1990LS400

One has to give Mercedes credit for creating such a different looking car. Very daring and definitely not playing it safe. For a company historically known for selling mostly boring underpowerd gas and diesel cars, I have to admire this effort.

I remember that Steve (SW03ES) once said that his father previously had a 98 LS400 with air suspension and that he did not think the ride was very different than in an LS with steel springs. It is possible that LS400's with steel springs sold in Germany may have a firmer suspension than LS400's sold in the U.S. We currently have a 2000 LS400 which I often drive in the state of Missouri. Missouri was recently rated as having nearly the worst roads (49th of 50 states) in the U.S. Our 00 LS handles these rough roads very well and far better than our previous 1990 LS which also had steel springs. I sometimes drive the 00 LS on rural gravel and dirt roads and I don't think it ever "bottoms out". The later LS400's (U.S. models, at least) seem to have a bit more ground clearance. Our 90 LS easily "high centered" in deep snow but the 00 LS handles deep snow much better.

I think you will notice this kind of difference between a "top of the line" and a "bottom of the line" model regardless of who the manufacturer is. I'll never forget switching from a top of the line (gas guzzling 12 mpg) Mercedes S-class to a bottom of the line Mercedes diesel when I moved much further from where I worked. It was almost as if the two cars were not made by the same company - completely different quality, comfort and noise!! levels. It was a little similar to how I felt when I had my LS at the Lexus dealer last year just before the basic warranty expired. On two different days, I was provided with a loaner ES330 and a RX330. I was shocked. I had expected both to be much nicer and a lot more like my $62,000 LS. When I mentioned this to the service manager, he just smiled. But for what they are and in their price range, the ES330 and RX330 are really very nice cars. It is simply a matter of "you get what you pay for". My wife likes smaller cars and we may end up buying an ES when we replace her Camry in a few years. She loved both the ES and the RX.

Qafas, greetings from "next door" in Lenexa. The biggest "problem" I found in changing from a 90 LS to a 00 LS is that we are driving the 00 LS quite a bit more - the 00 LS is simply more pleasant to drive than the old 90 LS so we seem to take more 300-600 mile weekend driving trips than previously. Problems of the early LS (e.g. leaking power steering pumps which destroy alternators, poor brakes, marginal rear legroom) are addressed the 98-00 (and 95 up) LS. A 5-7 year old well optioned LS costs little more than a basically equipped one so you might as well buy one with options - Nakamichi, seat heaters, CD changer, Platinum Series, etc. I'd recommend avoiding the Nav - it is old technology - is it possible to get lost in Kansas City? If you want Nav, buy a PDA with Microsoft Streets or a Garmin nav from that nice company just south of us in Olathe -- a 2,500 square mile map (including POI's) of the Kansas City metro area takes up only 3 megabytes on a PDA storage card. If you buy a fairly new 1-owner LS, remember that typical ages of original purchasers/lessees is quite (OK, very) high. The average age of buyers for all Lexus vehicles is 52 - LS buyers tend to be older than that. People in this age group rarely "hod rod" expensive new cars. People like me who have bought LS's new usually, but not always, take very good care of their "babies". But once an LS or any car falls into the hands of the 2nd, 3rd or 4th owner, then watch out! Maintenance costs for a 98-00 LS are less than for an early LS. (OK, the 98-00 engine sump holds an extra quart of oil over your 91 LS.) For example, the spark plug change interval is twice as long (120,000 miles) as for the early LS. I'd recommend shopping the independent dealers and watching the Kansas City Star for a private party selling his LS. Look at a lot of cars and take your time but be ready to negotiate and write a check when your "perfect" car comes along. PM me if you want opinions on local sources for used Lexus cars. I'd rather not post this information on a public forum. Here is a link to information about the 98 LS. Modify the URL (change the 98 to 99 and 00) to see information about the 99 and 00 models: http://www.lexusjax.com/shared/shared/cpo_...00/ls40098.html Note that Superior sold quite a few 98 LSs without HID but that HID are on almost all 99's and 00's.

I'd say to go with whichever car you like. And I agree that 27K miles more on the UL isn't much of a concern -- verify the maintenance history though. I was in a somewhat similar situation when I bought my 00 LS in 2003. The local Lexus dealer was asking $9,000!!! more for either of two CPO 2000 LS400s with 36K miles than I ended up paying a non-Lexus dealer for an even better equipted 00 LS (in my favorite color) with 38K miles. Almost two years and 23K miles later, I am still glad I didn't spend the extra $9K and that I bought the nicer non-CPO LS. My CPA/wife is REALLY glad I didn't spend the extra cash.

An indie repair shop specializing in Lexus charged me about $370 before tax a few weeks ago for the 60K service on my 2000 LS400. That price did not include the wheel balance/rotation (a specialty wheel shop does it for me) or an engine oil/filter change which I always do myself. The price did include transmission and rear diff fluid change which required only when following the severe service maintenance schedule. I doubt if a Lexus dealer would have been within several hundred $ on the price. Chrome wheels on an LS? I never ever thought I would like chrome - my first LS had silver painted wheels. Maybe spending a month in Phoenix/Scottsdale in the last year changed my mind. Does ANYONE in the Phoenix metro area have a Lexus (or Mercedes, etc.) WITHOUT chrome wheels? I've never seen so much chrome in any one city.

I have not had any success either in finding products compatible with HomeLink. In our last house we had wall mounted light switches with built-in receivers that allowed us to turn on exterior and interior lights with a garage door opener. I wish I could find something similar for our current house.

It is fairly standard to change the water pump when the timing belt is removed since it doesn't cost that much more to do. In fact, a water pump seized in my first LS and caused the timing belt to fail. I sure hope that never happens in my 00 LS since there will be will serious damage. It didn't matter in the early LS since they were non-interference engines. I think the main case you can make is that a valve adjustment should be effective for more than just 26,000 miles. I suspect they would cut you more slack if you were the owner when the head work was done at 49,000 miles. Do you think the dealer would pay 1/2 the cost of the valve adjustment fee? That is better than nothing.

I see similar refections in my rear view mirror from light reflecting on the defroster wires on my LS. It is not terrible, but I have been surprised that I notice it so much. Maybe it is a "feature" of having the rear window tinted. I used the same tint shop on a previous LS but did not have the rear window tinted since it had a retractable sunshade. The tint shop did a great job - the tint is almost two years old and still like new. I had non-metalized tint used on the rear window (due to the imprinted radio and phone antennas) if that makes a difference. I don't know if the reflections would be any less if metalized tint had been used. A more noticable issue of the rear window tint on my LS is that the effectiveness of the automatic glare reduction feature of the interior and exterior rear view mirrors is somewhat reduced. All in all, having the rear window tinted is a lot better than not - even with the light reflecting on the wires at night.

I also run Dunlops (SP5000) at 29 psi on a 2000 LS400. Keeping the pressure to the minimum smooths the ride on potholed roles in the central U.S.

In 2003, I seriously thought about buying a 2001 Q45 (about 60K miles) before buying a 2000 LS400 (with 38K miles). The Q45 was far more fun to drive than the LS. What really put me off the Q was the poor quality of the components around the steering wheel - the turn signal lever and the switches seemed way too sloppy for a quality car. I guess I was too used to Toyota fit and finish quality and ended up spending a LOT more than the Q cost to get an LS that was one year older.

Roy, I think that is mostly a really nice photo you took of my car!

Why not get a no-annual fee "rebate" credit card from a company that sends you a rebate check each year for a percentage of your total purchases? Become a "deadbeat" - the credit card industry term for someone who pays his balance in full every month and never pays interest. Put all purchases on rebate cards and enjoy hundreds to thousands of dollars cash back every year - enough for at least a few nice restaurant meals. I go to the ATM only every 2 - 3 months to get a some cash. I used to need cash (quarters) for the car wash but now even it has a credit card reader in each bay. It's odd how Lexus came out with a credit card after 15 years. I've been carrying a Mercedes credit card for many years but I rarely use it since it is not a rebate card. The Mercedes card provider has changed several times and the perks have been dramatically reduced - I suspect that a high percentage of Mercedes card holders pay their balance in full each month and that the card has not been particularly profitable to the issuers.

This is not exactly a new issue. Cell phone companies and service providers had plenty of evidence since at least the early 1980's that talking on a cell phone was much more dangerous than talking to a passenger in the car. It is odd that this is hitting the news again now. My father had a "radio telephone" beginning in the 1950's (they were in wide use through the 1970's) and I remember how he always pulled off the road before making a call and immediately pulled over when receiving a call. Frankly, I give a wide berth to people talking on phones while driving and I leave a lot of extra room in front of me if I see the person in back of me talking on a phone. What scares me most are the people who run stoplights while talking on the phone. They don't do it on purpose - they just don't see the red light at all - they are in "cell phone land". I don't think it would do much good to ban handheld phones in cars since handsfree phones are just as distracting. Although other devices in cars are distracting there is something very, very different about talking on a cell phone with someone you can't see and who can not see what you are dealing with.

Do you have an owners manual and a maintenance manual? If not, sign up on Lexus.com. I had the 60K service performed on my 2000 LS a few weeks ago. I follow the normal maintenence schedule except that I have the transmission and differential fluids replaced every 30K instead of never. I always exclude oil changes (I do it myself) and wheel balancing/rotation (I use a specialty wheel shop) from what I ask the repair shop to do. The 60K maintenance on my 2000 LS cost $375 before taxes excluding the engine oil/filter change and tire balance/rotation but including the additional fluid change services described above. The normal 60K service on a 2000 LS includes engine oil/filter change, brake fluid and coolant changes, air filter and cabin filter, tire balancing, various inspections, and a road test. The 60K service on a 2000 LS is fairly minimal and less expensive that the 60K service on the LS I bought in 1990.

My wife and I noticed just last Sunday how few people made it through a particular intersection after the light turned green. People seemed to just sit there for a few seconds after the light turned green and then slowly moved on. When we looked around us we noticed that many of the drivers had a cell phone pressed to their ears and simply were not paying attention to what was going on around them. I have joked about punching out the next person that hits my car while talking on the phone. I thought about doing that to the last phone using driver who rear ended my LS but she was just too cute.

Tire Rack currently shows five wheels in the OEM 16" size and another 44 in larger sizes. I bought a set of Mille Miglia Bello wheels for my snow tires from them - they seem to me to be in line with the conservative appearance of the 98-00 LS, are nice quality and fairly inexpensive too: http://www.tirerack.com/upgrade_garage/Whe...=&autoYear=1999 But even the Bellos are a close fit over the calipers but so are the wheels that came on my car when new. If tape weights are used, the installer has to be careful to offset the weights so that they are not ground off by the calipers - be sure to remind Tire Rack or whoever you buy wheels from to do this. Attached is a phone of my 00 LS with the Bellos.

Searching this forum for "subwoofer" gets quite a few hits. Here is an old thread about someone replacing his 90 LS subwoofer with a 10" Kicker subwoofer: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...97&hl=subwoofer And here is one of many places where you can buy Kicker products: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QYhs4mtfEbB/c...icker+subwoofer There are likely a lot of other brands that would work too.

Sewell has an RX330/400h net for $40: http://www.lexus-parts.com/partdetail.asp?...SubCategoryID=4 I bought a cargo net for our 00 LS from Sewell.

I think you will get your "facts" if you contact the appropriate govenmental agencies directly. I got a huge stack of requirements from the Feds when I thought about importing a Euro-spec Mercedes many years ago. Importing and certifying a non-U.S. spec car is a capital intensive venture requiring the posting of a bond for each car imported. Cars not brought into compliance within a fairly short period must be either destroyed or exported. I suspect the cost of importing and certifying a 1996 Soarer would exceed what it could be sold for in the U.S. And how many people in the U.S. want to drive a right hand drive car? Many of the components are different than on U.S. models and it is unlikely that Toyota/Lexus will provide any assistance at all on conversion or replacement parts.

Marty, From http://www.expansys.com.au/forumthread.asp...3000&thread=286 "You can use an ordinary 8 ohm car kit speaker if you connect it into one pair of centre speaker wires ,one top row and one bottom, (front speaker outputs)on the female ISO plug (one that normally plugs into vehicle harness side) these provide a full line out signal." Terry at SIO Communications seems very sharp on this stuff so I am confident that he is providing accurate information. I'm spent a lot of time on his forum.

One more post... Here is a thread from my favorite UK phone installer Terry (SIO Communications) on how to find a mute position: http://users.boardnation.com/~sio_communic...ay;threadid=843 Caution! Some on this forum have said that using Terry's approach of probing radio / amp pins with a test light can harm the electricals. His method is the one I used on our cars and which Blake918 recently used to find a mute point on his OEM phone harness.

Here is a thread over on Club Lexus that discusses hooking a phone kit's mute wire to a GX ML system: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122428& There is no substitute for having your car's wiring diagram. The one for my 00 LS clearly shows the color of the mute wire on the amp. Instead I found two mute points in the OEM phone harness and used the one under the front armrest. Some Lexus vehicles have the mute on the head unit. From what I have seen there is no standardization in the wire colors used for the different functions among Lexus models. A good audio shop or phone installer has docs for most cars or knows how to find the correct audio system wires by trial and error. Playing the call through the audio system speakers may be a pretty tall order and most people use an external speaker which be hidden under the dash.

Here is an old thread on how the buyer of my 90 LS fixed the keyless entry: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...2188&hl=keyless There was a lengthy diagnostic procedure for the keyless entry system in the 90 LS 2-volume repair manual set I passed on to the new owner. A variety of issues can cause the keyless entry system to fail.