VBdenny

No older high milage car is going to be withour problems. Sure the Lexus has some problems. I'd say the previous posts hit the nail on the head. The power steering system is prone to failure, as are some of the instrucment lights and front suspension.. I bought my 90 LS with 120,000 miles for six grand. The car drives like brand new (even at 100) There are absolutely no squeeks or rattles and it still hurts your ears to close the door with all the windows up. By far the best car I have ever owned. I figured a couple of grand here and there to keep it up is still cheaper than a car payment for a Neon or something else I didn't want to drive. I've seen several nice used LS 400's in the paper. What you want to look for is a one owner, dealer maintained car that was garage kept. The milage isn't really an issue since these cars were built to last forever.

The DO NOT WASH sign is a great idea. I took my spotlessly clean, waxed to the hilt Lexus into the dealer for something and they ran it thru their car wash. I couldn't believe it! The only reason I was there was because the idiots left the under engine splash pan off while doing an oil change I didn't request. I had just changed my oil three days earlier. $25 of synthetic oil and a $10 filter dumped away. Off course they put in regular oil so I then had to change the oil and filter again. I lost my faith in the dealer. They acted like I was from frigging Mars when I complained about the splash pan being left off.

I haven't used the Collinite 476s before. I use the Collinite 845 Insulator wax. I love the stuff. I was amazed that there was such a great line of products available that were so good that I had never even heard of. The carwash without a hose does sound like a scary idea. How does it dry? I'd love to see a car washed with it (someone else's at first). I guess if the car is just like rain dirty it would be okay but I sure couldn't see it with salt and sand. I won't even use a car wash wand in the winter in salty areas if they say they recycle their water. Recycling the water means they recycle the salt. I don't think they put reverse osmosis things in car washes.

well, that means it's time to go to bed. VBdenny checking out 12:08P.M. EST

Lokks like a Bull Ship to me! but it is cool!

Anytime I am driving, I am happy. Have a great Christmas 90. Denny

Yeah.... but I get off so much on the 400 because it rips and I look innocent. The ride is exactly what I like. I just don't care much for the seats.

Thanks 90, 99, lexo, swo, brooklyn, mejojo, and meist. It's not that I haven't driven in snow. I grew up in Syracuse and went to college in Oswego. I know all about snow, I just don't like it anymore (except when I am skiing). What I might do is drive the Lexus to NJ and then take my Caprice to Syracuse. The Lexus will be indoors then. Ah who knows, I like deciding stuff at the last minutes,,,,,,, Thanks you all. denny

Brooklyn, check your tire pressures, then your right front caliper is probably hanging. The easiest way to check if it is hanging is to put your hand on it after driving and feel if it is hotter than the other side. Brooklyn roads are tough, but it's probably simiple. Crap gets in tha caliper boots and hangs them up. Denny

Yeah, didn't mean to hang you out, it was just that I had to think about it. It rides better than my Cadillac did, butt doesn't handle as well as my Sentra SE did. My Caprice is more comfortable on long trips as it has much better seats. For what the car is made for, it is about perfect. At 130, the car shows perfect manners (which is an improvement over the driver). I very much enjoy driving my LS.

Well it looks as if my idea to rent a car wasn't as dumb as my wife thought. I did have to Lexus is regular (southern) snow a few times. Here is the south they don't do much plowing or salting. The car goes fine but with the positraction differential, it gets a little squirrly when you get on it. In fact my daughter got it a little sidewards in the rain up in Blacksburg VA when she was going around a corner and hitting the gas a little. Luckily, I had taught her how to square it back up, which she did. Not that I mind driving in snow, I just don't want to get all that sand and salt all in my car. I think I'll leave the LS in the garage all waxed and clean.

After talking to Curt Oberg about the coolant reservior fluctuations, I believe it is fairly common for the level to be quite low when cold, and up to, or over MAX when hot. Personally, I think the tanks were made a little small, and mislabeled. Everytime I ever filled it to MIN when cold, it ran all out the top and made a mess. I run mine just slightly above the low radiator fluid sensor which puts it slightly above MAX at normal temperature. I haven't noticed any difference in summer or winter. Since I quit refilling the tank, I haven't had any leakage.

I don't know Joe. When I was younger I lived in Syracuse and every car I had had rust all over everything. It gets in the brakes, ruins the exhuast, and seems really bad for cars. Besides, my engine is spotlessly clean and I don't want hours and hours of cleaning. They mix the salt with sand which gets stuck everywhere. I've never seen a Lexus with rust and doubt it would be a problem a few times but the cleaning you have to do if very time consuming.

Beautiful car.

I will be going up to Syracuse, NY next week for Christmas. My brother told me they are salting the crap out of the roads and I am trying to decide if I should just rent a car to drive up. My car has hardly ever been in any salt and I was wondering if some of you way up North people can tell me if you feel it really damages your car. Has anyone had any rust on an LS? My car is cleaned, waxed an in the garage. I rarely even drive it in the rain as I usually drive my truck when it rains. What do you think? Money isn't an issue, I just have grown rather fond of my car and don't want to get it all nasty. I've seen how it gets all in the engine and all.

Well I can certainly understand how annoying the PS problems are. My LS now leaks PS fluid on my garage floor. I have to add fluid once in awhile, but it appears about the same amount that leaks. Since I just had the PS pump and high pressure hose replaced last year I was not happy. While under the car today doing an oil change, I used a small flashlight and looked up around the pump, it didn't appear to be leaking there. The I looked at the rack. Leaking. Once of the boots is wet with PS fluid and I could see where it is dripping. I cussed at that point because I saw the two guys on two guys garage change a rack and it didn't look like fun. I'm open to any suggestions on what I can screw around with to fix this.

My 1990 LS just turned to 134,000 miles today. Since that was my mark for my 3K oil change, I got out the ramps and changed it. How long can this car go? I feel forever. Just last week when I wnent to take a final exam in a college class I was taking another student in the class pulled up when I did. She said "I like your new Lexus." I said thanks! I didn't have the heart to tell her it was 14 years old.

Hey LS guy. AT one point we had a workshop forum that was model specific but that seemed to disappear in the "crash of '03" I currently have detailed presentations on -Changing brakes and calipers -Replacing taillight bulbs. Curt Oberg has several as well, I know he has -Throttle body cleaning I just finished doing an oil change on my LS a few minutes ago. Fairly easy job. 1. drive car up on ramps 2. remove 13 10mm bolts that hold splash shield on. 3. remove oil plug (14mm), drain oil 4. change filter 5. put splash shield back on 6. add 5.3 qts of oil. I then washed the car as it had gotton some dust on it from sitting in the garage. Denny

Well I certainly understand what jb is talking about. I pulled the center console with no problem, removed the vents with no problem. The ashtray part is a problem. Although I had looked at a diagram as to how it was attached, I still didn't get the thing loose. I yanked so damn hard that I'm surprized I didn't rip out a sizable piece of the dash!. What do you all find the best place to grab when yanking?

I noticed as it gets colder, the 400 seems to put out a lot of vapor out of the chrome tipped duel exhausts. Although it is more than you might expect, I attribute this to the high idle speed at startup. It's normal. You will smell coolant burning with a sickly sweet smell that is quite obvious is there is a problem.

anyone have a picture of how to lube the sway bar bushings? I've also noticed a little noise.

recently, I noticed a little orange indicator was illuminated on my dash. I looked it up to see what it meant and it was a bulb out indicator. I did a visual inspection and found out one of my right rear tail light bulbs was out. When I started looking around in the trunk, I thought, oh man this is going to be difficult. I got out my digital camera and started in. I made a complete tutorial on how to do this but of course "you are not allowed to upload this type of file" showed up when I tried to post it. If anyone wants this or can tell me how to post it, please let me know. I have it in PDF format so anyone can view it.

Craig, sounds like you about have a new car.

I don't think of the LS430 as a "old man's", car at all. Perhaps a rich mans car but not old. I believe the offical car of old people is the State Car of Florida, the Grand Marquis. All the old people around here cruise the big Marquis around. Not my kind of car although I did see a Mecury Maurader the other day and it looked (and sounded) bad to the bone. All black and throaty if you like that kind of thing. Personally, I'd opt for the Lexus if money was not a concern. I'm going to buy some property in North Carolina instead of a car though. My 14 year old 90 is still about perfect for now.

Thanks Craig, The comparisions you provided mean my LS will not be getting Michelin's. I looked over all the comparision charts and I have to agree with you. I take surveys like this seriously. Who would have ever thought tire buying would come to this. Denny