Dell is so cheap, they gave me only a 3 month demo. I think that's right. I got the computer in the begining of Sep. and the trial has like 3 more days. This is rediculous. I'll see how many pop ups I get without the software, and if it's bad, I'll buy it because I haven't gotten a single one in the 3months I've had this computer.

I just went and tested my car. I got to 60 in about 7.8 seconds and to 95 in about 14.9 seconds...all on a '95 LS400 with 240,290 miles. I only have 10hp more than the first gen cars, so I would imagine their times would be somewhere around mine; not to mention, I have a bunch of crap in my trunk. I tried posting the mpeg, but the site wouldn't let me eventhough it says unlimited space in the attachment space. I'd like to hear from some '98+ guys with the 290hp engines!

I know this is old, but we went atv riding this weekend-a lot of fun(I had to tow a bunch of people out of the mud it was pretty wet out there), and I have a pic of my big Pararie 4x4....

We had a quiet Thnaksgiving at our house-just the 5 of us and our hungry Doberman Annie. We had turkey, dressing, greenbean casarole, yams topped with marshmellows, peas, gravey(that I helped make...it was so boring to stand there and stir for so long though! lol), homemade cornbread, and homemade pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream, cake, and ice cream for dessert. I only ate the turkey, greenbeans, cornbread, and dessert since I'm so finicky(my tastes are too broad.)! I too am sick of turkey. I'm not too big on baked turkey to start with, but fried turkey is excellent. My mom's cornbread and pumpkin pie are untouchable! :D Here's our table...

Wow, your car sounds great!! I've downloaded the video so that I can listen to the 4.0 over and over again! What parts have you changed/services done on your car so far?

That's not my bottom line when car shopping. That's true if you are on the selling end, but I certainly wouldn't want to buy a car from someone that was just advertising a car one way, but it really isn't especially if I wasn't able to drive it. I take a sellers advertisement with a grain of salt since most don't know what they are talking about. When I talked to the guy selling my car, he said it had every option, but it really only had a few(no heated seats, trac, nak, or air ride). You are right; I would have a really hard time selling my car. Sadly, mileage dictates condition to most. I let the car speak for itself not the odometer. I'd maybe get a little more than half of the money I've put into it(about $9k) because it currently has 240,2xx miles(I think it'll be near 250k by the time we hit our 1 year anniversary. lol). I plan to keep this car for a really long time anyways...at least to 350-400k! :D Indeed!! It sounds like you have a great buying strategy...well put!! ;) There is a RX owner that bought a RX with all of it's maint. stamps, and is about ready to set it ablaze. Lloyd Laycook in Utah has over 555k miles on his '90. That's impressive stuff!!! :) 99 told me about his Rhino Ramps; I bought them, and they are a must have for oil and fluid changes. You don't have to worry about the car falling on you while you are under there change the oil and what not--gives peace of mind! Pay special attention to him for all of his excellent maintinance advise. ;)

You are absolutely correct!! However, don't let some dealer maintinance stamps be your deciding factor on a car...that's all I'm saying! ;) My LS has no stamps, and it's an excellent car! My ES has all of it's dealer stamps up to 100k, and I'm not really all that impressed with it's reliability over the past few years-electrical gremlins, bad radiator, alternator...but it's all water under the bridge on a 11y/o car. Personally, I'd never ever buy a car without driving it, sitting it, inspecting it, playing with all of the controls, etc...not even a new one. You have to go with the mentality that no one will ever be as meticulous as yourself in describing the car(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. The seller of my car said that it had every option, but my car is no where near the top model like yours. My only options are leather, sunrf, cd changer, and memory seats. No nak, heated seats, trac, or air ride.) and that this isn't the only good used car that you will come across in your search. You are very correct though; if you must buy sight unseen, dealer stamps are just about all you have to go on. I bought my LS when it had 224k miles. It had no service records except for a recipt for a new p/s pump and a recent brake job. No timing belt recpits, no suspension recipts, nothing. But, I bought it anyways because it truely runs, shifts, drives like a new car. To me, a maintinance stamp will never be able to dictate how the car runs, drives, looks, but I will indeed know that it has a greased chassis and fresh brake fluid. As of today 16k miles and 7.5 months later-I'm at 240k and some change, this car is still excellent, and I know it will continue to be a superior car for 350k-400k. Not a single thing has broken on it. So, this is my reasoning for not puting the world into maint. stamps. Furthermore, except for a few services, they are not detrimental services -like changing the brake fluid, flushing the coolant, greasing the chassis, etc. They are all good measures, but I'll never be on the side of the road because I didn't get my dealer to change my gas tank cap gasket at the 60k mile interval. My car even had the origional plug wires at 225k miles. Everything you will ever want to know about 90-94 LSs: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=11775 :D Have you looked at an cars yet?

Hahaha

I'm one with a 239.9k mile darling. lol I have a sporadic rattle in the headliner-depends on the weather, but probably 97% of the time she has no rattles whatsoever. The dash, trim, etc. are all very tight and quiet. For the 3%, that's why they put the amazing stereo in the car! B) I have no doubts that this one of the best cars ever built.

I just said to hell with them(after a few bad experiences) with the thought that LeBlanc would be handling any serious service needs I run into. They are a great dealership. It's a very small dealer, but the people and showroom are all first class. I'm transfering to LATech(in Ruston. LSU was not my first choice, but classes are going well.), and I can't wait to see what Lexus of Bossier City is like! And, I'll be about 3hrs away from JP Importz in TX! Hmm....Paretti? :whistles: lol Blake

We have them all over in Louisiana. I guess us rednecks like them too! :D However, we only have 3(or 4? I can't remember!) Lexus dealers in the state! I've had mixed Lexus dealer service experiences to follow up with what Steve said. In New Orleans, it was horrible, but in Baton Rouge it was excellent--it went the way I was always told about Lexus service experiences. I guess the service writers in Baton Rouge are smart enough to look past my age to see that I'm the one with the money, and treating me poorly won't help them get my business.

Congrats!! I've driven a GS430 before, and what a sweet ride it was. It was very fast, and the brakes were amazing!! A completely different animal than the LS. B) I can't wait for the pics!

I told them that mine was an '01 once, and the guy was non the wiser!! :D Blake

The '94 is OBDII...no guess work involved. Trust me....my '94 ES has had a few cel's the past few years. The OBDII port is in the fuse box under the power mirror and alarm chirp control.

Ondre, your '94 is most definantly OBDII compliant. Auto Zone has read my codes numerous times. Just humor them, and tell them that the car is any year you want over 1997. ;)

I do not agree about the maint. record statement above. My '95 does not have a single maint. record to it's name...vin rather, and this is by far the best and most reliable car I've ever had. I'd say something like a good inspection and test drive speak louder than maint. stamps. This is just me, but I feel that maint. stamps are a little worthless save I think 60k-spark plugs-and 90k-tb(I think those are the right intervals). She just purrs along at 239, 8xx miles!! B) I don't know how much your Lexus mechcanic knows...why jump to '96? It's the exact same vehicle as 1995!! ;) How many miles?? The sky's the limit!! lol LS400's of this era are all pretty much the same. The most common option package is the heated seats & trac package and cd changer; otherwise, they all pretty much have leather, sunroof, memory, etc. Air ride is not a very common option, but it's out there. Everything else you aren't thinking of(as well as this exact question) is in the sticky: "LS400 Buying Guide." ;)

Just google Stella Awards-named after that brain dead woman that sued McDonalds for ~3m dollars and won when she spilled coffee on herself. There are tons and tons of these retarded cases. One of the funniest ones that I read was a man that sued Winnebago when he left the wheel of his RV to go make some coffee while it was going down the highway. Appearently, he thought that cruise control was the same things as auto pilot. Lucky for him, his stupidity and the jury's stupidity made him a very wealthy person. What's wrong with these jurys, judges, and people??

What a nightmare this is turning into. I got my car back on Monday. I thought it looked pretty good. The color looked nice, and it was blended into the entire half of the car beautifully. I get a call this morning from a State Farm Agent saying he wants to come and inspect the work that was done on my car. We agree that he meets me at 2pm here at the university. He get's here only to point out several flaws of the body work repair-scratches and enough swirl marks for about 5 cars. So, the agent(not 99..lol) is going to call the body shop to inform them that they are going to be resanding and repainting the area they repaired. It's a damn good thing this agent called me because I never got up close and scrutinized the repair. I guess there is some good in this. I'll see if my camera can capture the defects tomorrow. I found it quite odd that State Farm would call me to see how satisfied I was with the work...much less them sending someone out to see it for themselves. I think it's was because the grand total came to $1,839.00 for that little job. That's insane!! I ended up with a PT Cruiser-just my luck that Enterprise runs out of Lincoln's. Talk about a practical joke gone wrong....I told my dad to just pick something for me. lol It was an ok car. It was extremely versitile, decently comfortable, and it seemed well put together for $15k-it didn't even have power locks or cruise control though! Rear visibility was pathetic. It was fun to try for a week. It was sure embaressing though since it was painted in "Electric Blue." When I got my LS back, I just thought wow!! You don't realize what an awesome car it is until you don't have it for a while. B)

Congrats on the car! That's a helluva find!!! Does she have air ride? Congrats! :D I thought the phones were analog...or was that a first gen thing?? The phone in '90's car is an aftermarket Nokia car kit, and he tweaked it to mute and all kinds of cool things-'99 is right he's the phone guy in here! B) He's got a Word document on the install somewhere...I'll find it. Nokia_CARK_91H_install.doc

Aren't the seats in the 95-7 the same as 98-00(save side air bags? from 97 on)? I wish my LS's seats were a little firmer, and I wish they went back farther since there is plent of room to do so. :whistles:

I'm about about your size, but a little taller and heavier-6'3 and 260lbs. Overall, I'd rate the comfort of this car as above average. Like you, I have the front of the cushion almost all the way up(too high and my head will hit the roof. I have about an inch-1.5 b/n my head and the roof.), and I found this diminishes the pain in my legs greatly. I also found that the lumbar support was a form of torture for my back...kinda odd. I adjusted it so that it wasn't there, and the pain in by pack disappeared. I think the floor mounted gas pedal is excellent; it's much more comfortable because I can sit my foot on the floor. But, yeah, the seats could be a lot better. I really like the hard seats in my ES, but sitting on top of the steering wheel is not worth it(...no legroom). The LS not the most comfortable car I've ever driven, but the LS has enough great qualities(style, powertrain, ride quality, quality, quality, and quality) to overlook it's minor comfort issues. B) I find that Fords and Lincolns are some of the most comfortable cars on the road...mainly the '00+ Taurus and '03+ Town Car. However, if you can bear the image of a VW Beetle, there is nothing that can touch it's driver's comfort; I'm 6'3 and the seat goes back TOO far for me. Town Car's and Taurus's values drop like hell because of all of the fleet sales, so used ones can be had for a hell of a bargin. I saw a several '04 TC's on ebay the other day with under 25k miles for under $25k.

I do, but they are at home(which is where the job will be done). Thanks so much for the offer!! :D 7 foot lbs... lol! I've got a laundry list of things to take care of on the LS that I plan to do over the Thanksgiving break...new seat belt, seat belt buckle, rear door lock actuator(I thought this was only supposed to happen to MB/BMW?? lmao), ect pwr button(I never use it, but it annoys the hell out of me knowing that it is broken), oil and filter change, oil drain plug gasket replacement, tranny fluid and filter change, air filter replacement, cabin filter, and replace speedometer lense that's been sitting in the garage since July!

Keep looking; you'll find one. There are tons and tons of used cars out there; you will find the perfect one eventually! I looked at about 6 LS's before I found the right one. Although the 95-7 LS has many of the 90-4 LS design cues, Lexus made all of the right improvements on it like a much more controled ride, worlds of better seats, dual zone climate, gauge cluster needles that last, etc--sadly the chromed exhaust tips are gone. Naturally the later half of the 95-00 run is more desireable with it's amazing front clip and 290hp 4.0 with VVT-i. B)

Thanks gentlemen! :D I was hoping someone would spell out the FIPG acronym for me...thanks Tom!!

I've been wanting to change the transmission filter on my LS primarily since it probably hasn't ever been changed in its entire life, and I'm hoping that it might lessen my harsh engagment problem. I emailed Irontoad(Thompson Lexus in PA. I couldn't find it on Park Place's site) for a price on the tranny pan gasket. However, they wrote me back saying such a thing doesn't exist-it's just silicone. I saw 92lex's tutorial in the maint forum, and he changed the gasket on his '91. Here's the message: Blake Here are the price quotes that you have requested for your... 1995 LS400... Trans pan F.P.I.G 00295-01281---$16.30 **its not a gasket, but the silicone. Any thoughts??