hello everyone.

i am a gs300 owner but its really giving me a hard time.

i like cars in general, i think every car has its own characteristics. and i love the idea that i can customize my car to make it my very own.
i was deeply inspired by VIP styling so i started looking for good vip platforms, and finally decided to have a LS400.
i live in a small city called Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. since its a small city, used car market here is not great, and there was only ONE white LS400 4 hours away from me. i went to see it anyways but it was disappointing.
just before i gave up hope and went back driving my honda accord, a GS300 with a dealer plate showed up while i was getting grocery, so i went to that dealer afterward, all seemed good and i got the car.
its a 1999 silver GS300, wasn't my first choice but i liked it.

couple weeks later, i got magan coilovers and 19in Vienna dish rims installed.
also accessoires like curtains, JP cushions, knots and such




it looked so nice. but then problems started to come up one after another.


turns out the cars has many issues and im still struggling if it is worth fixing.

first problem is the fuel sending unit, the fuel gauge shows the tank still has a quarter of fuel, but the car will stall and will not start. put more fuel in and it runs normal again, the car is not getting that quarter tank of fuel.

second problem is the engine is burning/using a LOT of oil.
i drove about 5000km since i got the car, one day the low oil light poped on, and went off as i let off gas.
couple days later i checked the oil dip stick and there is NOTHING on it.

third problem is after those 19in wheel were put on and lowered, there is no rub while driving normally, but the noise inside cabin is just a lot louder before those were done, is this normal? or are my hub bearings going bad?

and there are so many more small problems:
the exhaust pipe was custom made, so its annoyingly loud and all rusted already;
exhaust resonator looks original and the bits inside the resonator are falling out into the exhaust pipe, making a extremely embarrassing rattling noise around 1000rpm;
camber adjustments cannot be made due to all bolts are badly rusted and sealed;
door actuator motor needs to be replaced;
radio LCD display gone;
fuel tank is leaking on top;
headlight washer covers gone as you can tell;
all brake rotors needs to be replaced;
rear spoiler was cracked and flapping about, needs to be removed, holes in trunk need to be filled;
the list can go on and on .....

and, almost every single panel on the car with paint on it has some sort of problem like rust or faded clear coat, so the body Needs to be fixed and repainted.....
and if im getting the car repainted, i really want to paint it black.

i can probably do the actuator motor by my self but everything else will have to be done by a shop,
so i think im looking at over $10,000 repair here....

i got the car with 26x thousand km for 5800 everything included, and already put over 6k into it for coilovers, rims, control arms, and maintains...


is it really worth it? or should i sell this one and get a LS400(which i like a little more) in better condition

but on the other hand, if i fix everything on this gs, will i get a really reliable car that i can drive daily for a long time?

if i do sell this one and get a LS400, eventually there will also be a lot of problems pop up and still needs tons of $$ invested in...


thanks everyone

 

no ones going to buy a car in that condition if they know any better


my opinion would be you try to sell it or fix those problems then sell it and pick up a new GS

 

Maintenance before mods....

 

if i end up fixing everything, then theres no point selling it anymore right?

 

i had no idea it has these many problems...
all i knew was the cosmetic problems

 

Ok first thing with the fuel sounds like someone probably changed the fuel pump and may have messed the sending unit up and its saying your on a quarter tank but really its empty. You can swap it out or just remember 1/4 is empty. The tank also probably from when they changed it, there's a o ring seal where the fuel pump housing bolts to the tank.

The wheels may be making the noise since it didn't do it before but no promises. Some tires are just loud.

The exhaust you can get a used cat back for far prices but a quick fix is let a exhaust shop replace what's damaged. I'm in the southern part of the states and it cost me 100 bucks for a custom cat back with a x pipe I already had mufflers.

You can get Canberra bolts from a dealer and probably get the alignment shop to cut the old bolts off and replace them while they are under it.

With you liking the VIP look you probably already want to upgrade so just wait on that.

I got drilled and slotted Tories with pads from ebay. Not my first thought but needed them bad and didn't have the cash for a brake upgrade that I want. That will come in due time but it was 160 shipped.

For the spoiler there's a plastic push rivits that are low profile that can get you by untill you can get the body work. There just a few bucks I think. And since you live in Canada pretty much every car you buy is going to have a rust prob unless its brand new.

But its your car and you are the best person to decide if you can afford or want to fix the problems

 

Sorry man I'm on my phone and it auto corrected a few things lol. But what ment on you liking VIP is your radio.

 

Couldn't have said it any better seems to me like the problems with this GS are very small and could be fixed fairly inexpensively

 

Thanks bro

 

The story of our lives ...

 

Looks like you may need a second job. Sorry to hear about the bad news. See if you can sell first if not start repairing engine and electrical before cosmetic.

 

The oil issue can be quite bad. I would look at that first. Is the car leaking oil from underneath? Or is it actually burning the oil. Worst-case scenario would be having to swap another engine. Luckily 2JZ-GEs go for cheap, since everyone wants the GTEs.

Try to budget all the required fixes and see how much it'll run you. Since you already spent 6k, i wouldn't sell it yet.

 

i know for our cars there are 2 separate tanks. prettyy sure one of the floaters is not good

 

thanks so much for this detailed reply, really appreciate it and it will definitely help when i start fixing it up.

last night i made up my mind to sell the car, so went to take pictures of it just now,
but the more pictures i took, the more im back in love with it...
and then realizes that i got a pretty good deal for the money i paid.

so im just gonna keep it, and eventually, fix all the problems it has,
and drive it until it gives up on me.

 

i have no idea where all those oil went.
there is no oil anywhere under the engine bay, and the car is not showing any sign of burning oil, like smell, smoke or anything.

i thought about swapping if this engine dies on me....
since it already has 269k km on it, and burning oil this bad, i really dont know how much longer can it hold.