Possibly coming back to the fold LS400.

Selmer mk6 · October 25, 2022

Many years ago I owned two LS400 a 95 and a 97.

I'm going to look at one on Autotrader, Baroque red £7,995 (T reg with 78k miles).https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1484186

Do you think this is the going rate?

It will interesting to compare it to my S600 (98).

Thanks

royoftherovers · October 25, 2022

6 minutes ago, Selmer mk6 said:

Many years ago I owned two LS400 a 95 and a 97.

I'm going to look at one on Autotrader, Baroque red £7,995 (T reg with 78k miles).https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1484186

Do you think this is the going rate?

It will interesting to compare it to my S600 (98).

Thanks

It is the going rate if someone will pay it Andrew.

Do you think that is an original colour--Malc will probably know ?

Check the M.O.T History

I find it strange that there is a dearth of interior pictures.

Good luck and please do let us all know how you get on.

Selmer mk6 · October 25, 2022

It is an original colour, as my 98 model was the same. The only difference was that mine had a wooden steering wheel.

The MOT history does not seem that bad. However, it has just run out.

I will see.

Malc1 · October 25, 2022

there's a few on autoafraider too. including this one

A few members here have theirs for sale too .......... I'd be inclined to look at those initially for a sensible well considered buy

This one seems mightily expensive ....... what's all the worry about higher mileages, well and sensibly used nice cars are better imho

UCAs replacement start about 160k miles and the cambelt pulleys and waterpump should have been done at 10 years young and / or 100k miles too

I'd take a closer look at others being available tbh

Malc

Selmer mk6 · October 25, 2022

Thanks.

Just had a quick look in the for sale section, not much there.

I will consider higher mileage cars, if they are in good condition.

Razor61 · October 26, 2022

23 hours ago, Selmer mk6 said:

Just had a quick look in the for sale section, not much there.

There is a 1999 LS400 in green for sale and the same car is on eBay, looks decent to me.

cruisermark · November 3, 2022

On 10/26/2022 at 2:35 PM, Razor61 said:

There is a 1999 LS400 in green for sale and the same car is on eBay, looks decent to me.

If you are reffering to the 45K mile one - that one has just sold (pretty quickley too) - I wonder if he bought it?

Malc1 · November 3, 2022

Andrew .. any update ?

Malc

Selmer mk6 · November 3, 2022

Sorry for the delay in coming back.

I arranged to view the red one for £7,995 (T557 SAA) on Monday. The car was taken for its MOT that afternoon and failed due to Exhaust emissions. It passed later in the afternoon with no advisories. Needed a bit of welding around the exhaust area.

I looked under the car and other than surface corrosion it looked ok. The rear inner arch area was covered in rock hard mud, but managed to scrape it off and there was only surface rust.

In the end I got a bit ****** off. The car was on a ramp so I could not see the condition of the interior (apparently it is immaculate) or drive it. There was no service book, but a selection of invoices. I drove 40 miles one way to look at the car and was not prepared to do that again. Especially as he wanted top money.

Back to looking.

cruisermark · November 3, 2022

59 minutes ago, Selmer mk6 said:

Sorry for the delay in coming back.

I arranged to view the red one for £7,995 (T557 SAA) on Monday. The car was taken for its MOT that afternoon and failed due to Exhaust emissions. It passed later in the afternoon with no advisories. Needed a bit of welding around the exhaust area.

I looked under the car and other than surface corrosion it looked ok. The rear inner arch area was covered in rock hard mud, but managed to scrape it off and there was only surface rust.

In the end I got a bit ****** off. The car was on a ramp so I could not see the condition of the interior (apparently it is immaculate) or drive it. There was no service book, but a selection of invoices. I drove 40 miles one way to look at the car and was not prepared to do that again. Especially as he wanted top money.

Back to looking.

That is poor attitude from the seller

steve2006 · November 3, 2022

It sounds like the blowing Y pipe on the exhaust fail, even a decent weld job doesn’t result in a permanent repair, new sections are now NLA and were £500.00 odd when they were with no aftermarket replacements.

Malc1 · November 4, 2022

16 hours ago, Selmer mk6 said:

Needed a bit of welding around the exhaust area.

and the front exhaust pipe replacement nowadays has to be fabricated by someone . the OEM part is NOT available from anywhere and when it was about £6/700 .... mine at 235k miles cost me £360 for a bespoke fabricated replacement this year

They don't last forever !

Malc

Malc1 · November 4, 2022

16 hours ago, Selmer mk6 said:

Back to looking.

there are a few about methinks

we're following one now at £1800 and another at £3k

Malc

ambermarine · November 4, 2022

I suspect the blowing exhaust was the flanges that connect to the cat as I have shown on the forum painting them with hi-temprature paint stops them corroding, as they will even when the car is used lightly especially in a humid atmosphere.

The pics show my mark 1 flange after a poor attempt at welding it and the painted pic on my mark 4 which was taken a year after it was painted .

The paint is now sprayed on every year and the resulting condition is the same as what is in the picture.

steve2006 · November 4, 2022

25 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

there are a few about methinks

we're following one now at £1800 and another at £3k

Malc

One needs 5kg of MIG wire and the other could result in a custodial sentence 😀

Razor61 · November 4, 2022

This one looks decent.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210060487378

Selmer mk6 · November 4, 2022

Hmm, is that not top money? Also being a bit picky, rear parking sensors.

It was also off the road between 2016 - 2021.

Malc1 · November 4, 2022

1 hour ago, Selmer mk6 said:

is that not top money?

maybe someone will pay that for it

OR buy one much cheaper and have some work done to it ............ that's what I would be doing tbh coz THEN you know what your ending up with 🤑

not sure the price of that 5kg of MIG wire these days 🤔

a mileage at 150k wouldn't deter me in the slightest tbh .......... the drivetrain is usually invincible in these Ls400s

Are you going to use the car or is she for keeping in aspic ?

Malc

Razor61 · November 4, 2022

2 hours ago, Selmer mk6 said:

Hmm, is that not top money? Also being a bit picky, rear parking sensors.

It was also off the road between 2016 - 2021.

It is decent money, if it’s a good one though it may be worth it. The first one you looked at was the same money.

As for being off the road for 5 years, if it’s been protected then it may not be an issue. A good look at the car is needed of course, paying attention to the areas where they can rot.

My current LS400 was off the road 2008 - 2015 and again 2016 - 2021. I have done lots of mechanical work, some work I expected and some I didn’t which is well documented on here. Some stuff was probably due to the car being off the road. I bought the car off the condition, no rot in the common places and my view was that mechanical stuff I can do but rot and bodywork is a different matter and can write off the car if bad enough. I looked at a fair amount of LS400’s in the £2k - £4k range, all of them had body rot issues in different places depending on the model year and were pretty rough on closer inspection. On the outside the car may look really good but dig deeper and there are places that can be really bad, you need to know where to look and check.

My car has the parking sensor button things in the rear bumper, fitted in the past no doubt but have now been disconnected. Didn’t bother me at all.

Selmer mk6 · November 4, 2022

I already own a car that has 146k miles, so I'm not worried about the mileage.

The problem at the moment is that some of the interesting cars are around 150 miles away. I need to be choosy.

I will be using the car for maybe 3k miles a year, plus it will be parked on the street.

Malc1 · November 5, 2022

15 hours ago, Selmer mk6 said:

plus it will be parked on the street.

a couple of my neighbours have started collecting cars just to park them on the street .. causes a lot of congestion ( and ill will ! ) tbh and if not being " used " might just deteriorate somewhat ...... and especially being susceptible to bangs etc ..... as my neighbours have found

It puts me off increasing from the two we own and use most days . even tho' i would dearly love a '60s Bentley S3 type 😃

Malc

Razor61 · November 6, 2022

If you want a good LS400 you can have my 1998 LS400 for £10k.

Selmer mk6 · November 6, 2022

Sorry chaps, I have decided to stick with the Germans, currently negotiating on a S55 AMG 54 plate.

I did look at a LS430 dark blue on Facebook yesterday £4,250, 92k. I have to say that I think it was smoother than my S600 (W140). I was very tempted. However, it turns out that the car is a Cat N. I confronted him and he said 1) he did not know and 2) it is a 2004 car so no one will be bothered.

I may revisit the LS as I was seriously in impressed, but not for now.

Cheers

Malc1 · November 8, 2022

On 11/6/2022 at 6:21 PM, Selmer mk6 said:

the car is a Cat N

Mine too is a Cat N . slightly squashed rear door damage ...... 'twas too expensive for the insurers to repair .......... but a relatively simple fix for sure

And mine's available for £9,999 ............ 😇

Malc