D2-AUTOSPORT

Fellow Lexologists,

My name is Derrick and I own a CPO 1996 GS300-Midnight Blue/Gray, 5sp tranny, split tailights. The car is modded with 20" DVS Wrath wheels (save all the "ghetto jokes"), 255/35-20 Falken fk451 tires, Intrax Sport springs (1.7/1.5), KYB GR-2 struts (they suck), 4100k HID foglights, 600watt Coustic Amp, 2 12" Kicker 6000 speakers, and a Lightning Audio 1farad Cap.

I loved this car every since high school and in 2001, I was able to purchase one. The CPO experience was a great one! The car had 59,000 miles on it and was excellent condition, even the factory chrome wheels were in decent condition. I only had the car for week before I put my first set of 20" Alba Blaze (save the jokes!!) wheels on it. Next came tint, the stereo and a promotion at work. I thought I would sell it to relocate but I did not, so I added new rims, suspension, and HIDies. I think that the Lexus models from this time period (92-97) are some of the best looking and timeless models to date. They all look fresh and modern 10 years later!! Try that with Lincoln!! IMO, the newer models do not carry the same distinctive look. The LS,SC, and ES all look bloated and drab! Althought they all dress up nice with wheels, suspension, and body styling, you should not have to drop 15 grand on a car just to appreciate its styling! Some guy on here posted a 93 GS300 with 140sumodd thousand miles BONE STOCK, and that thing looks sharp!

BTW, I'm stuck in the stone ages (no scanner), but there is a terrible pic of my car on the web, if anyone is interested, I will post the address.

Wald GS

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the club!

geees300

welcome derrick and keep post'n

gerbjones

Don't make fun of my BONE STOCK 95 GS 300 with 140k!!!!!!!!!!!I'll mod it someday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

indypwr

derrick, post some pics soon.........

alexamparo

did he say he's got a 5 speed?

D2-AUTOSPORT

I'm gonna try to address all the posts at once,

DTP-thanks for the love

Indy- I posted a couple pics, but they are just the ones I took to submit to my local newspaper for the sale section. I'll attach a couple to this post

Gerb- I was not makin fun of you, what I was saying was, even though you car is stock, it has a nice clean appearance and it has road presence, i.e., you know its prestigious car, even people who dont know cars that well! (am I right?). I was saying the newer models (2003-LS/ES/SC), just dont have that same look. They all look bland as hell bone stock! The only way to add some spice to them is to drop 10-15k on mods, and its a shame that you HAVE to add that much money to a 35-60thousand dollar car just to like it. I was saying the new ones should look nice bone stock, just like yours!!

Alex- many people dont know this, but in 1996, Lexus gave the GS300 a 5sp ECT-i auto tranny, they also changed the tailights. That was one of things that sold me on the car, the damn tranny shifts so quickly and smoothly, kinda reminds of a stick!

alexamparo

yeah actually I did know that in 1996 the GS300 had a 5 speed auto.....just that the way that you just said 5-speed kinda threw me off. sorry-I should've realized that on my own.

alexamparo

and by the way....nice car

D2-AUTOSPORT

Thanks alex I appreciate that!

D2-AUTOSPORT

hey alex, your user box says RI and LA, what part of RI, I live in Worcester, MA

SLVRGS

Your car looks clean, wheels don't look too ghetto to me(how does it ride with the 20's, is it lowered, does it rub?), but you should get rid of the gold package, thats just my opinion. I too in high school knew these cars had some potential, and when I was debating on the 1st or 2nd generation I found mine with 59,000 miles 2 years ago this week. The only thing that has been getting to me lately is finding 94-95 models used on the web and at local crap lots for dirt cheap, like even though they are worth more if I do decide to upgrade my cars value might not be what it should.

alexamparo

YEAH.....wheels aren't ghetto........nice car!

D2-AUTOSPORT

Hey guys thanks for the opinions.

CHMPNGS-I have Intrax 1.75" springs and KYB GR-2 struts the car rides REALLY nice on the highway, it just sits in the road like a brick and feels rock solid. I spend a lot of time in New Haven CT, and Brooklyn, NY and thats where i run into issues. The KYBs were the only struts i could get, and they are pretty much dead after about 8-10mos, so over bumps the car jostles and the impact is transmitted to the cabin. THE CAR DOES NOT BOUNCE like my 95 accord with 18s and a race drop did!! So I just live with the rough ride. The only thing that rubs is the front tires on the plastic fender liners at full lock when reversing, but nothing serious. I got my car used like you, and it had the gold package, I HATE THAT *****!!! the good thing is, its only on the "L" in the front and the badges on the rear, not the grille, door handles, window trim, etc like I see on some cars! With regard to the value, I got really lucky on getting a 96 from the dealer, because that is a rare year and I have all the CPO certificates, etc. But you are right alot of older abused cars are eroding the value of ours!
BTW- that champange looks smooth as silk, theres a guy on here called seminole that has a pic of one with 20" silver LD-1s and a drop in his sig, have you seen it??

ALEX- you never answered, are you holding it down in RI??

SLVRGS

Are you sayin that the KYB's are not that good, like they do not last? I was thinkin I might replace mine and those are the ones someone suggested, I don't know if it is cause its cold and the rubber is harder and it makes my ride a little rougher or I am imagining things. I was just debating on some 20's, and curious if they do take bumps hard, or cause they are so big that it rolls out the bump, I just don't think I would like if my ride was rougher cause it is not bad with the 17's but not great either.