catt14

I have a pearl white 92 LS400. Bought it a little over three years ago body and paint in excellent condition. While at work(grocery store) last week it was vandilized by a high basket shopping cart. Upper cart basket with low shelf underneath was wedged onto front end of my car. About 12 inches dent and gouge in paint on the hood and paint scraped off the bumper. Company said to get two estimates for repair and they would cut me a check for the repairs. Pretty good deal as far as I'm concerned. Have gotten one estimate so far for about $1500. This includes repair dent in hood, paint for hood and one fender nearest the damage plus painting the bumper. What I'm wondering is how will this look with the origianl paint? Seeing as the car is 15yrs old, is there going to be a very noticeable difference between the repaired/painted parts and the rest of the car? The first estimate came from a very reputible shop in my area, recommended by my mechanic who only works on expensive forein cars. I'm getting the 2nd est. from the local Toyota collision shop. My work says they will pay the lowest estimate. I think my car should look like it did before this incident. Should I push for the entire car to be painted so it remains as pretty as it was before or do you think the new paint will look ok? I LOVE my car. I waited nearly ten years to ditch the family mini van(kids are grown) and find an afforable lexus and nearly cried when I saw the damage. :cries: What do you guys think. Any input it much appreciated.

Yes I'm sure I figured my mileage correctly. Was getting over 400 miles on a tank and pumped between 17-18 gal. when next filled her up. Seems from all of your feedback that I'm doing just fine for the winter months and once it warms up and I get my summer tires back on I should back up to the low to mid 20's. If not, I will look into having the fuel filter changed, as I don't know when/if it was ever done. Thanks

Eleven months ago I bought my first lexus. It's a 92 LS400 and had 208K miles. I was impressed by the good mileage I was getting, about 23-24 all city driving. Throughout the winter however I noticed a decrease to about 17mpg. This wasn't a gradual decrease, I just happened to notice that was the best I was getting. With the changes in temp. very cold here often zero degrees and colder, using the auto start on the coldest days, and driving on winter tires....could this have caused my drop in mileage? Talked with mechanic today during oil change and had the air filter changed then added fuel system cleaner. Along with with these changes and warmer temps in the coming weeks I'm hoping this will help bring my mileage back up. My next step I guess would be to change the fuel filter. Now here's my question. Where exactly is the fuel filter on a 92 LS400? Someone once told me it was in the gas tank....which would be quite spendy. I'm hoping I was misinformed but if that's the case I need to budget accordingly for this next repair. I've seen lots of post of fuel filters, but never one for the 92.

I'm new to this site today and was hoping someone could help me out with this. We recently purchases a 1992 LS400. It has high miles..210,000 but runs and rides beautifully. Had it checked out at Toyota service center before purchase and they said it was in excellent condition for its age and miles. Purchase price was $5500. Maybe too high?...but still very happy with it. Now to my question. The car had nearly a full tank of gas when purchased but now needs a fill-up. Owners manual says premium fuel with octane level of 96 but highest octane level I've seen at the pumps here is 92. I have no choice but to use this fuel but was wondering if it will hurt the engine. Is there some sort of additive that should be used, or will this be ok? Any replies are much appreciated.