nc211

Don't mention it. It's the least I can do for all the help I've received on this forum over the months.

Thats any dealer, it's industry standard to offer the least amount of money for a trade in. I can promise you that if they offer you more than their original quote, that increase is being tacked on somewhere..aka..document prep fee, whatever. I would think it would be very tough to sell it to a dealer since most dealers either aquire their used inventory from trade-in's, purchase from auctions or buy bank repos from the bank. I know here where I work, the consumer lending guys have quite a bit of repos "expected when you're doing $50,000,000 a month in car loans" and we have several dealerships than come and pick through them. We usually sell them off in groups with one really good one and 5 or 6 beat up ones. It would be tough to sell it to a dealership, but maybe some country stop-shop might be interested. But don't expect too much money.

Yeah, that's what the shop told me last night too. I'll just sit tight and see if it's anything. Going to change the front rotors tonight and see if that fixes the wobble. I know they're a little bit warped and rubbing the pads slightly. It just might be slightly enough to cause the wobble. Funny, it's only apparent at city speeds, not freeway.

I love good indi shops! Man, that place took all day inspecting my car, loosened up the caliper bolts for me so I could change the rotors myself and checked the alignment again, all for $30. If I had gone to the dealership, it would have been $250.

I don't live all that far from Raliegh and I KNOW we are having very humid nights.  I know a couple of my cars are very wet in the morning due to the 100% humidity. I think you made the correct call.

VBdenny

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NADA is the official valuation of a vehicle's market value. It is basically blue book, but a little bit more refined. Most lenders will base thier loan criteria off of NADA, as where car dealers will quote from kelly blue book. Or as some of those snakes do, they use a black book to hammer you down on trade value, taking it to below wholesale value, and then quote the price of the new car at full on retail. Matching wholesale to retail....aka...their profit spread. Your NADA in NY for the car, minus the carfax information is:

Trade in value = $4,925

Loan value = $4,450 "what a lender would lend on it"

Retail value = $6,600

The original sale price MSRP was $42,200 back in the day.

If you took it to trade it in, the dealer would probably offer you $4,000.

What is NADA? My Mileage is about 192.000

:)

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Any time my friend, any time!

Want to know NADA on the car? just post up mileage and I'll send you that as well.

check the fuses first. might be a vacum problem as well. start with the fuses.

Dust, I sent the report back to you pm.

stop by an auto shop and have them scan it for you.

I know on my 95 the light will come on if ANY outside light is out, includind the bumper marker lights. Are you sure it's the light warning and not brake pad wear warning light?

Dust, I do, along with NADA pinpointed down to geographical location. post up like Kewl said or send me a pm and I'll run it for you.

Hahaha! yep, you're hooked. You'll have grease under your finger nails for the next 2 years. What I have is the following:

Torque wrench, breaker bar "A MUST", set of deep sockets from 9mm+ "required for suspension bolts", craftsman floor lift, a couple car jacks, a roller thing to lay on, good socket set, and the normal power drill and such. Oh, and don't forget the asprin.

you can't email yet because you haven't posted up enough. I think the email feature kicks in at 50?

nc211,

You must have read my mind.  I was looking at a Craftsman 263-pc toolset this weekend!  :D

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Well they just called and said they could not find any leaks other than normal ac condensation. I find this a bit strange since we've cooled off down here recently and I haven't been using my a/c that much. Maybe I just didn't notice the drip spot on the driveway until now thinking it was just normal old a/c condensation. The drip is coming from the driver's side of the front part of the engine compartment. He said he pressurized it up the left, down the right and couldn't find any leaks. It was a water looking fluid with a very very faint hint of red. Maybe the red came off the concrete from a prior leak from a different car. Who knows man, who knows. Like my wobble situation that nobody can seem to figure out, I'm just going to drive it until the problem gets bad enough to show itself.

Funny you mention brake fluid. Two weekends ago I pulled the front pads off and cleaned everything with cleaner. There was sooooo much grease put on them from my indi shop that it was causing problems. I had to press back the pistons to get the pads back in. Do you think I might have broke something by pressing the pistons back?

PS: Army, my suspension parts are awesome man, thanks for that hookup!

I thought steering related as well due to that funky wobble thing, maybe rack related. I haven't had any leaks to date, but heh, it's a Monday, no better day to start with a problem right! I'm not sure where to check the water temp reading, unless you mean the temp needle on the dash, and it's fine. It's always in the middle, never moves but maybe a hair up or down.

I really don't think the dealership screwed me over on this, especially after the near lawsuit I threatened them with over the ECU under their 90 day / 3,000 warranty. I think I made my point crystal clear to them to walk the straight line with me. So I don't think they would intentionally screw me over like that. But if they did, if the mechanic comes back today and says my water pump is worn out, then god help ***** Lexus of Raleigh, because nobody else will be able to once I'm done with them.

I completely agree, 150%! I took this advice months ago, and it's paid off big time!

Download the shop manuals from TIS, or buy the printed ones, it's VERY worth it to have them: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/intro/repairmanual.html

BTW, my 91 manual has instructions on front seat disassembly ;).

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I think you're right. My money is on a worn out hose or clamp. Now if it were at the dealership, i'm sure it would be radiator, powersteering pump and rack. Hahaha. I'll post up when I hear back from the mechanic.

Probably tires. I see where they're 55 series. Those have stiff sidewalls that can communicate road noise a lot. I had those types of tires on my 01 maxima se, and they were very very loud!

I'll take photos soon. 

Now for the restoration of all of the car's imperfection.  Didn't think a chip here and there or driver's side seat rub was a big deal.  After having the car a full day I realize I have to fix everything because the car is just too nice.

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And so it begins..... Hope you've got good credit with Sears tool department.

:( Well, had a small puddle this weekend in my driveway, twice. It's pretty clear in nature, like water, but has an oily feel to it. But this morning the leak was bigger so I dabbed it with a white paper towel, and it has some red in it. It's coming from the front engine area. When I looked under the car, I could see where it is dripping off of the back of the plastic undercover. It's at my indi shop now. I'm hoping it's just a radiator hose that's gone bad. Any suggstions? Would a bad water pump do this as well? Remember when I posted up that the dealership did not put that sticker on my car when they did the 90k service for the timing belt and water pump? But they did invoice those parts and filled in my owners manual that it was done. I'm wondering if.......

One of the most common problems on your model series. Do a search and you will find tons of postings relating to this problem. Also, at the top of the page, look at the "sticky" about the instrument needles. Sounds like you need Jim Walker's help.

here is a pdf for a 95, but i doubt much changed. it looks like 72 pounds.

3.pdf

Oh snap, I didn't realize you are here in Raleigh too! There is a place off Capital, just north of the beltline, but for the life of me I can't remember what it's called. If you get off the beltline and head north a couple blocks, you'll see a chance to veer off to the right. This is Trawick road. I think it's a couple blocks down Trawick and turn right on Broadlands Drive. You'll see an industrial style building on your left, maybe 150 yards. You'll know it when you see it. They're pretty good!

Also, a good local indi mechanic I use is Premium Imports, on Wake Forest Road, just south of Southern States Nissan, across the intersection from Snoopy's hotdogs. Tell them the 1995 black LS400 sent you. They're VERY fair on price! Ask for Steve or Kathy. Kathy is the one who answers the phone. Stay away from the dealership at all costs if possible. You will never get out of there for under $135, no matter what you're in for. Even an oil change at $60 will turn into a recommendation for a something to be replaced that doesn't need to be replaced. Trust me, look at my signature below. I've even been given a tour of thier shop and informed about there special $7,000,000 shop floor of high intesity italian tile. And on a 94', you know they'll always say something needs to be replaced, you can count on that!

Sounds like you've found the one for you!

It's been a great car so far. Most of my repairs were "elective" in nature. I really didn't need all of those new suspension parts, but just wanted to do them all at once. I've still got my old ones for emergency back ups. All except the front lowers all apear to be fine. I think the clunk noise I'm getting again when I hit a certain dip in the road in the morning is actually the black air intake piece under the hood, it's loose. Need new rotors on the front and a good alignment / caster-camber setting and it should be fine. Probably facing a rack in the next 20k miles.

yeah, i like those avalons too. Some are boring, but other models are pretty slick looking. Don't worry, with my future wife's love of travel, i'll be up to your mileage before we know it. funny thing about that woman, she fusses when I want to fix something or work on something for the car, but hates the idea of me getting rid of it for anything other than another LS400. The "Queen" has taken quite nicely to being driven around in a Lexus. Might as well call her Ms. Daisy, and me Hoke.

Oh I'm just horsin' around man, not offended in the slightest. Trying to sound like a dad. It's all good amigo.