Rob_LexusTech
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Was bored yesterday surfing fb marketplace doing my routine searches for parts and stuff when a a black on black 99 popped up on my radar. Had been up for awhile for $1200 with no title. It looked kind of rough but not too far gone. Really DID NOT need a 3rd Ls400 project as im trying to restore my 95 currently but figured if i could get it cheap enough i could part it and use the extra money for the holidays. Well i sent the guy an offer of $500 expecting a nasty response, but he returned with "yeah come get it im tired of looking it it" I thought hey this is pretty awesome but I did my due diligence called up some Wrecking companies and turns out i cant even junk it without a title, so was seriously having second thoughts. Then i called a few contacts and turns out i could get a title for $285 which would make a $785 investment that i could probably make a grand or so off so i figured why the hell not. Went over to check it out. I was alone and the car was in one of the most dangerous areas in orlando. Whole prospect of it all seemed kinda sketchy but went to look at it anyway...
i get over there and was greeted by a guy who was in his early 20s. Seemed like a nice enough dude and fully disclosed the situation with the car. Turned out to be a flip gone bad as he bought it 2 years before as a flip that had bounced around between 4 other flippers since 2014 that never registered it, yet all signed the title. He went thru all kinds of **** trying to get it registered cause he wanted to have a little fun with it before dumping it. He couldnt track down any of the people on the title, and the guy that sold it to him blocked him immediately after selling it so he knew what he was doing. Poor kid.. Anyway, i get over there and there it sat in the yard, sunk about an inch in the dirt from sitting awhile, with a few small plants sprouting from the seals. Wasnt nearly as bad as i was thinking it'd be honestly. Battery was toast and hadnt been started in about a year, so i just pulled the battery out of my 95 (drove that to go look at this sad 99), ploped it under the hood and bumped the key. After about 15 seconds of cranking it burbled to life. Ran kind of rough at first with about every warning light and message on the cluster. Trac off, check VSC, taillamp failure, low fuel, oil, coolant, auto leveling you name it lol. Interior had lots of mildew and cobwebs, but i gripped the shifter and clicked it into drive. Took a little effort to get it to unstick itself from the ground that was starting to swallow it, and down the driveway infront of his house. After a few mins the rough idle and smoke cleared up and seemed to be holding its tempature and composure so figured id take it down a few streets and see how it shifted. The tires were all mismatched, threadbare, and down to about 10 psi all the way around. Just barley enough to get to the gas station around the corner. Putted down the street. filled the tires and put $5 in gas just so it didnt run out as it was at zero miles and drove it a bit, dirt and debris comming off of it. Well, turned out that the engine was smooth and it clicked through all 5 gears perfectly.
There we were, bombing down one of the major roads in town, ducking cops with a 5 year expired tag that came from god knows where, but the car was holding its own just fine. The tranny studdered a bit probably just from sitting at first, but that went away too. I decided to open it up a little and BAM! snapped me back in my seat and.took off like a slingshot! -this Ls400 was still a good ls400!!!
Went to the bank, pulled out 5 big ones and waited for.my chase car. I drove it 15 miles home without any incident at all! So yeah. Black on black 99 ucf20 for $500. The car is just nice enough to still save but i mean its RIGHT there. Had it sat any longer it would have died in his back yard.
next ill give you a rundown of what it needs, and my future plans with it but first, i know.this thread is worthless without pics, so here we.go......
i get over there and was greeted by a guy who was in his early 20s. Seemed like a nice enough dude and fully disclosed the situation with the car. Turned out to be a flip gone bad as he bought it 2 years before as a flip that had bounced around between 4 other flippers since 2014 that never registered it, yet all signed the title. He went thru all kinds of **** trying to get it registered cause he wanted to have a little fun with it before dumping it. He couldnt track down any of the people on the title, and the guy that sold it to him blocked him immediately after selling it so he knew what he was doing. Poor kid.. Anyway, i get over there and there it sat in the yard, sunk about an inch in the dirt from sitting awhile, with a few small plants sprouting from the seals. Wasnt nearly as bad as i was thinking it'd be honestly. Battery was toast and hadnt been started in about a year, so i just pulled the battery out of my 95 (drove that to go look at this sad 99), ploped it under the hood and bumped the key. After about 15 seconds of cranking it burbled to life. Ran kind of rough at first with about every warning light and message on the cluster. Trac off, check VSC, taillamp failure, low fuel, oil, coolant, auto leveling you name it lol. Interior had lots of mildew and cobwebs, but i gripped the shifter and clicked it into drive. Took a little effort to get it to unstick itself from the ground that was starting to swallow it, and down the driveway infront of his house. After a few mins the rough idle and smoke cleared up and seemed to be holding its tempature and composure so figured id take it down a few streets and see how it shifted. The tires were all mismatched, threadbare, and down to about 10 psi all the way around. Just barley enough to get to the gas station around the corner. Putted down the street. filled the tires and put $5 in gas just so it didnt run out as it was at zero miles and drove it a bit, dirt and debris comming off of it. Well, turned out that the engine was smooth and it clicked through all 5 gears perfectly.
There we were, bombing down one of the major roads in town, ducking cops with a 5 year expired tag that came from god knows where, but the car was holding its own just fine. The tranny studdered a bit probably just from sitting at first, but that went away too. I decided to open it up a little and BAM! snapped me back in my seat and.took off like a slingshot! -this Ls400 was still a good ls400!!!
Went to the bank, pulled out 5 big ones and waited for.my chase car. I drove it 15 miles home without any incident at all! So yeah. Black on black 99 ucf20 for $500. The car is just nice enough to still save but i mean its RIGHT there. Had it sat any longer it would have died in his back yard.
next ill give you a rundown of what it needs, and my future plans with it but first, i know.this thread is worthless without pics, so here we.go......