Buying a GS300 in about an hour
06-26-10, 10:23 AM
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Buying a GS300 in about an hour
I'm buying a Silver 1999 GS300 with 205,000 miles Black leather interior A/C everything power works, etc. I already engaged in a test drive and I like the car. It has a shaking problem that I already looked into here on the forums. It starts, or becomes more noticeable, at about 50-60mph. It DOESN'T have aftermarket wheels, just the stock 16". I noticed it's missing the LOCK lugs on EVERY tire, which equals 4 lugs on each wheel instead of 5. Would this cause the shaking, or am I looking at something more serious like steering rack or SR bushings, jacked alignment, bad tires (they look about 60%)? I'm paying $4,000 out the door which includes TTL. Please let me know what you think..I'm going to see the car again and purchase around 2pm central time. Thanks in advance
06-26-10, 10:29 AM
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I think that is likely to be a balancing issue. If buying from a dealer ask if they balanced/rotated the wheels as part of getting it ready for sale. If not, negotiate that into the price as a condition of the sale because you are concerned about the shaking.
On a different note, you are lucky to get one at that price, and with black interior! I just got mine from a Lexus dealer in April, white with tan interior, 235k miles for $4,100 plus TTL and fees paid a total of $4,700. No issues at all, except I had to install new rear brake pads immediately. Good luck with the deal and let us know what you decide, post some pics if you get it!
On a different note, you are lucky to get one at that price, and with black interior! I just got mine from a Lexus dealer in April, white with tan interior, 235k miles for $4,100 plus TTL and fees paid a total of $4,700. No issues at all, except I had to install new rear brake pads immediately. Good luck with the deal and let us know what you decide, post some pics if you get it!
06-26-10, 10:41 AM
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Thanks for the input, keep it coming! They're not sure why it's shaking and they just noticed 1 lug was missing from each wheel. These people aren't exactly what you would call "classy"
06-26-10, 10:52 AM
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try getting the steering rack pretensioner adjusted, that is the only thing that worked for me when trying to get rid of the shakes.
all of the other stuff people suggested had minimal impact.
If you lower the car you'll need to adjust steering rack pretensioner again.
all of the other stuff people suggested had minimal impact.
If you lower the car you'll need to adjust steering rack pretensioner again.
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06-26-10, 11:23 AM
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do some searching on the forum under 2nd gen and you'll find some old threads, it is an easy thing to do from what others state.
I had my mechanic do it, it was just something he did when lowering the car.
I know everyone promotes balancing, alignment, out of round wheels, there are numerous threads where people suggest that over and over and to no avail and $$$ later the author of the threads complains that the improvement is mildly improved.
That answer just seems a little to easy for everyone to throw around.
I had my mechanic do it, it was just something he did when lowering the car.
I know everyone promotes balancing, alignment, out of round wheels, there are numerous threads where people suggest that over and over and to no avail and $$$ later the author of the threads complains that the improvement is mildly improved.
That answer just seems a little to easy for everyone to throw around.
06-26-10, 01:34 PM
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The deal fell through. The car was driving great, then all of a sudden the gas pedal was down..and the car wasn't moving? They claimed it was the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). The only way the car would move is if the pedal was NAILED to the floor, and I mean NAILED down. Then the Add Oil light came on and we got back to the dealer and the oil wasn't even registering on the dip stick..good thing all this happened on my 2nd test drive. i was sold on the first test drive. CLOSE CALL.
GS's for $4000 
06-26-10, 02:54 PM
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06-26-10, 03:17 PM
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wow, you did get lucky, they obviously dont do at least the minimum to thier cars.
I had the same thing happen to me on a test drive when I was shopping for a mini for my GF, car died as I pulled out of the parking lot of the dealer.
I had the same thing happen to me on a test drive when I was shopping for a mini for my GF, car died as I pulled out of the parking lot of the dealer.
