wandawoods

thanks a lot for the insights.... will you please post anything you can find regarding this issues. I will say this is critically important to anyone who owns 97 LS or newer or any car with transponder key. if GA farm Beueru did this to ROSCOEPCOLTRAIN, who could say other insurance outfits, including yours or mine, wouldn't treat us the same way if ours got stolen!

as far as I concern, unless insurance can legally prove: 1. owner is defrauding and done this by himself/herself 2. there has been no stollen cars whatsoever since car makers put transponder key on vehicles otherwise, what in the world is their bassis to refuse claim? i guess only attorney can tell us who has the burdon of proof.....

if you ended up sueing them, don't forget to add in 'lost of use' from the day the lex got stollen. if you can find any publised statics to show how many cars, with transponder key, have been reported stolen in recent years, that would be the best supporting evidence that yours could absolutely get taking away without owner's key. Jesus, what has this world turned into? it's all too often that insurace always screws you when you need them the most! insn't it?

see what I found: transponder by-pass kit, sold on web: http://www.12voltshop.com/bypass.asp it doesn't list Lexus, but who can say it doesn't exist elsewhere!

by all means, file a complaint to GA state insurance commissioner office. have you got an official police report? what does it say exactly? read this MSNBC article subtitled "So how did thieves bypass its high-tech transponder chip and drive it away from home?" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4265482/site/newsweek/ not sure it can be your argument to insurance company, but it's a start....

normally, 97 or later, a LS400 can't start without the key with embedded transponder. but I guess crinimals always can find a way.... check with Lexus dealer to see whether any key was made recently by VIN#. only Lexus could make a key with transponder matching VIN. have u talked to the bank? technically, they still owns the car (collateral), not you, they should have a strong interest in going after the insurance carrier.

it seems folks are still confused about tranny fluid change. the pan-drain fluid change only constitute 15% of entire tranny oil in your tranny. there are 85% retained inside the tranny block. so, doing 2.5Qt pan-drain every 15K is not really considered excessive. assuming you drive 15K a year, that means you finally come close to change out 100% of factory-filled tranny oil (aboub 16qt capacity) after 7 year or 105K miles. you can never change out 100% because the new 2.5qt you put in there 15K increments were fixed with the old fluid and getting old themselves overtime. that's why you need to do a complete 100% tranny-flush at 100K~120K miles to give it a fresh start! dealer usually charges $150~$200 to do 100% flush, including 16qt of ultra expensive ATF Type V ($7 per qt!).

15K interval is for 2.5Qt pan-drain and refill. at 120K miles, you do need to do a complete tranny fluid flush, which takes 16QT of tranny oil.

look at this picture of circuit board (93-94 LS400): C212 (16v/10uf) will be the one needed to be replaced. however, if you have 90~92 LS400, then there is no C212 on board according to lexls.....

vibrating at 35~40mph can just be tire alignment is off. don't know about the 'rumble'?! was it me, I would have the dealer to do a alignment (rather cheap!) then test drive again. it would also be better to ask dealer's permission whether you could drive the car to a 3rd party shop to have a complete inspection of brake and suspension.....

I would change the thermostat (under $20) and do the complete coolant (toyota red long life 1:1 with distill water) flush too since coolant will need to be drained while water pump is replaced.

VBdenny did confirm it is the oil-level warning light, NOT the oil presure light. while oil presure switch is rather cheap (maybe $80 at dealer) and it's very easy to change or clean, but oil-level sensor is in the range of few hundred dollars and it's inside the engine oil pan, you will have to remove the lower oil pan and oil pan baffle plate to get to it, not an easy DYI job, it seems....

from what you described "halfway between L and full", that should be a perfectly normal level, and it shouldn't turns on low oil level light. the 94LS4 I used to own had the same problem, light was constant on despite oil level was alway perfect. so I just sorta ingored it..... I would say you must check oil level very frequently for the next few weeks, if the level stays good, then it could be oil-level switch itself which is rather expensive as I recalled.....

if you took out the 2 circuit boards behind cluster, a defective C212 (16v/10uf) is the cause of dark instrument panel lighting, and C142/C147 are related to abnormal reading of fuel gauge. each capacitor shouldn't cost you more than $1, the rest is just your own time and patience.

there is $1 fix if you are handy: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&hl=fuel++gauge and there are $175 fix on eBay if you are not comfortable doing urself. other than dark instrument, what's wrong with the car? maybe a major tune-up will make it runs a lot better.....did you ask for maintenance records before purchase? when it hits 90K, there are lots of major maintenance works need to be done ahead of you. you know, I bought 3 lex from eBay, and they were rather nice to great when I took delivery. the most troublesome one was the 98 ES3 I bought locally....go figure!

yep, Gen III (98~00) has VVTi engine, fatory navigation as option, and clear lense head lights. VVTi is an interferenced engine, make sure of timing belt situation because broken TB means bent valves.

you can also refer to this thread: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=5822& if you are handy enough to replace all 3 electrolytic capacitors (C142/C147 /C212), it should be able to take care of the lighting and fuel gauge problems.

correct me if wrong, as I recall it's not just the color of emblems. gold package also come with some equipement upgrades.

my 98 ES300 with about 140K also failed the emmision test few month back, and a major tune-up corrected the problem. 94K is a good time to do a major tune-up (plugs/wires/ditributor caps+rotors/throtle cleaning..etc) anway....

it seems that u have done your 'home-works' well and seller was very responsive, then your chance getting a good one is rather good! I bought 3 lex from ebay (94LS4, 96SC4, 97LS4) and they all were in pretty good shape when arrived despite the 94LS4 totaled in accident 7-month ago....

unless you just got air sus replaced, since air sus on 91 LS4 can go bad anytime, quite frankly, I won't invest too much into them, was it me. lextreme also offer air sus to standard shock conversion kit with 1.5" lower height, maybe you can consider one stone to kill 2 birds: http://www.lextreme.com/allgo.html

lextreme has an article about height-control module for LS400 air sus: http://www.lextreme.com/as.htm

right, if you can save a few $K on the a good eBay deal, the cost of plane ticket is really next to nothing! plus u get a chance to visit a different city :P

well, I bought 3x Lex from ebay motor in last 18-month: 94LS4, 96SC4, 97LS4, all from Texas. they all were purchased under 10~20% below KBB private party price. it could be just my luck, they all turned out to be rather nice despite some minor issues. some advises, 1. must do carfax 2. must check seller feedback records; email past buyers who left negative feedback 3. must have seller to fax/email u all service records and major repair bills 4. communicate with seller via email or phone and see how responsive he/she is 5. don't buy any car from 'cold' northern states; buy from souther states or FL or TX 6. don't buy any Gen1 LS4 with air ride which is good for about 100K~120K miles; it's $4K to replace or $1K to convert 7. ask about timing belt which must be changed at 90K for 90~96 LS4 8. ebay motor often offers 1000-mile/30-day warranty for 97 or newer LS4 without any charge to buyer 9. pay for an local professional inspection 10. be ware of the fine prints about 'documentaion' or 'administration' fee 11. if possible, send the Used Ls400 Buying Guide, future-to-be LS400 owners must read! (it's pinned above) to a trusted friend, local to the car, to do an inspection. frankly, even if you buy locally, for a car-amateur, myself included, it won't do much good to inspect or test drive an used car for just a few minutes without professional helps. it's nothing too scary to buy from ebay if u do your home works first. ironically, the 98 ES3 I bought locally is the worst purchase among 4 Lexus I have experienced, and it even passed the lexus dealer inspection!

stay away from MB as far as you can, period! speaking with my experience as previous owners of two MB S-class, I can righfully call them as bad as pile of junks! I only have nightmares to speak about them....