Johnnyma45

Thanks for the input. Yea I was swaying towards not picking up the A8...I spent a little bit more time with it today, it drives a little more torque-y than mine but the interior fit/finish was nowhere near even a 94 Lexus, I was surprised. I may comb the auctions for a GS or another LS. silvermate, when I had my oil changed at the dealer they did what you said and filled up the PS fluid. However that was about a month ago, does fluid leak that fast? How often should I fill it up?

Hello all. Long time lurker, I think I've posted only once on this site, but I am wondering if anyone can help me with this quandary: My family has always been Lexus fans, from our very first 1994 LS400, to my mom's 99 RX300 and my dad's current 2003 LS430. I have since inherited the LS400, and it has had no major mechanical problems except for a suspension and coil which apparently had broken in half. (I'm not a mechanic so I don't know how much that happens, but I live in Michigan and the potholes here perhaps had more than a little to do with it.) With about 106,000 miles there is only the normal problems listed elsewhere on this site (A/C display, flickering dash, etc.) Recently there has been feedback through the steering wheel, and a low groaning coming from the front end when I turn at low speeds. The dealer said that this was due to a leak in the power steering pump, and in the meantime I have held off on fixing it. So anyways...my question is, a friend who is a private dealer has a 1998 Audi A8 4.2 quattro which he is selling for about $15,000, and I have no idea about Audi reliability. $15k is less than KBB/Edmunds prices for private party/dealer, but I am concerned 1) about long term reliability for Audi's and 2) resale value compared to my LS400. The car itself looks solid, and 4-wheel drive would help in the winter. This may be better answered through an Audi owner's website but I was interested to see what Lexus owners may say. I would like to stick with my current car, but if the power steering becomes a bigger problem (needs replacement) I think selling it may be smarter. Anyways, thanks for reading this post. Big fan of this site.

Mine has a few quirky problems: 1) The rear burnt-bulb indicator for the brake lights come on and off intermittently, when the bulbs are fine. I've also noticed the bulbs themselves go on and off intermittently, but not along with the indicators. 2) When I start my car in the winter (in MI) the dash and control lights and displays stay off until about 15 min, then they flicker on dimly. Hard to tell how fast you're going. 3) There's a noticeable dim in the headlights when I use my brakes. These all seem to be related somehow. I'm not mechanically inclined but I want to say it's the battery? Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks

Some thoughtless individual knocked off a chunk of my right side view mirror on my beloved '94 LS400. The mirror itself is not cracked, but the body-colored casing around it is missing a chunk. Two questions: 1. Does anyone know of anywhere where they sell just the casing? If so is it easy to install myself? 2. If 1) is no, then does anyone know any places where they sell the whole unit for cheap? Lexus dealers are charging around $300, not incl. labor. Thanks. Let me know if I'm in the wrong forum for these questions.