SC430 with 500 000 miles on the clock

[aviator888]

Hi everyone. 

Yes the title sounds too good to be true and it isn't.. yet. Odometer reading as of this morning 385 552 miles but it's safe to say i'm on my way there  

Being a long time enthusiast, this is my 8th Lexus over the last 10 years. After selling my GS450h two weeks ago, i was looking for 3-5 year old GS450h F-Sport, but as you can see it wasn't meant to be. This is a MK1 model and i can literally say i picked her up for a song. There are lots of problems to sort out as expected with this age and mileage and i will keep you posted as i go trough the process. 

 

About the car: 

2003 model, dark red with brown leather interior (which is what sold the car to me straight away). 

385552 miles in the hands of 2 loving owners (not doctors :) Yes the mileage is ridiculous and considering that, i was actually looking for reasons to walk away no matter the price. But i couldn't find any :D 

Exterior looks a little bit tired: there's paint bubbling around edges of the roof, the dogs have eaten the passenger headlight washer and drivers door handle cover. Naughty dogs.. 

Interior is almost spotless. I have owned many high mileage cars between 100 and 250k before this is just unbelievable condition. Missing floor mats and i haven't yet figured out why the stereo cover panel isn't working. Is there a button you need to press? Roof works like charm and there's no water leaks. 

Both front door speakers blown. Will be looking to replace/repair. 

Satnav isn't working. 

It needs new exhaust from the front cat's onwards. This is probably the most expensive investment i will have to fork out as i won't be able to do this myself. Original back box and tail pipes look very sad too.. 

Small oil leak coming from the sump cover gasket, which i will sort as soon as the weather will ease off a little bit. 

Engine and gearbox are spot on. Oil looks clean, compression is good on all 8 cylinders and the spark plugs look like they have been changed not long ago. 

I have ordered a new radiator, cam belt kit with water pump, oil and all new filters. 

I will also have to get the tracking done, but the suspension and brakes in reasonably good condition :) I would love to fit MeisteR coilovers but considering the mileage this will be highly unlikely. 

Overall i would say despite all these problems, the way this car still drives just amazes me. I know i'm saving this car from the scrapyard and i'd like to think i'm doing a favor to the world :) 

Any advice much appreciated and special thanks to Neil E whose project thread is very inspirational. Very nice person to deal with too. 

 

[aviator888]

[cruisermark]

Sounds all good - so why the sudden change from gs450h to a high mielage sc430?

[messi]

I'm sure this was on cars with no reserve on eBay.  Looks nice and same colour interior as mine

[LennyLexus]

Very nice, if the engine is great.. sort the brakes, tyres and coilovers, it's a shame when people let market value of their decide if it has great or knackered suspension.

[aviator888]

Update: Had the exhaust sorted this cold morning. Quite difficult to find a decent stainless steel exhaust company in East Midlands as first of all the prices are ridiculous and the ones i found seem to be fully booked for weeks. I'm not going to advertise here but the guys who did the job were very professional and helpful. 

FYI i have included a drawing of the SC430 exhaust system. 

Sections 5 and 7 were rusted trough on mine and i had them replaced. They cut off straight after the lambda senors and removed the last cat also. 

Once the cambelt and radiator are replaced, i will have the back boxes done too. The car has noticeably more power and i don't awake the neighbors in the morning anymore :) 

Prices as follows: 

Section 5: £150

Section 7: £300

Section 8: depending on the setup approx £350

Another option was to buy OEM parts from Lexus but stainless steel costs a lot less and comes with "lifetime warranty" lol.  

 

While the car was up on the ramp i had a good lookaround underneath. Common problem on Japanese cars is underside rust and this one is no exception. The oil leak is still there but it's very minor and i'm sure the new sump cover gasket will sort it.  Radiator actually looks very fresh, but i will replace it anyway as i have done on all my Lexuses and i recommend all LS/GS/SC 430 owners to be aware, that the gearbox coolant is flowing trough it. Ideal solution would be to bypass the rad and have a separate oil cooler. I'm sure many of you have fitted these already. 

[messi]

Hi there that's great info

The oil leak is cam cover gasket, £11 each from lexus Birmingham 

[aviator888]

Both cam cover gaskets bone dry. This was the first place i checked as this is where they usually leak. But thanks for the info as i will have to replace these gaskets anyway. 

[aviator888]

Some thoughts about the car so far.. 

I took a huge gamble when i signed up for this but i have no regrets whatsoever  

@ 385k it's not only highest mileage SC430 it also beats everyone here by at least 238 000 miles. That's the distance between earth and moon if you like. 

Btw the logbook arrived today looks like the previous owner was a lady and she acquired the vehicle on 27th of May 2004. She must of been very keen on these shopping trips :D 

I really like the interior design of the SC which certainly has some nice retro touch to it. Coming from GS450h, this is like day and night. I have to say Lexus didn't do a very good job interior quality wise with MK3 GS and this was the one and only downside of the otherwise great GS model. Gadgets i miss the most are the rear view camera and awesome ML sound system of the GS.. way better than SC. 

Also a small word of advice to all SC owners.. do not try to race GS450h off the traffic lights. Ever. This will never end in your favor. Saying that, i can't wait to get the exhaust back boxes done and hear the rumble of the V8.. 

My old GS. Awesome car but not missed at all :) 

[The-Acre]

Interesting reading your comments on the GS interior because I think the quality is superb.  Which areas do you think aren't up to par? 

[Malc1]

1 hour ago, aviator888 said:

and hear the rumble of the V8..

does it really do this  ?                 mine's ever so non-rumbly, bit like a walk over axminster ............. rumble 

Malc

[aviator888]

15 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

Interesting reading your comments on the GS interior because I think the quality is superb.  Which areas do you think aren't up to par? 

Yes i very much like the layout, all the buttons are in the right place etc.. however it does not withstand the time as well as MK2 GS/LS does. The most annoying thing that many owners have reported (including myself) is the noises coming from dashboard especially when it's cold. Lexus is aware of the problem and they used to replace the dashboard clips under warranty for some lucky owners. Even the facelift 2008+ models the problem is still there. It may only be a barely noticeable odd squicky sound every now and then and most people would not even notice anything or simply turn up the volume. It simply isn't as well put together as for example LS430 or even my current SC. 

10 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

does it really do this  ?                 mine's ever so non-rumbly, bit like a walk over axminster ............. rumble 

Malc

With stock exhaust it does indeed sound very modest and you could never tell there's a big V8 under the bonnet. I have plans not to keep it this way. Not the boy racer loud but it will be a bit beefier 

[The-Acre]

I agree the dash creak/rattle is annoying, although I have sorted mine relatively easily and cheaply.  I loved the interior of my LS430 but in many ways I prefer the GS. The only thing I'm not sure about is the drop-down bit with the buttons.  My favourite is the wood door trims!

[Bob King]

Great looking car and It would seem it’s has a new caring owner  .....look forward to reading about the other jobs you have planned 

Silver button below the radio but above the ashtray should shut the radio panel. Side note....if the centre gearshift panel has been removed the switch wiring may have been pulled out !

easy to check ....lift centre armrest ....remove switch for heated seats...get fingers under wood panel and carefully lift up .....check wiring plug is well pushed in and no wires hanging out 

[aviator888]

14 hours ago, Bob King said:

Great looking car and It would seem it’s has a new caring owner  .....look forward to reading about the other jobs you have planned 

Silver button below the radio but above the ashtray should shut the radio panel. Side note....if the centre gearshift panel has been removed the switch wiring may have been pulled out !

easy to check ....lift centre armrest ....remove switch for heated seats...get fingers under wood panel and carefully lift up .....check wiring plug is well pushed in and no wires hanging out 

Thanks Bob King :) i tried the button and everything works as should. 

 

[aviator888]

Deliveries have been slow this week due bad weather conditions lol. Still waiting for service parts to arrive, however i managed to replace the serpentine belt this morning. Used Gates 6PK2260 belt. Replacing it was literally 5 minute job. All you need is to remember how the belt runs and a 14mm socket with the long handle bar. Also removed a piece of air intake plastic to give me better access. 

 

[aviator888]

This is how the boot looks like after almost 400k miles: 

Guess this nasty yellow thing should become handy in case one of the tyres has a puncture?! I need a space saver asap  

The boot space is very generous considering what kind of car this is.. 

 

 

I will also have to take the satnav unit apart to investigate why it struggles to read the discs. Tried 2 different map dvd's with no luck. 

[Neil E]

Welcome to the SC club Mel, I hope you enjoy the car. The car is very fortunate to have found the ideal new owner to put it right.  With you and Bob on board we should have everything covered. Bob did a nice tutorial on fitting the space-saver spare wheel.

After replacing the front door speakers you should find the audio quality slightly better than that of the GS. Well, to my ears at least.

'Also a small word of advice to all SC owners.. do not try to race GS450h off the traffic lights. Ever.'

The 5 speed SC may be half a second slower to 60 than the GS450 but it sounds so much better and that's what counts.  ....All SC owners, Ever...just off to find a GS450H at a set of traffic lights....

 

[messi]

The sat nav doesn't work on mine either  and that's  due to the satnav dvd player which of course is in the boot, you can try dismantling it and cleaning the lens but like mine it still may not work. I haven't bothered to replace the DVD player as I don't think it's worth it as sat nav in all lexus cars I've had are rubbish and I tend to use Google maps on my phone anyway 

[Neil E]

Though expensive, it is possible to replace the head unit with a double din unit that includes all of the latest tech and a good sat nav system.

After selling the GS the 2 things I missed the most were radar cruise and rear seats. 

[JeffL]

On 02/03/2018 at 6:04 PM, The-Acre said:

I agree the dash creak/rattle is annoying, although I have sorted mine relatively easily and cheaply.  I loved the interior of my LS430 but in many ways I prefer the GS. The only thing I'm not sure about is the drop-down bit with the buttons.  My favourite is the wood door trims!

Have to agree with The-Acre. Fantastic interior of ivory/beige leather and wood interior in my 10 year old, 66K miles, GS300. I like peace and quiet when I drive so don't have the radio on and I can't hear any creaks at all.

[Bob King]

Mel what’s the underside like at the back....surface corrosion can be bad on boot floor and suspension areas 

[The-Acre]

10 hours ago, JeffL said:

Have to agree with The-Acre. Fantastic interior of ivory/beige leather and wood interior in my 10 year old, 66K miles, GS300. I like peace and quiet when I drive so don't have the radio on and I can't hear any creaks at all.

Strange the way the creaking dash affects some and not the others.  Before I bought mine I tried a GS300 which didn't creak, and a GS430 that creaked from just about everywhere, it was the main thing that stopped me buying it really.

[aviator888]

14 hours ago, Bob King said:

Mel what’s the underside like at the back....surface corrosion can be bad on boot floor and suspension areas 

Older cars in dark colors are real pita to keep mint. Every single scratch is clearly visible.. Silver is the best in this respect.. no need to visit a car wash that often either.

When i bought the car I checked under the carpets for rust/signs of accident repair and also measured the paint thickness all over the car especially the bonnet and rear quarters. All good there.. 

Now trying to find your tutorial about spare wheel fitting 

[Spacewagon52]

Great thread - you are brave! Dare I be rude and ask the purchase price?