GKLCPA

Not a bad deal. That car is inspiring me to think that my LS is good for at least another 250K! Four hundred thousand miles is a lot of mileage, but with Lexus quality it may have another 100K in it, particularly if most of those miles were highway.

Nice looking car. I wouldn't pay more than a couple of grand for it though

Gas here is around $ 3.19 per gallon. I pay just under $ 60 to fill up.

Landar, You're going to need snows on all four wheels. I picked up some used Blizzaks for $ 200 just prior to Feb. If you get them brand new, they're about $100 per tire. Check www.tirerack.com for more info. Like the other guys were saying, snows are a must. I did not have to turn off my traction control during the winter, but if you get stuck, you'd need to turn it off so you can get the car some gas to get unstuck. I live in a town in Northampton County a few miles north of Easton PA. I moved here six years ago from NJ, where I lived for about 20 years. I moved to the east coast after graduating from IU. I spent my formative years growing up in Naptown and still have folks there. Where are U from in Indiana? I grew up driving RWD cars as that was all that was available to me(60's era cars). I have not contended with a RWD in many years so this is going to bring back memories(donut time? :whistles: ). I bought the LS400 knowing that snow may be an issue but thought that with the ECT snow mode, some weight in the trunk and good all weathers, I would not have much of a problem. From this thread, I am gathering that my expectations may not be realistic. (PS..Hey GKLCPA....where in the LV area do you live? My wife is from Northampton and I have roamed around your stomping grounds a bit).

I grew up in Indiana (Indianapolis) so I'm very familiar with the winters there. You have to get snow tires. All weathers won't do Not even with all-weather's? I used a brand of Nordic tires(Nokians) on my family van. Very nice all wx tires. We get, on average, about 70 inches of snow each winter here in N. Indiana. My philosophy is to stay at home when we get seriously dumped upon. I dont want a 4-wheel drive because then my boss will expect me to show up on snowy days!

I agree with this statement. I have a 96 and it's like a tank in the snow. Just get some Blizzacks and you'll be fine.

I have a 96 LS that's below the mileage limit, but way past the time limit. To be honest, I never realized there was a time limit and have always just assumed that I'd change it out at 90K. At the rate of miles I'm putting on, I'll probably be doing this in the spring of 2008. I'll deal with the water pump at that time as well.

My car was recently out of alignment and my average mpg decreased to 18-19 mpg rather than the normal 20-21 mpg. Properly inflated tires and making sure your vehicle is aligned are some simple things to check and correct. These cars seem to be very sensitve to these two issues.

I had my alignment done recently at a local toyota dealer. They did a good job

Hehehe...now you're kinda of like me with regard to how I feel about my Lex. I bought my 1996 LS back in October and still haven't gotten over finding any old excuse to drive it. These are great cars that are unequaled. BTW, you got your LS for a good price!

I'm surprised that you're selling NC in light of your love for the LS. In any event, I hope that you'll contiume to particpate here

I agree with you 100% I had a 92 LS400, tried using 87 octane, had bad gas mileage, and the car ran bad. instead of filling up once a week, had to fill up twice aweek. premium gas here in california is $3.60 per gal (SF bay area) will always use premiun gas for my 00 LS400 Premium in CA is 3.60??? I thought I had it bad paying 2.93 in NJ last week which is about 10 cents cheaper than the price here in PA. The fuel taxes makes up at least 30-40 cents of PA's price and I imagine that must be much worst in CA. CA is nice, but I don't see how people can afford it between gas prices and real estate prices. NJ/NY is pretty bad on the real estate measure as well.

I always run premium in my car just to be on the safe side. I own a 98 Nissan Maxima and the recommended fuel is premium, but I've always used regular. The car currently has 180K miles on it and has never had a problem with the engine.

I just got home about an hour ago after the bulk of the snow came down in the northeast today. I purchased some blizzack snow tires back in January just to be prepared for this. The only vehicles on the road at 8:00 pm were snow plows, SUV's and my LS. She performed like a tank with the snow tires. Quite frankly, I've never I had better car in the snow. This is the third large snow that I've driven the car in this year. Folks say that the 98+ with VSC are better in the snow, but that's hard to imagine!

nc211, Just a quick note to say how much I enjoy reading your posts. They're always well written and informative. Also, check out Blakes and your cars at the link. Both are very nice looking. Good to see a nice stock LS without all lowering and modding business. These cars are good looking as they are without a bunch of "french pastry" stop going to the dealership, that's the 1st suggestion. Especially now since you have the list of repairs. Buy your mounts and stuff from one of the online vendors from www.parts.com... I like www.lexuspartsonline.com myself, but there are several to choose from. The EGR tube I hear is a pain in the butt to fix, as it's pretty tough to get at. Your steering repair, did it include the outer tie rod ends, and inner tie rod ends as well? It better have, for that amount of money. Your outer tie rod ends are usally the first to go. If you buy all the parts from the online vendor, you're probably looking at: Strut rods - $95 each, need two of them Motor mounts - $89 each, need two of them "labeled as the front months" Motor / tranny mount - $31 each, only need one of them "labeled as the rear motor mount". The rear carrier bushings..aka..rear knuckle bushings... these are actually an after-market repair that the dealerships have endorsed. They use a bushing kit called the ASUS... Call the parts counter, and tell them you need the carrier repair kit for your car. I think it's the ASUS 530, or 505. I can't recall, but they're only like $50 bucks for both. EGR Tube - $87 bucks, only need one. Total for your parts online = $536 Find an indi mechanic who's able to work on Lexus, bring him the parts, and expect to pay around $600 in labor. Grand total....$1,136. These are true lexus parts, the same ones your dealership is selling. REserve the dealership for those repairs that involve the dna of the car, the true specalist with the backing of the corporate office. Suspension parts are not at that level. To give you an indication of how easy they are, I replaced my enitre front set up, every single piece, including the outer tie rods, by myself, and at the time, I was no DIY type. I suggest in your repairs.... front lower ball joints, stabalizer bar mounts all around (4 total), timing belt "was the 90k service done on the car? This includes timing belt, water pump, plugs, wires, fluids, etc.." The timing belt and waterpump repair gets pricy. Indi's can pull it off for around $700, the dealerships are more than twice that amount. Also, expect with these repairs for your older parts to show their flaws sooner. What happens is that you install a new part, and the older parts that aged with the part you're replacing, show thier age a little. Nothing major, and you'll be fine for another year or two, but expect your lower control arm bushing to show it's age a little. Point of my advice..... buy online, take to indi. Or, do it yourself, as it's not hard to do. Ask us what you're working on, and we'll find you the Pdf. instructions, as most of us have the entire catelog of repairing the car, from the antenna mask, to the headliner, to the pistons...... headlight to taillight. Got any pictures of your car? We like pictures here! Here is a picture of mine...and Blakes, we're twins! http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=27799

I got my 1996 Lexus back in September. This car is the best vehicle I've ever owned. I'm figuring this one will last me about 10 years and then I'll get another one. The acceleration is definitely a temptation. You can hit 90-100 mph in these cars and not realize you're going that fast. I find it amazing here that we you look at the polls about the model years that most people have that more folks are driving gen 1 and 2. That's truly a testament to the durability of these cars.

I believe that the purpose of the sticker is to show that you got a "pass" after spending the $ 100 to avoid having to spend more money in subsequent inspections during the next years. Once you spend the required amount in an attempt to fix the problem, you're good to go in the future. I had this problem with my 98 Maxima GLE, but my 96 LS passed with flying colors. I'm not sure what sort of test is used.

California is pretty tough and since the smog problems are much worst there, it's probably justified. In PA, once you spend that $ 100 bucks, you get a pass in subsequent years also. You do get a special sticker that's different from the one folks get that don't have emissions problems.

Here in PA, they allow for you to get a "pass" on a previously failed emissions inspection if you spend at least $ 100 to fix the problem. You might want to find out if there's a similar provision in VA limiting how much you have to spend to fix the problem. Emissions fixes can be financially burdensome.

o

Yeah. I just switched to winter tires and will be switching back to my all seasons during early April, so I'm gonna ditch those locknuts then. It really makes no sense to keep them and run the risk of losing the key.

I'm thinking of doing the same and getting rid of the locknuts. I don't understand why they're necessary in the first place as it's not as if someone is gonna steal the tires and rims (I have stock rims and Dunlops)

As I read through everyone's experience here with the durability of these cars, I'm thinking that the average person should be able to get 250K miles minimum from these cars without much of a problem. That's very encouraging for me given that I only have 47K miles on my car. This means that I'm set for the next 8-10 years which is perfect. I generally keep my cars that long before I think about buying a new one. I wouldn't hestitate to buy a well cared for LS with 100K+ miles as it still better than most other new cars even at that point. Let's hope that Toyota keeps up the quality and avoids the road that Mercedes Benz went down. :chairshot:

Good luck finding an LS. I drive quite a bit and am on the east coast. I'm frequently out and about driving to heavily populated areas like Norrthern NJ and NYC. I rarely see any LS's on the road at all.

I feel your pain with the bimmer. I have an 87 535i that sits in the garage right now because of the expense of maintenance. I paid $5,800 for the car originally and must have spent at least the same amount for repairs (transmission, drive shaft, cat, tires and etc.) You're not going to go wrong with the Lex if you get a good one and 103K miles is nothing. The driving experience is out of this world. You won't feel the road like you do in the bimmer, but you will feel as if you're riding on a cloud. Good luck!