1990LS400

There were three versions of the Platinum Series (SE, SF, and SG) - sold during the last half of the 2000 model year. The most striking visual difference is that they all had light maple wood instead of the standard darker wood. Air suspension seems to be found most frequently as an additional option on the SF version. All versions of the Platinum Series have identifying plaques on the sides behind the front wheels. A photo of my SF version is at: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=si&img=815 Platinum Series (SE) Appliques, Bird's Eye Maple Wood Wheels, 16-inch Custom Alloy Moonroof, Power Badging, Black Pearl Exterior Floor Mats, Platinum Signature Embroidered Headlights, High-Intensity Discharge Leather Trim, Textured Royale Compact Disc Changer, In-Dash Platinum Series (SF) Appliques, Bird's Eye Maple Wood Seats, Heated Wheels, 16-inch Custom Alloy Radio, Nakamichi Premium AM/FM ETR Stereo with Cassette Badging, Black Pearl Exterior Headlights, High-Intensity Discharge Leather Trim, Textured Royale Moonroof, Power Floor Mats, Platinum Signature Embroidered Platinum Series (SG) Appliques, Bird's Eye Maple Wood Leather Trim, Textured Royale Wheels, 16-inch Custom Alloy Navigation System Package Floor Mats, Platinum Signature Embroidered Badging, Black Pearl Exterior

The maintenance manual for your car has detailed information about the maintenance requirements for your car. There can be significant variations in maintenance requirements for different model years so it is best to follow the maintenance specifications for your specific model year. If you just bought your car, check in the glove compartment to see if there is a maintenance manual with the owners manual. If not, a replacement maintenance manual (and an owners manual too) can be obtained from Lexus.

I have to disagree with that..... I had a 1998 LX400 for about 5 years and by far the best gas mileage I ever got was on a trip from Texas to Oregon and back via Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The return was via I5 and I40. Over 4000 miles, at average speeds of 65 MPH and when all was said and done, my trip average was 31 MPG. AC on all the way. My LS400 always turned in the highest mileage on the highway at high speeds.Just my $.02 and my experience so far. Just got a 2004 LS430 and we'll see how it does. Vern Vern, I think the person who started this thread has a little higher mph figure in mind about what he thinks is high speed -- he said 90 mph. Your 1998 LS400, like my 2000 LS400, has a five speed automatic, a lower coefficient of drag and gets substantially better gas mileage (EPA 19 mpg city; 25 mpg highway) than a gen 1 LS400. At a constant 65 mph (on cruise control) in low/no wind conditions, lightly loaded, tires properly inflated, my 00 LS has more than once done a hair over 27 mpg overall while driving every other weekend from Kansas City to Iowa City before Iowa raised its speed limit from 65 to 70 mph. Yes, I actually obeyed the speed limit. With a strong tail wind, my 00 LS has slightly exceeded 30 mpg as it did several weeks ago when returning from Tulsa to K.C. with a 40-45 mph tailwind. Try putting the trip computer in your LS430 on "Current mileage" and see what kind of mileage you get at a constant 55 mph. Then bump up your speed to 65 mph and look at the current mileage. Do all this on flat land in low/no wind conditions. Did your trip computer really show that your mpg is better at 65 than it is at 55 mph?

I think most cases of suspected gas mileage "problems" would be resolved by meticulously keeping track of all the gas that goes into the tank over a long period of time and using a handheld calculator to calculate the exact gas mileages. Most of the reports I have seen or heard about who say they are getting higher mileage from a gen 1 LS400 were from people who were literally guessing on how much gas they were using rather than making this a scientific exercise. And there are huge differences in driving style and traffic circumstances. Getting better gas mileage at high speeds is a popular myth. The best gas mileage is almost always attained by driving at a speed just above where the car shifts into its highest gear - usually between 35 and 50 mph on a modern car with auto transmission. This fact is easily verified in later LS cars with built in trip computers by watching the current gas mileage at various speeds. I know gas is getting expensive compared to the recent past and that is getting a lot of people down. Those with a long term view like me, however, know that, adjusted for inflation, gas is awfully cheap compared to prices in the 60's and 70's.

Have you had your 94 LS long? Are you keeping track of miles per gallon over the long haul to see how the mileage fluctuates in relation to the type of driving? The gen one LS400 had an EPA rating of 18 mpg city and 23 mpg highway. EPA figures are often very optimistic. If your 17.7 mpg is in mixed city driving, then that does not seem very far off what you should expect. I drove a similar gen 1 (1990) LS for over nearly 14 years and kept track of every gallon the car used and the mpg on every tank full. I think my best ever mileage on a tank was a little over 24 mpg and that was on a trip where all the miles were on the highway and with a tail wind. With a very gentle foot on the thottle, I averaged between 17 and 20 mpg in mixed city driving which included quite a bit of highway driving. In city-only driving, my gen 1 LS400 would get 15-16 mpg on a tank which I though was pretty good for a nearly 4000 pound sedan made during those years. My current 2000 LS400 with its five speed automatic gets substantially better mileage than my 1990 LS400 did - particularly on the highway. It sounds like your car is operating normally when it comes to gas mileage and I doubt if changing the tranmission fluid is going to do anything to improve it. If your transmission is having shifting issues, inspect the wiring harness in the left trunk hinge for cracked or broken wires - do a search on this forum for information on how to fix for a couple of bucks by splicing wires. Intermittent shifting problems occur as the wires start to crack and become progessively worse. My gen 1 LS became almost inoperable until I fixed the broken wires in the hinge.

You must mean that the mirrors don't "dip" anymore. To make them dip down when you put the car in reverse, move the mirror adjustment switch to either the left or right - the mirrors do not dip when the switch is in the center position.

The shocks on my first LS (a 1990) were fine when I sold it at 183K miles. I think the current owner said that it now has over 225K and I think he would have told me if he had replaced the shocks - I see him almost every day and talk about cars. Are your tires over-inflated? Check the pressure to make sure that it is not too far above what is recommended. The recommended pressure is 29 psi on my similar 2000 LS400 which is a little lower than what was recommended on my 1990 LS.

I love this tread and call it "the thread that will not die." Please read the posts further up this thread to discover that dogboy never delivered. There are a number of other threads on this forum and on other Lexus forums on how to interface a traditional or Bluetooth kit to the audio system at least to the point of automuting the radio when your phone rings or a call is in progress.

The separate upper console tray for the phone was not in the 90-92 LS400. I think the separate phone receiver tray started with the 1995 LS400 but I'm not certain. In the 90-92 LS400, the cradle for the phone receiver was installed on the passenger side of the main console box. Regarding the upper console tray in the 95-00 LS400 ... when I checked with the dealer, the tray insert was not available separately as a replacement part. One had to buy the entire upholstered upper console tray at a price of several hundred dollars. What a shame. If available separately, the simple black plastic upper console tray insert should have been available at a nominal price.

On a 2000 LS400 like mine, the phone transceiver is in the trunk in a floor well on the right side. The two connectors I am talking about plug together after unplugging them from the transceiver and can then be attached to the bottom of the tool box housing on the right side of the trunk -- that is where the connectors "live" on 2000 LS400s without a Lexus phone. But I do not know where the OEM phone transceiver was installed in your 91 LS400. Maybe someone else will chime in. On the 90 LS400 I had for many years, an aftermarket phone transceiver was installed behind the trim on the left side of the trunk - just forward of the left rear tail light and near the tool kit. You might try peaking behind the trim - it is reasonably easy to pop loose. Some people have gotten away with just cutting the wires but one must remember that the phone system interfaces with the audio system. You don't want to accidently ground the "telemute" wire and permanently mute your stereo. Everything in the dealer installed OEM phone system can be unplugged cleanly from the car's factory installed phone harness. There is probably no need to remove the phone control module from the steering wheel since you would have to find a "blank" that matches the interior trim to fill the void removing it would leave. The phone control module on my steering wheel does not impair the operation of anything else. You can pretend that the steering wheel phone control buttons fire the "death ray" that you shoot at offending drivers. Someone at Scholfield Lexus in Wichita - (316) 688-1919 - might be able to help you if you don't find the answer.

The sound made by the turn signals on my 2000 LS400 is also inaudible to me. It was an adjustment getting used to looking at the cluster to made certain that the turn signal had cancelled after a turn but now I have grown to like the silence. The self cancelling feature is very reliable and the signal almost never stays on after a turn. It is possible to buy louder turn signal flasher units like the one on the following website, but I recommend consulting a dealer or a reliable repair shop that knows Lexus before you try anything like it: http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores...catalogId=10101 I'll bet you will get used to the silent signals after a few months like I did.

A custom hitch shop can make a hitch to fit almost any vehicle. The best place to attach a hitch might to the bolts that hold the muffler hangers on each side. That is where the hitch is usually attached on the LS400 and LS430. Attached is a photo of the Draw-Tite hitch I have on my 2000 LS400 which is similar to the Draw-Tite hitch I had on my 90 LS400. The LS400 hitch would not fit your SC but the photo might give you an idea of what a fabricated class II hitch for an SC might look like.

Thanks for that advice. The dealer did use the C-best handheld computer reader to check the setting and inactivate the tilt away and I am happy now. Especially since I can still adjust the steering wheel position manually. I checked the service bulletins and recalls and did not see anything. If your local library subscribes to the "EBSCO Auto Repair Reference Center" service, like my local public library does, you can find the information about the recall for the tilt/telescope in the EBSCO database. Look for the "steering column noise" TSIB under "1998 Lexus LS400; Steering, Suspension". I doubt that a TSIB repair will be done for free on a nine year old car but it does not hurt to ask. Lexus required the repair of the tilt/telescope problem to be done while the car was within its basic 4 year/50,000 mile warranty.

The dealer would use a Lexus handheld tester to deactivate the tilt/telescope function. I think the mechanism on the 98-00 is quite a bit different that what you seen in tutorials on how to fix the tilt/telescope issues on the earlier LS400's. There was a recall to fix problems with the tilt/telescope system on the 98-00 LS400's. In involved replacing the motors and lots of parts - a very expensive recall program. Unfortunately lots of 98-00 LS400's never got the problems fixed under the recall. I was fortunate that my 00 LS was built after all the fixes were implemented on the production line.

The driver side headlight may be from an 93-94 LS400 if it uses an H4 bulb.

VSC "just" helps you have better control? Yes, of course it does. Stability Control like the VSC system is the most extraordinary feature I have seen on cars in my 40+ years of driving. I regularly (and very carefully) push my LS beyond its limits when the roads are snowy or icy just to see VSC intervene to put the car back on the correct path. The "snow mode" transmission feature is very useful in snow or on ice and prevents the rear tires from slipping while accellerating. Snow Mode does not make it harder to press the throttle -- it causes the transmission to start off in third gear. In 17 years of driving LS400's - including lots of winter driving in northern Iowa, I've never had to "spin my wheels" after getting stuck while driving in snow. I've always used snow tires in the winter and have never gotten stuck.

I know quite a few RX drivers and none of them are men. None of the ES drivers I know are men either. Maybe all that proves is that I really, really like women. :whistles:

The most interesting aspect of the article is the use of the term "millionaire". $1,000,000 of gross or net assets IS NOT wealth in year 2007. $1M of net assets or even $1M in cash not including a home won't begin to fund a decent retirement lifestyle in the coming years. Last time I checked the stats, a significant percentage of U.S. households had net assets greater than $5,000,000. I guess everyone has there own yardstick but as far as I am concerned, anything called "wealth" starts at substantially over $10,000,000 in net assets.

Here (Sewell Lexus) is where I bought a cargo net and other stuff for my 00 LS: http://www.lexus-parts.com/partlist.asp?Su...amp;ModelID=161

The "beep" sound for the remote locking was added beginning with the 1993 model year.

It is doubtful that a breaking timing belt will cause damage on a 91. The jury seems to be out on 95-97 on whether there would be any damage. For sure there will be damage on a 98-up LS. I seem to be one of the few who have actually had a timing belt thown on a gen 1 LS. There was no damage to my 90 LS when it happened and the repair shop owner who fixed it confirmed that damage would be very unlikely on a 90-94 LS.

Gosh, the last ES330 loaner I had was very low mileage, in pristine condition and the tires were not over inflated. The Lexus dealer here doesn't loan out junk. Steve, does your Lexus dealer loan out junk? A rear drive GS simply drives (and "feels") far more like a rear drive LS than a front drive ES. Saying otherwise is, well, an "interesting" statement. I haven't driven an ES350 yet but the last ES330 loaner I had felt identical in driving dynamics to our V6 Camry -- lots of front drive "push" and the same buzzy drive train to boot. Its somewhat loose and unpredictable handling scared the !Removed! out of me when I drove it hard on the way from the Lexus dealer to my office and I quickly backed off the throttle to keep from getting into trouble. But, the interior of the ES330 was very nice - a lot nicer than our Camry - but it didn't have the quality feel of an LS of any year and it was missing a number of comfort and convenient features that LS owners take for granted. Maybe the ES350 is a little more like an LS - I haven't driven one yet.

For less than the price of an ES350, you could probably have a very nice low mileage 04 LS430 instead of an 02 or 03 LS430. Have you been seriously looking? I don't understand the concept of choosing between an ES350 and an LS430. An ES and an LS don't "feel" the same at all. The rear wheel drive GS and LS are a lot more similar. Either you prefer an ES or you prefer an LS. They aren't interchangeable. An LS430 will likely cost you quite a bit more to operate than an ES350 and not just in fuel costs. For example, even in Toronto you could probably get buy without snow tires on a front wheel drive ES. But on an LS430, four snow tires and an extra set of wheels are just about a necessity. If you prefer an LS430, I'd recommend looking for an LS430 that has just come off a three year lease and which is within the normal mileage allowance for a three lease lease - 36,000 miles or less or whatever that is in kilometers. I plan to keep the off lease, low mileage, 2000 LS400 I bought in 2003 for about 6 more years - 10 years total. Four years after I bought it, it is at 83,000 miles and has had no problems at all -- only normal maintenance has been needed. But if you prefer the ES, buy one of those.

Call Exact Performance for a quote: 913-384-4555. Tell them that Jim with the 2000 white Platinum Series LS400 sent you. Ben Bennett owns Exact and has been maintaining our Lexus and Toyota cars for about the past 10 years and also services cars for our friends and neighbors. Ben recently moved his shop to a larger building at 6403 Johnson Drive in Mission - just west of Lamar. Ben recently did a full blown 90K maintenence of our V6 Camry for less than $1,200 including tax. Included water pump, spark plugs, timing belts, all fluids and all the other stuff -- nothing was left out. Mechanically, it is the same as your ES so the price 90K maintenance price should be similar. Superior Toyota "low balls" the 90K maintenence price by leaving out items that are really necessary to have done. IMO, by far the best Toyota dealer for both sales and service in the KC metro area is Jay Wolfe Toyota but they are up near the airport -- awfully far from Overland Park. Good luck!.

Shops that install customer supplied parts are generally deeply in the "lower tier" of repair shops. Using customer supplied parts is simply not done by top independent repair shops. That's just the way it is.