Are ls400's worth restoring?

[Ben01]

 

1 minute ago, Malc said:

we like to think we have old and quality

Maybe you 😜 we, Ben (royal and editorial), like to think we have old bargain bangling barges. Because, we first and mostly don't give a flying wheel nut about the mass produced machine or peoples opinion about this machine, and all this "pristiness" and "mintness". And Matthew has dropped above VERY important statement: IT IS LIBERATING.

We care about the joy of ride, comfort and "freshness" (combined exotics) of our car, maybe about some gadgets, and with lowest possible total cost and no troubles (so reliability and quality matters!).

So, yeah, old Lexus is pretty good for us. But as somewhere above in the topic - pretty barge is behind of any and every corner of gumtree or autotrader

[Newbie1]

On 8/8/2018 at 9:08 PM, Ben01 said:

Or "rear toe link", like on diagram. But I bet the car was simple pure undriveable after "customizing", and first crashed, next guy blamed suspension broken on crash probably, not own moronity.

I've removed 60k miles lower front arms from a Soarer where the bushes and balljoints were utterly wrecked due to lowering by a previous owner. Rear lowers same. Suspension changes need a bit of maths beyond your average modifying moron.

[Mikaelse]

Hi guys.  My opinion on how the LS400 ages.  I own an 1995 that I bought at 20 years old. It had been neglected a bit for a long time and needed about 700£  just in parts. Changed cambelt /waterpump (first change), all fluids and took the front suspenson appart over a winter (myself, it made the famous low speed klonk).  After fixing and replacing the worne stuff it ran well and still does. Over three last years  most of the time as a daily driver only wiperfluid pump gave up . Nothing  else.  The part that amazed me the most was that all the ususal age related problems of connectors, hoses , cable insulation etc aged so well under hood. None needed exchange or repair. Only one seized bolt ,  Everthing else came a part nicely and cam together again nicely.  These cars seem to be made to a better standard then most.  I would not be surprised if these cars will be ok for me as a daily driver to 30 years old.  Maybe even longer. 

I agree that it will be exchanged partly to aftermarket parts for cost reasons. For example BREMBO brake parts and two Swedish suspension springs and partly BOSCH ignition parts have worked fine so far. The wiper fluid pump was replaced with a 16 times less expensive generic unit.  was 10£.  Finding parts at decent cost can take a month or so.