1999 MK4 LS400 AUTO FSH 158K

[Razor61]

I'm going to look at this car, link below, on Saturday. It's been cat c because of a bump to the ns wing, some lacquer peel but I'm told it's good underneath and mechanically good. Does anyone know this car or anything about it by any chance?

I'm undecided whether to get another LS400 but it's worth a look as it's just down the road from me.

 https://ebay.us/Hlz9Dt

[Malc]

Old Baz has a bit of a history on this Forum .....  he seems to know a lot about the Ls400 ........  the write-up sounds pretty good ( were OEM parts used etc ? )  and apart from a few£00's on the respray on the back wing you might end up with a sound car ....  £2350 doesn't sound too bad with all that work done to her .....  but a Cat C, well I have no idea what would be the value in a write-off situation .....  probably about £25 !

Good luck whatever

Malc

[Tinonline]

Yes Cat C is very annoying but it appears to be insurable and that's worth checking out...in any event I'd expect it to lower the asking price.

If you haven't driven a Mk4 before...it's a blast...and very fast...

I think most 400's are project cars in some respect...at this age there is always something?

Here's my revised list:

-Upper front suspension arms  

-Engine undertray replacement

-Radiator cowl replacement

-Renovate wheels

-Repair ding/misshapen front wing

-Repair dent and leading edge damage to rear wing

-Repair dent to rear bumber

-Respray or replace front bumper + lights

 

[messi]

It's a cat C, not worth anywhere near what he's asking for. It needs a respray too. I'd offer him a grand, for the amount he's asking, you can get a straight ls400. I wouldn't pay anymore than a grand for it, if he doesn't accept, walk away. His excuses for selling a lexus are always the same, he comes across as a trader to me, he's owned this 3 times, so why not keep it?

There's a nice ls400 on eBay now, in white, father and son owned. K reg. 

[The-Acre]

21 hours ago, Razor61 said:

I'm going to look at this car, link below, on Saturday. It's been cat c because of a bump to the ns wing, some lacquer peel but I'm told it's good underneath and mechanically good. Does anyone know this car or anything about it by any chance?

I'm undecided whether to get another LS400 but it's worth a look as it's just down the road from me.

 https://ebay.us/Hlz9Dt

Old Baz ended up with my last LS430, he phoned me to ask a few questions and he is a genuine guy. I had a car that got shunted up the rear and ended up a cat c just for a bumper and a slightly dented tailgate, it wouldn't bother me if I had evidence of the damage.

[Malc]

an existing Cat C ..........  or in my case a Cat N ........  probably means on another smack the write-off value will be nigh on zero ........ anybody know about this type of scenario ?

I'm still buying Fully Comprehensive insce for the added legal protection, glass cover etc  but suspect the w/o value would be negligible

Malc

[Razor61]

4 hours ago, messi said:

There's a nice ls400 on ebay now, in white, father and son owned. K reg. 

I've seen that one and it looks very good, pearl white as well. My view is that it's the type of car to keep in a garage and use at weekends or as an investment. I'll have a think about that one.

4 hours ago, messi said:

it's a cat C, not worth anywhere near what he's asking for. It needs a respray too. I'd offer him a grand, for the amount he's asking, you can get a straight ls400. I wouldn't pay anymore than a grand for it, if he doesn't accept, walk away.

Mechanical stuff isn't a problem for me and I enjoy doing it but bodywork/spraying is a different matter, I'm just having a look and a chat as it's only 10 miles away and take it from there.

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, Razor61 said:

I've seen that one and it looks very good, pearl white as well. My view is that it's the type of car to keep in a garage and use at weekends or as an investment. I'll have a think about that one.

Mechanical stuff isn't a problem for me and I enjoy doing it but bodywork/spraying is a different matter, I'm just having a look and a chat as it's only 10 miles away and take it from there.

I'd be interested to know if he still has my 430 as he said it's the best one he's ever had.

[messi]

Just now, The-Acre said:

I'd be interested to know if he still has my 430 as he said it's the best one he's ever had.

Lol he sold that ages ago haha, every car he's had is the best, I think Pat must have seen another she likes, so he sold the ls430

[Alexander-Lexus]

Just seen this on eBay and if my circumstances hadn’t have drastically changed over the last week and if this was available in about 12 weeks time I would’ve bought 

[Alexander-Lexus]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-Lexus-LS400-4-0-ltr-V8-Father-Son-owned-for-28-YEARS-Just-101K-F-S-H/164724470013?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20180816085401%26meid%3Dfb55007573d14c1381185b4b43bd63a5%26pid%3D100970%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D2%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D164724470013%26itm%3D164724470013%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100970.m5481&_trkparms=pageci%3Ae313c525-7837-11eb-b24b-4e8ae95f1d4c|parentrq%3Ade8fc21a1770aadafb7e06cffffca88e|iid%3A1

[steve2006]

Cat C on average will halve the value of a car.

Mine was Cat C around 8 years ago due to front end damage but I had it professionally repaired, VIC and MOTd and hung onto it ever since.

The insurers have never asked the question and it is now insured agreed value.

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, The-Acre said:

I'd be interested to know if he still has my 430 as he said it's the best one he's ever had.

Does he still claim not to be a Dealer ?

[Bluesman]

30 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

Cat C on average will halve the value of a car.

Mine was Cat C around 8 years ago due to front end damage but I had it professionally repaired, VIC and MOTd and hung onto it ever since.

The insurers have never asked the question and it is now insured agreed value.

How much is the agreed value and what premium do you pay?

[messi]

3 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Does he still claim not to be a Dealer ?

Yep

[messi]

From what I remember from working in insurance, if a car has a mark against it, ie cat c or d etc, the insured has already been paid out for it, so Godforbid, if the next owner repairs it, and has an accident, they won't get paid out much as its already been paid out before, if you get what I mean, unless it's changed now

[The-Acre]

9 hours ago, messi said:

Lol he sold that ages ago haha, every car he's had is the best, I think Pat must have seen another she likes, so he sold the ls430

Well it was the best, his loss, and mine actually, it was showroom condition with every main dealer service stamp.

[The-Acre]

8 hours ago, Alexander-Lexus said:

Just seen this on Ebay and if my circumstances hadn’t have drastically changed over the last week and if this was available in about 12 weeks time I would’ve bought 

As nice as that looks it's nowhere near as nice as the MK4 to drive.  The MK4 seats are just the best in my opinion.

[steve2006]

17 hours ago, Bluesman said:

How much is the agreed value and what premium do you pay?

The value is agreed between myself and the insurance company, I have mine insured for £5500.00 this year as prices appear to be on the up (looking at similar models on sale at Japanese auction sites it would now cost me over £10K to buy, import and register a similar model year and mileage).

So if the car is ever written off I will receive the “agreed value” not a couple of hundred market valuation.

In addition to this I also have a zero salvage deduction which effectively means I also get to keep the car and do as I please with it.

The total cost is around £180.00 fully comprehensive with  a £350.00 excess and an annual 3000 mileage limit ( proof is not required but if a claim was to be made they check the MOT history to make sure, mine was around 500 miles between tests last year).I seem to remember the glass excess has now increased to £80.00.

[Razor61]

Had a look at the car this morning, Baz is a very decent honest guy. Maybe a bit unrealistic about what a car is worth but everyone wants the most they can get for a car when selling. Mechanically the car looks in good order and everything works, the steering wheel motors are pretty much silent as one or both of the motors have been replaced. Bonnet struts and boot seal have been replaced, os front strut bar has been replaced with a genuine Lexus/Toyota part with the ns front strut bar in the boot ready to fit and also a genuine Lexus/Toyota part. Engine sounds good, it had been started and run though, and engine bay clean. alloys are in very good condition. Mechanically it seems very good, bodywork is another matter though, which I knew about but you can only find out how good/bad by looking at the car in the flesh. Top of the windscreen corrosion is the worst I’ve seen and is all across the top but hasn’t got any worse over the years I’m told. Checked the lower rear arches for corrosion into the boot and sill areas, it looks like someone has paid some attention to them and there is corrosion but there are no holes I could feel. Whether it’s been glossed over with under seal or sorted properly then under sealed I couldn’t tell but I suspect it’s the former. Suspension components are rusted along with the rear subframe but that’s no surprise at all. Back boxes have been replaced with a straight through stainless system, sounds boy racer but the original back boxes come with the car and it wouldn’t be a problem putting them back as they are in good condition. Bonnet has lacquer peel, ns rear quarter has lacquer peel (this is where the cat c repair work was done), os rear quarter damage and the paint has some clouding, front/rear lower bumper panels are a different colour, some rust on the edge of one door. The body needs a lot of work and needs a complete respray after sorting all the issues out to bring it back to where it should be and in my view wouldn’t be worth it. If it was really low mileage then maybe it would but even then I don’t think it would be worth it. Interior is in very good condition though and is the same colour as my departed MK3 but the sat nav screen is badly scratched.

I think you may guess that it’s not for me though but I had to have a look, the bodywork needs too much work. If someone wants a MK4 LS400 to ‘just run’ reliably for a few years and are not bothered about what it looks like then it would do the job. As for price, if I wanted one to ‘just run’ then I wouldn’t pay the asking price for this car, around £1,000 would be ok I suppose because if you run it for a year or 2 then scrap it you wouldn’t be losing much at all. Or run it for a few years to find out out if you like the LS400 and can live with one until a better MK4 is available and use this one for parts, that would make sense to me.

[Bluesman]

4 hours ago, steve2006 said:

The value is agreed between myself and the insurance company, I have mine insured for £5500.00 this year as prices appear to be on the up (looking at similar models on sale at Japanese auction sites it would now cost me over £10K to buy, import and register a similar model year and mileage).

So if the car is ever written off I will receive the “agreed value” not a couple of hundred market valuation.

In addition to this I also have a zero salvage deduction which effectively means I also get to keep the car and do as I please with it.

The total cost is around £180.00 fully comprehensive with  a £350.00 excess and an annual 3000 mileage limit ( proof is not required but if a claim was to be made they check the MOT history to make sure, mine was around 500 miles between tests last year).I seem to remember the glass excess has now increased to £80.00.

Many thanks Steve.

[messi]

Well, a friend emailed baz about his ls400 today, and if it had sold, this was baz reply :

HIS WIFE CHANGED HIS MIND , NO WORRIES , I CAN NOT UNDERSTAND WE HAD 1800.00 VIEWS AND 68 WATCHERS ? IS IT ME , NOT ONE PERSON CAME TO SEE HER , I HAVE HAD THIS CAR 3 TIMES AND SHE DRIVES SUPERB THOUSANDS SPENT , on brakes , pads service , bushes and a exhaust that cost over £600.00 first to see and drive will buy her , i took out a loan to buy my 1991 w124 , so now in no panic to sell cheers baz

 

Note the part where it says, not one person came to see her and first to see will buy. 

Well we know Paul went to view the car, so I'm not sure what baz is on about here. Is he, dodgy? 

[Malc]

17 hours ago, messi said:

so I'm not sure what baz is on about here. Is he, dodgy? 

hahahahahahaha.........  he's a dealer !  .....  no of course not, he's as good as, or better than, very many people dealing in used cars ...........  Dudley man compares extraordinarily poorly .............  Old Baz might of course have had a slight memory lapse about the viewing(s)

Malc

[runsgrateasanut]

Someone may be interested in this one owner Car just up the road from me.

Please don't ask me to inspect I've made two boo boo's this year already and wouldn't want the responsibility.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/493336868339675/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks&tracking={"qid"%3A"6941723199617404043"%2C"mf_story_key"%3A"895109168829299629"%2C"commerce_rank_obj"%3A"{\"target_id\"%3A895109168829299629%2C\"target_type\"%3A6%2C\"primary_position\"%3A0%2C\"ranking_signature\"%3A1269583463590133760%2C\"commerce_channel\"%3A501%2C\"value\"%3A0%2C\"upsell_type\"%3A21%2C\"grouping_info\"%3Anull}"}

 

[Malc]

On 3/20/2021 at 1:22 PM, runsgrateasanut said:

this one owner Car

the listing has now vanished .......  was it good ?

Malc