Of happenings (long post)

Kinja'd!!! by "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
Published 05/06/2017 at 14:30

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STARS: 3

I’ve talked about it for awhile but the time has come: I’m selling my car.

Kinja'd!!!

I’ve been saving steadily and have gotten enough to justify selling my Lexus. As much as I still love it, there’s no getting past the fact that it’s 19 years old and has 265k miles. I’ve done the timing belt/tensioners/etc, as well as replaced the camshaft position sensor, battery, driver’s side wheel speed sensor, and refilled the A/C refrigerant. It’s never left me stranded. I’m offering it to Oppo first, in the off chance someone here would want it. I’m asking $3000 (and that price is firm, I bought it for $2900 and then put $1800 in it on preventative maintenance and repairs).

Kinja'd!!!

Per my Facebook post:

It’s a 1998 Lexus GS300 with 265,6xx miles. These are super reliable cars that last 300k+ easy. It’s in fantastic shape and has full service records. I’ve replaced the timing belt, camshaft position sensor, battery, and rear driver’s side wheel speed sensor. It has the option navigation and high end sound system. It’s a smooth and comfortable car and I really love it, but it’s time for something different. The dash lights are on because of a bad ABS module. It doesn’t affect how it drives and isn’t necessary (I’ve been driving it like that for a year). I’m asking $3000 for it. It’s never left me stranded or in trouble and it’s been the best first car I could have wanted. If you have any questions, feel free to comment or message me!

Kinja'd!!!

Enough of the sales pitch, onto the part everyone likes; finding a new car. My budget is $5k max, with $4-4.5k being more realistic (unless I get far more [or less] graduation money than expected). Some examples of what I like:

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In summary, reliable, comfortable and/or sporty, and decently nice and powerful. I’ve also looked at this 2002 ES300 that’s right next to my house:

Kinja'd!!!

Carfax guesses 220k miles but it’s only $3650, which is pretty good for an ES300 with Nav and the Mark Levinson audio (2 options required for me to get one).

But all this requires for me to sell my car, so time will tell what happens.

Replies (36)

Kinja'd!!! "Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
05/06/2017 at 00:41, STARS: 6

As much as I still love it, there’s no getting past the fact that it’s 19 years old and has 265k miles

That would qualify as “like-new” for me!

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 00:43, STARS: 8

I’m getting that way, I see cars from 2011 and am like “that’s almost brand new, how is it so cheap?” then I remember 2011 was 6 years ago.

Kinja'd!!! "m-b-w loves his SUBAROO" (m-b-w)
05/06/2017 at 00:52, STARS: 6

I feel like the ES, even though it’s a bit newer with a few less miles would be a bit of a downgrade from your GS.

Kinja'd!!! "G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
05/06/2017 at 00:57, STARS: 1

You’ll want an LS430. You can do a 60-120 pull in one of those things without waking a sleeping front seat passenger.

Kinja'd!!! "OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
05/06/2017 at 01:01, STARS: 2

Do NOT get rid of it buddy. Between the fiancé and I we may make over 100k next year and I’m still 2-3 ears from just retiring the LS as a daily driver at 310,000 miles. It’s so worth keeping.

Kinja'd!!! "sony1492" (sony1492)
05/06/2017 at 01:05, STARS: 1

You’ll want the ls430, the motor makes it better than all the other cars plus it was designed to be top if the line. My brother had a 99 ls400 and it’s basically the one that got away, can’t imagine the 430 being worse so I’d get that.

Kinja'd!!! "Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
05/06/2017 at 01:09, STARS: 1

I thought it was simply me getting old, but I swear cars are lasting longer and they’re more reliable than they’ve ever been. Cars that new don’t even seem that old, yet when I bought my first car (a mere 5 model years old), it seemed like a much older car than a 2012 would today...

Kinja'd!!! "RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
05/06/2017 at 03:05, STARS: 1

I call anything newer than about 2000 “late model” and it confuses people.

Kinja'd!!! "RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
05/06/2017 at 03:10, STARS: 1

Loads of good options there. Of the Acuras, I would stick to the TL, it’s a great car all around. Otherwise, Lexus>Toyota, though there’s not a damn thing wrong with any of the Toyotas. On On Infinitis, the G37 is pretty nice, and I like the Q45 though I don’t know much about them. Don’t much like FX35s, but mechanically they’re similar to the G.

Kinja'd!!! "Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/06/2017 at 05:52, STARS: 1

You’re getting old. I’ve done that with 2001 cars for over a decade now ;-)

Kinja'd!!! "Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies" (jordanwphillips)
05/06/2017 at 06:54, STARS: 3

The Crown Vic is the biggest downgrade of them all.

Kinja'd!!! "No Prius Needed" (nopriusneeded)
05/06/2017 at 07:37, STARS: 1

I’d go for one of the RLs.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:16, STARS: 0

I do really like them, especially the pearl white one.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:21, STARS: 0

The only thing I worry about on the Q45 is the ease of parts finding, it’s not a common car. At least it shared it’s engine with a few other Infiniti’s/JDM Nissans. But the brown is soooo nice. FX35 would be nice because of AWD, higher ride high, some practicality, while still handling pretty well. I’m moving to the Chicago area so snow will be more of a problem then it is now. TL’s are nice but you choose between high miles and a good condition interior, or low miles and one with a cracked dash (very common) and torn seats.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:24, STARS: 0

Yeah those are super reliable. Right now there’s more LS430's for sale in my budget then I’ve seen before, but 2 are the Ultimate package which has rear air suspension, which would be a no unless they had records as to when it was replaced.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:26, STARS: 0

It’s just got too many problems. I’ve already sunk too much into it and can’t justify anymore. It’s got a bad abs module, leaky sunroof, a leaky refrigerant line, a leaky valve cover gasket, and non functioning power door locks. For $3000 it’s a great car, but I want something with less problems.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 0

Soooo smooth and deceivingly fast. Similar with the Q45, not fast per se but smoothly quick.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:29, STARS: 0

It’s not as luxurious, but gets better MPG’s (yeah, the GS is that bad), cheaper insurance, low miles (almost 200k less) and is 8 years newer. And not very expensive. Plus burnouts for days!

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:31, STARS: 0

It’s got a nicer interior, comfier ride (much quieter too), better audio system, bigger trunk, better mpg’s, cheaper insurance, and more reliable (ES300's are stone dead reliable, almost 0 problems). It’s also 4 years newer and has at least 45k fewer miles.

Kinja'd!!! "Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies" (jordanwphillips)
05/06/2017 at 12:32, STARS: 0

But it’s absolutely shit

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:34, STARS: 0

I have looked at them, but not driven one. But in theory, they sound decent. Obviously I’d have to drive one.

Kinja'd!!! "sony1492" (sony1492)
05/06/2017 at 12:45, STARS: 1

Reliability with Lexus, for me, has been that the drivetrain is exceptionally bullet proof everything else stands a chance of failing and being expensive to replace(modules).

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 12:49, STARS: 0

Like my bad ABS module.

Although from research, it appears the 98 GS300 is a bit more problematic then the 02 LS430's, air suspension aside.

Kinja'd!!! "OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
05/06/2017 at 12:51, STARS: 1

YEah that makes sense. LS430 time imo.

Kinja'd!!! "G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
05/06/2017 at 13:02, STARS: 1

Not as insanely smoothly fast as a TTV12 Merc, but one hell of a car for the money. So very nice inside, too.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 13:03, STARS: 0

I also don’t have $10,000 for a TTV12 Merc and definitely not the $50,000 required to keep it going for 5 years.

Kinja'd!!! "G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
05/06/2017 at 13:07, STARS: 1

A buddy of mine DIYs his S600, and it’s cost him $3250 in repairs over two years. Still, the LS430 is an awesome car, and the pick of the lot if you’re not into smoky shenanigans.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 13:11, STARS: 0

to be fair, I’m gonna guess the LS430 could do smoky shenanigans too

Kinja'd!!! "G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
05/06/2017 at 13:29, STARS: 1

The LS430 has an open diff, so it would be one wheel peels only and donuts would be very difficult without some serious alignment tweaking and weight transfer.

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 0

doesn’t the CVPI have an open diff? or is it LSD?

Kinja'd!!! "G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
05/06/2017 at 14:19, STARS: 1

Most CVPIs have a 3.27 Traction-Lok rear end, and even if it’s an open diff, a brand new carbon clutch LSD from Ford for 06+ models is $180.

Kinja'd!!! "RT" (rt-p)
05/06/2017 at 15:03, STARS: 1

If you’re sticking to Japanese luxury cars, LS430 is probably the way to go.

But if you want something a bit more exciting, perhaps the Infiniti M45?

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/06/2017 at 15:09, STARS: 1

I really want one but super rare, I’ve seen 2 in budget in the past 6 months, one which had baller/ghetto 22's and the other was in a minor fender bender but parts availability is almost nonexistent.

*edit* I checked Autotrader, 6 available nationwide in budget, 4 of which are wrecked and 1 is a repo. The other is nice tho, but it’s also 1500 miles away.

Kinja'd!!! "No Prius Needed" (nopriusneeded)
05/06/2017 at 19:43, STARS: 1

Well I drive a 2005 RL and a 2003 ES300 and out of the two I would definitely take the RL. The ES is reaaaaaaaaaally boaty and would be a downgrade from your car in many areas. The transmission is atrocious and the engine really doesn’t match the smoothness of everything else about the car. It will outlive you though. On the other hand, the RL drives really well (torque vectoring is amazing) and its great in the snow (if you have that where you live). I would go for a 2006+ since those get back up cameras and aux jacks. Mine has been bulletproof since it was new but they do tend do go through engine mounts every 80k or so.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Kinja'd!!! "dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
05/07/2017 at 10:50, STARS: 0

What mileage do you have on yours? And any sensors/rubber bits/non-mechanicals you’ve had to replace?

Kinja'd!!! "No Prius Needed" (nopriusneeded)
05/07/2017 at 13:34, STARS: 1

98k on the Acura. As long as you do maintenance on it you should be good. For the Acura: Engine mounts, keyless entry sensors(apparently they go out sort of often but mine haven’t), the swivel headlight motors are starting to go out on mine, and the glovebox vinyl cover can melt if it gets hot enough (from experience lol). That’s all the stuff outside of basic maintenance that I can remember off the top of my head. The car has a few quirks that you will eventually get used to: you have to remember to turn the ignition all the way off (look for a green light flashing on the dash), the nav gets angry if you go to the AC menu without letting it boot up (takes like 8 seconds at most to boot up), and there is a propeller shaft whine on some RLs (between 30-40 on some and 70-80 on others but never both). There is also a problems and quirks thread on AcuraZine if you want to check that out.