Buying A High Mileage SC300. Whats Your Luck?
#17
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by aliga
if the raper mechanic recommended replacing the crank and cam seal, why didnt he do it, when the timing belt was out
#18
Lexus Champion
I agree with mikeloc24 about reconsidering your finances. This car will continute to require more money to maintain and it isn't cheap. I've learned this through personal experience and have come to terms with it. It's probably not realistic to spend thousands of dollars on repairs for a 13 year old car, but once it's all done, you're on your way to another 125K miles.
Just think of the mechanic repair bills as car payments for your $40K plus car.
Just think of the mechanic repair bills as car payments for your $40K plus car.
#19
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by bruce van
Just think of the mechanic repair bills as car payments for your $40K plus car.
You have to sit down and see if financially you can really afford to maintiain a 13-year old luxury car. Because remember, when these cars sold new they were $40K+...so when you need a part or you need maintenance it's gonna be for a $40K+ car, not a $6K car (which may be what the car is valued at now). Just food for thought man. Only you know what you're able to do.
#20
Lexus Champion
i woudnt say i got a good deal on my 92 sc for 4750.00 knwing it had 175,000 on it...but so far,
i hv no major problem what so ever. a few things, hever, need some attention like the pwr steering leakage and distributor leakage. i changed serpentine belt but not timing belt. timing belt seemed to be new when i got the car last year since it had a head job before i bought it.
i hv no major problem what so ever. a few things, hever, need some attention like the pwr steering leakage and distributor leakage. i changed serpentine belt but not timing belt. timing belt seemed to be new when i got the car last year since it had a head job before i bought it.
#22
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SC
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180K but got cheap
Got a '92 SC300 5 speed... 180K miles and essentially paid $3500 for it.
-Rear Main Seal Leaking badly.
-Both fenders and doors are in rough shape.
-Interior was pretty trashed, stereo ripped out.
-using coolant, went to top off the oil the other day and found oil/coolant sludge mixture on the oil cap. Hoping it's just a BHG.
-clutch is slipping.
-Bushings are shot.
-Shocks are shot.
-Brakes aren't too bad but need attention.
-tach needle lighting is dead, the rest of them are flickering pretty bad
-Climate control display is totally black.
-A/C Pressure switch burnt out.
Bought the car originally for a 1JZ-GTE or 2JZ-GTE swap, but the minor problems pretty much ate up my funds for the swap.
I'm not so much worried about the cosmetic stuff because the car was bought to replace my FC3S RX-7 Turbo II as my competition drift car, but the annoying part is that I was replacing the FC because of reliablity problems, and the cars have the same milage, and the FC is still more reliable. But I'm waiting on that car to sell to have the funding to fix up the SC.
-Rear Main Seal Leaking badly.
-Both fenders and doors are in rough shape.
-Interior was pretty trashed, stereo ripped out.
-using coolant, went to top off the oil the other day and found oil/coolant sludge mixture on the oil cap. Hoping it's just a BHG.
-clutch is slipping.
-Bushings are shot.
-Shocks are shot.
-Brakes aren't too bad but need attention.
-tach needle lighting is dead, the rest of them are flickering pretty bad
-Climate control display is totally black.
-A/C Pressure switch burnt out.
Bought the car originally for a 1JZ-GTE or 2JZ-GTE swap, but the minor problems pretty much ate up my funds for the swap.
I'm not so much worried about the cosmetic stuff because the car was bought to replace my FC3S RX-7 Turbo II as my competition drift car, but the annoying part is that I was replacing the FC because of reliablity problems, and the cars have the same milage, and the FC is still more reliable. But I'm waiting on that car to sell to have the funding to fix up the SC.
#23
i recently got a 92 sc300 5speed dark green. 298k mi for $2500.
-rear shocks blown (putting in hks hipermax pros/tie rods)
-steering rack (getting it rebuilt and going with a quicksteering rack)
-distributor/plugs (getting parts monday)
-all tach/speedo lights out only one back light left lol (not sure what im gonna do)
-seats are torn (not too worried, probably get some bride seats later)
plans for the future 2jz-gte...
-rear shocks blown (putting in hks hipermax pros/tie rods)
-steering rack (getting it rebuilt and going with a quicksteering rack)
-distributor/plugs (getting parts monday)
-all tach/speedo lights out only one back light left lol (not sure what im gonna do)
-seats are torn (not too worried, probably get some bride seats later)
plans for the future 2jz-gte...
#24
Mortgage Slave
It's the reason why I would rather buy a younger (or at least one with less kms) model for more. Sure they get cheaper as they age BUT then you're stuck replacing crap left right and centre, and the people that cannot afford to maintain them end up treating them like beaters, which I sense is why the price value drops quite a bit (that's from my experience here) but you do get some good high kms examples floating about for cheap (just because it's a hard car to sell).
#26
I bought mine with 195k miles... the gauge needles were already out, and in the 5 months I drove it the steering rack bushings needed to be replaced. But other than that, the car was perfectly reliable and looked great. The engine was really solid (still ran the 1/4 at 15.5) but it was removed to install a 1JZ... so I won't really be able to see how long the engine would have lasted.
#30
Lexus Champion
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Central FL
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i bought my second sc300, a 1993 SC300 with 210k miles on it for $1200. Ive been driving it for 4 months now and havn't done a damn thing to it since i bought it except change oil..
Overdrive doesnt engauge, AC is broke, and the drivers side door handle is broken. Still gets 18mpg and drove like a champ. Now its getting 1JZ swapped
Overdrive doesnt engauge, AC is broke, and the drivers side door handle is broken. Still gets 18mpg and drove like a champ. Now its getting 1JZ swapped