Basscadet

Well if the 90k replacement of both of those items are official Lexus recommendations then i feel comfortable using that info to get price down.

Small fortune? If you got 216k miles on the car I'd say it was money well spent...depending on your def of fortune, i suppose.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

If all that has been changed is the oil, there are still some other key fluids that are suspect and can lead to big $ problems. Tranny, power steering and the differential. Brake fluid less so but with TRAC, I would want that changed regularly as well. Add in the timing belt, the price is high. If he has other maintenance records to support this being a well cared for car, it helps the value.

cobalt91

Also you can take the VIN to lexus to check the dealer service history.

deanshark

An "excellent highway cruiser" describes this car better then anything I can think of, especially if it has air suspension. But if something goes wrong with the air suspension plan on spending a LARGE fortune.
Has your freind only owned the car for 2 years? If all he's done is oil changes then plan on changing all the other fluids b/c they will need to be changed, like RA40 suggested. (Preventive maintainance)

johnnyg66

Well i spent just under 3k for it two years ago. Since than what i needed to do and what i wanted to do i have probably spent that much again.

But now it will last another 200k..

Basscadet

How would I know if the car has air suspension? I really want to avoid it because I know how expensive those systems can cost to repair/replace.

He is the original owner of the vehicle. Or at least, his family is. I am not sure if the fluids have been changed beyond the oil, but knowing him, I would think so. He treats the car very well and is not short of money.

He gave me the VIN which I ran through the Lexus website but it does not mention anything specifically about timing belt or water pump being replaced. The last thing that shows up is at 87,000 miles as "NON WARRANTABLE OPERATION CODE" which is not helpful. 7000 miles earlier there are two entries for "OTHER" and "MISC" which are again not helpful.

I'll just have to ask him tomorrow if he has done it, but I am thinking he has not.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

An air suspension equipped car is not as big and issue. Granted each OEM strut will be $ if you want to go that way but for the cost of one of those air struts, you can go traditional springs. A bit less if going to an OEM spring set-up. Same can be done to the UCF3X/LS 430's.

Easy way to tell if the car has air is look into each fender well. Otherwise, the chassis code will have UCF11 or 21 listed. "1" noting air suspension.

If the current owner can produce work invoices you are better prepared what has been done. Otherwise, it has mounting evidence to keep looking.

mspearl95

i think if you actually take the VIN to lexus, they can give you a detailed printout of everything that was done every time the car was brought in, above and beyond the entries on the lexus website. you may have to prove that you own the car before they will release them to you tho.

cobalt91

On the 95's do they have simaliar controls to the 89-94's? The controls on the console would be a dead give away to air suspension.

Gene01

Hi, RA40.
I can't say for sure about the LS400s, but there was quite a discussion about the UCF30 vs. 31 on the LS430 forums.
What I can say for sure is that not all LS430s with factory air suspension (the UL cars) have UCF31 on the placard.
The concensus seemed to be that this was only true in non-US markets (that air suspension wre ...x1).
Hope this helps.