1992 Lexus SC 400 4.0L V8
Summary:
Head Turner
Faults:
I bought the car privately from a lady who got herself a new SC430. The SC400 was sitting on her driveway for 3 years. Her son in-law changed the timing belt, radiator, 4 rotors and the water pump as a general maintenance before selling it. The 12 CD Changer that came with the car did not have a cartridge inside it. I Called the Lexus dealer who quoted $2,000 + 15% tax for a replacement CD changer. So I bid for a Lexus 12 CD Changer on Ebay and won it for $286 from a private seller in Toronto. He also installed it for me. I still have the old one. The paint on the wheel arches and door trims was worn out, I guess due to sitting idle for 3 years. I took it to a good body shop and got the whole car repainted for a very reasonable price. Also got the interior of the car detailed. Now the car looks like new. I'm loving it. I also need to replace one of the rear speakers. I can do it myself. There is condensation problem inside the front lights. But I am not really worried. As general maintenance I changed the oil and filter, all the Spark Plugs and the Air Filter.
General Comments:
SC400 is a smooth car. Too heavy to be a fast sports car like Eagle Talon TSi, Mustang GT, Corvette, etc.. It is more like a luxury car that looks gorgeous. Lexus SC400 takes around 6.9 seconds. Slow for a V8. It is so smooth that I feel frustrated sometimes as it does not roar like my old Nissan Maxima 3.5 SE. I don't push it hard as it is very heavy and also because I want it to last a long time. It is fuel efficient for a V8. The Nakamichi Premium sound system is nice. I cleaned the engine manually using WD40 and cloth without using water in anyway. SC400's and jet spray engine wash do not go well even if one covers the electrical parts well. It does not handle well in rain or snow. SC400's are rare, but one can use the LS400 parts for it. As on another comment, buy one, fix it up and it will run another 150,000 km.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 14th June, 2005
15th Sep 2006, 18:31
Update on my posting...It has been 1.5 years since I owned my Lexus SC400. All I did is change oil, filter regularly and that's it. Nothing has gone wrong so far except the "Traction Off" and electrical light comes on by default. Not really worried as I always switched off Traction Control. I can see from my research that other SC400 drivers also experience this problem after driving this car for over 200,000 KM. Not a big deal. One of the reasons Traction Control can go bad if you got wheel alignment done through a non-lexus dealer and the job was done poorly so the car's T-Control goes haywire and shuts off. I am planning to take it to my local Lexus dealer to get it scanned and fixed. Another problem I find is that I am so obsessed with it looking spotless, I keep on spending too much time cleaning it with proper cleaning stuff. Anyways, I would still recommend this car to anyone.