99Aristo

Ah Chandler....my old hometown. :) I was(and still do) run a black/black 99' GS400....love these cars. But the ol's 400 misses the AZ roads...lol, midwest roads are terrible! Godo luck with the sale, nice az car, no rust or corrosion to deal with.

I have a project in mind and would like to get some comments/advice/thoughts on it from other people. I currently own a 2006 GS300 AWD and whilst at times I love it, at others I hate it, specifically when it develops a rattle somewhere in the interior. Before I bought I test drove a 2004 GS430 and liked it but it hadn't been looked after very well and my head and my wife persuaded me to get the later, and much prettier (red with tan interior), GS300.

So, I am thinking about a project car that goes a bit like this:-

Obtain a 98/02 GS400/430 with all the factory options for as low a price as possible, don't care how many miles on it.

Upgrade and rebuild suspension and brakes.

Have the engine rebuilt and turbo/supercharged to obtain around 400bhp.

Install a slick changing 6 speed manual gearbox.

Install state of the art head unit.

Re-upholster interior (depending on existing interior condition)

Re-paint exterior if there is anything left in the budget.

I doubt I will attempt any of this myself, I just don't have the time. We have a couple of decent performance shops locally so I would probably give it to them and let them get on with it.

Wow...I guess I am not the only one who has contemplated swapping a bunch of things around on one of these cars. I have thought about just stuffing a LS6 Corvette engine in there with the Borg Warner 6 speed...it has a 1:1 6th gear making it brutally fuel efficient. And they make 3 wire harnesses for the fuel injection system. Just wonder how the rest of the LExus runnign gear would appreciate all that. lol.....best to just gut it totally and transplant it all. Have fun with this and keep us posted

1999 GS400 173k and runs like a friggin' monster still. Usual maintenance....did put catalytic convertors on it 6-7k ago. I have owned upwards of 60-70 cars at the age of 35 and this has been the best of all of them for all aorund greatness. COmfortable, fast, reliable, fuel efficient for it's size....fun to modify too.

I was a Chrysler tech for 14 years and have heard more blower motors chirp than I know what to do with. But the LExus cars of ours are different mosnters of sorts. If one side still had air but not the other maybe it has a actuator out that controls the doors for the dual zone. Not sure what you mean by "producing" air though. Is the blower motor still working?

Try lubing the upper control arm bushings or buy the Daizen ones, they are inserts and are much better, and they come with lube too. Make sure to lube those bad boys up good though....

Thought of cutting mine down the other day for the same reason. No bigdeal cut it and re-tap the threads.

That doesn't sound too bad since you have to take the front bumper partially off and then remove the headlamp also since the ballast is mounted underneath the headlamp assembly. I just did this recently and it took me 45 minutes...but I've been a mechanic for 13 years.

.....if you look at it it's ridiculously easy. I don't suggest repainting it as it won't last long with rocks/bugs hitting it. I did mine before ordering a new grill completely.....which is fairly cheap. And to remove the grill is if I remember corerctly, 4-6 either 8 or 10mm nuts from the back side.

I've had both and prefer my GS.....the 540I is a 4.4 liter producing 300 BHP and of course the GS400 is 4.0 liter and 300BHP. Best thing abou tthe 540i is the 6 speed.....but the maintenance on the BMW is just too much....I even work at a BMW dealership and the cost of parts to the Lexus is a lot more. And the Lexus is easier to work on IMO.