Soon To Be Ls400 1999 Owner

[grudie]

have agreed a price unseen except for pics and am off to look tuesday on a 1999 LS400

has what to me seems high milage at over 300k but has 2 service books and all main dealer servicing with 4 cam belts done also

apparently everything electrical works and car had no faults apart from bonnet struts and a small bit of rust on bonnet edge

money wise is only pennies really £1200

we have never had a Lexus (all our "comfy" cars have been BMW 7's) but always fancied one so hopefully all will be well on tues

have read a lot (eyes now bleeding) on the www but nothing much on life expectancy at this milage we usually rackup about 30k-50k a year so i am hoping it will last at least that long ??

what do you think ?

[ls400lpg]

Hi

I have seen this car parked up. Looks amazing. Would not purchase as the mileage is too high. Scratch on front left bumper. When my mates looked at it they were amazed at the condition.

Nice bloke is Baz as i have met him before.

£1200. Sounds about right.

[grudie]

thanks ls400lpg yes thats what put me off (the milage) but with all main dealer history i think its worth a punt and 1200£ if i can get a year is only 100£ a month plus go-go juice of course ....if prices stay as they are it will be a bonus ....im thinking about the same mpg as the 7 series so used to it anyway

small scratches are not a problem and can be sorted cheap enough

also re the milage its between 20k-25k per year so is less than i will do !!! (hopefully) ...if it gets fubar before 12 months look out for a load of spares on eBay :-)

[messi]

It is a nice car, but £1200 in my opinion is abit too much for a car that's got over 300000 miles on it, no matter how much service history it has or how mint it is.

[Malc]

.................. you will probably have zero problems running an Ls400 for the best part of 1mn miles tbh. ....... there's a USA guy just bought one with 897000 miles and it was still going well seemingly.

Of course you must expect the usual servicing bits and pieces but provided you have seen the last MOT Advisories then you will know what to expect needs doing for the next 12 months anyway....... if anything.

A Full Lexus Service History is brilliant so I would be inclined to buy this with some confidence, You might be unlucky BUT at £1200 it's peanuts for a great and wonderful car.

The drive train will probably go on for ever....... it's only failing cambelts and waterpumps that cause catastrophic issues, oh, unless you're really unlucky with a Mk4 vvti engine, a couple of which we know of on here have just gone " bang " BUT you would have to be really really unlucky.

Best wishes to you and ENJOY

Malc

[The-Acre]

I think the price is much to high for a car with 300K. I sold my 99 last July with 107K for £1,100 and it was in excellent condition.

[Bluesman]

Have to agree the price is way to high for a car thats got that sort of mileage on. Mike

[Cotswold Pete]

Sure £1200 is a bit high, but then spending £1200 on an other car is going to be much more of a risk.

Even if it only lasted a couple more years still a bargain.

I would check out the ATF, I had mine fully replaced two months ago, makes a big difference to smoothness in torque convertor and niot much more than having just a normal drain and top-up

[messi]

I wouldn't personally say it's a bargain for £1200, no way

[Chris Skelton]

You'll enjoy the ride and feeling of smoothness!

My neighbour told me he loved 'Not hearing' the car drive by him in the village! (So silent)

'Worth' £1200?

For the quality, of course it's 'Worth' it.

[Colin M]

If it is a good car, I would say it was worth the money even at that mileage.

A lot of the miles is likely to have been on motorways where there is little or no engine wear and these engines can do huge mileages.

Remember the one advertised in the US with 897,000 on it?

[bigjap]

i bought a k reg about 6 yrs ago for about £600 with 242000 miles,put another 28000 on it in 2 yrs,sold it for same money,hardly spent anything on it,good cheap motoring,lets face it these are in banger money territory,there either bought by people who will drive it into the ground or till something major goes wrong and throw it away,or by the gentleman enthusiasts who occupy this forum

its just an observation but in spite of all the wonderful comments about ,how we all consider them one of the best cars in the world last for ever ,overengineered etc etc not too many of you will buy high mileage examples. lets face it even at 1200 and last for a year is still very reasonable compared with a new car and you arrive in style

[Malc]

.............. and the engine and gearbox is probably worth £1000 ......................... so my indy tells me ... to somebody developing an off-roader or whatever.

Malc

[Bluesman]

i bought a k reg about 6 yrs ago for about £600 with 242000 miles,put another 28000 on it in 2 yrs,sold it for same money,hardly spent anything on it,good cheap motoring,lets face it these are in banger money territory,there either bought by people who will drive it into the ground or till something major goes wrong and throw it away,or by the gentleman enthusiasts who occupy this forum

its just an observation but in spite of all the wonderful comments about ,how we all consider them one of the best cars in the world last for ever ,overengineered etc etc not too many of you will buy high mileage examples. lets face it even at 1200 and last for a year is still very reasonable compared with a new car and you arrive in style

Cant see the point in spending £1200 on a car with 300,000 miles on it when you can spend the same amount of money on a car with around 100,000 on the clock.

It may be just a phycological thing but the 300k is only as good as it has been treated where as if you bought a 100k example the likelyhood is that you will have a full service history and if you keep the car untill its done 300k at least you will know how well you have kept up the servicing over the years. Its not just the engine and gearbox you have to worry about. We all know how exspensive Lexus parts are for the steering and suspension.

Cars with massive mileages in the States are a completely different animal to the same car doing that sort of mileage over here because of the road structure they have in the States. There roads are also in far better condition to the roads in the UK. We cant even drive on a motorway over here without shaking all the fillings from your teeth. Mike

[grudie]

some valid points for and against here have looked at a few with lower milages and to be honest getting tired of peoples idea of stunning, immaculate,and great condition when what is meant is if you close both eyes in the dark ...stand a mile away it will still resemble a shed.

i know up to 2k for a car will never buy a showroom condition one but just wish people would be a bitty more honest and save me the time and cost ....really have my mind set on the mk 4 and after speaking to the owner he at least seems honest about the overall condition

i think what make this interesting is the fact that even with 300k plus it at least has a full main dealer service history (the same dealer since new) and i would have thought that they would pick up on any bits that are "on the way out" ....i know the bmw dealers that i use for servicing do so hope lexus would be of a similar offering

i think at 1200£ its worth the price of a cpl of train tickets (and my better half says she can go shopping somewhere different)

will see how we get on tomorrow and post back :-)

[Bluesman]

some valid points for and against here have looked at a few with lower milages and to be honest getting tired of peoples idea of stunning, immaculate,and great condition when what is meant is if you close both eyes in the dark ...stand a mile away it will still resemble a shed.

i know up to 2k for a car will never buy a showroom condition one but just wish people would be a bitty more honest and save me the time and cost ....really have my mind set on the mk 4 and after speaking to the owner he at least seems honest about the overall condition

i think what make this interesting is the fact that even with 300k plus it at least has a full main dealer service history (the same dealer since new) and i would have thought that they would pick up on any bits that are "on the way out" ....i know the bmw dealers that i use for servicing do so hope lexus would be of a similar offering

i think at 1200£ its worth the price of a cpl of train tickets (and my better half says she can go shopping somewhere different)

will see how we get on tomorrow and post back :-)

You need to learn Estate agent/Car salesman language. Good luck with the hunt. Mike.

[grudie]

collected the car from bolton today and drove it back this evening

everything works (except the sat nave didn't know where we were some of the time ...think either i need a new disk or carry on using iPhone)

car is in very good condition and the interior is spotless with not a mark on the leather ....service history is all there and a quick call to lexus sheffield confirmed they had indeed done all the work receipts also for the new hand brake bits (nearly 1200£ last year)

first impressions of a ls400

we were impressed....you would never believe the was 300k plus on the clock ....the engine is so quiet

its a nice big comfy capable car and i think for tootling round town and up and down the mway between ipswich birmingham and edinburgh it will be fantastic

i don't think it is going to be as good as my 740 on the a roads in the highlands tho if i tried to push it ..........although at a sensible lick i would expect it to be fine ! :-)

instruments are great but i found the sat nav / radio / climate control a bit hard when driving but I'm sure i will get used to it

for 1200£ plus fuel and servicing costs i think it will be a great car

[Yoda400]

Good stuff, i'm sure it will be fantastic and be better than you expected :) I think condition and history is the main thing with these cars now, they can do the miles easily if they are looked after. I bet a lot of parts have been changed on it at 300k, so maybe there won't be anything expensive to go wrong on it for a while. e.g. I know one type of car where if you buy it at 120k, it will deffo need suspension work done on it if it hasn't already, but if you buy it at 150-160k, it will most certainly have had that work done and will be superb, so it would be a better buy at the higher mileage. I'm sure the Lexus is similar in that regard. Full Lexus history too, so if its had genuine parts too, they will last a very long time

Price wise, some may say steep at the mileage, but yours looks to be a good car, and these are certainly getting rarer. People are hanging on to them now as they have twigged there isn't anything else out there that is the same quality/reliability for the price. 7's are nice, but ones at the same age of the Lexus will no doubt have plenty of expensive issues now, or due!

[Colin M]

Pleased to hear the car is good and hope you get lots of enjoyment out of it.

Condition of the car and the service history are the key things, not the mileage. I had no hesitation in buying one with 212,000 miles on the clock, as it was a good car and had full service history.

[Bluesman]

Best of luck and enjoy your new exsperience of LS motoring. Mike

[mikeyv]

Glad you're happy.

I wouldn't bother with the sat nav, to be honest, a modern system is far more usable.

Even if you fitted the latest disc, it would still be way out of date (2003 I think, but not 100% sure).

It's a superb motorway muncher, certainly the best I've driven, or been driven in, and pretty economical at the legal limit.

[Titch LS]

Lawrence, not knowing much about Lexus, I nearly bought a 300,000 miler myself a few years ago but chickened out. Now after owning my present LS, (admittedly with fewer miles), I realise I needn't have worried too much back then. These motors can rack up huge mileages without much going wrong with them. Most reliable car I've ever owned despite being 15 years old.

[ls400lpg]

Please for your new LS400. If you took it to 400,000 that will be the best £1200 you will ever buy. Then sell it to a Lexus dealer so they can put it on there showroom as a piece of fine enginering. History in the making hehe.

[cruisermark]

this car is up again on gumtree but no emphasis on the service history - i would make a good point about the comprehensive service history to make it stand out

[Keynun]

Why is it on sale so soon?

I bought a 180k lexus for similar money, the suspension issues have certainly hit the wallet, otherwise everything else is solid on these cars.