Greetings, I just picked up my first ever Lexus. Ended up with a 1999 LS400. It is in great shape. Only needs new tires and something clunks on the front end every once and a while. Its not terrible, My guess is one of the control arms. But I have replaced those on previous cars. Paid under 4 grand for it. It has 156k miles. Full service done at 100k

Looking forward to learning more about these cars. I will tell you what I am very impressed so far. Car is quite and smooth and just runs fantastic.

One small thing I haven't looked into much is the drivers rear window won't auto go up. Well it does but then goes right back down when it hits the top. If I hold the switch before the final click to "manually" control it, it will stay up. Is there a re-learn procedure of some sorts for this?

I'm sure I'll have some questions later, but for now I am enjoying this ride. It is such a hidden gem of a car, at least here, you don't see too many of these in this vintage. 2015 and newer I see a lot of them. I really like the style of this car.

Here are some pics for fun!

 

great job getting an LS 400, they're incredible cars. the windows in this car have "pinch protection" so there's probably something in the window track that the window is hitting which is confusing the computer and making it think that there's something blocking the window. my front passenger window will do it every so often but pretty infrequently. otherwise it's an awesome car and you can expect it to ruin other cars for you.

 

Decent looking LS400. Congrats!

 

you picked a good year to purchase! great deal as well! check out my build thread for the repairs i've done to my 98!

 

I have owned one just like it for the last fourteen years, and it's still going strong. Your suspicions about the front end clunk are likely true; Lexus uses what they call a Strut Arm to dampen movement in the front suspension, and the rubber bushings wear out about every 60 k miles. Do not use poly replacements, if you like a smooth ride. Spend some time learning how to use the search tools; that's really important for the best experience, and the members are more willing to help folks who have searched first. You have picked a great year model, an you are off to a great start if you appreciate quality design and construction. Good luck.

 

Nice looking car and a nice find. Welcome to the club. It is a hidden gem among used cars and ranks pretty high up there for long term quality as well.
You may not have been looking for this car, but now that you've found it, as other have noted... you won't be looking for anything different.

 

And then there was the guy that was looking at a kids junker priced at $8000 and he said he came down to $6000 and it needed some body work and what ever else.
I told him theres better stuff out there at a better price and here it is. Good find and looks like very good body and paint.

This car is great, and for others why pay a super stupid price for something that isn't in this class. If the body has more than a few tiny dings and doesn't look like this car it just isn't flat worth more than 2K if that. And I'm talking about 98 and up.

 

Congrats on the pick up looks like a clean example! Is it me or does the driver's door/fender look like it may have been repainted? Don't mean to be critical, just thought it would be good to know if you are ever working with or modding those areas.

 

Looks amazing! interesting you mention the clunking noise as i have the same thing on my 95 LS400 originating somewhere on the front-right side. Still don't know what it could be. Sounds like you got a fantastic deal. Under 4 Grand yet still not even close to 200k miles. I got my 1995 LS400 almost two years ago at 220K miles and not too long after it was finally having some major issues, but before that the previous owners had no issue with it whatsoever. So assuming your car will behave exactly like mine, you got another good 50k + miles before anything starts to go wrong.

My main suggestion in terms of issues is mainly to watch out for power steering leaks of any kind. That was my biggest issue and i let it progress for several months before fixing it, which probably made things worse than they could have been.

all that said I love mine and I'm sure you'll love yours. In fact i'm even a bit jealous that you landed a late 90's model which has the new look, 5 speed trans, and 30 more HP engine.

Best of luck!

-Nate

 

Congrats looks like a garage queen.

 

Wow thank you all for the warm welcome! I didi notice the color difference just in the picture, not sure what that is, It is very hard to tell when you are standing in front of it. I haven't looked too close yet, I will check around the molding and the edges. But really its so hard to tell I'm not too worried about it as if it was repainted then they did a great job. And lets face it after 17 years and 156k miles a few marks could be normal. Looking underneath and under the hood, if it was a repair, it was just on the surface.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to search around to see about the suspension clunk. Hope to get a chance to remove the tire and get it up on jack stands to see what suspension parts are under there. Usually a good pry bar and some wiggling around will show the bad parts. I am sure I will have some questions after that

Really what I was looking for for this car was a larger car for under 5 grand. I saw this one and just love it. You know seeing used cars you can usually tell what kind of life they have had based on interior and exterior wear. And this car was very very well cared for! And after driving it I just really enjoy the quality. I'm a big driver type car guy. Love my 2011 F150 with the big 411 hp 6.2L V8. No electric steering just a great driver.

I am really glad to get away from front wheel drive. Just not a fan. This car is a blast to drive. Can't wait to fix the front end up and get some new tires on. I am really glad this car popped up. I have been looking for close to year, just being patient on what is out there. I really like the styling of this car. I looked at some ls430? The years after this style and they look to much like the toyota's to me. This car just looks different in a good way. Love love the V8!!!! It is silky smooth and ridiculously quite! I have a borla system behind my truck and the sound is amazing. Doubt I will do that with this car that would mess up what it is I think anyway.

I'm sure I will have a lot of questions coming up here when I get into the car a bit more just to verify everything is up to par.

 

There maybe one thing not to like about it. What is the yellow sticker in side the driver door B pillar? I don't think that is a Lexus sticker.

 

Easiest way to tell if there is paint work is to feel the edges of panels. Glass smooth is factory, static charged ain't... Slight roughness is aftermarket paint. I wouldn't be too worried as the car looks good

 

Yeah im for sure not worried about it at all the panel gaps are just right and IF it were repainted they did a great job. That yellow sticker is the side airbag sticker.

 

Nice LS. Congrats!

Mike