nc211

It's a tough choice, one that all LS owners have had to wrestle with at one point or another. What did it for me was looking at the older models of each car. The Lexus models seem to stay together better, the interior components seem to look new for A LOT longer. The leather seats seem to last longer, and don't crack or wear through as easily. The paint seems to last a bit longer too. That's what did it for me. I found several older LS models "10+ years" that looked a lot better inside & out than say a 5 year old Q45. That's what sold me. You have to really neglect an LS400 to make it look bad. I don't think the same can be said to this degree on the Q models. Altough, they are sweet cars! I just think the LS holds up to time better, due to better materials used.

Just my opinion. I have no regrets with getting my 95 LS over the 99 Q45 I was looking at. Both had same milage, same color and both drove perfectly, but the LS had no interior flaws what so ever. The Q's driver and passenger front seats had that leather rub off on the seats, and the arm rest was worn out too. The buttons looked bad and did not have the same, solid, feel the LS did.

Thanks SRK. The Lexus dealership actually did the alignment and balancing for me. The first time was before a big road trip a couple weeks ago. I threw a weight on the trip and took it back to the dealership when I got back. They redid everything again for free. The car tracks perfectly, and the wheels are balanced. I'm wondering if it's not in the tires? Got Mich energy tires on there, and they're in good shape. The car just feels like it shifts on the X axes too much, left to right, like those old caddy's did back in the day. The outter tie's, ball joints and all other parts have been replaced with new oem stuff already. I'm wondering about (1) inner tie rods (2) drive shaft flex couplings (3) rotors. It's just a wierd feeling.

Example: When I do a slow circle in the parking lot, the front of the car feels like it wants to push out, and you feel it wanting to do so, like it wants to fold the outer tire under the car. All the control arms are new, and bolted to torque specs.

The back wheels feel like they don't communicate very well with the direction the front wheels want the car to go. But it's aligned right, it's freakin' got to be. The dealership has always done this right for me.

Maxed: Did the motor mounts shortly after I got the car, made a nice difference! Probably the one repair I've done that made a very noticable imiprovement on vibration and engine noise. You won't be disappointed. Buy them from parts.com and take them to an indi mech to replace. Driver's side is easy, passenger side is a chore.

Kewl: The car has 103k miles. It's been pampered it's entire life. The previous owner traded it in at 84k miles for a new LS430. It was his corporate car...well, wife grocery getter. Local car, single owner, retired banker. Always serviced at dealership, even for oil changes @ $90 a pop. The guy loved the car and only got rid of it for the navigation option on the new ones. Apparently he started to get lost a lot due to old age. All of my repairs outside of the motor mounts and differential mounts were done as a preventive chore, not a required repair. I aim to keep this car for at least 5 more years, if not longer. Nothing beats having a 4 digit loan balance on a world class car! :D

So: Anyone else have expierence with the inner tie rods?

Somebody should buy this beauty! I was curious and ran it through carfax, perfect history. 1 owner, personal use, 9,000 miles reported in 2001, seems to be legit! NADA full retail is only $15,863! Dang, wish I could buy this machine, it's perfect.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1995-LEXUS-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Hey gang, I've got a question. I've still got this funny wobble in my car around 30-40 mph. The car's been aligned / balanced twice from the dealer. That helped, but it's still there. I had the front rotors turned not too long ago "3 weeks" when I had new pads put on. I don't feel any braking vibration, except coming down from high speeds when I'm standing on them. My question is this, for those of you who have changed out your inner tie rods, what were your symptoms that made you change them? I've done every other component except these and of course the wheel hub itself. I do notice when sitting in park and I move the wheel back and forth quickly a slight thump noise in the steering wheel, like some free play, but not much.

Thanks all!

Hahaha! I hear ya' Blake.

Hampton, don't worry about it, mine does it too. All of my cars do it the first start when been sitting long enough for the engine to cool down. It takes a second for the fuel pump and so forth to get everything lined up right when it's been sitting for a while. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Translation = Me like Lexus....Me thirsty....me gonna have beer and look at my lexus...

I'm taking my car in tomorrow morning to get the wheels rebalanced, they didn't do it right last time "threw a weight". The head of the business developement dept. has been setting up the appointment via emails. Check out what she said about the LS400. I've never heard it put like that before..

"About your LS....one time a newspaper reporter said, " trading your LS400 for a new LS430 is like pouring out your half gallon of milk one week before the sell by date." There has never been a better car produced. It's amazing to me how Lexus continues to improve on it! "

Nice!

I don't know Ed, the air suspension with that many miles could be something to watch out for. But she sure is sweet, and a great deal too! I'd be willing to take on the air suspension & timing belt if that's the only concern for that price. Oopps, wait, I forgot, I work for a credit union, I don't get paid crap.

stitch, welcome to the club. Are you aware though that you're in the LS forum and not the SC forum? I would post your question over in that forum as I'm sure others have had this same problem. I don't think you'll get a lot of answers in this neck of the woods.

Opps, sorry man. The correct number was: 89661-50224. It replaced the old one of 89661-50220.

I'll double check the exact number and post it.

Bob, it was replaced with a 303.

That's a sweet looking machine! I like the color! I would like to have black interior as well, easier to keep clean in my opinion, but down here in NC, I'd cook the duke boys everytime I got in it during the summer months.

Nice car amigo!

I'll have to look for it. I think they did.

My 95 w/ 103k miles get's 27mpg on the highway, and 20 in city. I have just switched over to mobile 1 synthetic and notice a much smoother engine and a bit better gas mileage. Just did a 2600 mile trip and got 27mpg as where I use to get 26.

103k+ and yes, the ECU has been changed. I made the dealership do it under their 90 day / 3,000 mile warranty after I bought it a year+ ago.

I just returned from a 9 day road trip through Florida that covered 2,654 miles. Not a single problem with the car. We were chased out of Key West last Thursday due to hurricane Dennis. The a/c has that whining noise, but it didn't flinch at all. And it was on the whole entire time. Other than throwing a weight off the back tire, the car performed perfectly! My only gripe is how it takes cross winds. It's such a long car, and tall, that it doesn't track very well when wind is present. We snapped a photo while heading back up to Miami during the evacuation. Check out the water-spout. Freaked me out. Traffic stopped at that point and it took 7 hours to go 75 miles.

That Mobile one synthetic is awesome!! I use to have a slight engine hum at 80mph. Not anymore! That stuff really quieted down the engine, even more so than normal. Love that stuff!

Do you HAVE TO have it installed as a condition of getting the ecu, or will they just give it to you for you to do as you please? If they just give it to you, then go get it and offer it to the new buyer. It's better than nothing.

Brian, have you run carfax on it?

Retail = $19,400

Trade = $16,075

Loan = $14,625

It gave you $1,050 for mileage, and $500 for moonroof. If you've got Nak stereo then add $175 to retail.

Don't know how much it would cost to add remote key fob functionality. I'd ask dealer and deduct about 50% of that costs off of retail.

What do you see these cars going for in your area in the paper and autotrader.com? That'll give you a better idea of what market is willing to pay.

N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide

Vehicle Summary N.A.D.A. Values

7/1/2005

Region: Southeastern July, 2005 Stock #:

Vehicle Description: 1998 LEXUS VIN:

LS-V8

SED 4D LS400

MSRP: $52,900 Weight: 3,890

Mileage: 87,000

Retail Trade-In Loan

Base Value $17,850 $14,575 $13,125

Optional Equipment

Power Sunroof $500 $450 $450

Option Total $500 $450 $450

Mileage Adjustment $1,050 $1,050 $1,050

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide Values

$19,400

$16,075

$14,625

Cataletic converter clog is my guess, especially since you're smelling fuel. I bet if you looked under the car, those puppies were glowing red. They might be on the way out, sorry man. Those aren't cheap. I'd do a search on the topic, it's been discussed quite a few times. Just run a key word on Cataletic converter.

Question: Did your check engine light come on in the car?

...and if you tell steve an infiniti g35 is nicer than an es300, it'll go up to 90%! Hahahaha

Just playin' amigo!

Hi,

I have a 1995 LS400 with 105k mi. I had the dying engine after long freeway driving.  I sent ECU to Car and Truck Electronics which did not solve the problem.  I cleaned the throttle body completely by taking it off the vehicle.  I have since not had any low idle or dying.  The lowest it will go is 550 which is within the 600 plus or minus 50 which is the "normal" per the Lexus Repair Manual.  at partial throttle and sudden release of throttle, the engine is abrupt.  this is my new issue and I feel that there is a vacuum leak somewhere.

Yo

←

That too is the ECM unit flaw. Is it around 40 mph +/-, take your foot off gas, car buckles around a bit? If so, it's the ECM unit. My 95 did exactly that and I made the dealer eat the repair under thie"window warranty", you know, that 90 day / 3,000 mile thing they do. It fixed the problem and haven't had it since. It's been a year since the repair....no problems.

It appears to me on this EXCELLENT thread 95LSBOB started that two problems act together to create one crappy result. A dirty intake, and a bad ecm unit. I've never experienced the low idle issue, but did have the "Off throttle shock" symptom. My air intake is clean, always has been. And after reading this thread....you can bet it's gonna stay clean too!! ;)

great post ls400bob!

No problem amigo, any time.

You've got the classic "clunk" symptom we all have faced. I don't think there is an LS400 out there that has not, or will not, have that problem. It's those rubber bushings in the control arms that go out and cause this. I bet your front strut rods and front lower control arms are in need of replacement. They are usually the first two parts to go out, and give you that clunk noise. Your rear strut rods have something called a carrier bushing, they go out too before most other parts. You can now buy a repair kit from Johnson for $50 +/-, and then take it to indi mechanic to fix. If you look under your back wheel, you'll see a metal rod that is attached forward of the wheel, and attaches to the lower, back part of your wheel hub. It's that bushing where it connects to the hub that gives out first. It's an easy fix, Steve at premium knows what to do I'm sure.

However, I would save yourself the money at premium for alignments and balances. They don't have the right equipment. They did mine, and it sucked. Almost everywhere except for the dealer around here can't align and balance this car right. But he can do everything else.

Yep, New Hope Church road between wake forest and atlantic ave. They're the ones who stripped out the threads. The best one is the one out by brier creek country club on 70. The district manager actually sent me there to get my money and get the mobile one put back in, instead of sending me back to the new hope church road one.