1998 GS400 bought with 68000 miles in 2003

68,000 Fixed a jammed sliding pin on front right brake caliper
68,000 Replaced front brake pads
80,000 Replaced front passenger actuator


A very reliable car for me, at 104,000, I am beginning to hear the humming noise from the front bearings so will probably be changed soon. Still waiting to do timing belt.

 

Bought the car with 160500 Kilometres. at about 165000, there was a knocking sound that started. at like 172000 I got it fixed - 2 upper ball joints. cost me around $850 Canadian with parts and labour :-(

 

Near as I can tell, I think I have more miles on my '98 GS400 than most at 25ok+ plus and going... Like most cars, it becomes the small annoying crap that really pisses you off with a higher mileage car along with the occasional expensive crap. I am on an original tranny with a bit of a whine, and orig. engine with a bit of valve noise and preignition. That being said the car runs strong.

I have been a CL reader for a while and rarely a poster, but if you own these long term you can expect the following:

Timing belts at 100k for fear of not doing it...
Brakes going if you install larger wheels.
Starters at every 100k approx. ( I have done it twice now)
Door actuators, they just give after a while, drivers door first.
Water pump, just have a new one put in when you do the timing belt.
Steering wheel tilt gearing burnout. Just take it to the dealership and have it disabled or one day you will find the wheel doesn't lower and feel like a bus driver, it's a $60 fix unless you really need a retractable wheel.
Inside brake lights, for some reason it was a bad run of plastic on a few models, it turns a light pink color, I have seen at least 5 with this locally.
CD Changer burnout...
Headliner rattles, they used Velcro to attach it. Easy fix with some adhesive.

Other than that, this car is perfect. While some would call this a lot of problems let's remember we're talking about a quarter million miles on a car. IMO there is no more durable and road worthy machine out there. I have driven to the dealership to trade on a 3rd gen and not done it twice now. To be honest ny '98 400 is faster feeling than a new one and at the rate I am going I hope to report 500,000 at some point on this car. I feel my tranny will go out first, and predict the engine will make it to 350k. Plus, once you own it, the cost of these repairs is nothing compared to a car payment. Rock on!

 

My problem is that she's just too pretty. She's getting old but dammit I love her. I always look for the spot next to a wall and fold my mirror and then back into it as close to the wall as possible.

 

Purchasing my GS300 at a Carmax (81k), they took care of the A/C (Evaporator Core and lines) and the Upper Control Arm. Other then that its been really great!

 

I'm at 222k miles on my `98 GS400 and bought it 3.5 years ago at 156k. Started out great then at ~180k had to replace the starter (~$1,000) and then the ABS/Master Cylinder (~$1200). That hurt. Since then it's been pretty good with just a tie rod end at 200k. Been getting a fair amount of CELs and ended up swapping the O2 sensors and the PO430 code stopped. I'm assuming it was a weak O2 sensor and not the CAT. Latest problem is P0446 code which is probably the charcoal canister but I'm still in trouble shooting mode. It's ready for another timing belt/water pump since the last one was done at 100k. So I'm probably looking at $2200 miniumum and trying to decide whether to keep it. My daughter is ready for a car and I'm thinking about a used honda, then I'll go back to my`96 LS400 (@ 190k).

 

Well, I'm buying a 2001 GS430 this week and after reading all 4 pages of this thread, I still feel like it's the best car in it's class. I just hope to catch some luck on most of the odd stuff that have gone wrong in these cars.

 

Good choice still the best in its class nuff said, these are not really big problems, very small actually nothing really major beside just regular service like the timing belt and etc..
But lets get a list for E class or a 5 series about the stuff that goes wrong and if it can last up to 210k just by replacing the timing elt and water pump.

 

2002 GS430. Bought it last August and she had 95k Miles
90k service (Water Pump, Timing belt, etc. and replaced tensioner): ~$1k
Replaced Shocks and Springs with Tein CS v2 at 105k miles, stocks were worn: $1k
Replaced Grille for L-Tuned, stock had a small crack: $225

While replacing the shocks and springs for coils, my mechanic and I found the diff leaking. He quoted me $400 for the job.

Overall, this car is LOVELY and a pleasure to own. CL has been real informative on reliability and maintenance on the car which was a HUGE plus when I was in the market for one.

The bad...mod'ing ADDICITION which is a good addiction compared to others. I layed low for a while (8 mos) after selling my previous vehicle then when I bought this, I remained still with mod'ing. But when I upgraded the suspension and grille, grille was impulse purchase but worth it, I caught the bug again.

 

Balljoints Balljoints Balljoints


Broke on me in the middle of the road at about 90k miles

 

Replaced steering column twice, blown cats/o2 sensors, and now my brake master cylinder is busted.

3Grand worth of damages on Friday.... We'll see how long I even keep it

 

I bought my GS3 back in feb 06 and 1 month later i had to change one of my o2 sensors other than that not a peep i bought it at 68,000 and now im at 85,000+. Its the best and i wouldnt trade for nothing

 

passenger side headlamp is not sealed...rock chips galore....

 

other than the brake master cylinder, ball joints, some oil pressure valve thing that made my car run like crap, ps pump, the alternator which was taken out by the leaking ps pump, needing to replace passenger upper control arm, and leather wearing pretty bad

I still love the GS regardless... even though sometimes I miss the Maxima.

I feel much better since I recently did the major maintenance on it and it purrs

 

when i bought my gs3 it smelled like peaches