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Thanks for your post...I am used to Mercedes cars that run for nearly 20 years without a problem. My brother still has an ancient 300D that runs like a charm. It hasn't needed much nor has his old 420 SE..He swears by these old Mercedes cars. Look at the mileage of this car: 96,000 miles. It's been garaged and babied to no end..I am just disappointed with the overall experience I had at the dealership today. They added in unnecessary labor charges (Overlapping jobs) and work that the mechanic said did not need to be done. Initially they told me $4200. After making an appointment to come and see the car they made me wait for 40 minutes while they aimlessly tried to locate the mechanic and then the car....Not what I'm used to, and I've owned Lexus cars since they came out..
SV
I'm thinking about buying a 98 LS 400 with 80,000 miles. I'd be getting rid of a passat to make this move. I'm a pretty tall guy and am excited about all of the leg room and decent 25 mpg HWY. I have a couple of quick questions:
1. Is it relatively easy to find private mechanics to work on these vehicles (who actually know what they're doing)? I live in Houston and found that I have to get the VW serviced by the dealer since no one else will work on it and the dealer does an extremely pricey yet lousy job 98% of the time.
2. I'm assuming the LS 400 will need the usual 80,000 - 100,000 miles tlc as I am buying it on ebay without maintenance records (CARFAX looks good). Any ball park maintenance figures out there?
I found out that the complete VW passat 60,000 mile service was $1,100 (too much for that car). A passat timing belt (which I haven't done yet) is $800 - $900 and can only be done by the dealer since only they have the magic tool with which to do the job.
3. Anything anyone can think of as words of caution/encouragement? I'm really looking for a classy, well made, reliable auto with relatively infrequent maintenance issues, but I also realize that this sort of car may sometimes have costly upkeep.
Thanks for reading and if you would, please throw in your 2 cents, I'd really appreciate it.
Jon
And if you're gullible enough to swallow that $1,100 60k story from VW you absolutely don't want to ever hear a Lexus dealer's "recommended" 60k service.
now i'm trying to put everything back together now which I just about did. my problem is I forgot which atf hose go where there is a big hose coming from the driver side of radiator and a smaller hose right in front of the place where you plug the 2 atf hoses which hose go on the transmission fluid connector the smaller hose or the bigger hose
If you look at the push/pull cable on the water valve it should move from fully open at max heat to fully closed at max cooling.
:confuse:
Lexus_admirer,
I have had and are still having the same problem, my power steeting pressure hose had a leak, so the power steering fluid was leaking, that is why the steering wheel makes that sound, apparently it is common in lexus ls400s, I just bought a new power steering pressure hose on eBay for about $120, it would cost about $300 at a dealer, I am still having that problem, the local mechanic said it might be the rack and pinion or something, I will get that looked at, but check the place where you park and see if there is steering fluid that have leaked from your hose.
So the servo motor might(!!) be still working, moving the mixing vane/hatch, but with no hot water flow to no good result.
A 1990 water valve may have become so clogged with coolant "debris" that it will not move. That would undoubtedly restrict the cable travel and stall the mixing vane/hatch servomotor
In your power steering reservoir tank, there is a very fine screen (they call it a filter) that screens the fines out of the circulating fluid. When the fluid get old and starts to break down, this screen will not allow circulation of the fluid, and the pump suction becomes starved, therefore making the sound. You need to remove the pump with tank intact, take the tank off, and back flush the screen to clean. After cleaning, reassembly, and refilling with new fluid, startup and turn the wheel lock to lock (2 or 3 times), to remove any air. I suggest you periodically suck out (verrrrry carefully, so to not damage the screen) the accumulated fines, and replace with fresh fluid. Use plastic tubing on a syringe.
I am a female and I don't know to much about this problem. I don't want to take it to a lexus dealer because they will rip me off.. Here is my problem:
I can hear my cd player and the radio but I have to turn it up all the way. It use to be louder and the sound was better. Can anyone help me....
Perhaps the Amplifier is out of order? Any decent stereo shop can check this for you. I think it is underneath the rear seat. There are two black tabs that you pull out and lift the seat out. You can always get another amplifier from TAP Auto Recycling, or replace it with whatever you'd prefer.
SV
Thanks you, It sounds like the Amplifer is out. I am going to check it out
tomarrow. I appriciate your help.