Buying a Lexus LS400 for a daily

[TopPlonker]

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being mouth drooling retarded... How stupid would it be to buy a LS400 for my daily and only car?

I've absolutely fallen in love with one locally, it has partial history but looks solid. Paint is lovely, it's completely standard (barring LPG) and has been owned by the same guy for the last 12 years. It's up for £3500 which seems about right.

It's also LPG converted so despite being a 4 litre V8, it won't be mad to run.

Would you do it or is this going to predictably end in tears?

[Macron]

You want the 1-5k smoker barge thread where it's praises will duly and rightly be sung. Green clock FTW.

[DrEMa]

I ran one for 8 months or so (maybe longer). If the subframe hadn't been completely rotten I wouldve kept going (this was back when you could get one for £1500). Thirsty, but wonderfully comfy and relaxing to drive.
Also sounded cool with the back boxes removed without actually being very loud.
Mine was a mark 3 that someone had put dhp alloys on.

[ChocolateFrog]

I ran one for a year or so. 120 mile a day commute.

A bit thirsty, think I averaged 22mpg but that was taking it easy on the M62.

They can chew through suspension bushes and there's a few common failures like the LCD's but generally they're as reliable as you can get for a sub 5k barge.

That said mine was 12 when I bought it, if that car is still on the road it'll be 29 now

[lornemalvo]

I ran one as a second (classic car policy) car for around 10 years. If you read about its design and development on Wikipedia etc you will want one. 1 billion dollars spent, 1400 engineers, I think 60 engineers worked on noise, vibration and harshness alone. And it shows. The only down sides are that corrosion can be an issue underneath and parts are becoming less easy to source (although some are available from Rockauto in the USA, ordering is an easy process.) The attention to detail and quality are astonishing and the real down side is that they spoil you for anything else. You can spend £80k plus on an over complicated, not particularly reliable new / newish car and it won't give you the same levels of satisfaction.

[ingenieur]

It's a case of your typical use being compatible or not. If you're doing lots of miles on a daily commute it will ruin you in fuel bills. Now that they're old they won't be as expensive to run as tyres and brakes which were big when the car was new are nothing special these days and will be medium priced compared with the same parts for more modern cars where everything has gotten bigger.

I have a v8 as a daily driver which I bought because I wanted a wafty old leather seated luxury car with a big petrol engine. If you are just pootling around and doing the odd long distance run then the fuel and maintenance really isn't a bother.

Having recently delved into the world of LPG it came as a bit of a surprise to learn it has a much lower calorific value compared with petrol or diesel. It does save me a lot of money but the savings are less than I expected as your MPG drops by about 25% on the gas v.s. petrol. As the gas is about 40% cheaper than unleaded you will save money.

I think if you paid to have the LPG fitted you would struggle to claw back the cost. Typically around £1000 for a conversion. So if you buy one that has already been done then the economics start to become favourable.

[ARHarh]

Check if you can buy LPG easily. I was led to believe it was getting more difficult to get these days.

[biggbn]

lornemalvo said:

I ran one as a second (classic car policy) car for around 10 years. If you read about its design and development on Wikipedia etc you will want one. 1 billion dollars spent, 1400 engineers, I think 60 engineers worked on noise, vibration and harshness alone. And it shows. The only down sides are that corrosion can be an issue underneath and parts are becoming less easy to source (although some are available from Rockauto in the USA, ordering is an easy process.) The attention to detail and quality are astonishing and the real down side is that they spoil you for anything else. You can spend £80k plus on an over complicated, not particularly reliable new / newish car and it won't give you the same levels of satisfaction.

This exactly. The single best engineered car I've ever owned. Over 30mpg on long runs, 22mpg round the doors, average jist under 25 throughout my ownership. Truly exceptional cars, but I used to buy old barges to run around in and have never bought another since the Lexus. They don't compare. Find a solid one and go for it, a wonderful, soothing, serene experience and well suited as a daily

[lornemalvo]

biggbn said:

lornemalvo said:

I ran one as a second (classic car policy) car for around 10 years. If you read about its design and development on Wikipedia etc you will want one. 1 billion dollars spent, 1400 engineers, I think 60 engineers worked on noise, vibration and harshness alone. And it shows. The only down sides are that corrosion can be an issue underneath and parts are becoming less easy to source (although some are available from Rockauto in the USA, ordering is an easy process.) The attention to detail and quality are astonishing and the real down side is that they spoil you for anything else. You can spend £80k plus on an over complicated, not particularly reliable new / newish car and it won't give you the same levels of satisfaction.

This exactly. The single best engineered car I've ever owned. Over 30mpg on long runs, 22mpg round the doors, average jist under 25 throughout my ownership. Truly exceptional cars, but I used to buy old barges to run around in and have never bought another since the Lexus. They don't compare. Find a solid one and go for it, a wonderful, soothing, serene experience and well suited as a daily

What was the best engineered, out of interest?

[biggbn]

lornemalvo said:

biggbn said:

lornemalvo said:

I ran one as a second (classic car policy) car for around 10 years. If you read about its design and development on Wikipedia etc you will want one. 1 billion dollars spent, 1400 engineers, I think 60 engineers worked on noise, vibration and harshness alone. And it shows. The only down sides are that corrosion can be an issue underneath and parts are becoming less easy to source (although some are available from Rockauto in the USA, ordering is an easy process.) The attention to detail and quality are astonishing and the real down side is that they spoil you for anything else. You can spend £80k plus on an over complicated, not particularly reliable new / newish car and it won't give you the same levels of satisfaction.

This exactly. The single best engineered car I've ever owned. Over 30mpg on long runs, 22mpg round the doors, average jist under 25 throughout my ownership. Truly exceptional cars, but I used to buy old barges to run around in and have never bought another since the Lexus. They don't compare. Find a solid one and go for it, a wonderful, soothing, serene experience and well suited as a daily

What was the best engineered, out of interest?

Sorry if I wasn't clear. The Lexus. Head and shoulders above all else. So thoughtfully and cleverly designed and made. Mine was an old car when I bought it but everything worked and it drove faultlessly. Sounds trite, but you could feel the thought that had gone into it...

[lornemalvo]

biggbn said:

lornemalvo said:

biggbn said:

lornemalvo said:

I ran one as a second (classic car policy) car for around 10 years. If you read about its design and development on Wikipedia etc you will want one. 1 billion dollars spent, 1400 engineers, I think 60 engineers worked on noise, vibration and harshness alone. And it shows. The only down sides are that corrosion can be an issue underneath and parts are becoming less easy to source (although some are available from Rockauto in the USA, ordering is an easy process.) The attention to detail and quality are astonishing and the real down side is that they spoil you for anything else. You can spend £80k plus on an over complicated, not particularly reliable new / newish car and it won't give you the same levels of satisfaction.

This exactly. The single best engineered car I've ever owned. Over 30mpg on long runs, 22mpg round the doors, average jist under 25 throughout my ownership. Truly exceptional cars, but I used to buy old barges to run around in and have never bought another since the Lexus. They don't compare. Find a solid one and go for it, a wonderful, soothing, serene experience and well suited as a daily

What was the best engineered, out of interest?

Sorry if I wasn't clear. The Lexus. Head and shoulders above all else. So thoughtfully and cleverly designed and made. Mine was an old car when I bought it but everything worked and it drove faultlessly. Sounds trite, but you could feel the thought that had gone into it...

My mistake, I must have misread it as the second best engineered....