So i picked up another project Ls400 yesterday...
11-26-18, 09:17 AM
#1
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
So i picked up another project Ls400 yesterday...
Was bored yesterday surfing fb marketplace doing my routine searches for parts and stuff when a a black on black 99 popped up on my radar. Had been up for awhile for $1200 with no title. It looked kind of rough but not too far gone. Really DID NOT need a 3rd Ls400 project as im trying to restore my 95 currently but figured if i could get it cheap enough i could part it and use the extra money for the holidays. Well i sent the guy an offer of $500 expecting a nasty response, but he returned with "yeah come get it im tired of looking it it" I thought hey this is pretty awesome but I did my due diligence called up some Wrecking companies and turns out i cant even junk it without a title, so was seriously having second thoughts. Then i called a few contacts and turns out i could get a title for $285 which would make a $785 investment that i could probably make a grand or so off so i figured why the hell not. Went over to check it out. I was alone and the car was in one of the most dangerous areas in orlando. Whole prospect of it all seemed kinda sketchy but went to look at it anyway...
i get over there and was greeted by a guy who was in his early 20s. Seemed like a nice enough dude and fully disclosed the situation with the car. Turned out to be a flip gone bad as he bought it 2 years before as a flip that had bounced around between 4 other flippers since 2014 that never registered it, yet all signed the title. He went thru all kinds of **** trying to get it registered cause he wanted to have a little fun with it before dumping it. He couldnt track down any of the people on the title, and the guy that sold it to him blocked him immediately after selling it so he knew what he was doing. Poor kid.. Anyway, i get over there and there it sat in the yard, sunk about an inch in the dirt from sitting awhile, with a few small plants sprouting from the seals. Wasnt nearly as bad as i was thinking it'd be honestly. Battery was toast and hadnt been started in about a year, so i just pulled the battery out of my 95 (drove that to go look at this sad 99), ploped it under the hood and bumped the key. After about 15 seconds of cranking it burbled to life. Ran kind of rough at first with about every warning light and message on the cluster. Trac off, check VSC, taillamp failure, low fuel, oil, coolant, auto leveling you name it lol. Interior had lots of mildew and cobwebs, but i gripped the shifter and clicked it into drive. Took a little effort to get it to unstick itself from the ground that was starting to swallow it, and down the driveway infront of his house. After a few mins the rough idle and smoke cleared up and seemed to be holding its tempature and composure so figured id take it down a few streets and see how it shifted. The tires were all mismatched, threadbare, and down to about 10 psi all the way around. Just barley enough to get to the gas station around the corner. Putted down the street. filled the tires and put $5 in gas just so it didnt run out as it was at zero miles and drove it a bit, dirt and debris comming off of it. Well, turned out that the engine was smooth and it clicked through all 5 gears perfectly.
There we were, bombing down one of the major roads in town, ducking cops with a 5 year expired tag that came from god knows where, but the car was holding its own just fine. The tranny studdered a bit probably just from sitting at first, but that went away too. I decided to open it up a little and BAM! snapped me back in my seat and.took off like a slingshot! -this Ls400 was still a good ls400!!!
Went to the bank, pulled out 5 big ones and waited for.my chase car. I drove it 15 miles home without any incident at all! So yeah. Black on black 99 ucf20 for $500. The car is just nice enough to still save but i mean its RIGHT there. Had it sat any longer it would have died in his back yard.
next ill give you a rundown of what it needs, and my future plans with it but first, i know.this thread is worthless without pics, so here we.go......
i get over there and was greeted by a guy who was in his early 20s. Seemed like a nice enough dude and fully disclosed the situation with the car. Turned out to be a flip gone bad as he bought it 2 years before as a flip that had bounced around between 4 other flippers since 2014 that never registered it, yet all signed the title. He went thru all kinds of **** trying to get it registered cause he wanted to have a little fun with it before dumping it. He couldnt track down any of the people on the title, and the guy that sold it to him blocked him immediately after selling it so he knew what he was doing. Poor kid.. Anyway, i get over there and there it sat in the yard, sunk about an inch in the dirt from sitting awhile, with a few small plants sprouting from the seals. Wasnt nearly as bad as i was thinking it'd be honestly. Battery was toast and hadnt been started in about a year, so i just pulled the battery out of my 95 (drove that to go look at this sad 99), ploped it under the hood and bumped the key. After about 15 seconds of cranking it burbled to life. Ran kind of rough at first with about every warning light and message on the cluster. Trac off, check VSC, taillamp failure, low fuel, oil, coolant, auto leveling you name it lol. Interior had lots of mildew and cobwebs, but i gripped the shifter and clicked it into drive. Took a little effort to get it to unstick itself from the ground that was starting to swallow it, and down the driveway infront of his house. After a few mins the rough idle and smoke cleared up and seemed to be holding its tempature and composure so figured id take it down a few streets and see how it shifted. The tires were all mismatched, threadbare, and down to about 10 psi all the way around. Just barley enough to get to the gas station around the corner. Putted down the street. filled the tires and put $5 in gas just so it didnt run out as it was at zero miles and drove it a bit, dirt and debris comming off of it. Well, turned out that the engine was smooth and it clicked through all 5 gears perfectly.
There we were, bombing down one of the major roads in town, ducking cops with a 5 year expired tag that came from god knows where, but the car was holding its own just fine. The tranny studdered a bit probably just from sitting at first, but that went away too. I decided to open it up a little and BAM! snapped me back in my seat and.took off like a slingshot! -this Ls400 was still a good ls400!!!
Went to the bank, pulled out 5 big ones and waited for.my chase car. I drove it 15 miles home without any incident at all! So yeah. Black on black 99 ucf20 for $500. The car is just nice enough to still save but i mean its RIGHT there. Had it sat any longer it would have died in his back yard.
next ill give you a rundown of what it needs, and my future plans with it but first, i know.this thread is worthless without pics, so here we.go......
11-26-18, 10:00 AM
#3
Racer
11-27-18, 09:36 AM
#5
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
damn the pics didnt take. okay im at a real computer now. (my phone SUCKS and the mobile site SUCKS kinda too. i did my road trip thread in my 2000 from my google pixel 2xl which was stolen sadly. ive been reduced to a lg stylo 4 which is awful). posting pics soon bc i have SO much to talk about. im at work right now so gotta duck my boss as well as deal with customers so ill post as much as i can throughout the day.
11-27-18, 02:10 PM
#6
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
okay i think i figured this out finally. lets see if it took this time.
as you can see, its pretty abused. rotted tires, horrendous paint job. looks like a half *** maco job along with a 3 year old using spray paint. yeh..
interior is not horrendous. its pretty nice actually considering this is central florida and it sat for a really long time with the moonroof shade open. yeah its all a little dry but ive seen way way worse.
here we have a nice big scrape. aside from a few little dings and dents the body is pretty straight.
as you can see, its pretty abused. rotted tires, horrendous paint job. looks like a half *** maco job along with a 3 year old using spray paint. yeh..
interior is not horrendous. its pretty nice actually considering this is central florida and it sat for a really long time with the moonroof shade open. yeah its all a little dry but ive seen way way worse.
here we have a nice big scrape. aside from a few little dings and dents the body is pretty straight.
11-27-18, 02:24 PM
#7
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
after a kinda sketchy ride i got it home and started cleaning. i pumped the tires up to about 40 psi and drove the car 15 or so miles to get the flat spots out.
im in love with the green IR glass. i never see it and the rare occasion i do, its never all original like this. the windshield is, all the glass is original so it matches.
heres the cul-de-sac i got it from. nice big fluid stain from my 95 there.. lol
guy i got the car from was nice enough to wash it for me while i grabbed the cash. cool dude.
safe n sound in my driveway. i really didnt think id make it home....
front end is pretty chipped but check out the cool aftermarket headlights with black inserts. with a little fixing this car could look real mean.
ofcourse, it has the "low washer fluid" warning they all seem to have. ill have to tie the sensor off. its got a tail lamp failure light as well thanks to 3 bulbs out in the back so ill be swapping those soon. unfortunatly the brake switch is bad as i discovered they were all on 20 mins after i left the car and came out of the store!!!
no CEL which is pretty awesome, but its far from perfect and i honestly dont think the cluster is functioning right
so, steering wheel jammed all the way up. the motor isnt bad. it simply doesnt exist!!! guess someone pulled it at some point and forgot to put it back in or something. idk.
its not absolutley horrible under the hood but it is very dirty. im kinda scared to clean it honestly.
after a solid hour of washing and polishing, it actually dont look so bad! however it is absolutley a 5 footer for sure.
im in love with the green IR glass. i never see it and the rare occasion i do, its never all original like this. the windshield is, all the glass is original so it matches.
heres the cul-de-sac i got it from. nice big fluid stain from my 95 there.. lol
guy i got the car from was nice enough to wash it for me while i grabbed the cash. cool dude.
safe n sound in my driveway. i really didnt think id make it home....
front end is pretty chipped but check out the cool aftermarket headlights with black inserts. with a little fixing this car could look real mean.
ofcourse, it has the "low washer fluid" warning they all seem to have. ill have to tie the sensor off. its got a tail lamp failure light as well thanks to 3 bulbs out in the back so ill be swapping those soon. unfortunatly the brake switch is bad as i discovered they were all on 20 mins after i left the car and came out of the store!!!
no CEL which is pretty awesome, but its far from perfect and i honestly dont think the cluster is functioning right
so, steering wheel jammed all the way up. the motor isnt bad. it simply doesnt exist!!! guess someone pulled it at some point and forgot to put it back in or something. idk.
its not absolutley horrible under the hood but it is very dirty. im kinda scared to clean it honestly.
after a solid hour of washing and polishing, it actually dont look so bad! however it is absolutley a 5 footer for sure.
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11-27-18, 06:11 PM
#9
Racer
11-28-18, 05:34 AM
#10
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
still cant see the pics?! posted about 20 above. i can see them. if you STILL cant see them, i made a public google photos album for everything related to this car.
here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/D3KGxiwhCzaJ4qVF9
here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/D3KGxiwhCzaJ4qVF9
Last edited by Stereorob; 11-28-18 at 06:36 AM.
11-28-18, 08:59 AM
#11
Racer
Album works.Lots of potential there.
11-30-18, 11:30 AM
#12
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
okay so i did a thing the other day.
after tinkering with it, cleaning it up and driving it all over the place that night, the next day, i dont know if i was crazy, stupid or both, but i made the unthinkable decision to drive it 15 miles to work, in morning rush hour traffic.
the night before it was just me and a few friends bombing around neighborhood streets. we put a few miles on it here and there, but not a real drive so far from home, WAY out of my comfort zone for an old car that i didnt know yet. not enough seat time to know its quirks, what its likes and dislikes are, and how it behaves with real driving.
it was very cold out. 37 degrees which is brutal here in Florida, especially a car with no heat or ac. the drive was freezing cold, -and absolutely TERRIFYING.
first observation is that the car hates the cold, and i mean HATES it. took it almost 10 mins to warm up enough for the tranny to go into gear -a big issue i will soon have to face. it was slipping all over for the first 15 mins and the brakes are not the greatest. i cant gun the engine and dart around traffic, as it slips sometimes under hard acceleration for a second but always grabs. once it grabs it stops slipping completely and is fine. i get about 4 miles from home and im sitting in gridlock traffic. the car has an idling issue and it was so low it didn't even look like it was on. barley registering on the tach. it DID stall on me once but started right up and kept going. after sitting on I-4 for about 10 mins, i just got off the highway and took one of the major surface streets here and but hit traffic again. this time a red light was malfunctioning backing traffic up 6 blocks. sat there for 15 mins when it finally happened. -the temperature gauge started to climb. it got almost to the red but the thermostat finally kicked in and took it back to non-atomic levels but still never got to the center line and ran a little hot rest of the way. once i got the open road finally i nailed it and just wanted to get to work quick as i could. truth be told, i really didnt think id make it to the dealership. once i got here obviously i pulled it right up the service ramp for a show n tell, like i always do when i get another clapped out LS400. had plenty of positive and negative comments as always lol.
was cold the entire day. got to work at 8am, took lunch at 3pm, and was chilly enough to keep the car from going in reverse and slipping again. it eventually caught, but could barley make it up the little ramp at the mcdonalds drive thru. -yeah. THAT bad.
i also discovered the tail lamps wont shut off and is stuck with the brake lights on. yay. guessing it needs a new switch. get back to work with it, without incident, but i get off work at 8pm. im standing there looking at the car at 6pm faced with the prospect of then driving it back home. my palms were getting sweaty just thinking about what had to be done. yes. for the first time over all the years ive had these cars.. -this one scares me.
8pm comes. its 39 degrees. i pop the hood and connect the battery. the car is an ice box with no heat. starts fine, but still idling low, when it should be at 1200-1500 rpms for a short time while warming up. no. sputters at 250..
i let the car sit for several minutes hoping to warm up enough to go into reverse and it didnt. just a jerky grind like its trying to move when it cant. now im far from home, about to drive an Ls400 with a dying transmission, that could loose itself at any second.
i put the car in neutral and roll it out of the parking spot. put it in drive and it immediately clicks into gear and goes through every one fine like its brand new. weird i know.
i WILL NOT be leaving the area around my house with it till i get it figured out. **** THAT!!!!
aside from the insanley low idle it drove home without incident other then freezing my *** off. got about halfway home, about 20 minutes of driving and reverse came back and worked fine.
i think this car is confused. first it was dead and rotting in a field, now its back on the road being driven as an actual car, without any work being done to it besides a serious cleaning and fluid top offs.
"let me die!!' the car says. "i want to live" the car says. idk.
after tinkering with it, cleaning it up and driving it all over the place that night, the next day, i dont know if i was crazy, stupid or both, but i made the unthinkable decision to drive it 15 miles to work, in morning rush hour traffic.
the night before it was just me and a few friends bombing around neighborhood streets. we put a few miles on it here and there, but not a real drive so far from home, WAY out of my comfort zone for an old car that i didnt know yet. not enough seat time to know its quirks, what its likes and dislikes are, and how it behaves with real driving.
it was very cold out. 37 degrees which is brutal here in Florida, especially a car with no heat or ac. the drive was freezing cold, -and absolutely TERRIFYING.
first observation is that the car hates the cold, and i mean HATES it. took it almost 10 mins to warm up enough for the tranny to go into gear -a big issue i will soon have to face. it was slipping all over for the first 15 mins and the brakes are not the greatest. i cant gun the engine and dart around traffic, as it slips sometimes under hard acceleration for a second but always grabs. once it grabs it stops slipping completely and is fine. i get about 4 miles from home and im sitting in gridlock traffic. the car has an idling issue and it was so low it didn't even look like it was on. barley registering on the tach. it DID stall on me once but started right up and kept going. after sitting on I-4 for about 10 mins, i just got off the highway and took one of the major surface streets here and but hit traffic again. this time a red light was malfunctioning backing traffic up 6 blocks. sat there for 15 mins when it finally happened. -the temperature gauge started to climb. it got almost to the red but the thermostat finally kicked in and took it back to non-atomic levels but still never got to the center line and ran a little hot rest of the way. once i got the open road finally i nailed it and just wanted to get to work quick as i could. truth be told, i really didnt think id make it to the dealership. once i got here obviously i pulled it right up the service ramp for a show n tell, like i always do when i get another clapped out LS400. had plenty of positive and negative comments as always lol.
was cold the entire day. got to work at 8am, took lunch at 3pm, and was chilly enough to keep the car from going in reverse and slipping again. it eventually caught, but could barley make it up the little ramp at the mcdonalds drive thru. -yeah. THAT bad.
i also discovered the tail lamps wont shut off and is stuck with the brake lights on. yay. guessing it needs a new switch. get back to work with it, without incident, but i get off work at 8pm. im standing there looking at the car at 6pm faced with the prospect of then driving it back home. my palms were getting sweaty just thinking about what had to be done. yes. for the first time over all the years ive had these cars.. -this one scares me.
8pm comes. its 39 degrees. i pop the hood and connect the battery. the car is an ice box with no heat. starts fine, but still idling low, when it should be at 1200-1500 rpms for a short time while warming up. no. sputters at 250..
i let the car sit for several minutes hoping to warm up enough to go into reverse and it didnt. just a jerky grind like its trying to move when it cant. now im far from home, about to drive an Ls400 with a dying transmission, that could loose itself at any second.
i put the car in neutral and roll it out of the parking spot. put it in drive and it immediately clicks into gear and goes through every one fine like its brand new. weird i know.
i WILL NOT be leaving the area around my house with it till i get it figured out. **** THAT!!!!
aside from the insanley low idle it drove home without incident other then freezing my *** off. got about halfway home, about 20 minutes of driving and reverse came back and worked fine.
i think this car is confused. first it was dead and rotting in a field, now its back on the road being driven as an actual car, without any work being done to it besides a serious cleaning and fluid top offs.
"let me die!!' the car says. "i want to live" the car says. idk.
11-30-18, 12:31 PM
#13
Pole Position
At least it was only 15 miles to your work. Not knowing too much about a car that you just bought does get scarry for a little while til you get used to it. This last LS400 I bought was 226 miles from my house, out of state. I drove it home that day. The way I looked at it is that AAA tows 100 miles so if anything did happen I would call them twice for a tow. 
Nothing happened and it's still running good 2 and a half years later. 
AAA is awesome. WELL worth it even though I haven't used it in years. Just good to know it's there to use IF me or my kids need it.
Nothing happened and it's still running good 2 and a half years later. AAA is awesome. WELL worth it even though I haven't used it in years. Just good to know it's there to use IF me or my kids need it.
