Guys, just a quick question. I am looking at purchasing a celsior, I know they are great cars, however are they a low maintenance car? Are parts cheap, mostly the engine parts I am concerned with. Please let me know.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 - 06:50 am, by: David Barnes(Toyota_celsior)
If your not a hands on kinda guy, stay away. pretty much every celsior needs some form of attention, they will all need new bushes for the front end.
But think of it like this, Spend 5-8 Grand and get a celsior, Even if you had to spend another 5grand on replacing pretty much all the things that die (bushes rubbers airbags), your going to end up with a car that will last you the rest of your life for only 10-13 grand.
There are some lemon celsiors out there tho, Stay away from cheap non stockos.
Engine parts are easy its a 1uzfe, if anything ever happened to the motor (not that it will, they are bullet proof) then id just replace the entire engine, rather then pull it down replace and reassemble as you can pick up complete engines for under a grand, I once saw an autogear box for one sell on ebay for $13!
The answer is not an easy one, I love but hate my celsior hahaha.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 - 04:42 pm, by: Rich O'neil(Kiwiinaus)
Dav is spot on , how many Celsiors have had new front wheel bearings for instance ?? Most of them would need them by now for sure , not failing but noisy !! Add in recon rack and pump all the bushes front and rear , upper control arms and new bags and you are getting up there . Mind you if you do all of that you will have one of the most awesome smooth quiet reliable cars ever built all for about $14 grand , what could you buy for that money that would come close....Nothing !!
Would it be sacrilege if you replaced the bags with just shocks and springs?
Am I right in saying they are pretty well close to a uzz31? You have mentioned the things that go wrong, equivalent I say. I have got my eye on one at the moment. I am just hoping I sell the soarer.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 - 11:59 pm, by: David Barnes(Toyota_celsior)
Yes I would be putting a Celsior in the same basket as a Soarer. Celsior is heavyer and will always been harder on bushes etc... but I doubt they get driven as hard as the soarers do.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 - 12:15 am, by: David Barnes(Toyota_celsior)
Another piece of advise would be dont buy a celsior from someone who doesnt love and know all about them, or if they seem to have minimal automotive knowledge in general, these are a drivers car. Otherwise you know it hasn't had the maintenance and attention it requires, so many people just dont know how to take care of there cars, sometimes I think I take it to far (I once very very politely asked a police officer not to write with his pad on my roof as I dont want the risk of his pen making an marks/scatches on the paint) That is by no means a rock solid statement but its a good theory. Id also try avoid buying from anyone young unless they know their stuff (Im 21, and I know my car like the car of my hand) but most young guys are pretty much clueless and love to drive there cars into the ground.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 - 07:12 am, by: Rich O'neil(Kiwiinaus)
Justin that's actually an LS400 so it never had air suspension,nothing wrong with an LS they just don't have the extra goodies that the Celsior has. If you go for an LS instead of a Celsior try to get into an October 94 model or later as they had a lot of extra updates including the bigger brakes standard. Also most LS's had a full service history at least for the first 5 to 10 years of their life so in general they have been looked after better. So the question is: a Celsior with lower miles but potentially a poor service history...or an LS with higher miles and a Lexus service history for most of it's life ??? I think it comes down to if you want air suspension or not and I just love my air suspension to bits even more so since I have near new struts all round .
Thursday, March 05, 2009 - 09:19 am, by: David Barnes(Toyota_celsior)
I agree, Coils Suspension is a nice thing and all but it never comes close to the comfort of bags, But in saying that if all the extra little celsior things dont appeal to you, then lexus all the way, its just less stuff that can go wrong. And considering your main concern was maintenance id go for a LS400, They are available in more colours and generally have better leather and as Rich mentioned a longer service history, Im a firm believer that kilometers are just numbers on the dash when a car has been properly taken care of But in saying that there are exceptions.
The link you posted of the LS400, Not a bad price and 230kms is by no means excessive. But im confident you could find a better one for the same price, Ideally you want some thing supplied with an RWC and rego
Thursday, March 05, 2009 - 05:42 pm, by: Mike Beck(Gold_40gt)
They are good cars, but very boring, depends what your after - if its strickly a cruising car then they are great, but around any bends don't expect to enjoy it.
I liked mine but its handling was one of the reasons I sold it.
Thursday, March 05, 2009 - 05:59 pm, by: Rich O'neil(Kiwiinaus)
Oh you big woman !! Lower it,get some big wiiiide fat feet on it and install a programmable power steering input controller with about 140 way points and then go for it!!
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its a 1uzfe, if anything ever happened to the motor (not that it will, they are bullet proof) then id just replace the entire engine, rather then pull it down replace and reassemble as you can pick up complete engines for under a grand, I once saw an autogear box for one sell on ebay for $13! 
