Someone might end up with a bargain here.
- posted
15 years ago
Someone might end up with a bargain here.
Erm yes, but they've been worthless s**te. Certainly nothing remotely like a 2000 model LS400. Not saying it won't go for a bargain price, but to judge it when the auction's pretty much just begun (I'm guessing it's a
10-day auction) is a bit mental.I must say, though, that a last revision LS400 on LPG is a car I'd dearly love to own. Citroen Saxo style fuelling costs combined with S-Class style unexpected repair bills. Marvellous!
I reckon he is going to get a lot less than he expects though. Shame the VVTi engines need a new cambelt and usually water pump (for safety) every 60000 miles instead of the old 100000 of the old model. It is gruntier and slightly better on fuel. Apparently 95/96 is the sweet spot for an LS if you are looking at maintaining it yourself. More economical and smoother 5 speed auto, better suspension and HID options, but the older non interference non VVTi engine and a slightly smaller car too.
There has been only one reported incidence worldwide of the old engine breaking a cam belt. And that was in a car that had been owner maintained outside of warranty, and the original factory fitted belt broke at 150k miles.
How much better on fuel? Basically about 1-2mpg extra, ish?
You say more economical and smoother 5-speed auto - that's compared to pre-95/96 ones, I guess, not compared to '98 onwards, right?
Non-interference is a big plus. Thing is, most of them for sale have about 160-170k on the clock, so wouldn't be a million miles off needing a cambelt even if it was done at 100k. Any idea how many hours' work the VVTI cambelt + water pump is to do?
As an aside, I've got a weird mental picture of someone with the non-interference engine (or any car with a non-interference engine, like a lot of old Vauxhalls), that's just had the cambelt snap on it, turning it over on the starter, laughing hysterically, saying "I'm not bending any of your valves".
Most of the older ones I see have between 80-110k. Time takes about same for vvti and non vvti. Workshop manual says 13 hours I think.
If I owned one, and the engine went, how on earth would anyone know? It's not like I'd go "Holy Shit, I better report this to Toyota!". More like I'd scrap it... One reported incidence doesn't mean much, they probably only sell 5 a year, making one quite a percentage actually, and by the time they get old enough to be owned by people who don't change the belt, they'll often be well away from a Toyota dealership to report it to. Even moreso if they've been shipped over here and sold on Ebay...
Well, total sales of the LS400 was 166000. Not exactley corolla sales, but not stingy and you do need to include the LS430, 460 and 600 on top.
They are a small volume car, but still not like the Maybach or the Phantom, the Century or the President.
I thought it was the Century we were talking about....? Ah, I had been confusing the two threads heh. Although aside from the low sales bit, the rest of it stands, especially the reported engine failures - as it makes it even less likely they'd be reported. It's like the Honda claim of never having a failed Vtec system - but what they really mean is, never failed in warranty...
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