amcdonal86

I hope you win your lawsuit. :)

Absolutely. A car with a bent frame is not going to protect you adequately in your next crash, which from the way it sounds will be in about 3-6 months. You need to get rid of that car. The best case is that for $1250, you get a car that looks like crap, has a leaky trunk, and is completely worthless when it comes time to resell. Worst (and I think more likely) case is you spend $3000+++ to fix it and get the same result.

Doesn't sound like a common problem....

I much prefer the look of Opal White Pearl. I had no idea there were even 2 kinds of white in 1997 for the LS400 until I saw your photos!

So do you have a quote? Why are you acquiring parts and having work done blindly without having any sort of plan? This is a great way to waste tons of money that you probably don't have.

Well??

Wow, I actually like that look. Don't give me any ideas....

Dude, you can't do that. It's not street legal to drive like that! Your taillights and turn signals are destroyed! If you drive it around like that, chances are you'll end up in another accident! I think you should enter it into a demolition derby.

The purpose of getting an estimate is to know the cost of repairing the car and to learn exactly what has to be done to repair the car. There is no reason to just speculate on what the repair will cost. Sure there is--when it's blatantly obvious that the cost to repair the car is several times more than what the car is (or was) worth. This is not a 2000 Platinum like yours! By the way killerfatty, get that thing out of your driveway. You're bringing the property values down! :D :D (Just kidding)

So you want him to get an estimate (which will be on the order of $20,000) just for *BLEEP*s and giggles? :P

There is absolutely no way that this damage can be repaired cost-effectively--used parts or not. That sucks man, I feel bad for you! I imagine you can get $1000 or so for it. At least you have your health!

Huh? It's a 1993 LS400. They can be found at auction for $800-1000 all day long, good condition ones sell for no more than $4000-4500. They're cheap cars. To the OP, you need to take a driving course. Or a few even. Really? I couldn't afford a $4000 car on a part-time high school job. I made about $7 an hour in high school. The entire summer I would only make $3000 or so full time. $500 a month part time during the school year or less! Not even enough to buy a decent LS. Then factor in maintenance costs and gasoline. Insurance! It really adds up. Especially when you have two accidents in a few months and don't have car insurance AND intend to fix the damage out of pocket! To the OP, it's really time to cut your losses. I'm guessing you won't be so lucky this time and be able to easily replace your damaged parts yourself with junkyard parts. $2000 goes a long way to paying down a college loan or something in the future.

I'm just wondering how you can afford this on a 16 year old's budget. Did you recently receive a large inheritance or something? Sounds like your accident was due to inexperience. You're learning the hard way!

Damn, that's a nice garage. But really, are you holding your car up with a bottle jack and a scissor jack?!?

Maybe it's just me, but speaking that way to a long term member of this club, when you have but six posts, seems a bit out of line. And just how you think from a distance we can tell more about the leak source than you can by looking at it....well... I definitely agree with you, I think he owes curiousB an appology.... I disagree. I think curiousB owes the OP an apology for that flippant first response, which got a deserved heated reply. SRK's explanation of what happened seems to be correct. I wonder how many miles are on the car. I wasn't aware that these engines needed much in the way of replacing seals and internal components, etc. up to 200k miles or more! Welcome to the club, TexRedMan!

I could be wrong, but even if the light is off, there could be codes stored in the computer. You may want to go to Advance Auto and see if they can let you scan the codes.

Sounds like you've exhausted the fuel side of the equation. Are you getting any spark? Check the distributor rotor/cap for corrosion.

That may be true for the time being, but I bet you the next Camry will pretty much incorporate all aspects of the current ES. (Usually the car companies forge ahead with the new designs in their luxury divisions first.)

The 07+ ES is a very good riding car. Not sure why the Camry is so much firmer, but it is I've driven them both. I'm not sure why you assume I haven't driven both. I've owned a few Camrys and I have been on several ES300/330 test drives. I also drove a 2005 Honda Accord V6 for a year or so, and when I rode in my friend's 2005-ish Acura TL, the resemblance was uncanny! I had the same feeling driving those Lexus ES sedans! Do you really think it's just coincidence that the 2003 ES300 and the 2005 Camry V6 have the exact same wheelbase length, front track width, rear track width, engine (1MZ-FE), 5 speed automatic transmission, suspension configuration, etc.?? The list goes on and on! This is a PRIME example of Toyota being smart and just throwing a new interior, more sound deadening and a few extra amenities and safety features onto a car and fooling the vast majority of people into thinking it is a unique car. Honda does the same thing, and GM and Ford have made a ton of money out of this! I don't see why you're so offended--a Camry is a pretty damn good car. A Camry with a tux on is even better. ;) I'm really not trying to offend you, I'm just telling it like it is.

Well, that's great news. Glad I could give you some pointers, although I couldn't help you with your specific issue!

You sure have a nice house for a 22 year old. :P

I have no idea how that happened. The bolt you are trying to remove should be independent of the strut rod bushing and should turn freely inside it. You must have had an incredible amount of corrosion in there that caused it to be seized to the metal tube inside the bushing that guides the bolt. I have no clue about your groaning issue. Good luck!

I didn't remember having a huge problem taking it off. But I do remember having a hell of a time trying to get the strut rod back on. The trick is to kind of place the end with the rubber in its position by sticking a wrench in there and kind of using the wrench to wedge it in. Hopefully that will help. Otherwise this repair could take several hours and be incredibly frustrating!

If you have a breaker bar, you're going to need to get a "cheater" bar to put over the end to extend the handle out a couple more feet. That way you get more leverage on the bolt. What I used is a galvanized steel pipe from Home Depot. For some reason, I believe I found it near the lumber aisle. Good luck.

Nice read. I find it hard to believe that they called the Dunlop SP 4000s that came standard (at least on my '97) great tires. They are TERRIBLE and noisy!