JPratt

Yeah, the milage, price, and color!! I had to have it. I had already let one 97 and one 99 get away. Wasn't going to take a chance on this one getting away.

MachNeil

This is an awesome car with proper maintenance. I just installed a power steering rack, EGR pipe, p/s pressure hose, cam seals, valve cover gaskets, timing belt, water pump, timing belt idlers, and some other things in a 1997 LS400. Why all at the same time? Owner never did any maintenance! EVER

OU303

How long did you look before you pulled the trigger? I have been looking for a car for a little over two weeks but just started to focus on the 1995-2000 LS400 a week or so ago. I also contacted some brokers to at least check into it. If they can find me something for wholesale I should still be worth it even with fees. People really like their LS400s around here and most of them I have come across are overpriced, even over the highest value (whether it be KBB, NADA, or Edmunds).

A few Gen2 LSs have been sitting on Craigslist for a month or more and the owners still haven't dropped the price. They may just hold onto them indefinitely until they get their asking price but I am hoping they drop them down to a reasonable level. I have been patient so far but I would rather decide sooner than later so I can be done with this used car rat race! Plus we live about 40 miles from town and neither my wife or I work in town, so it is eating up gas like crazy making extra trips into town.

Damn. I just found one with 115K miles that I was going to take to my mechanic. The guy didn't want to take the car that far (about 45 minutes) so we initially took it to Firestone and they wanted to bend him/me over on the repairs. I knew they were going to do that so I tried to persuade him to meet me down at my guy in the first place but whatever. So in the interim between getting it looked at Wednesday and then him not being able to meet me with the car until Monday, someone bought it out from under me! I hope he disclosed on the repairs needed since he should do so by law. C'este la vie. To get to the point it was a 1995 LS400 with only 115k and had a PS leak, leaky valve cover gasket, and a leaky rack & pinion. Carfax showed maintenance at the dealership up until 2 years ago so I have no idea how it go so F'd up in 2 years.

MachNeil did you get your '97 for a good price I hope? The guy was going to drop it to $3250 on the '95. Now I gotta start all over. Also maybe I am imagining things but I am starting to think the '95 has more PS leaks than other year Gen2 LS400s.

parkerjs

I'd suggest you develop a clear picture of what you're looking for and strike quickly when you find it. A solid and well maintained LS is well worth paying a premium for and hesitation will likely result in losing the opportunity to buy it. Good ones are in high demand, as it seems you're finding out.

Best of luck in your search.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

if '95s have more leaks it's due solely to age. steering parts are pretty much identical to '96-97 cars.

OU303

Oh I have a clear picture of what I'm looking for. It seems low mileage LSs are in high demand around these parts, but not necessarily the good pristine ones. I have seen several of the pricier LSs listed for weeks and two for over a month. I am not going to spend more than something is worth. If the car is sound mechanically, or even mostly sound mechanically, I can certainly deal with that. My best bet is going to be to find one that is less than perfect for an appropriate less than perfect price. These cars really aren't big sellers here in Colorado. I am sure they sometimes find the right buyer but around here people want all wheel drive Subarus or SUVs. Just in my short time looking for a car I have already noticed a trend of these RWD V8s either being priced well below book foe quick sale or sitting and not selling when priced at full book or above. Not just the LSs but a variety of other full size RWD V8s.

If I find the right LS for the right price I will certainly move quick. I am not buying anything without my mechanic checking it out, though. So I will be patient until I find a fair combination of quality and price. I am going to look at one at a small lot Monday that is priced very low. The front seats look pretty rough for both front seats. Not sure if the entire seat would need new leather, but I can deal with it if it's just the front of the seat. Maybe if it's the entirity of the leather on both seats as long as that's all it is. I can deal with a mediocre interior as long as it's not going to be truly a complete money pit. I just am more concerned about finding something that is in at least average condition mechanically. As long as it isn't falling apart it should be able to be re-claimed at only 147xxx. I also found one with 205k that claims to be immaculate. I am a little weary on the mileage. The guy says he had all maintenance performed on schedule so he should have already done two of most things by now with that mileage. If it's clean I may have to seriously consider it, especially if it's at a good time in the vehicle's history, where a lot of things were replaced (or replaced again) recently.

I guess it-so-happens that by chance there have been more '95 owners talking about having the infamous power steering leaks or even a leaky rack. I mean the '95 is only 1 year older than the '96 but based on searching and digging through the forums I have seen an inordinate amount of folks with '95s talking about PS problems. I thought it might just be happenstance but I felt it warranted asking if the '95 was less reliable based on all the posts I have seen. Of course the first year in a new generation of car usually has more problems, too. Of course a lot of that depends on what kind of redesigns were made and since I don't know much on that topic, I simply stored that logic for future consideration. I also remember about a week ago I did read something on Edmunds about a small batch of the 95s having a manufacturing error - I believe on the rear suspension - but don't quote me. I know I have the bookmark somewhere but it isn't handy, though I can provide it if need be. I stored that little tidbit into memory as well and then coupled with what I have seen with issues on the forum specifically with 95s, taking everything into consideration I came to at least consider the possibility that maybe the '95 has more inherent problems even than the only one year newer '96. I know you like people to user the search feature so that's a big part of why I have concern specifically about the 95, because I have searched extensively and keep seeing things about the '95 vs even '96. It may be unwarranted as such but it is based on sound deductive reasoning. I would not fail to realize that the implications of a '95 being several years older than a '99 or '00 but I do not see much difference in between a '95 or '96. At the rate of being on the road for 16 years vs 17 years, I don't see a substantial difference there. I am not so sure it is based solely on age differences. Maybe for whatever reason the CL forum here is providing an unbalanced sample, with there being far more '95 owners than '96 owners, that is certainly a possibility. I just know that I, based on my personal numerous searches, have seen more threads specifically about '95s and PS issues than on the same topic for '96s. It may well just be that, happenstance.

parkerjs

I have no doubt that when your analysis is done and you pull the trigger, you'll love what you buy.

JPratt

For me, I was going to go for a 97! But then I made up my mind that I really wanted a 98-00! I had already let a really nice/clean 99 get away from me that was 7995, and had 120k miles on it. So I decided to wait it out a few more weeks, then boom. This one came up and I knew I had to have it if every thing worked out on it. I would say I was doing research, and on the hunt for about 2-3 months before I finally made the decision. The colors I wanted most were black, silver, and the gold. I never new this color was out there for the LS. Seen it on the ES a few times though.

JPratt

Interior pics. Have more, just need to resize them.

JPratt

New iphone pics. I need to pull out my big camera

OU303

Nice! Looks clean. From what I can see the leather looks great with no deep lines. Good find! I found a 99 in the same color! Just have to hope the price comes down from $10.5k. Crossing fingers no one scoops it up.

JPratt

Damn, 10.5?? How many miles on it?

OU303

82,500 miles