(first published 2/18/2012) This car was once a very big deal.
If you were around for the launch of Lexus brand in the second half of 1989, you may recall just how earth-shaking it was. It’s conventional wisdom now that most Lexus cars are boring, but this was not the case at the introduction of the LS400, and so we take a moment to give the early versions of the LS their due.
Toyota spent years doing their damnedest to perfect this car, and every indication is that their Relentless Pursuit Of Perfection was not just marketing hype. You may not especially like the style of the car, but if you’ve spent any time with an LS400 and compared it against any other 1990 car even in the general ballpark of its price there is simply no comparison in the realm of overall quality.
The original LS400 was quite the value, too, starting at about $35k, but creeping steadily upward with the passage of time.
This particular model has not lived a charmed life, which I can verify because I’ve done some repair work on this car. It belongs to a young friend of mine who didn’t want a “chick car.” Hey, who can blame him? I don’t want a chick car either!
I’m certain I wouldn’t have recommended a tired, 20-year-old luxury car to someone who can’t turn their own wrenches, but I’ve bought 2 Lincolns almost solely for the hood ornaments and know the heart (and certainly not the brain) wants what it wants.
This DOHC 4.0-liter V8 is worth 250 horses and 260 ft-lbs of torque; nothing much in today’s world, but pretty potent in 1990, and it was good for mid-8 second runs to 60 mph. A Camry Hybrid will leave this car for dead while getting significantly better fuel economy, but you can’t put Flowmasters on a Camry Hybrid and sound cool, can you?
Except for an ugly-sounding lifter tick, this engine is still stupefyingly smooth. Maintenance and many repairs are as easy as they can reasonably be, which is something that signifies a well-designed car to me personally. The only fly in the ointment is that the camshafts have to come out to adjust that pesky valve lash, but any good Toyota guy (or even me) can manage it.
Please note that this emblem, after being subjected to engine heat for 297k miles and 20 years, still looks better than most badges on the exteriors of brand-new cars. Also look at the grain of the intake casting–junk this is not.
The unadorned, semi-badgeless rear has always looked clean and well-proportioned to my eye, and has the added benefit of making it harder to correctly date these older versions. I like that it didn’t have LS400 denoted back here. It’s a Lexus, so what else do you need to know?
Factory dual exhaust outlets were still pretty rare at the time on anything other than a high-end Pontiac with their honky V6s, and I always thought this car looked sneakily powerful because of them.
The LS400’s tires and wheels are microscopic by today’s standards, but do lend a certain visual lightness when viewed in combination with the entire side profile of the car.
While the powertrain and chassis of this zillion-mile LS400 still reek of baked-in goodness, it is the interior that ends up coming across as most impressive of all, even after all this time.
This switchgear should look familiar to any Toyota product owner of the last 20-odd years. It is said Toyota would often let the latest and/or greatest bits trickle into the lowly Toyota-branded models down from the Lexus line. This is distinct from makers such as General Motors or Ford who would seemingly let bits from the lowest car on the totem pole filter up into their top offerings. Go sit in a 1990 Corvette and then sit in this Lexus and see what you think of the two strategies.
The cruise sprout, especially, seemed near perfection to me, and the cancel function was greatly appreciated. Being able to momentarily deactivate the cruise system without the brake lights admitting guilt for me was frequently helpful in my younger years.
Also notice the location of the ignition switch. I distinctly recall car magazines carping about any car that still had the switch on the column because they didn’t consider it ergonomically correct when compared to cars like the LS400.
What a boring dash you say? Well, yes and no. That column features power tilt and reach, and swings itself out of the way as you enter or exit the car. But as for looks, I’ll agree…and where’s the instrument cluster, anyway?
There it is. My camera simply can not capture how cool the electroluminescent cluster is, with its nearly holographic dials and 3-D warning lights. I had read many, many times about this cluster by the time I finally saw one in the flesh, and I was still blown away when I saw one for the first time.
This aftermarket stereo’s controls do an excellent job of making the LS400’s HVAC panel look even cleaner and more straightforward than it already is.
Behold: The fold-down mirror visor.
I believe it was at the intro of the SC400 that one of the car magazines did at least a full paragraph about this visor in that car. The writer described the perfectly-tailored fabric covering’s seam, and the fact that the entire item was nearly useless.
While I disagree it’s useless and would kill for one in my own car, the author used it as a metaphor for the obsessiveness with which the Lexus was designed, and they were right. The entire car exudes the sense that many, many people made sure everything possible was done right.
It should go without saying that I was devastated to find today that the one in this LS400 was coated in insanely cheap-feeling vinyl and exhibited none of the craftsmanship described by the magazine author. It was, at least, maybe the ONLY thing that feels cheap on this car.
297,220
And this mechanical odometer is maybe the only thing that severely dates the interior. If this were replaced with an electronic odometer somewhere under the speedometer, you’d be hard-pressed to ever guess this car is 20 years old.
I intended this story to be much funnier and snarkier than it has obviously ended up. I’d planned to poke some fun at my friend’s choice of car along with his choice of mini-mowhawk hairstyle and general MTV-based persona, but the truth is after looking at all these pictures and writing it all out, I want a LS400 of my own.
Not this LS400, of course, but you get the point. I’ll at least skip the bad hairdo.
Well, even the great Murilee Martin ended up getting one, so they’re must be something special indeed!
These are absolutely wonderful cars. The second gen sharpened up the steering considerably and is on my “want” list someday. It’s the Japanese Town Car, smooth and lasts (seemingly) forever.
My 98 Acura, while smaller and not as solid, still has that same feel and quality that these Lexus models had, something that didn’t carry over when manufacturing switched to Ohio. The window switches are identical.
I have a 1992 LS400 white and silver with the Gold package, 214,800 miles. Still the best looking car in the parking lot. I drive to Vegas from Reno several times per year. Car cruises at 80-90mph for hundreds of miles, and still gets over 25mpg. I plan to keep it up, and hold on to for several more years.I just have not seen or driven a better car in years.
Ive got one and even though im still in my 40s ill have to think about who i leave it to because i will NEEEVER sell my old girl. With a couple of mods she does everything i need in todays world. Touchscreen to replace the original head unit (also neatens up the centre consol by drastically reducing the amount of buttons), Also a reversing camera (she bot a big ol but) and a silicon lined wireless charge pad in the glovebox. After 30 years and it still has NO squeaks or rattles (i went for a drive today with no stereo on ) and a drivetrain that will outlive me and probubly the person i eventually give it to AMAZING!!!
“It’s the Japanese Town Car, smooth and lasts (seemingly) forever”.
YES INDEED!
What an accurate, fitting tribute to the Lincoln in my driveway.
I used to dislike Lexus, and then I realized it was Toyota! I still find them boring, and I still prefer MB. But if I were a practical man, I would take a Lexus.
I feel as if one day I have to have either an LS400 or LS430. Either that or a Hyundai Genisis sedan, need to experience that first time that a manufacturer really goes for the throat of their compeditors.
Sometimes it seems that Hyundai is trying to jump out of the league of the competition and butt heads with the big dogs like MB or BMW.
Same here. You just know that the lengths they went to to knock M-B and BMW off their perches were beyond OCD. As a classic car though, they are still made of plastic that will eventually succumb to UV damage.
I saw one of these yesterday. It was white like this one, but without the two tone and the gold color on the insignias. It looked as if it had just come from the show room. It made me wish I could buy a new car just like it. Elegant, simple lines with a pround but not boastful overall look.
The other day, I saw a Lexus identical in style and color to this bearing Collector Vehicle plates. (In Wisconsin, any vehicle can qualify for a Collector registration if it’s unmodified from factory specifications, isn’t used for everyday transportation, and is more than 20 years old.)
I’m feeling old.
Ouch! I’m with you.
As I’ve mentioned before, I own one of these. It’s a ’95- the first year of the “gen 2” LS400. Metallic champagne with a tan leather interior, factory tinted glass, and a gold emblem package. Best car I’ve ever owned so far.
Except for a boo-boo on the front bumper ( my fault ) the car is in very good shape. When I bought it in 2009 it only had 80K miles on it.
I very nearly bought one of these cars when I was looking for a used Japanese luxury car last year. I found a low km 1992 for $15,000 which I thought was great deal for such a car. The materials, fit and finish in these cars are first rate. The only thing that scared me away was the fuel consumption of the V-8.
Instead I got a 2000 Acura TL, which has a materials, fit and finish almost as good as an LS400. Certainly this generation of Acura is much better than the present one. Finally, the Acura does not have V-8 thirst.
Were I looking for a car for my wife, I would snap an LS400 or LS430 up in a flash. They are wonderful cars.
V-8 doesn’t equal to thirst, with low drag and overdrive, low end torque can make up much of the lost efficiency from bigger engine and more cylinders, as long as the displacement is not too big ( Chevrolet 5.7 on a heavier car ) or the technology is not spartan ( Chrysler 318 )
I owned a 90 LS400 in black, with tented windows, and lowered. Even had quad exhausts. Bought it from a Russian family in Portland. Not three days after having the car in Eugene I was pulled over by state troopers on Northwest Expressway, which is mostly in town and not prone to having staters. It remains the only time I’ve been pulled over and the cop had his hands on his weapon.
The rumor mill had it on good authority that the Russians were “mafia” types and were leaving Idaho for good reasons, at least to them. The car DID have Idaho plates on it when I bought it. Also, months and months later I was trying to diagnose an electrical gremlin (wound up being a power steering leak onto the alternator) when I saw something out of place under the battery. Reached down felt around and pulled up a box of .22 shells.
Overall a fantastic car.
I’m getting mixed messages regarding the cost of parts. Does anyone know if parts are prohibitively expensive?
From what I’ve seen, yes some things are pricey. It wouldn’t scare me away, though.
It might depend on what you’re comparing it to, I guess.
I would love one of these and they do pop up at under $5k fairly often usually used imports with high mileage but the thisrt puts me off too. We seem to have all the different models of the Celsior series here some models didnt get out of Japan new and only escape as used imports.
I’ve always wanted one of these for long journeys.
I was a senior in high school in ’89, and the thing I remember when we first heard about these (and also the Infiniti Q45, which hit the market at the same time) was the 32-valve DOHC V8 engines. There was nothing like that on the road anywhere in those days, and we figured it would have had to have been insanely fast. For 1990, it probably was. This in the days when Cadillac’s best engine was the 4.5 V8. I think we wondered at the time how Cadillac was going to respond. Guess we know how that turned out in the end….
Also, at the time, BMW had not rediscovered the V8 (except the four-cylinder M3, all 1990 U.S. market BMWs had either six or twelves cylinders), and getting one in a new Mercedes was going to cost you more than $60,000. In price, the LS400 fell between the 525i and the 535i, neither of which had anything near 250 hp, and it was more than $25,000 cheaper than a W126 420SEL.
The only one of the German marques that came close was Audi, which had the V8 Quattro; 3.6 liters, 240 hp. It started at more than $47,000, though, and I dimly remember period reviewers being disappointed in its performance.
Yeah, the Audi V8 Quattro with the 4-speed auto was a dog. It was geared for Autobahn speeds, and with AWD, I think it did 0-60 in the high 8 second range – at least what I can recall from Car and Driver.
Audi did import a few of them of them with a 5-speed manual transmission, and I’ve personally seen one. Guessing this was a quicker, peppier combination. Early 1990s S8 equivalent.
German cars were never as reliable as the Lexus, and cost way more to maintain. After owning various BMW’s and Audis, and fretting over all the expensive little details, I gave up.
Dealer service and dealer attitude drove my parents away from MB and BMW in the mid 1990’s.
The “Zere es nothhinggg wrong with zis automobile” snarl of more than one German automobile sercive technician (and the car’s many niggling service issues) ran them up the street to high end Japanese car makes.
But seriously Mark….wouldnt at the Japanese car dealership up the street be the same kind of German people working with the exact same mind set and work ethics? I can hardly imagine that a sales training would do the trick.
I’m 17 now, and from my early childhood this has been my dream car. Although today’s LS460 beats it in terms of performance and luxury, nothing has ever come close to the timeless design, reliability and innovation of the of the first gen LS400. My dream garage, since about age 7, has been a 98 TT Supra and an unabused 89′ LS400. Been a Toyota guy forever, and this has been the pinnacle of Toyota’s achievements. I’m starting out at the bottom of the range for now (06 IS250 AWD), but hopefully I’ll make it to an LS someday. Great find!
Nice clean IS. If only the IS350 had been available with a 6-speed manual…
I’m sorry but the first time I looked closely at one of these I had to laugh. The cruise control on a stalk, to me it says cheap work around for something that wasn’t thought of when they designed the rest of the car. Seriously Ford figured out how to put the cruise switches on the steering wheel more than a decade prior, including an off switch, Chrysler had an off switch even longer. Under the hood is a disappointment too. Not one distributor but two? Seriously distributors were already going out of style at that point, even lowly GMs and Fords were loosing them and a top of the line car gets a second? Lastly valves that need adjustment, pretty darn archaic and to use 70’s VW technology to do it at that? Again the Americans had figured that out decades earlier, even with OHC.
Eric, exactly what car for sale in 1990 for around $35k or less do you feel is a more advanced overall design?
I dont remember these Lexus being compared to anything from the US they were pitched against Mercedes Benz and BMW offerings and in most cases were considered better made and ultimately far more reliable.
Well a host of GM vehicles had much more modern technology by then. GM started ditching distributors in 1984. Hydraulic lifters I’m not sure exactly when the first hit the market but they were old hat by the 80’s, Even the lowly Pinto had them starting in 1974. A timing belt on a “high end ” car, Timing belts appeared because they were the cheapest way to get the job done. I’m sorry but despite the high output for the displacement and overhead cams it incorporates some pretty archaic technology. Technology that is designed to milk the owner for a lot of cash over the life of the vehicle in maintenance that would not be needed if they didn’t cut costs so much when designing the engine.
I’m not denying that overall they were built pretty darn well, I’m just not impressed with the engine for the above mentioned reasons.
Quietness may have been a significant factor in choosing a timing belt over a chain or gear-driven setup. For a long time, chain-driven cams tended to be rather noisy — vintage European and Japanese chain-driven OHC engines may have character, but whisper quiet they aren’t. The driven system is also simpler and potentially more compact, since it doesn’t require a tensioner or lubrication. A high-quality belt can be made to last 90,000 miles or so, so trading that against the 125,000-mile life of a timing chain and its greater complexity, noise, and bulk isn’t an unreasonable decision.
Hydraulic lifters for pushrod engines are a pre-WW2 thing, but as far as I know, hydraulic lash adjusters for OHC engines were pioneered (and patented) by Pontiac in the early sixties. It was a rather elegant idea — a long rocker arm, pivoted on the cam, where one end actuates the valve and other end rests against a hydraulic piston that maintains zero lash.
Timing belts do require tensioners and they often have one or more idler pulleys too adding to the complexity and cost of the timing belt replacement. As far as the life of timing chains while back in the day the “silent” chains with the nylon gear didn’t last that long there are many cars out there where the chains last almost forever. Ford’s 2v 4.6’s for example can go for 3-400K or more.
I’m also quite sure Toyota chose a belt because it was quieter. They already knew how to do chains and had being doing them on their OHC engines for some time.
And yep, you got me on the distributors and the hydraulic lifters. Many early Japanese OHC and DOHC engines used solid lifters because they revved higher than 4500 rpm.
So if we accept your argument, the distributorless, timing chain equipped, hydraulic lifter equipped 3800 is a high-tech engine. A 1990 Park Avenue 3.8 made 165 horses, even with alllll that technology. A Cadillac 4.5 V8 made 180. A 1991 DeVille with the better 4.9 made 200, and finally more torque than the Lexus.
It’s true that a timing belt job costs more than doing nothing to the GM engine’s chain, but I’d guess the transmission job the GM car will need at about the same mileage would offset the timing belt replacement cost on the Lexus, assuming the interior and the rest of the car hasn’t degraded to the point that replacing the tranny isn’t worth it.
Maybe we could agree to say that a car is often greater than the sum of its parts?
I’ll agree that sometimes a car is greater than the sum of it’s parts and sometimes vice-versa, at least when you’re paying for a timing belt to be done on one of these.
Toyota forgot how to do timing chains, the 20R came with a true dual row roller chain and by the time the 22R came around it was a single row non-roller chain to cut costs. The steel backing on the chain guides also went away so it wasn’t uncommon for the chain to stretch the guides to snap and the chain to eat through the passage to the water pump on the cover. Back in the day I did quite a few of those.
That you need solid lifters to turn high rpm is just a myth, maybe back in the day but there are many modern engines that turn very high rpm with hydraulic lifters. That you can’t make serious HP without lots of overhead cams and valves is also a myth, one only needs to look at the current versions of the venerable SBC for proof of that.
I admit that the Lexus V8 of the era had a pretty high specific output but that doesn’t take away that it wasn’t a technologically advanced engine something one would expect in a high end car.
The cruise control on a stalk off the steering wheel is an ergonomic wonder. It’s right at the fingertips, where you want it, and use quickly becomes automatic.
AND it’s much easier to use than futzing with buttons on the steering wheel pad. I’ve had both; and Toyota is right to have moved that feature to all its cars.
I absolutely agree. I own a Ford product with the buttons on the wheel presently and it is in NO way superior to the Toyota design.
I’ll agree that the buttons on the earlier Fords were a little bit clunky but those on the corporate wheel that started showing up with the first Aero Panthers are far superior to the stalk. The 93 up models in particular as you tap it a number of times that corresponds to how many MPH you want to change the speed. In general though I hate too many stalks. I’ll take wipers and dimmer on the TS and no more and say no thanks to any additional appendages. It wasn’t new with Lexus either as the Toyota Van my family van used to have was set up that way and I found it annoying.
I could never get used the cruise control mini stalk. I’ve had several Fords with the steering wheel controls, and experienced the GM all in one stalk, too. Like the mini cruise stalk, once you were accustomed to it, it made sense, but it was never comfortable.
To me the steering wheel controls beats all of them hands down (so to speak).
I like buttons on the wheel, too, and don’t forget, it’s Ford who invented those in first place.
I see one old Ford feature they did adopt, was the tilt-away steering wheel. Except Ford accomplished it without the added complexity of electric motors. A strong spring with a vacuum pawl to hold it straight, a vacuum can, an extra rag-joint and an extra bit of wiring, and Bob was your Uncle.
I think it’s all a matter of what you’re accustomed to. I’ve driven two cars with the CC on a stalk, and it becomes quite intuitive. My current Mazda 3 has an aftermarket CC on a stalk on the other side of the wheel, that operates in a different manner to the Mitsubishi and Toyota CC systems (same part!) that I was more used to. Switching from one car to the other is tricky.
I love the Toyota stalk, other than it not being lighted.
My current F-150 has steering wheel controls. While there is an “off”, there is no “cancel” which I find annoying. I also have to look at the wheel when using it, while the Toyota stalk was intuitive and tactile enough to use by feel alone.
you can get cruise control on the steering wheel of a toyota celica. made before the ls4oo came out. right on the lower center spoke of the steering wheel on the 1986-89 celica’s with factory cruise control. i don’t think the cruise control switch on a mobile piece of steering equipment is the best place to put a cruise control. the stem is great because like a gas pedal clutch or brake it is in one place. it does not move. go upside down sideways etc. it is stationary predictable like an accelerator should be.
My roommate has a ’90 model, one of the first ones to come over. It’s babied though, 45K miles. The best way to describe it is like a sensory deprivation tank. It soaks up bumps like a sponge, and the engine is completely silent and dead smooth. The tranny shifts at 1700-1800 rpms when driving around normally, you just waft along on a wave of torque. It has that DOHC V8 muted roar when you give it a bootful though. Not exactly fun to drive, but pretty incredible all the same.
I have a 93 and I love the car, even tho’ it seems to have developed a number of niggling electric issues that bewilder the dealer … like the check engine light that three dealer tries could not make go away … power steering leaks that kill alternators, and now it’s got a electrical drain that kills the battery if it sits all night. Driving me crazy ..
That said, at 170K, it still runs amazingly well, the interior has held up and best of all, on a hot summers day, the air conditioning will still cool the interior so you can hang meat in it. For a sports car guy with a history of all kinds of exotic metal, this is the unlikeliest car I thought I would ever come to tolerate, let alone like, or love. You can just set the cruise and it will gobble up the miles and get you where you are going well rested. Truly a great car. Right now, I am looking for a lower mileage 100Ls to replace this one …
Sure a 100 LS is way cool, but we were talking about the Lexus – or do you really mean one of these?
You’re in good company: The unsolved perpetual Check Engine Light was a “feature” of my dad’s relatively low-tech ’80 Sedan deVille and other GM models of the time.
It reminds me of stupid computer dialog boxes saying simply, “An error occurred.” Modern cars have a computer diagnostic port that might shed light on the problem. Even our new clothes-washer issued a series of tones which, when “heard” & decoded by a support person on the other end of the phone, resulted in a correct diagnosis: the careless installer swapped the Hot & Cold lines.
So how about a smart-phone app which listens to engine computer tones for diagnostics?
I had friends buying these when new because of the deep discount compared with an S-class Mercedes. After some time they couldn’t see selling the cars because of their rock solid reliability.
FWIW, these cars were aimed at the heart of the German luxury car buying market. And they were equipped and styled to do so. Particularly the stying aspect. There are some subsequent models (and some Acuras, too) that I have look very closely to see that it’s a Lexus or a Benz. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to presbyopia, it ain’t funny.
I guess it’s hard not to judge these cars by their subsequent revisions, too. In the intervening 20+ years, they’ve become the anesthetized sedan for folks who used to buy certain Benz and Caddy models. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s not my style. Comparing the Infiniti and Lexus brands in the past 20+ years, it seems to me that the Infiniti brand has held more closely to it’s original vision. The Lexus brand along with it’s Toyota forbear, has wandered off into territory that has served to muddle it’s brand image. Too many models with too many different missions. The Infiniti along with others like Audi have stayed true to a certain vision.
In the end, I guess it’s preference thing, like Panther Love or B-Body Bigamy. I can’t fault folks for liking what they do. That’s what makes this a great hobby.
> FWIW, these cars were aimed at the heart of the German luxury car buying market.
The marketing and styling was certainly ‘euro’. But in terms the pricing, packaging, and ride quality, the LS was aiming to kneecap Cadillac/Lincoln among younger buyers. They were targeted at the heart of the US luxury market first and foremost, particularly the part that demanded a V8. (The 1992 Seville would have been an almost direct comparison.)
I read somewhere GM engineers could not compete with the LS400, even when they tried to reverse-engineer this car.
At the time the best they could do was the HT4500 Seville (180 hp/240 tq) and the price point was $33,000. Yes, it handled very well, but it was FWD. The Northstar gave it the punch it needed, but Caddy still does not have a 7-series/LS/S-Class fighter…
I suspect what you heard is true, for in the early ’90s, Ford’s Taurus team chose the Camry as their benchmark, and judging from Dick Landgraff’s comments, they knew they were outgunned.
Part of the problem, I think, is that for years, the Japanese had to impress car buyers all over the world, whereas Detroit had grown used to being provincial; so long as Americans tolerated their product, they could afford to neglect technology investment. More export-oriented Japan & Germany didn’t have this luxury.
I would like to see more neglect of technology and more emphasis on quality. Mercedes has used so much expensive to repair technology on their cars that they have seriously diminished the resale value. Scotty Kilmer has several Youtube videos on why NOT to by a used Mercedes. The technology already in use on todays cars is 50 years ahead of it’s time, and has not been perfected to anywhere near the point where it is reliable on cars. For what some of these cars cost, they should have a 500,000 mile bumper to bumper to bumper. A $100,000 non exotic car should not be falling apart in a few years.
I have seen so many 10 year old high dollar luxury cars on Craigslist for under $10,000. And they did not have 500,000 miles on them. But they were not worth buying, because (for European cars anyway) they were unreliable to begin with, and they have reached the point (just over 100,000 miles) where they are going to start needing super expensive repairs. The original owners who paid in the neighborhood of $80,000 for them new lost $70,000 just in depreciation in just 10 years. But they were likely very wealthy and could afford to throw away huge amounts of money for a status symbol. When you are rich, rational goes right out the door.
I picked up a 92 LS400 last year. 310,000km on the odo and going strong. It has the usual failed LCD strip for the climate control, but other than that, every single appointment, gadget and feature in the car works perfectly, even though it’s knocking on 22 years old.
I had heard of Lexus (who hasn’t?) but I knew nothing about this particular car, so before I brought it, I started doing some research. Every thing I read about it, every review I watched, every one of those old “relentless pursuit” ads I found on youtube, made me want it more. Went with a friend who was a mechanic to inspect the car before buying it and ended up driving it home from that inspection. As we drove along the highway I noticed a fire engine approaching us. I thought it was strange it had the emergency lights flashing, but no sirens. As it passed us, I could barely hear the siren and realised it had been on the whole time, it’s just so damn quiet in the cabin of this car that you can’t hear anything outside. Yes, that actually happened.
When we turned off the highway and hit the back road to the farm, I put my foot down hard for the first time. The car didn’t leap, it’s didn’t aggressively throw us back in our seats, it just very rapidly, very smoothly and with no fuss at all accelerated from 80km to 180km an hour faster than my last car did 0 to 100. And the sound? Finally we could hear the engine. It wasn’t loud, not inside the car, but it was gutsy, throaty, but refined at the same time.
Since then I’ve done a few long drives, 500km & 1100km trips. It’s on a long drive when you understand why this car has such an amazing reputation for luxury. Driving can be tiring in most cars I’ve owned, but in the LS it’s a joy, kind of like sitting in a comfortable, well appointed lounge room. I finish a 4 or 5 hour stretch of driving and step out of the car just as fresh as when I sat down. SOme people say it’s not an “exciting” car to drive, but that’s not what it was designed to be. Sit on one for a couple of hours and you’ll get it, this isn’t a car you drive, or drive hard, it’s a car you drive forever.
My LS has quickly become my prized possession, every other car I’ve owned pales in comparison. The only reason I’d sell it would be… actually, I can’t think of any reason why I’d want to sell it. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect, driving with the respect it deserves that I’ll still be cruising in my LS 20 years from now.
What blows me away is that, even though she’s 22 years old, you can still stand a full glass of water on the rockercover, rev the engine to 6000RPM and not spill a single drop. Who else builds cars like that?
Re the CC LCD strip, Wheeler Dealers bought one of these to fix up in one episode, and it had very problem. AFAIR the replacement part wasn’t cheap, but it was reasonable, being a reconditioned unit from a specialist. .
I remember when the Lexus LS400 first premiered here in the USA. At the time I didn’t find it very attractive, next to the Toyotas that were sold at the at the time. I would’ve much preferred the Toyota Cressida. As time passed, I began to find the old school Lexus LS400 more attractive than the newer Lexus, especially what’s being sold today.
You are right about Toyota’s trickle-down strategy concerning the switchgear. The wiper and cruise control stocks look identical to the ones found on my ’04 Highlander. The same can be said for the HVAC buttons, window switches, and door handles. The chrome door handles are a classy touch, and something I miss about my Highlander, as my TSX doesn’t have them.
Count me as a Lexus fan even though I thought it looked a little bland when I first saw one.Still see 20+ year old ones in good condition in use today
I was so wrong about these cars. I never thought the luxury buyers would give up their European rolling iron for gussied-up Toyotas. I expected these to languish in the market place.
These things are like cockroaches. I’m pretty sure every first gen LS400 I’ve seen in the last 5 years have been completely hooptied out: every electrical accessory is broken, peeling tint, bumpers handing off, etc, but damn if the thing won’t start and run forever…
That’s not an uncommon fate for high-end cars, sadly — the purchase price depreciates much more quickly than the running costs.
Thru a strange coincidence of timing; I had friends who sold Benzes, BMW and Cadillacs when the first Lexus was introduced.
Within a year of the Lexus entering the market place, all three (in private) remarked to me about sleepless and night sweats every time they thought about the “new” Lexus. Their emotional and job security had forever been violated by this “high end Toyota” (as they scathingly referred to the LS 400. As had their previously steady source of income.
Every time I see an ad or a write up for these 1st gen LS400s I kick myself for not getting together with a guy who had a very nice, low mileage example for sale over the winter holidays in 2013. At the time I was short of funds and besides, even at my age I wasn’t sure I wanted to own/drive a big Toyota/old fart’s car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHRQANmkkDs
I’d imagine this little piece of design ingenuity sent many to the junkyard, if the owners weren’t mechanically inclined and had to pay a mechanic.
3 days for a starter? Yikes. I wonder what a shop charges for that.
Unfortunately, it seems like all modern cars have some sort of stupid design like that. I can’t imagine how many of today’s cars are going to be hitting the junkyard early due to their proprietary computerized controls. Heck, an LED taillight for the new 2015 F-150 runs almost $900, that’s ridiculous.
That’s right, parts obsolescence, esp. of digital stuff, is a problem where there are long product cycles, e.g. defense. Media obsolescence is a related issue.
As my neighbor likes to point out, even though you bought it for $5000, it’s still a $60,000 car when you hit the service department.
That’s the advantage of Town Car: $50000 price tag with lower transaction price and parts still belong to a $25000 car.
The LS400 was a dynamic vehicle that successfully launched Lexus into the luxury segment. Despite the strength of the LS400, Toyota (Lexus) decided to badge engineer the rest of the line-up (ES250 Camry Brougham). Sadly, the current recall laiden Lexus has become the choice car of the “early bird special”, “I just inherited my 90 yr old moms house,so I’m rich” crowd. 🙂
Bill Gates reputedly has been a Lexus owner.
I bet he wouldn’t tolerate a car as reliable as what much of the software industry produces.
The original LS400 reminded me a lot of a Mercedes, which I assume was it’s target. And I’m sure it was probably higher quality than a real Mercedes, but it lacked one thing it could not play in that league without. The Mercedes name. Most people who buy a Mercedes are not car enthusiasts. They buy a Mercedes as a status symbol. Still, it was a pretty decent looking car. How it could have gone from that to the ugliest vehicle on earth, the RX300, is mind boggling. There was a time when companies like Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Jaguar, and a number of others, built what THEY wanted to build, and people bought them. I wish they had stayed that way. There was no mistaking what you were looking at for anything else.
But as for Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura, I view them as all being unnecessary. To me they will always be Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. I would never pay a double price for what amounts to a fancied up cheaper model. And unlike those well known European brands, that truly do have a heritage and history, the Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura names mean nothing to me. They did not exist before the ’90s. They have no heritage, no history, no pedigree. Now, most of this stuff means very little to me, but it seems to mean a great deal to those buying ultra expensive cars.
Lexus does have a history – you’re looking at it. Acura dumped theirs when they got rid of model names (everyone knew what an Integra was) rather than extending the four beady round headlights/bottom-breather look across the whole line. Nissan hasn’t seemed to know what to do with Infiniti since they dropped the belt buckle.
You say “I would never pay double price for what amounts to a fancied up cheaper model”. And I agree with you to a point. That’s why the Cimarron failed, and with the ES, you are paying a lot more for a fancied up Camry. No way to debate that one. Same deal with the Infiniti I30/I35 and, to a lesser extent, the Acura TSX. (Neither of those really apply anymore as those lineups have become confusing.)
But the LS400 was always something different. It’s not based on any other Toyota design. What other Toyota product was RWD with a V8? Nothing at the time. And to this day, no Toyota-branded car has had a V8, only the trucks/land cruiser. No, it didn’t have a history or a pedigree, but it was a clean-sheet ground-up design that was truly worthy of respect.
I have heard that argument before and it is no less ridiculous. The Lexus LS is not a tarted up model of a cheaper Toyota. As far as pedigree, there are many people that came to realize that having the three pointed star on your hood did not necessarily mean you were getting a reliable car. Many people defected to Lexus for one very simple reason: They were sick and tired of paying a premium price for European luxury cars that were unreliable. Lexus created the car that Mercedes should have built, and thus Mercedes (and all the rest) had to totally rethink their game plan. Lexus would not have lasted all this time and won over so many people if their cars were unreliable and those that do not care one iota about brand cachet are the very people that buy a Lexus.
In 1990, the Lexus dealer called me and asked me to test drive the LS400. I’m a Lincoln guy and really did not want to give this car any respect at all. After all, virtually every piece was brand new, how good could it be? And, how dare Toyota try to leave their caste! Anyway, I walked into the dealership, was greeted by a receptionist, drooled over the minimalist look of the building and was given the keys to a new LS. I went out with the sales rep (a cut above the usual) and proceeded to exercise the car, taking it up to 100 mph. It was, well, a perfect version of the type of car it pretended to be. I was infuriated! When the rep asked for my comments, I sputtered “well, at 100 mph, there’s a whistle from the phone antenna (the old curled wire type on the rear window)”. He thanked me and we parted. In 1991, Lexus only mad two minor changes to the LS…the horn note and the phone antenna.
An impressive display and an early warning for the American and German luxury status quo. Lexus has earned everything they’ve achieved.
“…but you can’t put Flowmasters on a Camry Hybrid and sound cool, can you?’
Priceless!
MotorWeek | Retro Review: ’90 Lexus LS400
I remember when the Acura Legend entered the US market. Like a lot of new car names, I didn’t know what to make of it. I didn’t find it hideous, but I didn’t find it lovely either. I thought it was a dressed up version of the Honda Accord. I didn’t care for the Acura Integra either. I thought that all the Japanese car companies were doing fine as they were, they didn’t need a luxury car to compete. I felt they could’ve (and should’ve) been able to offer luxury cars within their own names. Toyota could’ve offered the Crown, the Century (for the ultimate in luxury), Nissan could’ve offered the President,
What is the spare part availability for a 25 year old Lexus LS400 in the US like?
When these were new, they didn’t do anything for me. Of course I was all of 9 years old at the time… And for a long time I kind of dismissed them as the Camry of luxury cars. Which, of course, is the ES. But with the perspective of the passing of time I appreciate these 1st-gen LS’s a lot more. They were truly overbuilt, much like Mercedes used to be before decontenting, and what seemed like a slightly bland shape in the early 90’s now seems handsome and clean. The second-gen’s changes were slight and very evolutionary, but somehow it also didn’t work as well, and I just don’t like the third-gen. But, other than the IS300, the early ’00s were not a good era for Lexus styling.
And it is very hard to find a good first-gen these days, unfortunately.
same here. When the LS400 was all new, I couldn´t have found it more bland looking. It seemed to sport a design that was meant to be pleasing to each and everyone and avoid confrontation and irriation by all means.
Nowadays I can appreciated their unpretentious and clean design way more.
This was an interesting car in the context of 1990, and I drove one quite a lot at the time. I remember thinking the electroluminescent gauges were cool. Everything about it made more sense than most luxury cars of the era, and it was impressive on so many levels. But it still felt very much like the pragmatic choice it was, the sensible thing when you were tired of dealing with the XJ6, especially since those early LS400s were an incredible bargain. If I’d been doing the buying at the time, and could afford the extra cost, I’d have gone with a Mercedes-Benz, no question.
My Dad and I were invited to a sneak preview/test drive of the new Lexus LS400 in 1989 in Watertown, Mass. My Dad was totally impressed with it, so much so that he ran home to tell my Mom he was getting one. When she heard it was over $30k she outright told him “No way, not for a car we never even heard of before”….LOL Well, needless to say, Dad didn’t get the Lexus. In 1990 he ended up getting a new Coupe deVIlle that he truly loved, so I didn’t feel so bad about him not getting the Lexus.
I owned a 1991 Lexus LS400 (pearl white/beige leather interior/tan tinted windows from factory). Best car I’ve ever owned. It is about to reach 300,000 miles. I just heard a strange noise coming in from inside the engine. My mechanic advised me to not fix it and to get another car. I wonder if it’d be worth it to spend some money (perhaps 2K?) to fix it and continue running it or to “let it go”. It runs like new and looks great.
Your comments would be appreciated. Thanking you all in advance.
Mario
I’m no expert on these cars, but…It really depends on the condition of the rest of the car. Any body damage/rust? How are the seats and fabrics? Things like A/C and power options still working?
If the rest of the car is holding up well, then engine repair or replacement could be a viable option. It sounds like you love the car and you probably wouldn’t get anything as nice for a similar total investment.
Then again, if you weren’t planning on holding onto the car as a “recent classic” that is going to require expensive repairs here and there, now might be the time to cut ties. Nothing is going to run forever without some cash infusions.
As far as i can tell, though, an LS400 is a good one to hold on to as they were so well built to start with. I don’t think there is a wrong answer either way. If it were my car that I had owned from new and put 300K on, I know I’d repair it and keep it up, but that’s just me.
Thank you for your comments. I decided to let it go and move on.
It was the best car my wife had and enjoyed for many years.
Enjoy life!!
I’ve had my 92 ls400 sold 10 times and backed out everytime. It’s easily the best car I’ve ever owned, 2 years and the worst thing that’s happened is the timing belt broke at 120mph , it’s a lil souped up and bout to rebuild the motor and mount a single turbo on along with a few other things. It’s faster then an 5.0 Stang or camoro factory around already and she hits 60 in 4 secs or less and I’m looking to take more weight off it and put a rear end in it or it want do nothing but smoke tires it’s ridiculous …
I remember when I first saw the Lexus LS400. At the time, I didn’t find it very attractive compared to other Toyotas, but I found it more attractive than the Infiniti Q45. As time went on, and both divisions’ cars looked less and less attractive, I began to see these first Lexus and Infiniti cars in a more positive light. I began to find them more attractive to look at than anything being made today. I’d buy a 1991 Lexus LS400 or an Infiniti Q45 if I could find one in decent original condition.