nc211

MadMax, I'm trying to get your PM ability turned on early. Do you have an email address you don't mind posting up here in this forum that I can contact you at?

MadMax, I'm trying to get your PM ability turned on early. Do you have an email address you don't mind posting up here in this forum that I can contact you at?

Eric, did you check out www.parts.com and drill down to Lexus? I like Discounted Toyota Parts myself. http://www.lexuspartsonline.com/

It's like on the bmw's that have that gas mpg needle in the dash, it slides back and forth in conjunction to the gas peddle.

yeah man, those pic's look good! the ford also looks good! when you get out of the army, you need to go into business for yourself and open up a mechanical shop! then franchise that sucker out, and let the cash flow your way. of course tht's much easier said than done. hey man, i'm not really sure about this, but i don't know if you want to post up pictures of the internal base components, especially from a military owned computer. they might not like that too much and give you some grief. but i don't know for sure, just a random thought. keep the safety on until you've lined up the cross hairs amigo!

Madmax, I was in the exact same boat last april, 2004. My 2001 Maxima SE lease was coming due, and didn't want to buy it simply due to road noise, wind noise and Nissan's inability to negotiate on price. Depreciation KILLED the value of the car over the 3 years I had it. You will LOVE the change from a Maxima to an LS. No more road noise, no more sounding like a wind tunnel in the back seats, and no more searching for that filling that fell out of your tooth when going over those train tracks. You'll also love having a V8 that gets the same, if not better MPG. And don't even get me started on the smooth powerband! The Pioneer stereo is just fine! It rocks out big time! I've got the Pioneer in my 95, and it sounds 100X better than that Bose ever did in my 01'. "No Highs, No Lows....must be Bose" My stereo is now coming up to it's 11th year, and all speakers work perfectly. I think HID lights came standard on the 98+ models. Wood steering wheels I beleive also started to come standard on the 98+ models. The easiest way to differ between the 95-97 models, in addition to the front headlights, airdamn and wheels, is look for a power antenna on the back. If it's got one, it's the series 2 "95-97". If it doesn't, then it's the 2.5 "98-00". It's purely a personal preference whether you like it or not. Me? I wish I had one, and a wood shifter knob too, but no big deal. Buying a used LS400 with 100k on it is no big deal, under the right conditions. At that mileage, you'll want to make sure the 90k service was done. This included the timing belt and water pump. You'll want to make sure that is done. If you find one that hasn't had this done "and check with the dealership that it has by giving them the Vin #", then negotiate that into your price offer. It's an expensive job! But well worth it. Also, and again a personal prefference that you'll find much debate over on this forum, is the air suspension set up option. My opinion is that you'll run into a few common repairs along the way "control arms, strut rods....bushing related" that will cost a few hundred. Taking on the air suspension at that mileage will most likely result in BIG BUCKS to repair, and very time consuming to do yourself. I would recommend avoiding them if possible. But again, others here love that option, and don't mind paying the money for new air suspension parts, oem or aftermarket. You will not have the sports car feel of your Maxima. You won't have that screamin' demon engine either. But, you will have the ability to HAUL SOME SERIOUS TAIL! The 4.0 liter V8 in these cars is simply amazing! And talk about smoooth!!!! I would have in the back of your mind that you'll need to set aside probably $1,000 - $1,500 for repairs early on. This is a high bid, but better to be safe than sorry. I would recommend new motor mounts, tranny mount right off the bat at that mileage. These three items make one of the biggest differences in the cars feel, and smoothness. Also realize that if you buy an LS400, there is no going back! You will be spoiled beyond belief! I can't imagine owning anything else now. I've looked and driven other cars, even new cars, and still can't find anything that makes me feel as good as I do when I get into mine, that includes other Lexus models. Now that's says something! Especially when mine is 10+ years old, city driven with 108k miles. Other than that, welcome to the club!

bad performance, rumbling and a bad smell........makes me think cataletic converters. Is the smell one of fuel? How many miles do you have on your car?

Lexdiamonds, it's all in your own personal tastes as to what you want to do, and don't think that what you pick right out of the gate is what you are to stick to for the rest of your life...well that is until you have kids and become a provider to them...then they become your sole priority to get up in the morning. Doing something that you love is just a bonus at that point. I used to work in the movie business here in NC, down in Wilmington. I did that for 5 years as a camera geek. When I turned 25, I decided to go back to college and add a finance degree to my tool box, along with a real estate brokers license, and commercial real estate appraiser license. I now am a lender for comemrcial real estate and business loans. I personally am no salesman, period. I SUCK at selling anything. In my business there are two types of positions; mortgage broker/banker and mortgage lender. The broker/banker are somewhat salesmen as they find you a loan. They sell your loan application to someone like me, a lender. As a lender, I'm the source of the money. I much prefer to be sold, and to sell. But I also don't get those big ole' commission checks either. But I don't have to toss and turn at night either when the market goes bad and I need to make some sales, or in my business, close some loans. I'm straight salary with annual bonus. If I deny a loan, I still get paid. Infact sometimes I get paid better due to performing good analytical skills in determining a loan application is bad "brokers can be sneaky, especially when there's $10 million on the table". It's really all about what YOU want to do. I liked and miss my movie making days. Had some fun on those big shows like Jackal, and bailing out Markie-Mark and his funky bunch. Drug free my !Removed!! Guy should move to Jamacia, if you know what I mean. :whistles: But I love what I do now even more. Not as "cool", but a lot more stable and dependable, which is what you need to start laying down the foundation for your life. Either way, your first job out of college will most likely SUCK anyway...they all do.

Well, I was close anyway. It's actually the thermostat housing seal itself that is leaking. Mechanic says to replace it instead of just the seal and it'll last another 10 years 100k. Not bad at $45 from trademotion. Heck, might as well get a new thermostat too for $13 since I'll be in there anyway. The dealership quoted me $77.90 for the housing! :o That is a 41.4% mark-up from MSRP in general! What a bunch of theives. I really do feel sorry for some of those people out there that don't know about this site and are paying those prices.

Oh...is that guilt I hear?? <_< You been taking pointers from my fiance'? Why do you think I'm up to 3 cats, swinging from the curtains? Guilt. Army, sorry man I simply forgot. Last week was a mother, had 3 days to do 5 days worth of work before flying home to KC to roast my dad at his retirement party. He called me the morning after, and the first thing I said was "get a job!" Hahahaha. good to hear. and you never did call... :whistles: do you not like me? LOL ←

Prix, I've used the Mr. Clean on the windows as well. I've had, and do have this problem too. But my fiance's 2003 Honda Civic has it too, as does all of her families cars. I think it's a condition of humidity matched by just environmental gunk. The Mr. Clean bars work great, but you'll need them to be pretty wet. Have a towel over the dash to prevent splater from the water. And really dry the window good too. I thought about hitting it with alcohol afterwards to make sure, but haven't done that yet...just the mr. clean bars and water.

Have you had a chance to check your gas mileage since you've been getting this higher idle? How's the engine temp reading? The reason why I'm asking is because maybe you're running a little lean. You said you emptied the tank and then put heat in it, and ran the heat through it at empty. You're actually supposed to put the heat in an empty tank, then fill it up so the fuel will mix with the heat and drive it like that, not just on the heat itself. I'm think the heat alone did something, and made the computer adjust the settings to a more lean setting...aka...more air, less fuel. Tell me more about how much gas you've run through the car since the heat?

I found it. It's coming from the top of the engine, and running down around the components. It's coming from where the radaitor's lower hose connects to the top of the engine. There is a second, smaller hose connected to the same part that appears to have slipped back a bit from it's seat. I've attached photos. By the way, what is this part? Is that the water pump that I'm pointing at? Edit: Nevermind on what the part is, did some research of my manuals and figured out it's the thermostat housing, and the hose is a bypass hose. $5+/-. Whew....dodged a bullet on that one!

UPDATE: Not the steering rack. It's the coolant. Just got back from 3 day trip, car has been sitting in the driveway. I've got a big leak stain now, and it's definetly red. The coolant resevor is way below the low setting, like almost to the bottom, which makes me feel like it's a hose. It's coming from the bottom of the engine, not the radiator. I can see the top side of the undercarage plastic cover is soaked in it. It's on the driver's side only. The passenger side is dry. It seems it's right below the oil filter. I haven't had a chance to take the air intake plastic off yet to get a better look down into the enging. Question: Could it be the waterpump? It was supposedly replaced as instructed, and documented 18 months ago with the timing belt. But since it hasn't been running at all since last wednesday, would it leak? Or do you think it's just a bad hose clamp or something? The leak stain is about the same size of a large pizza, just in a more oval shape due to the nature of my driveway. If it is the waterpump, wouldnt you guys think the Lexus Dealer should pay full price to repair it, since they intalled it back in May 04', 24k miles ago? Just seems very premature to me.

cshih001, I ran NADA values for you on the 97' based in California. Assuming all is perfect, and it has the Nak stereo system and powersunroof "duh, don't all of them?" The values for 130k miles are as follows: Trade in Value = $11,450 Loan Value = $10,275 Retail Value = $14,400 The Nak stereo option gave you $100 & $125 on retail The sunroof option gave you $350 & $400 on retail. This does not take into consideration the market characteristics of your area though. If there's a ton of them for sale, then obviously supply v. demand would probably grant lower numbers. I'm not sure why they give extra $ for sunroof??

Well that does it...I'm going Infiniti! You guys think the 06' will be like a "Platinum" series model type since they're about to change up the design for 07'? Saw my next car this morning in the parking lot. It's a 02' LS430...White with tan interior......Ohhhh sooo sharp! Damn the tax man! He gets too much of my salary. Good thing I have a legal obligation of full disclosure, otherwise I cheat my returns down to a point where I'd qualify for foodstamps, and be driving that 430!

Well you're certainly entitled to your opinion. ;) Yes, we can all get along, infact we all do quite well! Stick around long enough and you'll see we have quite a bit of fun here, and we even poke fun at eachother sometimes in a friendly manner, because we're all friends. I've picked at SWO3ES about the Infiniti G35 v ES330, heckled KEWL once or twice and made countless jokes against myself. Yet I accept thier opinions as fact, and have learned to follow when asking, and not be affraid to lead when being asked. Based upon your comment, I assume you're of an age that life has taught you this. However if you feel that we're arrogant and ignorant loosers, and your first reaction to one of our opinions is to point this out, then I honestly doubt you would be willing accept our knowledge and opinions based upon personal experiences of our cars in general. I think the best option for you is to contact your local dealership for a quick and professional diagnosis. Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

yeah, ditto. I was talkng tranny only. engine mount DIY is out of my ability.

yeah, but you're foreign. Hahahha...JUST PLAYIN!!! Hey, you guys got Belekin beer down there? That stuff is soooooooo good. Last time I had Belekin was in Belize, "Ambergies Kay" and was pickin' the barley oats out of my teeth, and loved every drop!

$30 +/- bucks or so. Takes 2 bolts...no sweat at all. check out www.parts.com and drill down to Lexus. You'll find them.

Hold out for Gen 2.5 in my opinion. I got a Gen 2...love to death! But 2.5 gives you 30 more HP, 5 gears instead of 4 "benefits debatable", wood steering wheel, spiffy computer, way better headlights and variable timing control....but you also get the electronic throttle setup issue.......which translates into a slight split second delay in pedle response. That is a personal preference however, and nearly everyone just adapts to it. Me? I'd get a 98+ model. I think you'd be much happier, especially coming into this as a newbie. But I'm not knockin' the gen 2's either...they're freakin' awesome!

Man, this thread is like the freakin' energizer bunny. If we want Lex to own up for a recall, you've got to notify the national highway safety and transportation board. There are a few notices on the issue "I think 10" to them already. I used this fact, and their own recommendation of the fact that out of all the TSB's issued for the car, this is the ONLY one LEXUS HIGHLY RECOMMENDS BE DONE! That, a few calls to Lexus USA, and some legal mumbo-jumbo to the manager of the dealership, and they caved in, paid for it to be fixed. But, my story also included a 90 day / 3,000mile warranty. I have noticed however on the 95-97 used models that dealership gets....it's now "AS IS" on the sticker! Hahahaha. Sorry guys.

Baja, got your message on this one. Yes they did change the timing belt, they just did not put the sticker on. They said they don't do that too much anymore "put sticker on that is" when doing the 90k service in general. Don't ask me why this is?? But have heard the same from a few others on here too. It's stamped in the manual records, and I have the workorder receipt that shows part number and labor. You know, you'd think if they spent that much money on parts and labor, they'd pony up for a $1 sticker too. Me? I think it's shady. But if it brakes, and I've their documentation in hand....well....it's off to court I go!

Easy gunslinger, just voicing opinions here. SWO3ES has a valid point. He's not saying he doesn't know how to maintain one of these cars. Look at his post counts, trust me...he knows. You're new here and I understand you're feeling out the forum a bit. But don't go down the road of insulting people, otherwise you could be banned. SWO3ES is a finance guy, he thinks in numbers, as do I. Some say its a disease, but others say it's a gift. Now, to address your opinion. I'm very much upside down on my car too in repairs, but that's ok because I love my car, and can't find anything out there that I would rather have, except for an LS430...but just not in the cards right now. If you love you car enough to fix it & keep it..then I salute you. but just realize, you'll not get one penny back if you decide to sell it after you repair it. That's all we're saying here my friend. B) It must be the time change recently, seems like we've got a few short fuses on here this week. My advice? If you're old enough...have a beer and chill out. Sit back and enjoy the fact that you own a Lexus LS400 in general...or any lexus that is.

Much better.... Thanks for changing it.