paulo57509

I hate hearing stories like this and I've heard plenty. A similar thing happened to me with my '03 GMC. I got paid out, got to keep the vehicle and my insurance company went after the other guy's insurance carrier and get my deductible back for me. Now I have a dented vehicle (I'm not fixing it) with a salvage title. The only real consolation was I got to laugh at the Mini-Cooper's door that got banana-ed when it was opened as I drove by. I never imagined how concave a door could get.

The lesson for me is that carrying full coverage on an old vehicle is just not worth the money no matter how good condition it's in. I would have been money ahead if I would have just carried liability and saved the difference for something I really want....an RC-F or an LC.

deanshark

Oh how this is true. During the couple years I spent looking for a good LS400 with no rust and no oil leaks, I've seen alot. But then I look to see where it's located, and wouldn't ya know it,??? It's all the way on the other side of the country, in Ca.

SamDyrak.....Don't worry, keep your eyes open and you'll find another one. As you already know, take your time. Good luck with the future search.

Yamae

There are still some good old Celsiors on the other side of the Ocean.
https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/categor...fr=auc_car_adv

CELSI0R

I'm a bit too late for this post, but I would think the car is worth the $5k in repairs + the money you got back from insurance, as it will cost even more to find another + do the maintenance to make the car the same.

You would just have to really want to keep the car, as it wouldn't be worth reselling as you stated.

I would also try to appeal the value of the car again with insurance.. If they only gave you around $2k in this market, that's ridiculous.. I'm sure you spent a lot more for this car.

LS400FAN

I've been an insurance agent for a very well known insurance co. for 30 yrs and can honestly tell you most cos. settle total losses based on a "depreciated" value, not "market" value, so I wouldn't expect any higher figure than what they paid. Unfortunately, these cars(well maintained) are worth a lot more to us than what we will ever be compensated for whether it's an insurance settlement or even an outright sell with no damage, my opinion only but I stand by it.

deanshark

Not only your opinion, but fact. These LS400s are never gonna be worth what we value them to be ourselves. My own experience is the one I just bought a few months ago. One owner '93 with 85K miles. Beautiful car, in very good condition. (no rust or leaks) It has a few normal little problems but nothing to make any difference to me. I paid $5K for it and bought about $1K in parts I'm currently putting in. The week I bought it I was offered $8K before any work done. Now that I'm $6K and many hours labor into it, it's priceless to me but by the book worth less then $2K. That's life, we know what we got.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

bummer to see, but i would find a newer/better car if i were you. that quarter panel is a massive pain to fix and to fix it to my standards!

frame is likely fine but you'd have to deal with the salvaged title which is not worth it to me.

SamDyrak

Thanks everyone for the Advice. Mostly everyone said not to fix it and that is what I did. One person from Canada (01LEXPL) said to fix it but in this case it was to late - copart bumped from 10 days before auction to next day. I do not not think it can ever be fixed to a good standard and it will always have Salvage title. In any case car was sold today on Copart.com for $2,350.00 + all Copart fees and possible Broker fee. So who ever purchased the car will be paying around $3000 for the car and then they will need to fix it. I do not think that car is worth that much even in good shape with salvage title. I am thinking about taking my 1994 LS400 out of the garage and putting back on the road. It is not as clean as my 1995 was but still a LS400. I might also be on the look out for 1997 LS400. What do you all think about 1998-2000 LS400 or LS430?

CLLEXUSS

One of my brothers has the LS430. He has the 2006, the last year of production of that model. Black color. He likes it and has driven clear across the country and back on two separate occasions with zero issues. The advantage to the 2006 is simply that it is newer, more modern, the side mirrors automatically fold in, kind of interesting upgrades and style. I believe that style is sort of a slipstream style which was popular at the time with other car manufacturers as well. One of the things to consider is there is a brake actuator control module on a lot of the 430's that can cost into the thousands to fix if it goes bad if you have to pay someone else to do it with new oem replacement parts. You can google "average cost for a Lexus LS430 ABS control module replacement" to get an idea.

deanshark

Personally I don't like the 98-00 LS400s. I mean, they are nice cars but for me I'd rather have a non-interference engine, (90-94) and alot less electronics to go bad. As for the LS430, I test drove 2 last year when I was looking and for some reason I just couldn't fit right in the seat. Plus I didn't like the looks or the ride. They have their own set of Lexus problems.

CLLEXUSS

This is another thing I like about the earlier years. Not that I'd personally ever test my engine this much but the early rods are really strong.