gabzor

hey guys, i'm an ex-mercedes enthusiast :P older ones only...
but right now i drive a mitsubishi mirage as my dd.. honestly.. i was going to get a e430/400e
but the price of gas right now is insane.. and i'm a broke student (only lexus i worked on is a is300.. intake install)

so i decided to keep my mirage and just drive it around.. was looking around craigslist and an
1995 ES300 came up!

figured its the same v6 as the older camrys.. and looked up the specs and everything.. a bit heavier but seems to be decent for gas and i can use regular gas! yay!!!!

so i decided i'll give the car to my mom.. usually i don't buy from craigslist cause its sus and stuff but hey its not too bad!

for sure i know the car has been in an accident, my friend ran a check in the vin, says car is salvaged, huge front end accident.. but hey what the hell right..

so i went anyways and took it for a test drive.. the guy seemed broke and desperate, but all in all it was a car for my mom.. engine and tranny seemed GREAT! and leather was nice too.. only the exterior looked like crap but my mom doesn't care.. i mean its comfy.. and its better than nothing

so after i buy the car, i look at his photo albums..he has like 7 pages of cars.. maybe he flips cars for a living.. not sure.. :/ hopefully i didn't get screwed like i did before..
but anyways its a 1995 with around 179k on the odo picked it up for $1300, getting it registered tomorrow






those are the pics from craigslist.. honestly its a pretty clean car besides the interior..

now i'm not very mechanically inclined, but i wish i was, even contemplating tech school.. i've done simple things everyone can do like air filter/disturber caps/rotors/spark plugs/spark plug wires
on my i6 mercedes and my mirage.. boy was it simple..

with the v6 its going to be a headache, but of course i looked up some diys

there are some junkyards, but i don't go much... too lazy and lack of tools and a bad back..
i looked up a good mechanic, and it says lextech is around me, but still looks like things can add up

-AC performance is probably one of the best i've seen.. my mercedes ac was great but i only ride old benzos so they weren't that amazing
-radio works
-P.O before him gave him receipts of repairs (rebuilt head, still under warranty) i asked the guy i was buying from why the headgasket went out he said powersteering screwed up or something.. i just looked at him funny and said okay
-has a receipt of timing belt, timing belt tensioner, and a water pump.. will have to check to make sure again
(i will also post the dates of the repairs)
-almost everything powerwise works fine.

but i want to try and keep this thread up as a project thread and just delete things as i go!

first off i don't know the condition on the tires, but the guy who sold it to me says he recommends them they don't look too bad but hes probably right cause the struts/shocks are out


so i know i need to replace shocks/struts first thing, but i don't really know where to begin, and what other parts i need to buy.. do i need bushings/strut mounts(on all 4)/ strut boots, etc?

he said he just did the brakes, but they seem kind of soft.. i mean they do stop though and their not that bad.. so i guess i'll swap em out later with quality rotors/brakes and flush the old nasty stuff out too.. if i can find a guide..

i want to give it a seafoaming session and a routine tuneup of the plugs/air filter/fuel filter/wires too maybe.. and any common thing that needs refreshing (i heard pcv gasket?) (vacuum lines?)

there is wind noise coming when i drive from the driver's side, but i don't know if its the main door seal, or the tweeter seal.. but the tweeter has like superglue marks, i took it off by mistake, the cover so i'll have to put that back in..

ac vents seem all messed up and in a sad condition..

vacuum lines? he said first the car wouldn't pass smog and he found a loose vacuum line or a bad vacuum line, cant remember but under the valve cover somewhere

interior driver's side door lock trim coming apart don't know why but the lock only opens halfway or something sometimes, but unlocks fine from the outside i think its the little thing that surrounds the actual **** from the inside
-outside driver's side lock cylinder seems kind of weak

-passenger side lock cylinder works fine, but i used it and it fell into the door

-trunk lock cylinder.. key doesn't even turn (car only came with 1 key)

-again the car only came with 1 key i think its the valet key, but i'm pretty sure the master key had an alarm since theres some remote lock thing with a dial in the dash, and a security light.. i'll probably get that looked at later

all 4 windows seem to open a bit slow..

the lights dim/blink around when the windows are opening (he said alternator and battery's been changed but i think its bs) and it seemed like a walmart battery anyways

on the cluster, 1 of the cover things are missing for screw access, the damned gauge needles lagg a little, and 3/4 are out but he included replacements.. pretty sure he got it from the yard
(anyway i can check if the leds work individually inside the needles?)

engine harness doesn't look too great, but even with the crash the frame looks pretty straight.

-missing foglights
-VERY clouded headlights, but with projectors! (i plan to clean em up and put some hids, probably some ddm tuning ones (can i put 55w? will i need a relay?)

does the hazard light switch have a bulb inside it? cause its dark and it doesn't light up when i press it but the hazards seem to work fine..

theres little cracks hammered with superglue like the panel used to hold the drivers side window switches, and like i said the tweeter

i have seat warmers but i have no idea if they work or not.. 1 of them lights up fine, and the switch goes green and orange, but the other it only goes to the orange side, and the green side is stuck but the switch doesn't light up at all

wiper jets dont shoot.. pump might have a crack need to check it

honestly car needs a good cleaning.. dirty carpet, kind of stinks of ciggs.

oh and the seat belts don't seem to retract very well, and drivers side seatbelt.. is broken.. it works but the actual seat belt plug thing that goes into the hole with the button is broken.. i'll take some pics later

i should change out all the bulbs and fuses sooner or later..

also the ski cover or whatever seems cracked.. but can i take off the back seats? maybe save some mpg, and give a better cleaning..? i mean the only time rear seats are used is probably when i'm driving the car and i need to pull over to nap or probably if me and my gf decide car sex is happening :P

does the car have a bottom cover? if it does than its missing, and i should get 1 for mpg purposes not to mention scraping in case whatever my mom does over bumps

-antannae motor is dead or is there a switch to raise/lower the antaenna like an old benz?

does the ect bulb have a bulb in it as well?

sunroof switch goes halfway, when i hold it, then gets stuck, unless i hold it again.. is this a lexus thing?

oh i did some research and i read that some ac sensor/cooling fan solenoid are common problems so i should probably tackle those too

power steering seems pretty weak or it feels weird.. but again this is my first lexus..

my budget for repairing the car, i have about $1,000 i can use so i'd like to use it on the big things like shocks.. hopefully i can do it alone.. (man parts are so much cheaper than a benz so hopefully i can use that to the fullest)

i know some of these things can be used with the search button, but again i'm just listing so its easier for me.. anyways i hope this is a really great forum, and help me tackle this project! and hopefully its not a huge mistake like my benzes.. damned money pitts that ended up dying on me anyways!!!

only bad things to say i have are the ride seems kind of high/viewing angles are a bit weird, and the trunk is hard to see/opening is a bit deep and the damned cupholders

only mods i have planned are tints, hids, maybe a cold air intake if it improves mpg a little more?

anyways my thanks in advance, please share your thoughts, stories, whatever.. oh and sorry for the first long long post :P

andybisnut

Hey as long as the front-end accident only caused cosmetic damage, then this Lexus should serve you well. That exterior color kinda makes me want to gag, no offense, but to each his own.

The interior looks good! The leather on the seats looks very clean. I think for $1,300 it's a fair deal, given the salvage title.

Prior to getting my '03 ES 300, I had an '03 Acura TL (also a salvage title) that I got for $2,500 at a local auction. The car had lots of body issues, but it ran really good. The interior was filthy when I got it, but it cleaned up really nice. Ultimately the body issues drove me nuts and I got rid of it, but it was a good reliable car while i had it.

The biggest issue I see with salvage titles is trying to sell them. There's really no "guide" as to what a salvage title car should be worth, although expect getting 50% less than what you'd get for an equivalent, non-salvage car. But since you only spent $1,300 on the thing, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

I sold the TL for $3,600, and I could have gotten probably $7K or more if it had a clean title (sounds like I made $1,100 but in reality, I had to put in a timing belt and some other stuff, so it was pretty much a wash).

But I digress. Congrats on the car. You'll have to let me know how you like it after a while. Salvage titles are a bit of a gamble, but sometimes they pay off.

gabzor

like i said, my family doesn't really care about exterior.. but i feel ya.. i miss a car i can wax and polish

hopefully its something decent, as i've decided i'm going to do all that work on it but yeah.. i had a 300ce before, crappy exterior, crappy interior.. terrible engine and terrible tranny.. biggest mistake of my life man.. but honestly the crappy interior drove me NUTS!

but yeah for 1300, its not too bad and it really is a project seeing how the engine runs good, tranny is good, interior is good.. paint i can always repaint later

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I would have said, "walk away while you can", but it's a little late for that. You can get Quick Struts from Monroe. Rockauto should be your source for everything. There are kits for restoring headlights. Basically you need two different grits of sandpaper and some polish. As for the interior, go rent a RugDoctor vacuum with a hand tool from your local supermarket. Unbolt your front seats and clean all the carpets - it did wonders for my car. There is a DIY for burnt out clusters somewhere around here. Check the sticky thread at the top.

If you experience poor idling or weak starts, clean your Idle Air Control Valve and your Mass Air Flow Sensor. Those are the two most common issues.

gabzor

thanks, and the little bits i guess i have to junkyard it huh? i thought it was a decent car but i guess i'm wrong! DOH
i hear the monroe quick struts don't hold up to well? i'll do some more research
but to replace a strut if its not a monroe quick strut
im going to need the strut, strut mount, strut bellows, spring seats, strut mount kit, coil insulator per strut?
no bushings/joints i should tackle as i do this?

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Monroe's aren't the best, but they will do a great job for your budget. You really have to inspect the suspension before throwing other parts at it. I had worn out rear sway bar links/bushings at 175k.

gabzor

got a quote where its 160$ for all 4 if i bring them or $650 for kyb's and he sources em out..