Here’s What’s Wrong With A 983,000-Mile Lexus LS400
Not many cars will ever get past 500,000 miles, but this Lexus LS400, on its entirely original engine, isn’t far short of racking up one million.
Owned by Matt Farah, the man behind Instagram account @thesmokingtire, this 983,000-miler makes our high-mileage Skoda Octavia look like a young pup, and without the benefit of the kind of love that Miles has been given, things are not all rosy underneath the poor old LS.
Right now it’s on a mammoth tour of North America in the care of travellers and Instagrammers @Adventureholix, otherwise known as Ana and Anton. The couple have already covered 10,000 miles in the venerable old boat, which has a whole host of warning lights on the dashboard.
After a rear-end vibration halted the car’s progress in Chicago, close to where YouTube mechanic LegitStreetCars lives, the fixer decided to get it up on his four-post lift to check out the greasy bits. He also plugged it into a fault code reader, which only talked to the ECU but, amazingly, turned up nothing serious.
There are pretty major oil leaks, although the constant influx of fresh oil top-ups is probably actually helping keep the engine sweet. The differential is moving around massively, stressing the rest of the drivetrain, and several suspension arms are utterly dead – and not cheap to replace.
LegitStreetCars estimates an urgent repair bill of about $3000. The only slight issue is that Adventureholix still have 5000 miles to go on their trip before giving the car back to Matt Farah. Good luck, guys; go easy on the car. It’s earned a quiet retirement.
Comments
Any car is a million mile car if you take well enough care of it. But, some cars like this Lexus will hit that mark easily with proper maintenance, and others even with proper maintenance would want to die after 100000 miles. But it can be done… (not to say it’s an easy accomplishment, it’s ultra hard)
I don’t think it’s possible for a 1.4 TSI from VAG.
Bigger displacement and more cylinders result in less stress for the engine. Also it depends on which materials were used for the engine components. I will also say that modern cars are designed to break at a certain mileage. Not the whole engine, but other things, like, f.e. the camshaft drive can go ‘bye’ and it will always result in a blown engine.
I will say, that it’s possible for older cars till the millenium but it’s pretty hard to manage it for cars, that are built afterwards.
Just my two cents.
Front engine Porsche’s won’t and can’t make it to 200k lmao
One of the keys to that is to follow the manufacturer maintenance schedule versus the dealership.
Is that Matt Farah’s million mile Lexus?
Beat me to it
Dude it even says it in the post…
Regular Car Reviews: NO, this is NOT Matt Farah’s Million Mile Lexus
Is that fatt marah’s billion mile infiniti?
Is ThIs MaTt FaRaHs MilLiOn Mi-
Oh wait it is
Can still do another million miles
Makes ‘miles’ look barley broken in
MichaelR.T.Jensen eat your heart out 😛
I mean, 500K on my eight year old Focus seems more impressive to me. ;-)
I’ve only been in a Lexus once. One like this. Going over Tower Bridge in London, the back axle collapsed and the back end made sparks along the road. That one needed some love too I guess.
If 1UZ leaks oil, it’s already beyond saving. That’s sad. But 1UZ and 3UZ are almost the only engines I saw pulling up to 1M mileage, in all honesty. That’s why I love them. :D
But my friend, you forgot about the 22RE, and the 5VZ-FE
If it’s leaking oil externally, that’s not the end of the engine, it’s just a bad seal or lack of FIPG. As long as you are checking the fluids regularly it can still live a long time.
The prices for those suspension arms from the dealer are ridiculous. Surely the bushes can either be pressed out and replaced, or someone has made an aftermarket replacement that isn’t snot. I really do hate Toyotas part pricing sometimes. Some of the solenoids for their automatic gearboxes (that have been in production for almost 35 years, in numerous vehicles) are 300-400 a solenoid, and you need 4 for the transmission. That is just ridiculous for a mass produced part to be that expensive.