VBdenny

Maybe I missed something but what were the symptoms you are getting that make you think your converters are bad? I only ever had one go bad and that was on a 75 Plymouth Gran Fury that had msotly regular gas (with lead) put in it. The car went slower and slower and the power steadily decreased until you had to floor it to go 30. This all happened within 150 miles on one day. You will know very soon if they are bad. When I changed the oil the other day, I was looking at the exhaust system. Rather strange configuration. The manifold pipes go into two catalytic converters, then into one muffler, then two two pipes back to two more mufflers, then two resinators. With all the componets, I wasn't exactly sure what was what. My car is a 1990 with about a buck-forty on the odo. Exhaust system still looks perfect.

I would spend a little time and research before buying the car. It sounds like a flood car to me. The insurance company is usually required to convert the title to salvage when the damage exceeds the cars value and they pay it off. The idea behind this law was to keep people from recycling wrecks and flood cars. A girl I know at work bout a perfect 99 Nissan for about $1500. It had been flooded and you can't even tell. Right, people make a lot of money off doing this. In some states, getting a salvage off a title is as simple as getting a state inspection done. Certain states have loopholes that allows the less than honest to actually "wash" the title, so it's previous history is erased. I read about this on the internet. Do a Google search for title washing or something like that and see what you come up with. I am assuming that you have already run a CarFax on the VIN

I bought a nice one (analog) at Sears for about $7. I keep one in every car. Very easy to use. I run 38psi in the big Lex, 32 in my Frontier, 34 in the Corolla, and 36 in my Caprice. You lose about a pound a month. Hey what happens in england and canada?

Sorry about your car. The insurance company will total the car without any doubt. I'd take the money and look for another one. I see lots of nice old LS400 s around for sale. Good luck PS Cars with posi come around quick don't they!

Mine does the same thing, usually only when it is cold outside and the engine is cold. Freaks me out! You turn off the key and the thing keeps cranking! I have visions of it staying engaged until the started burns up or the battery dies. While I don't think is is normal, it certainly isn't unusual on this model. I haven't heard of it hurting anything, so I try not to worry about it much.

We leave the remote on all the time. The car has sat for 15 or more days straight on several occasions and never drained the battery.

So I guess you never carry dirt in them then? I have a friend from the Phillipines and they have these reallyt ultra tricked out trucks and buses there. I saw some pictures and it almost looked like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome trucks. ANyway, very nice looking rigs, I love the yellow with the chrome.

thanks everyone. yeah, I just felt like kind of an idiot for never checking the spare. I suppose that is because I have just about never had a flat tire. I am pretty good at checking tires when I change oil, but for some reason, the spare never came to mind. Oh well, the tires are good so it's probably not a big deal. I read somewhere that 90% of all tire failures occur in the last 10% of tread life. I usually change them before that. I have a couple of tire gauges. A few stick ones, and a couple of anaolog dial. This new one I just bought has a trap feature so the needle stays at the highest reading until you press this button. I kind of like it. I've seen the digital gauges and they look like a pretty good idea. Do they just round to the nearest PSI, or do they have tenths?

Nice Job SWO, That car was a mess. At first I thought it was a Volvo, as they are ususally the dirtiest cars on the road, but it appeared long term neglected. beautiful save of what was left. .....

Todd, When you got yours at Autozone, did it have the reserviour attached?

The clicking is probably because the speedometer cable is either binding due to being bent or pinched, or needs lubrication. I'd have to guess it is the first as the lubrication should be provided from the transmission. Does the needle jump around at all? It should stay rock steady. Does the odometer register correctly? I have had this happen in other cars before, but one was a ford and one was a buick. Both times the cable was bad. Sorry I don't know how to get at the back of the speedometer unit, but someone here will. Good luck with it, sounds like a nice car you bought. Denny

The only sticker on my Lexus is the inspection sticker on the windshield, and a VT Track sticker on the back window. I don't have a LOC sticker, but I'd like to have one.

I guess I told you all that I bought a 99 Corolla last month for my daughter. When I drove it back from Jersey, it was all over the road. I wasn't happy. When I got it back I checked the tires pressure since I didn't have a pressure gauge with me. Well, all of the tires were at about 23pis except the right front which had 49psi. After I adjusted them all to 32pis, it drives perfectly. Now I am very happy. I then check the tire pressures on all my cars and all were kind of low. The I decided to check the spare tire pressures as well. I had never check the Lexus spare and it had 6lbs. in it. Probably hadn't been checked in years since the valve is mounted down. I felt ba because of all the driving I have done with it flat, and now my wife has the car in NJ and she had been driving with no air in the spare. Some husband huh.

Glad to have you in the LOC Oafus. Your car is beautiful. I am also impressed that you have quickly figured out all the forum controls. I still have problems posting pictures.

See I STILL have problems. Seriously, typing on these forums messes everyone up at time since most of us never bother to preview our posts. I meant, it can hold you back. Can I blame it on a cheap keyboard?

We will save this post until you DO get married, THEN send it back to you! Better learn how to spell if you plan to attend college. Most high school kids are poor spellers and when it carries over to adulthood in the working world, it tends to hold you bad. I was a terrible spellers as well in high school, no I'm a teacher. That was a change for me. I went to college to be an auto technician, and came out a teacher. My bad luck I guess.

who is David Musa? what is that all about?

Was the buck72 for them to fix your unit, or for one that was repaired?

The only recall ever on the early LS cars was the high mount brake light. It still stands

I asked the guys straight up what the difference was between the Petty cars and actual Cup cars and he said they are identical except that they use fibreglas bodies. They sound the exact same and I will say they certainly had plenty of power. I noticed as I hit the end of the straight that I was turning about 6,500 RPM. I know these things can crank to almost 10 grand in actual use so I have to gather that they are the actual engines with some modifications for durability. The guy said that they use different tolerences and camshafts because race engines are designed to last 500 miles and qualifying engines less than that and they need to do better than that for general use by semi-professionals like us. It was so cool. When you finish, all you can think about is doing more laps. My suggestion is to drop a hint to your significant other, parents, kids, whatever. Most of the people said their experience was a gift. Interestingly, out of the 33 people in my group, none were female, none were minorities. Bunch of old white guys, most with guts, but that made it fun watching them get in and out through the window. A couple of the dudes surprized me when they fit in the car. Someone told me they have a few different size seats, and they also can later the steering wheel size. The practice I did on my XboX driving simulator really helped as I knew the lines ahead of time. My lap speed on the track was significantly lower than what I can do on the Xbox, but I attribute that to having the instructor car in front of me as I know I could have gone much faster. In fact, I am sure I could have turned just as good a lap in my LS400, maybe better. Of course the sound wouldn't have been as good. Drop the hint, they have this at all the tracks. 1-800-BE-PETTY Denny

Imagine that? They call it what it actually is! The velcro isn't like regular velcro though, it's really stiff spurs and it almost clicks in.

yes that looks to be the same type of transmitter. What do they call it there?

I know what you mean Steve. I have been in several cars in my life that have more raw acceleration of the line. But man do they stick. You are able to drift up to the walls almost and you never worry about hitting them. Perhaps the best part of the whole thing was the staff. What a great bunch of people dedicating to making sure you have a good time. My only complaint would be is about all the pictures and placques they want to sell you at a very high price. It would be better if they just video taped your run and gave it to you on a DVD for free as part of the package.

Well I did it. Last Sunday my wife and I cruised on down to the Lowe's Speedway in Concord, NC so I could do my Richard Petty Driving Experience. Mannnnnnnnnn! Probably the most awesome thing I have ever done. I just did the Rookie one where you get to drive 8 laps, but that was what I needed. The Cup cars have quite a bit of power, but I figured they had done something to them as the acceleration was only slightly better than my LS. They really handle great, and it is so cool driving on the 24 degrees of banking. It was fun and nobody threw any beer cans at me! Denny

I have had a couple of Caprices, recently a 1985 with a 305cid (5L), and I still have a 1992 with the 305cid. The Lexus is so much faster in all respects to the Caprice that there is no comparision. Now if you are talking about the last model year Impala SS cars with the 350cid (5.7L) that is another story. I still think they are one of the best looking cars Chevy ever made. I'd buy one but they still get between 12K$ and 17K$ for them. The Caprice cop cars ripped. I have a couple of friends who are cops and they were all sorry to see them phased out. I hate to say this but I would prefer a black 96 Impala SS over about any other car for Interstate driving. They are more comfortable than the LS400, mainly because Lexus seats are so terrible compared to the Chevy's. The seats in my 92 Caprice are much more comfortable on a trip than my 90 LS, and I've drive both extensively. My 92 Caprice weighs 3707lbs.