To be fair, Doug made some quite bad reviews and made himself look stupid quite a few times. It's just that he reviews so many interesting cars very extensively so I don't mind watching his bad content.
Not true, I do it all the time, and point them out to him, and viewers, in his comment sections. Check his videos from 2020. I'm doing just that, in many of them.
@@12123188 Yeah, Doug DOES miss a lot of stuff, and make a lot of mistakes. This one time he was reviewing a Supercar, I think it was a green Mercedes Benz S63 AMG, and he mentioned the strange plastic panel lying in the trunk, he said "and it also comes with this train plastic panel that you can just find lying in the trunk." Then when he showed the engine, the battery cover was missing. He didn't even know that that plastic panel is the battery cover, even though it was the exact size and shape of the plastic box the battery was sitting in. What a goob.
ikr I've drove a Corolla and an Avalon that were newer and neither even came close to my old Lexus I own as far as engine power and smoothness driving.
@@vinski_ Yeah, I agree. He's made pretty clear in the past that he's doing it by today's standards for someone looking to buy the car now. I don't know how you would use the Doug Score to compare cars you were considering buying in a quick, at-a-glance sort of way if they were adjusted to account for different time periods. People also complain because the Doug Score doesn't really make any adjustment for cars being in different classes, like "well, that's really good for a subcompact" or whatever. Doug definitely makes some mistakes, but I feel like if you go by the expectations he's setup, it's a fun and interesting channel.
@@Zizzily yeah I never understand when ppl complain about it, especially when at the end of the DougScore he literally shows how it compares to cars in it's respective class
@@Zizzily Dougs scoring system is useless, and he often mistakes "quirks" for things that were extremely common on other vehicles of that era. Lastly, the LS400 drove nothing like a early 90's Camry. It was closer to E class Mercedes except it was quite a bit smoother and the ride was softer.
Ford also had a burgundy on red color combination for the new Crown Vic that came out in 1990. It was not the easiest color to sell, although my boss (I worked for a Ford/Honda dealer in those days) got a good buy on a low-mileage unit at the auction.
@david coffin That's the same spot I go to. Pick-Your-Part in Sun Valley. I was there about six months ago and didn't see a single 90s LS then. I would assume more are still on the road than not. Plenty of 1999 Camry's there. That's good when I need parts. Probably more totaled Camry's than LS's.
Having worked for Lexus in the early 2000s I remember 1990-1993 LS400s coming in for service and I was always amazed at how nice they were despite being over 12yrs old at the time. Many had over 300k miles and the engines were still buttery smooth. Amazing cars! Doug scoring system is garbage!
As a person who worked at a Cadillac dealer in 1990 I can tell you that when the dealership started to branch out and sell the Lexus that the car was light years ahead of the Cadillac and the stodgy Mercedes. And that instrument panel display was the first of it's kind, anywhere in the world and totally blew me away.
THE ENGINE... Why does no one cover the fact that it is one of the few automotive engines in history to be FAA rated to power an aircraft! Yes they are THAT RELIABLE. With regular routine maintenance the powertrain in these cars is well documented to last over 500,000 miles. I challenge Doug to take $4,000 USD and buy a used modern car from 2008+ and compare it to a $4,000 used LS400 from 1991-1992, and or also another car from 1991-1992 and compare them. The LS400 is a revolutionary car that changed not only the luxury market, but the automotive market in general, it agitated BMW and Mercedes so much they called it a "loss leader" just to save face.
+Spartan " With regular routine maintenance the powertrain in these cars is well documented to last over 500,000 miles." You could say that for any car. Also you provide no citation or reference for your hyperbolic claim, therefore, we must dismiss your claim as mythology.
thats a bad example, cuz for 4gs u can get 2008 g35, and its better than that lexus, a more fair comparison would be that lexus and a car from 1999, and that lexus would still be better
Love when Rob relives 5-year old self as a passenger in the back... then LOL when he sits on the middle console, strapped in by both seat belts. Coolest feeling in the world DOUG
You nailed it! It just shows how this car was 20 years ahead of its time. He was comparing it to almost new cars. You wouldn’t see someone compare a 1983 mustang to a 2010 Ford Mustang. In 1989 this car was literally the space shuttle showing up in 1930. All cars today copied and reverse engineered ls400 technology and incorporated them into their vehicles.
redknighttt Not "all cars today". Other companies had quite the patent list as well. Mercedes-Benz had more patents (about 300) for the 220 series than Lexus did at the time. Many design implements created for the 220 are still used by them and others today.
All cars? OK...let’s not hyperbolize here. Doug may have undersold the LS, but it was never a W140. It wasn’t even a W126 Benz. Those cars were (and still are) in another league. They are appreciating, if in collector condition. Lexus sedans may depreciate very slowly, but they will never do that!
Forrest Scott Brinkley Never is a strong word. The UCF10 made Lexus and mint examples may definitely appreciate one day. Lexus will be a storied brand.
This is exactly how I felt when I saw Doug's review. He missed the whole point of the LS400. I owned a 91 and currently own a 98 LS. Yeah, his scoring system is laughable.
I had a 98 Ls400 with navi and loovveeedddd that car... it was ahead of its time with a touch screen harddrive navigation which also controlled the climate controls as well way before anyone else was doing it. Name another car that had touch screen in 99.
Doug has shown time after time that he's not exactly what you'd call smart, rather the opposite. His "reviews" are so biased it's laughable, if it's a car he likes every wrong doing is forgotten, if it's a car he doesn't particularly care for everything "wrong" with it is pointed out ad nauseum, despite it being at the peak of car technology of the time. He could review what was the fastest car at the time of it being built and call it painfully slow, because he's so used to supercars of today, makes his opinion totally useless.
Doug is most illiterate and ignorant car person I've ever seen remotely involved with the automotive industry. It makes you wonder about the world when you see his subscriber count.
He gave the 1996 impala ss a very low rating on acceleration even though at the time it was the fastest American production sedan you could have and it was a respectable 0-60 in 7 seconds which for a 2-ton family sedan is alright. But he was basing acceleration on the 0-60 of an M5 which is pretty much a race car.
@@megatronusorionpax4900 that’s the thing. He grades everything based on today’s standards. It’s like grading a 77 Cadillac Deville low in luxury cause it doesn’t have all the gadgets that today’s cars have like navigation and cooled seats but at the time it was at the top of luxury. Need to compare it to the times it came from.
@@dariog36th that's the whole point of his reviews. His putting the cars up to todays standards, to see how they hold up. He himself has said it before.
I had a 92 LS400. It remains to this day the best car I've ever owned or driven. In 2012 I had friends with brand new cars who admitted my Lexus was a nicer car all round than theirs. It's a quiet, sedate, refined and comfortable car with a bit of a wild side. The thing is, it rides so well you think you're going slow. Put an LS400 on a mountain road and hit up some bends and twists. You think you're doing 60, you look at the speedo, you're doing 75. The day I brought mine I was driving home and a fire engine was approaching from the opposite direction with its lights flashing. It was only when it was about 5 or so car lengths from me that I realised that the sirens were on too, not just the lights - that's how well insulated the early Lexus is, I couldn't hear a siren on a fire engine driving towards me. Mine was stolen four times. Three times I managed to recover it, the last time it was written off. One day I'd really like to buy another one. Best car ever made, haters can suck it.
they are getting rare now finally, the price had dropped to the bottom and is now up quite a bit, my insurance company just ran a value on my 90 with 247k miles and it came up at $7500.00 so needless to say the car wasn't totally by a longshot. needed a fender and some paint.
Couldn't agree more, I had a 91 white ls400 . Everyone would think it was 2000 04 . They didn't believe that it was 91. Totaled it and my insurance quoted it at 11,000.
Oh man. As someone who grew up in this car, I so whole-heartedly agree with you Rob. This car kicks so much ass, ESPECIALLY for the age it came in. Like seriously, the competition was ass in comparison, even the luxury brands. Not to mention that the LS400 was the "halo" car and launch car for the Lexus brand. There is so much more meaning to this car that Doug missed entirely. Plus, that's possibly STILL the smoothest engine I've ever driven. Always roars up, and never has any trouble. I can't wait 'til my parents give it up.
Toyota is the best,GM handed over all of their customers to them due to style and poor build quality horrendous reliabilityl we won't mention resale value because there wasn't any!
back in 97 a classmate took me for a ride in a 95 LS400 and it was impressive. the car was super smooth and really quiet inside. Lexus has always been great cars...
Excellent video. I like Doug's reviews but I have to agree that for dramas sake, he tends to be overly critical of cars that their whole intent in being manufacturered was NOT what he thinks they should be today. This is because he didn't live and purchase these cars back when they were being made. He was like 12 years old. Lol. I have to say that your Lexus LS400 is awesome because it's a base model with zero options. I know a ton about cars and I wasn't aware that you could get cloth interiors on the 1990 Lexus LS 400. I would cherish the hell out of that car. It's awesome for being different!
Kenneth White exactly Doug is not a car designer or a mechanical engineer and his Doug score is stupid and he doesn't understand cars that were manufactured before he was born or even the evolution of car manufacturing and options on the interior and exterior of cars
I have a 2000 ls400 - last of the breed - 5 speed - vvt - platinum edition - which had special color, mats, and came with a platinum american express card. I bought mine used. There are some issues that can arise - you do have to do a timing belt, but if you amortize that cost over the years it takes to get there (and don't do the job yourself) the cost is minimal. Think of it as how they price the cost of your smart phone into your monthly bill. My gauges read wrong too - that's a capacitor issue you can fix or ignore (i ignore). You can also hook up a blue tooth device and watch the gauges on that device, and they are dead on - so it is the gauge set in the car. Car is now 19 years old at time of posting - so it can vote. ;) Repairs - I had the alternator out 2 times, and not for the power steering pump which can leak on to it and ruin it (mine does not leak - and put a deflector under it just in case when I did the alternator) - 1st time out the regulator went bad and local shop rebuilt it with new bearings. 2 years later the stator went out. This shop which has been in business for 40 years, had never seen a stator go out. Had to order the part. The starter did die, and that was under the intake manifold, so I had that done. Too much trouble. I also put my hand wrong and broke off the filler nipple on the radiator - so this is a caution to everyone - years of heat cycles will make that bit go brittle especially in hot Texas. But....radiator was $150 at auto parts store - was on the shelf - and it took maybe 30 minutes to swap it. Old cars need a few repairs. This one has needed the fewest. On the plus side, put it in 'power' mode and its kind of a 4 door relaxed GT. Now I have some money to buy something else, and frankly, its hard to find something for the amount of money you'd spend - even with years/miles on it - to really say - well that's a big enough improvement to justify the outlay. I bought mine used for $7K in excellent condition. And that charging issue only showed up after the regulator got hot - so the old people who had it - didn't drive it enough to discharge the battery enough to find the problem. Could have been bad from day one. It also had cheap walmart good year tires on it and was noisy and didn't handle all that well. For a car of this quality, spend a bit and get conti (continental) ultra tour tires. Huge difference in quiet, handling, and they are wearing quite well. Car not worth much these days, so if you were looking for a decent sized nice car for 3-4K - I would buy one of these things. I had a 97 town car that was a lot more maintenance than this car, and that was a pretty decent car too. Now I am thinking of keeping this car for whatever, and just getting a play pretty car. I knew a lawyer who had one, could buy anything, and still had his LS400 with 300K on it. Nothing he liked better - it 'fit'. I drove a LS460 - very nice car - but was it that much better than this one - not really. Had a touch screen thingy - but I have that in my 2014 ram sport work truck - so if I feel the need - I can play with that. I also find the doug scores quite arbitrary. What he likes in styling versus what I like? He gives a car a 5, and I give it an 8. Whatever. I do enjoy his videos but I do also get annoyed with him too. I disagree with him on this car too. I am looking at older mercedes, and aside from parts costs, they are very nice - but just need more money and more work. The Lexus is just a better deal.
Yeah I was a little upset with Doug’s review if the LS400 as well. He completely missed the point of the car. And like you said, you have to look at what America and German were doing with cars in 1989 to truly appreciate the spaceship that was the LS400. Cars wouldn’t be as dependable and robust as they are today if not for Lexus and Honda.
Absolutely correct. Everyone who buys ANY luxury car (Pfft..actually, any class car, even pickup trucks) can thank Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus for their F150 or CTS our whatever for being relatively reliable now.
Well, Doug De Muro is wrong about a lot of things, like for instance when he reviewed the Mercedes 560SEL and he said that it had only 240 hp, when in reality it had 275 hp ad it was actually fast for its day. When he reviewed the Lexus LS 400 he said that it was slow, but back in the day, the LS 400 smoked the 420 SEL, 735i and XJ6.
JELH you always forget something crucial: he is reviewing cars by today standards. NOT by their era's standards. Sure he is wrong on many things but let's be honest: the LS 400 is slow as hell today and not well equipped
well, first off, Doug is reviewing cars by TODAY'S standards, so by today's standards, it IS slow. Is it right to compare 20 year old cars to current models? not really but it is what it is.
the overdrive button is to make the transmission shift up through the gears and keep the engine revs low to improve fuel economy, when turned off the transmission will hold gears like in sports driving/ racing for acceleration, this comes with a warning light on the gauge.
Doug doesn't appreciate old cars and is easily impressed by touch screen crap, your Lexus would be good to drive but looking back Bmw and Mercedes had better interiors
I have a 90 ls400 an it's not the prettiest car on the block but its DEFINITELY THE FASTEST!! ITS GOT ALMOST 400 THOUSAND ON IT AN STARTS UP EVERY TIME!!!
These cars are quick, i had a 01 ls430 and it is faster than my Mark viii with 4.6 dual ohc. And smoother and build quality was not even close. The Lincoln will do burn outs even and the Lexus would chirp alil and just launch straight and smooth and keep pulling
Rob, great correction. When I drove this vehicle for the very first time, I fell in love. This was in Y2000. My previous car was S Class Merc and this Lex was something else. Smooth as hell. Alreay 150.000 miles. But at traffic lights you would have to check the tach to see if the engine was still running.
One cool thing about the LS400 steering column is that it can be adjusted electronically for both telescope and height (while its competition can only telescope), also the steering wheel position can be stored in 2 sets of memories with seat and seatbelt positions. Truly ahead of its time.
Rob the type of guy to look up Doug's old girlfriend from High School and mention all the "cool things" Doug forgot to say about her.......... "She knows how to play the recorder...DOUG!"
Doug's girlfriend.... ha ha.... lmfao. I could (almost) believe Rob would have (had) a girlfriend (not a girl-as-a-friend), but Doug? Really? Come on. Somebody needs new batteries in their ray-dar (wink).......grin
My mom bought a car for my brother who was working overseas, and I got to borrow it for a while. It was a 1993 Lexus SC400, and it's probably the nicest car I've ever driven. It had that powerful V-8, a Nakamichi sound system, and you could save seat/wheel tilt settings. This car was 25 years old, but still felt like the future. It's too bad my brother ended up not fixing it later on, there was a problem with the torque converter.
Hey Rob! Thanks for defending such a great car. I have to tell you though, the leather in these cars must be made of something alien because every one I’ve seen is almost perfect compared to other cars it’s age or even newer! I drove my old friends 1999 and I have to say it was more on par to be a new luxury car than my 2008 Town Car.
Great video. My dad still has his LS400 1990. And for back then, we as children, thought it was the greatest car ever! I loved taking it for a ride when I got my license. My friends parents at that time had a 1995 Camry, and let me tell you, it was no comparison! The LS400 was in its own class.
This was my very first car. Tramission and engine are bulletproof. I didn't take car of mine for shit. At one point it had no breaks and I would throw it in park to stop it. I did that probably for 1-2k miles and the transmission was fine. No oil change for 30k miles. I was 18 homeless and had a bad drug addictiom the car was beat to death. The rack and pinion was a problem though. I had got it from a old guy and the cars work was done at dealership and at 150k miles it had gone through 6 rack and pinions and it went out the 40k miles I had it too.
Dude, you need more subs to be honest, you gave a well made review on one of the most revolutionary cars at the time. It's a shame that Doug dunked on the wrong car, my relatives owned a Black 97' LS400, with all the bells and whistles, it was a pretty nice car when I rode in it. Anyways, you earned a sub!
I agree this car was targeted for people born in the 1920 and 1930’s. Me being born in 90’s this car was revolutionary for its time and was amazing for its time. Good points Rob! Doug’s score has no point at times, as the 0-60 for its time was one of the best!
I used to own an Alpine Silver metallic 1994 LS400 with a black leather interior. It was one of the greatest most reliable vehicles I ever owned. I bought it for a steal at 1k$ and did all kinds of work to it. Replaced the timing belt, all fluids replaced, PS pump leak fixed, dropped the rear subframe and repainted it, replaced all the rear suspension bushing, fixed the radio LCD, ECU capacitors, and instrument panel speedometer needle was fixed. I also added an Aux cable port while I was at it. All OEM original parts from Sewell Lexus. I ended up selling it before the prices went through the roof. Great synopsis and good review of the car you posted! They are real land yachts and awesome highway cruisers!
Great video but remember, the Doug score is called that for a reason. It's up to Dougs standard and his likings, so that means it's not objective at all.
I don't live a life of regrets, but I do regret passing on the opportunity to buy one these cars that was a 1 owner for $1000. I told my buddy about it and he bought it the same day and totalled it a month later. Pretty neat car!
I knew Doug's short sightings would spawn an anti-doug, I'm kind of glad. Doug sounds like Andy Rooney and Julia Child, this guy sounds like Templeton from the Charlotte's Web cartoon. I like Templeton better. Doug makes judgement on cars that existed before he was born.
i love my ls 400. i especially apreciate it on long highway trip. good on gas. and somehow agile. My last ls had coilover suspension and i could really appreciate the suspension and it was alot more fun to drive. my next project is a manual ls400. i just love the body style and engineering.
@Road Guy Rob I'm a guy living in Japan for 16 years and on, with LS-Love. My first car was the 1990 model of LS400, Type C (air suspension), full-package. My second car was the very last model of LS400, 1998, after a small model change in 1998 with DVD navigation system and 5-gear transmission, a type B European version, (My dream-car). After it was crashed by a 60-year-old granny, I couldn`t fix it within the insurance budget, so I got my 3rd car with the money, a 2001 LS430, B Euro. 1 year later, I found a TOM'S completed SAME model as my third car with 120,000 miles on ODD, so this became my 4th car. With 356 horse power, strengthened body, full aero-parts, metal breaking wires, YES, it can run in some easy races. lol Somehow I feel you like the same spirit in the early LEXUS cars! Let me share some more information that I found out about my first car. 1st, the original shorter windshield wiper had a cute U-shape arch (at least in Japan), for making the wipers completely unseen from the driver's view. 2nd, the windshield had an electric signal blocking function, so that no phone calls or other electric signals from inside the car could be detected by anyone from the front outside. Very cool function for privacy protection. But because of this, I couldn't install the TV antenna or ETC system antenna on the dashboard, `cause they just couldn`t pick up any signals through the windshield. I had to put them on the top of the car, outside. lol I NEVER had this problem with any later models ever since. (which windshield is better made, huh?) 3rd, almost ALL car parts were heavier than in the later models, and the insulation was thicker than in the later models. The base model is the lightest, with just the minimum unnecessary weight for running by all means. I hope your LS400 can survive for many more decades! As my personal experience, the air-conditioning system is a weak point, be careful! It would be nice to talk with someone who has the same passion as I do!
Oh my god, I saw that old Lexus commercial on a VHS tape my family recorded Star Wars on lmao, young me was convinced it was fake, my dad didn't even believe the car could really do that. It's so cool that it really can/could at one point.
I've never ever drove, sat or even touched an original celsior /LS400 but i have a lot of respect to them. I have an 86 cressida and considering this was the replacement to my car, i already imagine how good it was. This lexus proves that luxury cars can be reliable and easy to fix
Love the review. I have a 2004 Volvo XC90 that also has adaptive power steering that gets stiffer the faster you go. I think there were multiple Volvo models of the early 2000's to have this system. It's cool that Lexus had it over 10 years earlier.
Excellent rebuttal. Doug really pissed me off about what he said of the Lexus LS400. I own one and I don't know what the hell was talking about. Thanks for taking the time to make this video and exposing the truth.
Doug is usually good but here he went wayward with Ls400. Its a master piece and even today it stands out among latest cars. Nice review..... Love the way you made the video and armrest thing.... Lolz.... You did justice to this legend.
Thank you for this video! I own a 1995 LS400 with 70K miles on it. Great condition. Love driving it around knowing that I do not have to worry about paying a "mortgage for a car" these days..... Again great video!
Sure we can, we do live in present time after all and have certain expectations, but having some historical context like Rob gave us here is also very important - which it seems Doug left out.
Computers on wheels thats fail.and cost u alor of money to fix.not toyota they tink abt wat its going to cost to fix.germans just all out speed tec.and u past them on d side of the road.haha sud a buy a toyota.toyota king
I recently had a 1989 mercedes 190e 2.6 and it's just so interesting to see that even down to the gas cap holder, my 190e and this ls share so many features. i slid on ice and was slammed in the left side of my body by a semi truck and unfortunately lost one of my dream cars but this was nice to watch
First time viewer of your channel And while being a long time viewer of Doug’s. I’m making the switch as this is far more informative from a real world perspective.
Having worked as a porter, detailer, and some mechanic apprentice work at Toyota and a Lexus dealer I have long been a fan of LS 400 and after owning many used cars foreign and domestic strongly determined to purchase an older LS sedan as they're classic, very well designed reliable, and fly under the radar these days. Good stuff sir thank you!!
What an excellent review Rob! I live in the Tempe area of Phoenix. I drift an LS400 with a 5 speed and nitrous. I would still love to own a stock LS400 like yours any day of the week for daily driving. Sure its mpg is not civic range, but honestly its worth it. I love your video on the Phoenix freeway history by the way. I am a nerd about roadway logic and traffic behaviors and you are digging gold for me with every video. Thank you!
@@chrisxaf1237 I owned a 1990 Brougham until 2 years ago. It was a beautiful car. The engine, transmission, brakes were really good. It was the 5.7 liter engine and, to my surprise, it had really nice suspension for that era and it being a full size luxury car . I loved taking cloverleafs with that car and leaving tailgaters behind. Sadly, after about 130,000 miles, it became too much of a nuisance with mostly electrical failures.
The old Lexus ad with the wine glasses did not mention the fact that the dyno it sat on was not anywhere near normal in the slightest but was in fact specifically made on very specially controlled gellite pads that counter acted any flaws in the actual ride of the car by three separate computers set up in a large sound booth used by NASA when experimenting with satellites that were set to be released into geosynchronous orbits.
We forget how young doug actually is, and how sheltered he must have been at times. I grew up with 80s toyotas, many many 3rd gen celicas, camrys, trucks, etc. I've loved cars my whole life (i'm an 85 model myself) and i remember not paying much attention to lexus at the time it was launched because, well, that was way out of our league. Here we are in 2022, And i bought a 95 with 121,000 miles on it, and it is now our family car, and we prefer it over the 2007 rav4. The ride is so wonderful! and I love the fact we can drive down the interstate and I can still hear my soft spoken wife. Even the factory stereo still sounds really good (and I don't even have the Nakamichi) but I think people forget that in the mid 90s a fully loaded camry was around 20 grand, while the sticker on my 95 says it was 56,000! This was one hell of a car for it's time. It's funny to see how a lot of the tech in these cars filtered down to the other Toyota models over the years.
Another plus to the foglights being up high is that lower mounted foglights always end up cracking/breaking due to them being so close to the ground. Doug gives good reviews and his scores are based on what a modern person might think of the car. However, this car was so amazing, it set the standard for luxury cars. The Europeans actually had to play catch up because the LS400 started setting the standards for luxury cars from the beginning. As for the wheels, the one Doug reviewed had the same wheels except they were chrome plated. 100K miles was never really much for a Toyota. Toyotas were exceeding 250K miles even back in the 80's. I've seen more than a handful of these original LS models with over 500K miles on the original engine and transmission. By the way, the website is the Toyota 200K Mile Club. They had so many submissions when they started it that they site actually crashed.
The overdrive button is a converter lock, it works in all gears, it gives a better milage. If you pull a trailer you dont stress the converter so much.
I've owned three, yes THREE pre-owned ls400's 93,95,97. By far my favorite car. They hug the road, with grace and dignity. I remember being 17 years old on the highway just leaving brand new 2010-14 mustangs and cameros in the rearview. The adjustable petals, the countless possible seat positions, the telescoping steering wheel. It all made the car just feel incredible. Also my favorite compartment was when they moved the first aid kit to under the driver seat in a little hiding slide out box.
the LS400 is insanely quite and has no echo in the cabin only noticeable if you actually sing ,2018 4runner ,tundra and camry have very notable voice echo, this thing type of thing usually would never matter but the LS400 i believe is the first car used to record a song or radio event inside the cabin while moving !!
I like Doug, but he talks about cars like an 18 year old that just started driving last year. I thought he was close to my age? I got my license in ‘96 at age 16, and most of the cars on the road were ones just like this one, and many people I knew drove hand-me-down cars from the ‘80s or very early ‘90s. In other words, his reactions to some vehicles are both surprising and confusing. But like I said, don’t know how old he is exactly.
my boss had a 93 LS400 and a 91 500SL, i drove both regularly, the lS was amazing and smooth and quiet. The 500SL was fast and rough, it felt the road, the lexus floated quietly, with jet thrust, very magical car back then especially with the floating vivid guage cluster. Now I own a fully loaded 90 with 247k miles today and drive it a lot, it's no longer the smooth quiet ride it was 29 years ago but it's a good car and handles very well. It gets it done, people laugh when i pop the center arm rest and show the old car phone powered up in there, circa thomas magnum.
A Lexus is like a fine wine. You don't just gulp it down like a glass of cheap plonk, you have to sip it, savour it, roll it around your mouth and really get a taste of it to appreciate it's fine texture and sophisticated quality. Where Doug went wrong is he just devoured it like it was something ordinary, thus missing the finer qualities. To really appreciate a Lexus, you need to spend a considerable amount of quality time with one, get a proper feel of one. A quick flip flop around the block and you won't even begin to understand the true depth of this car's fine qualities. It's all in the subtleties, and once you've owned a Lexus, nothing else even gets close.
Wow, I didn't know that about the antenna. Great review! My personal feature is how the engine warning lights shine down from the top of the speedometer cluster and reflect off the bezel creating a holographic effect.
13:55 Our family car when I was 17 was a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix and it had windshield wipers that disappeared when you turned them off. Nice of Lexus to bring that feature back.
I had a an LS400 like the one Doug gave a review on, it was 259k miles and was not treated with respect at all until I got my hands on it, it really felt new, I have a 91 Toyota Celsior (The LS400 in Japan sold as a Toyota) with 65k miles, not a single difference between a high mileage one and a new one.
Doug is whimsical and curious in his reviews they are so so he focuses and nit picks as a theme so he is less than objective it almost seems like it depends on his time of the month lol and he is a giant so he forgets that some people have 6 year olds in the back seat He misses a lot of things lol and I enjoy them occasionally but he always finds something to get on my nerves lol like the scoring
When you actually know the thing being reviewed, you usually get pissed, and this goes for pretty much any thing and any reviewer, but it's especially true of Doug these days, since he apparently feels the need to stretch any video to 30 minutes, exposing to a much greater risk of saying something stupid. I really love Doug's videos, but I prefer the ones he does on his own cars to the reviews.
Doug’s review disappointed me as well. I drive a silver 2000 LS with 158k miles, and my Mother drives a metallic taupe 1993 LS with only 105k miles. No rust on either of them. We LOVE these cars and cherish them for the automotive masterpieces that they truly are.❤ Thanks for the vid. Peace to all the Lexus lovers worldwide.🌎 1UZ for life Y’all!🔥☝️🔥
Doug should look in the mirror and give himself a Doug score.
Ha
im sure his mom loves him
You should try the same
While Doug is the creative one with a neat and unique CZcams channel you are the shameful one
Savage
Rob's the only guy in history who found quirks and features that Doug didn't
To be fair, Doug made some quite bad reviews and made himself look stupid quite a few times. It's just that he reviews so many interesting cars very extensively so I don't mind watching his bad content.
He needs to find his rittalin lol
Doug I mean
Not true, I do it all the time, and point them out to him, and viewers, in his comment sections. Check his videos from 2020. I'm doing just that, in many of them.
@@12123188 Yeah, Doug DOES miss a lot of stuff, and make a lot of mistakes. This one time he was reviewing a Supercar, I think it was a green Mercedes Benz S63 AMG, and he mentioned the strange plastic panel lying in the trunk, he said "and it also comes with this train plastic panel that you can just find lying in the trunk." Then when he showed the engine, the battery cover was missing. He didn't even know that that plastic panel is the battery cover, even though it was the exact size and shape of the plastic box the battery was sitting in. What a goob.
The fact this guy keeps qouting Doug with pictures is great 😂😂
Love it when he ends his sentences with "..DOUG!!!" 😂😂😂
"like driving a Camry"
well - the day that Toyota offers a 4-cam butter-smooth V8 as a Camry engine option Im buying two of them
ikr I've drove a Corolla and an Avalon that were newer and neither even came close to my old Lexus I own as far as engine power and smoothness driving.
I agree with you Rob!. Doug shouldn't be scoring old cars like today's standards.
Me to
@@vinski_ Yeah, I agree. He's made pretty clear in the past that he's doing it by today's standards for someone looking to buy the car now. I don't know how you would use the Doug Score to compare cars you were considering buying in a quick, at-a-glance sort of way if they were adjusted to account for different time periods. People also complain because the Doug Score doesn't really make any adjustment for cars being in different classes, like "well, that's really good for a subcompact" or whatever. Doug definitely makes some mistakes, but I feel like if you go by the expectations he's setup, it's a fun and interesting channel.
Doug Demure is THE leading authority on automotive reviews, beloved by millions and this guy is just a hater
@@Zizzily yeah I never understand when ppl complain about it, especially when at the end of the DougScore he literally shows how it compares to cars in it's respective class
@@Zizzily Dougs scoring system is useless, and he often mistakes "quirks" for things that were extremely common on other vehicles of that era. Lastly, the LS400 drove nothing like a early 90's Camry. It was closer to E class Mercedes except it was quite a bit smoother and the ride was softer.
you saw a LS400 in a junkyard? I think thats more rare than one with a red interior
I'd say that well over half of them are probably in the junk yard given their average life span of 13 years.
Ford also had a burgundy on red color combination for the new Crown Vic that came out in 1990. It was not the easiest color to sell, although my boss (I worked for a Ford/Honda dealer in those days) got a good buy on a low-mileage unit at the auction.
@@Epotheros And a higher percentage of Lexus are on the road, than any other brand
@david coffin That's the same spot I go to. Pick-Your-Part in Sun Valley. I was there about six months ago and didn't see a single 90s LS then. I would assume more are still on the road than not. Plenty of 1999 Camry's there. That's good when I need parts. Probably more totaled Camry's than LS's.
@david coffin Nice.
Having worked for Lexus in the early 2000s I remember 1990-1993 LS400s coming in for service and I was always amazed at how nice they were despite being over 12yrs old at the time. Many had over 300k miles and the engines were still buttery smooth. Amazing cars! Doug scoring system is garbage!
As a person who worked at a Cadillac dealer in 1990 I can tell you that when the dealership started to branch out and sell the Lexus that the car was light years ahead of the Cadillac and the stodgy Mercedes. And that instrument panel display was the first of it's kind, anywhere in the world and totally blew me away.
THE ENGINE...
Why does no one cover the fact that it is one of the few automotive engines in history to be FAA rated to power an aircraft! Yes they are THAT RELIABLE. With regular routine maintenance the powertrain in these cars is well documented to last over 500,000 miles.
I challenge Doug to take $4,000 USD and buy a used modern car from 2008+ and compare it to a $4,000 used LS400 from 1991-1992, and or also another car from 1991-1992 and compare them.
The LS400 is a revolutionary car that changed not only the luxury market, but the automotive market in general, it agitated BMW and Mercedes so much they called it a "loss leader" just to save face.
+Spartan " With regular routine maintenance the powertrain in these cars is well documented to last over 500,000 miles." You could say that for any car. Also you provide no citation or reference for your hyperbolic claim, therefore, we must dismiss your claim as mythology.
thats a bad example, cuz for 4gs u can get 2008 g35, and its better than that lexus, a more fair comparison would be that lexus and a car from 1999, and that lexus would still be better
Any car with routine maintenance will keep going
I'd like to say I can get a Lincoln Town car for like $2,000 and that's comfy and luxurious while being one of the most reliable cars ever
@@floggyWM1 if you get a 08 G35 for 4k it'll be beat to death or super high mileage but I agree for $4k there's way better cars
I saw "Why Doug DeMuro is DEAD...", and I instantly clicked.
"I'm going to show you she quarks and features of this shovel"
Only to be sorely disappointed when there was more words in the title...
Well Doug did get murdered by this review.
Ok, the antenna adjusting to the wavelength of the frequency is really cool!
Love when Rob relives 5-year old self as a passenger in the back... then LOL when he sits on the middle console, strapped in by both seat belts. Coolest feeling in the world DOUG
You nailed it! It just shows how this car was 20 years ahead of its time. He was comparing it to almost new cars. You wouldn’t see someone compare a 1983 mustang to a 2010 Ford Mustang. In 1989 this car was literally the space shuttle showing up in 1930. All cars today copied and reverse engineered ls400 technology and incorporated them into their vehicles.
redknighttt Not "all cars today". Other companies had quite the patent list as well. Mercedes-Benz had more patents (about 300) for the 220 series than Lexus did at the time. Many design implements created for the 220 are still used by them and others today.
MrCarGuy20 Mmm hmmm
All cars? OK...let’s not hyperbolize here. Doug may have undersold the LS, but it was never a W140. It wasn’t even a W126 Benz. Those cars were (and still are) in another league. They are appreciating, if in collector condition. Lexus sedans may depreciate very slowly, but they will never do that!
Forrest Scott Brinkley Never is a strong word. The UCF10 made Lexus and mint examples may definitely appreciate one day. Lexus will be a storied brand.
MrCarGuy20 Perhaps if the Lexus museum is buying it 😂 I won’t hold my breath for Lexus sedans on BringATrailer anytime soon.
This is exactly how I felt when I saw Doug's review. He missed the whole point of the LS400. I owned a 91 and currently own a 98 LS. Yeah, his scoring system is laughable.
Neil Prasad #agree
wow. same. had a 91 and now have a 98. my temperature is high for some reason.. not red lining but a bar beneath it.
Hectorstaysgold Sorry to hear. Get a Obd II module and check the exact temperature. Around 195 F is normal. Then scan for engine codes.
Hectorstaysgold check your coolant level, fans, and radiator
I had a 98 Ls400 with navi and loovveeedddd that car... it was ahead of its time with a touch screen harddrive navigation which also controlled the climate controls as well way before anyone else was doing it. Name another car that had touch screen in 99.
Doug has shown time after time that he's not exactly what you'd call smart, rather the opposite.
His "reviews" are so biased it's laughable, if it's a car he likes every wrong doing is forgotten, if it's a car he doesn't particularly care for everything "wrong" with it is pointed out ad nauseum, despite it being at the peak of car technology of the time.
He could review what was the fastest car at the time of it being built and call it painfully slow, because he's so used to supercars of today, makes his opinion totally useless.
Doug is most illiterate and ignorant car person I've ever seen remotely involved with the automotive industry. It makes you wonder about the world when you see his subscriber count.
He gave the 1996 impala ss a very low rating on acceleration even though at the time it was the fastest American production sedan you could have and it was a respectable 0-60 in 7 seconds which for a 2-ton family sedan is alright. But he was basing acceleration on the 0-60 of an M5 which is pretty much a race car.
@@dariog36th yeah but now it's considered slow. So he rated it's acceleration accordingly
@@megatronusorionpax4900 that’s the thing. He grades everything based on today’s standards. It’s like grading a 77 Cadillac Deville low in luxury cause it doesn’t have all the gadgets that today’s cars have like navigation and cooled seats but at the time it was at the top of luxury. Need to compare it to the times it came from.
@@dariog36th that's the whole point of his reviews. His putting the cars up to todays standards, to see how they hold up. He himself has said it before.
I had a 92 LS400. It remains to this day the best car I've ever owned or driven. In 2012 I had friends with brand new cars who admitted my Lexus was a nicer car all round than theirs. It's a quiet, sedate, refined and comfortable car with a bit of a wild side. The thing is, it rides so well you think you're going slow. Put an LS400 on a mountain road and hit up some bends and twists. You think you're doing 60, you look at the speedo, you're doing 75. The day I brought mine I was driving home and a fire engine was approaching from the opposite direction with its lights flashing. It was only when it was about 5 or so car lengths from me that I realised that the sirens were on too, not just the lights - that's how well insulated the early Lexus is, I couldn't hear a siren on a fire engine driving towards me.
Mine was stolen four times. Three times I managed to recover it, the last time it was written off. One day I'd really like to buy another one. Best car ever made, haters can suck it.
they are getting rare now finally, the price had dropped to the bottom and is now up quite a bit, my insurance company just ran a value on my 90 with 247k miles and it came up at $7500.00 so needless to say the car wasn't totally by a longshot. needed a fender and some paint.
+Noises- Fuck yeah!
Couldn't agree more, I had a 91 white ls400 . Everyone would think it was 2000 04 . They didn't believe that it was 91. Totaled it and my insurance quoted it at 11,000.
Haha that last sentence.
Hell Yeah Suck It Haters!🤣🤣👍🏼💪😎
Oh man. As someone who grew up in this car, I so whole-heartedly agree with you Rob. This car kicks so much ass, ESPECIALLY for the age it came in. Like seriously, the competition was ass in comparison, even the luxury brands. Not to mention that the LS400 was the "halo" car and launch car for the Lexus brand. There is so much more meaning to this car that Doug missed entirely.
Plus, that's possibly STILL the smoothest engine I've ever driven. Always roars up, and never has any trouble. I can't wait 'til my parents give it up.
I had a 92 LS i don't think it drives like a modern day camry, definitely more smooth.
Oh yea
How they do with gas?
@@adrianchavez819 18 city/25 highway. very good for a v8.
17:15 why my parents don’t let me drive.
Pretty sure my stick 93 ls400 will smoke camrys up to 2012 so
Toyota is the best,GM handed over all of their customers to them due to style and poor build quality horrendous reliabilityl we won't mention resale value because there wasn't any!
Exaaaaaaaaaaaaaactly….
back in 97 a classmate took me for a ride in a 95 LS400 and it was impressive. the car was super smooth and really quiet inside. Lexus has always been great cars...
No luxury entrant before or since the first LS has made the Germans nervous enough to up their game, that should be recognized
tellucas poo on yeah I was really terrifying for them. bbc have tried to disadvantage toyota and lexus but they didn't succeed lol
I think many on the board and the CEO lost their jobs at the time, check out youtube for "Merc Myths"
i never said lexus was #2, Ive owned two 1st gen LS cars they had their short comings but the engine was not one of them.
Why do you think the LS is an icon? Modern luxury is where it is now because of the LS line.
BMW STOLE THEIR 4.0 DESIGN FROM LEXUS
Excellent video. I like Doug's reviews but I have to agree that for dramas sake, he tends to be overly critical of cars that their whole intent in being manufacturered was NOT what he thinks they should be today. This is because he didn't live and purchase these cars back when they were being made. He was like 12 years old. Lol. I have to say that your Lexus LS400 is awesome because it's a base model with zero options. I know a ton about cars and I wasn't aware that you could get cloth interiors on the 1990 Lexus LS 400. I would cherish the hell out of that car. It's awesome for being different!
Kenneth White exactly Doug is not a car designer or a mechanical engineer and his Doug score is stupid and he doesn't understand cars that were manufactured before he was born or even the evolution of car manufacturing and options on the interior and exterior of cars
He was 3 or maybe 4 in 1990 as he was born in 1986
Kenneth White Doug is and always has been annoying.
Air Bag thanks for the correction!
Kenneth White
Such a Lexus model with cloth seats/interior looks kinda cheap to be honest...
It SHOULD be leather!
The LS is S-Class level!
I have a 2000 ls400 - last of the breed - 5 speed - vvt - platinum edition - which had special color, mats, and came with a platinum american express card. I bought mine used. There are some issues that can arise - you do have to do a timing belt, but if you amortize that cost over the years it takes to get there (and don't do the job yourself) the cost is minimal. Think of it as how they price the cost of your smart phone into your monthly bill. My gauges read wrong too - that's a capacitor issue you can fix or ignore (i ignore). You can also hook up a blue tooth device and watch the gauges on that device, and they are dead on - so it is the gauge set in the car. Car is now 19 years old at time of posting - so it can vote. ;) Repairs - I had the alternator out 2 times, and not for the power steering pump which can leak on to it and ruin it (mine does not leak - and put a deflector under it just in case when I did the alternator) - 1st time out the regulator went bad and local shop rebuilt it with new bearings. 2 years later the stator went out. This shop which has been in business for 40 years, had never seen a stator go out. Had to order the part. The starter did die, and that was under the intake manifold, so I had that done. Too much trouble. I also put my hand wrong and broke off the filler nipple on the radiator - so this is a caution to everyone - years of heat cycles will make that bit go brittle especially in hot Texas. But....radiator was $150 at auto parts store - was on the shelf - and it took maybe 30 minutes to swap it. Old cars need a few repairs. This one has needed the fewest. On the plus side, put it in 'power' mode and its kind of a 4 door relaxed GT. Now I have some money to buy something else, and frankly, its hard to find something for the amount of money you'd spend - even with years/miles on it - to really say - well that's a big enough improvement to justify the outlay. I bought mine used for $7K in excellent condition. And that charging issue only showed up after the regulator got hot - so the old people who had it - didn't drive it enough to discharge the battery enough to find the problem. Could have been bad from day one. It also had cheap walmart good year tires on it and was noisy and didn't handle all that well. For a car of this quality, spend a bit and get conti (continental) ultra tour tires. Huge difference in quiet, handling, and they are wearing quite well. Car not worth much these days, so if you were looking for a decent sized nice car for 3-4K - I would buy one of these things. I had a 97 town car that was a lot more maintenance than this car, and that was a pretty decent car too. Now I am thinking of keeping this car for whatever, and just getting a play pretty car. I knew a lawyer who had one, could buy anything, and still had his LS400 with 300K on it. Nothing he liked better - it 'fit'. I drove a LS460 - very nice car - but was it that much better than this one - not really. Had a touch screen thingy - but I have that in my 2014 ram sport work truck - so if I feel the need - I can play with that. I also find the doug scores quite arbitrary. What he likes in styling versus what I like? He gives a car a 5, and I give it an 8. Whatever. I do enjoy his videos but I do also get annoyed with him too. I disagree with him on this car too. I am looking at older mercedes, and aside from parts costs, they are very nice - but just need more money and more work. The Lexus is just a better deal.
Well said sir. Class dismissed.
You open my eyes about Doug poor reviews. Great video man!!! Keep doing this please!!!
Yeah I was a little upset with Doug’s review if the LS400 as well. He completely missed the point of the car. And like you said, you have to look at what America and German were doing with cars in 1989 to truly appreciate the spaceship that was the LS400. Cars wouldn’t be as dependable and robust as they are today if not for Lexus and Honda.
Cecil L Toyota and Honda* and Lexus and Acura*
Bro there s no cars like toyotas.from lexus to all other toyota brand.over all japanies cars r better than germans
German cars were doing great too at that time. Cars they sold in Europe were 5-7 if not more years ahead of that s*** they sold in American market.
Absolutely correct. Everyone who buys ANY luxury car (Pfft..actually, any class car, even pickup trucks) can thank Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus for their F150 or CTS our whatever for being relatively reliable now.
Yea Doug's a rich dork
Well, Doug De Muro is wrong about a lot of things, like for instance when he reviewed the Mercedes 560SEL and he said that it had only 240 hp, when in reality it had 275 hp ad it was actually fast for its day. When he reviewed the Lexus LS 400 he said that it was slow, but back in the day, the LS 400 smoked the 420 SEL, 735i and XJ6.
JELH you always forget something crucial: he is reviewing cars by today standards. NOT by their era's standards. Sure he is wrong on many things but let's be honest: the LS 400 is slow as hell today and not well equipped
well, first off, Doug is reviewing cars by TODAY'S standards, so by today's standards, it IS slow.
Is it right to compare 20 year old cars to current models? not really but it is what it is.
He got the SEL all wrong. He even gave the quality a 6, makes zero sense
orion deschamps tell that to Tyler Hoover. He felt betrayed :p
Γιάννης-Παναγιώτης Τζανάκος he gave up his w126 and w123
Doug is 30 years old.. about to turn 15..
the overdrive button is to make the transmission shift up through the gears and keep the engine revs low to improve fuel economy, when turned off the transmission will hold gears like in sports driving/ racing for acceleration, this comes with a warning light on the gauge.
Doug doesn't appreciate old cars and is easily impressed by touch screen crap, your Lexus would be good to drive but looking back Bmw and Mercedes had better interiors
Very True!!
I'd do it for the money Doug gets (moving to CA is a good indicator imo)
Lexus was at least 10k less and so much more reliable.
There are still LS 400s out on the road today going strong. Most 7 series and S class that old are in the salvage yard.
Yes, this LS doesn't look very "luxury" though...
Just the interior...
I have a 90 ls400 an it's not the prettiest car on the block but its DEFINITELY THE FASTEST!! ITS GOT ALMOST 400 THOUSAND ON IT AN STARTS UP EVERY TIME!!!
I'm really surprised that none of the other cars on the block have a 0-60 time faster than 8 seconds.
These cars are quick, i had a 01 ls430 and it is faster than my Mark viii with 4.6 dual ohc. And smoother and build quality was not even close. The Lincoln will do burn outs even and the Lexus would chirp alil and just launch straight and smooth and keep pulling
Rob, great correction. When I drove this vehicle for the very first time, I fell in love.
This was in Y2000. My previous car was S Class Merc and this Lex was something else. Smooth as hell. Alreay 150.000 miles. But at traffic lights you would have to check the tach to see if the engine was still running.
One cool thing about the LS400 steering column is that it can be adjusted electronically for both telescope and height (while its competition can only telescope), also the steering wheel position can be stored in 2 sets of memories with seat and seatbelt positions. Truly ahead of its time.
Rob the type of guy to look up Doug's old girlfriend from High School and mention all the "cool things" Doug forgot to say about her.......... "She knows how to play the recorder...DOUG!"
Doug's girlfriend.... ha ha.... lmfao. I could (almost) believe Rob would have (had) a girlfriend (not a girl-as-a-friend), but Doug? Really? Come on. Somebody needs new batteries in their ray-dar (wink).......grin
BEST COMMENT AWARD!
feenfader Very original and funny hahaha
lmao
😂😂😂😂😂
my god my 2007 XLE toyota Camry fully loaded with Nav system are not as smart as that 1990's Lexus .. for real !!!
My mom bought a car for my brother who was working overseas, and I got to borrow it for a while. It was a 1993 Lexus SC400, and it's probably the nicest car I've ever driven. It had that powerful V-8, a Nakamichi sound system, and you could save seat/wheel tilt settings. This car was 25 years old, but still felt like the future. It's too bad my brother ended up not fixing it later on, there was a problem with the torque converter.
Hey Rob! Thanks for defending such a great car. I have to tell you though, the leather in these cars must be made of something alien because every one I’ve seen is almost perfect compared to other cars it’s age or even newer! I drove my old friends 1999 and I have to say it was more on par to be a new luxury car than my 2008 Town Car.
Great video. My dad still has his LS400 1990. And for back then, we as children, thought it was the greatest car ever! I loved taking it for a ride when I got my license. My friends parents at that time had a 1995 Camry, and let me tell you, it was no comparison! The LS400 was in its own class.
Damn he roasted Doug, make more and I’ll watch y’all both 😂
This was my very first car. Tramission and engine are bulletproof. I didn't take car of mine for shit. At one point it had no breaks and I would throw it in park to stop it. I did that probably for 1-2k miles and the transmission was fine. No oil change for 30k miles. I was 18 homeless and had a bad drug addictiom the car was beat to death. The rack and pinion was a problem though. I had got it from a old guy and the cars work was done at dealership and at 150k miles it had gone through 6 rack and pinions and it went out the 40k miles I had it too.
Dude, you need more subs to be honest, you gave a well made review on one of the most revolutionary cars at the time. It's a shame that Doug dunked on the wrong car, my relatives owned a Black 97' LS400, with all the bells and whistles, it was a pretty nice car when I rode in it. Anyways, you earned a sub!
I owned a 1997 LS400 and it was BULLETPROOF!!!! One of the best cars EVER!!!
like actual bulletproof?
Santiago Rocha I’m sure there were companies that bulletproofed them back in the day ;)
datdamndavisboy Al Capone's 27 caddy was bullet proof 😎
+datdamndavisboy- The 1997 LS400 still IS one of the best automobiles ever!
still a beautiful car
I agree this car was targeted for people born in the 1920 and 1930’s. Me being born in 90’s this car was revolutionary for its time and was amazing for its time. Good points Rob! Doug’s score has no point at times, as the 0-60 for its time was one of the best!
Your videos are all incredible. Thanks for your excellent work and education
DeMuro is an ad-man. He's all about advertising for Autotrader or whatever other company that's paying him to flap his lips.
You nailed it!
Mmm I don’t know about that
Balls Mahoney at very least it’s go for his sponsors to show new buys in a good light
Yes If you have a couple of million subscribers they turn in to liars suddenly
Make sure you check out Cars and Bids!!
You should do this for more of Doug’s videos! ...I also agree that the Doug score is arbitrary and stupid😂
Its not stupid, he's just too harsh when grading the cars he reviews
Doug HIMSELF says his reviews are arbitrary, biased and stupid....no surprise there
I used to own an Alpine Silver metallic 1994 LS400 with a black leather interior. It was one of the greatest most reliable vehicles I ever owned. I bought it for a steal at 1k$ and did all kinds of work to it. Replaced the timing belt, all fluids replaced, PS pump leak fixed, dropped the rear subframe and repainted it, replaced all the rear suspension bushing, fixed the radio LCD, ECU capacitors, and instrument panel speedometer needle was fixed. I also added an Aux cable port while I was at it. All OEM original parts from Sewell Lexus. I ended up selling it before the prices went through the roof. Great synopsis and good review of the car you posted! They are real land yachts and awesome highway cruisers!
Thank you for sharing your great LS! I love them and enjoyed your detailed perspective.
Great video but remember, the Doug score is called that for a reason. It's up to Dougs standard and his likings, so that means it's not objective at all.
Josh Gladstone You’re right but i think it’s pretty unfair to score a car from 1989 to one from 2020.
The beef is real between Doug and Rob I see...
Bobbybo 124 indeed it is
Indeed it is
Doug => Cobra Kai dojo ; Rob => Miyagi Dojo . The struggle/ Drama is real..
You should just Re-review all cars doug has done and upload it ... loved the video! just subbed!
I don't live a life of regrets, but I do regret passing on the opportunity to buy one these cars that was a 1 owner for $1000. I told my buddy about it and he bought it the same day and totalled it a month later. Pretty neat car!
I knew Doug's short sightings would spawn an anti-doug, I'm kind of glad. Doug sounds like Andy Rooney and Julia Child, this guy sounds like Templeton from the Charlotte's Web cartoon. I like Templeton better.
Doug makes judgement on cars that existed before he was born.
i love my ls 400. i especially apreciate it on long highway trip. good on gas. and somehow agile. My last ls had coilover suspension and i could really appreciate the suspension and it was alot more fun to drive. my next project is a manual ls400. i just love the body style and engineering.
good on gas? what are your tips for coaxing the max amount of gas mileage from the v8?
@Road Guy Rob
I'm a guy living in Japan for 16 years and on, with LS-Love. My first car was the 1990 model of LS400, Type C (air suspension), full-package. My second car was the very last model of LS400, 1998, after a small model change in 1998 with DVD navigation system and 5-gear transmission, a type B European version, (My dream-car). After it was crashed by a 60-year-old granny, I couldn`t fix it within the insurance budget, so I got my 3rd car with the money, a 2001 LS430, B Euro. 1 year later, I found a TOM'S completed SAME model as my third car with 120,000 miles on ODD, so this became my 4th car. With 356 horse power, strengthened body, full aero-parts, metal breaking wires, YES, it can run in some easy races. lol
Somehow I feel you like the same spirit in the early LEXUS cars! Let me share some more information that I found out about my first car.
1st, the original shorter windshield wiper had a cute U-shape arch (at least in Japan), for making the wipers completely unseen from the driver's view.
2nd, the windshield had an electric signal blocking function, so that no phone calls or other electric signals from inside the car could be detected by anyone from the front outside. Very cool function
for privacy protection. But because of this, I couldn't install the TV antenna or ETC system antenna on the dashboard, `cause they just couldn`t pick up any signals through the windshield. I had
to put them on the top of the car, outside. lol I NEVER had this problem with any later models ever since. (which windshield is better made, huh?)
3rd, almost ALL car parts were heavier than in the later models, and the insulation was thicker than in the later models.
The base model is the lightest, with just the minimum unnecessary weight for running by all means. I hope your LS400 can survive for many more decades! As my personal experience, the air-conditioning system is a weak point, be careful!
It would be nice to talk with someone who has the same passion as I do!
Oh my god, I saw that old Lexus commercial on a VHS tape my family recorded Star Wars on lmao, young me was convinced it was fake, my dad didn't even believe the car could really do that. It's so cool that it really can/could at one point.
I've never ever drove, sat or even touched an original celsior /LS400 but i have a lot of respect to them. I have an 86 cressida and considering this was the replacement to my car, i already imagine how good it was. This lexus proves that luxury cars can be reliable and easy to fix
Love the review. I have a 2004 Volvo XC90 that also has adaptive power steering that gets stiffer the faster you go. I think there were multiple Volvo models of the early 2000's to have this system. It's cool that Lexus had it over 10 years earlier.
Excellent rebuttal. Doug really pissed me off about what he said of the Lexus LS400. I own one and I don't know what the hell was talking about. Thanks for taking the time to make this video and exposing the truth.
Doug is usually good but here he went wayward with Ls400.
Its a master piece and even today it stands out among latest cars.
Nice review..... Love the way you made the video and armrest thing.... Lolz.... You did justice to this legend.
Make more videos please! You are a very entertaining car reviewer.
Wilmer Jael I agree...
15:52 He wears his sunglasses at night lol 😂 Am I the only one that noticed?
Kevin Fernando. Maybe he has googly eyes that he's trying to hide.
tell that to scoty
And not only shoots a video this way, but drives the car on the road this way.
I wear my sunglasses at night
So I can, so I can
Ok Corey Hart 🕶
"The center is dated"
No shit it's 30 years old doug, you also look a lot more dated than you did 30 years ago
Thank you for this video! I own a 1995 LS400 with 70K miles on it. Great condition. Love driving it around knowing that I do not have to worry about paying a "mortgage for a car" these days..... Again great video!
For tall people
..the sunvisor over the mirror is the best feature of all time. My WRX had one and I blessed it every morning.
We can’t compare vehicles of yesterday to the modern day computers on wheels.
Sure we can, we do live in present time after all and have certain expectations, but having some historical context like Rob gave us here is also very important - which it seems Doug left out.
Computers on wheels thats fail.and cost u alor of money to fix.not toyota they tink abt wat its going to cost to fix.germans just all out speed tec.and u past them on d side of the road.haha sud a buy a toyota.toyota king
You hit the nail on the head so hard it cracked the wood lol
I recently had a 1989 mercedes 190e 2.6 and it's just so interesting to see that even down to the gas cap holder, my 190e and this ls share so many features. i slid on ice and was slammed in the left side of my body by a semi truck and unfortunately lost one of my dream cars but this was nice to watch
you forgot to mention that these cars did not just hit over 200,000 miles but also can get to a million with no problem (matt farah's car)
First time viewer of your channel
And while being a long time viewer of Doug’s.
I’m making the switch as this is far more informative from a real world perspective.
Another LS400 owner here, and all I have to say is thank you for making this video!
Having worked as a porter, detailer, and some mechanic apprentice work at Toyota and a Lexus dealer I have long been a fan of LS 400 and after owning many used cars foreign and domestic strongly determined to purchase an older LS sedan as they're classic, very well designed reliable, and fly under the radar these days. Good stuff sir thank you!!
What an excellent review Rob! I live in the Tempe area of Phoenix. I drift an LS400 with a 5 speed and nitrous. I would still love to own a stock LS400 like yours any day of the week for daily driving. Sure its mpg is not civic range, but honestly its worth it. I love your video on the Phoenix freeway history by the way. I am a nerd about roadway logic and traffic behaviors and you are digging gold for me with every video. Thank you!
Cadillacs from that era.... best not remembered...
the cadillac broughams from that period were awesome cars. the rest was cheap crap
You are quite right! A proper pimp wouldn't be caught dead in a Lexus...
@@chrisxaf1237 I owned a 1990 Brougham until 2 years ago. It was a beautiful car. The engine, transmission, brakes were really good. It was the 5.7 liter engine and, to my surprise, it had really nice suspension for that era and it being a full size luxury car . I loved taking cloverleafs with that car and leaving tailgaters behind. Sadly, after about 130,000 miles, it became too much of a nuisance with mostly electrical failures.
Yes Doug talks a lot of crap
The old Lexus ad with the wine glasses did not mention the fact that the dyno it sat on was not anywhere near normal in the slightest but was in fact specifically made on very specially controlled gellite pads that counter acted any flaws in the actual ride of the car by three separate computers set up in a large sound booth used by NASA when experimenting with satellites that were set to be released into geosynchronous orbits.
We forget how young doug actually is, and how sheltered he must have been at times. I grew up with 80s toyotas, many many 3rd gen celicas, camrys, trucks, etc. I've loved cars my whole life (i'm an 85 model myself) and i remember not paying much attention to lexus at the time it was launched because, well, that was way out of our league. Here we are in 2022, And i bought a 95 with 121,000 miles on it, and it is now our family car, and we prefer it over the 2007 rav4. The ride is so wonderful! and I love the fact we can drive down the interstate and I can still hear my soft spoken wife. Even the factory stereo still sounds really good (and I don't even have the Nakamichi) but I think people forget that in the mid 90s a fully loaded camry was around 20 grand, while the sticker on my 95 says it was 56,000! This was one hell of a car for it's time. It's funny to see how a lot of the tech in these cars filtered down to the other Toyota models over the years.
Road Guy Rob, the type of guy to wear sunglasses at night
(seems fitting for a Daddy Doug meme on a rebuttal video)
Another plus to the foglights being up high is that lower mounted foglights always end up cracking/breaking due to them being so close to the ground. Doug gives good reviews and his scores are based on what a modern person might think of the car. However, this car was so amazing, it set the standard for luxury cars. The Europeans actually had to play catch up because the LS400 started setting the standards for luxury cars from the beginning. As for the wheels, the one Doug reviewed had the same wheels except they were chrome plated. 100K miles was never really much for a Toyota. Toyotas were exceeding 250K miles even back in the 80's. I've seen more than a handful of these original LS models with over 500K miles on the original engine and transmission. By the way, the website is the Toyota 200K Mile Club. They had so many submissions when they started it that they site actually crashed.
The overdrive button is a converter lock, it works in all gears, it gives a better milage. If you pull a trailer you dont stress the converter so much.
I've owned three, yes THREE pre-owned ls400's 93,95,97. By far my favorite car. They hug the road, with grace and dignity. I remember being 17 years old on the highway just leaving brand new 2010-14 mustangs and cameros in the rearview. The adjustable petals, the countless possible seat positions, the telescoping steering wheel. It all made the car just feel incredible. Also my favorite compartment was when they moved the first aid kit to under the driver seat in a little hiding slide out box.
the LS400 is insanely quite and has no echo in the cabin only noticeable if you actually sing ,2018 4runner ,tundra and camry have very notable voice echo, this thing type of thing usually would never matter but the LS400 i believe is the first car used to record a song or radio event inside the cabin while moving !!
I like Doug, but he talks about cars like an 18 year old that just started driving last year. I thought he was close to my age? I got my license in ‘96 at age 16, and most of the cars on the road were ones just like this one, and many people I knew drove hand-me-down cars from the ‘80s or very early ‘90s. In other words, his reactions to some vehicles are both surprising and confusing. But like I said, don’t know how old he is exactly.
At least ten years younger than you if not more.
"When are you ever going to work on your Lexus ?" 😂. Agreed Good review!
my boss had a 93 LS400 and a 91 500SL, i drove both regularly, the lS was amazing and smooth and quiet. The 500SL was fast and rough, it felt the road, the lexus floated quietly, with jet thrust, very magical car back then especially with the floating vivid guage cluster. Now I own a fully loaded 90 with 247k miles today and drive it a lot, it's no longer the smooth quiet ride it was 29 years ago but it's a good car and handles very well. It gets it done, people laugh when i pop the center arm rest and show the old car phone powered up in there, circa thomas magnum.
A Lexus is like a fine wine. You don't just gulp it down like a glass of cheap plonk, you have to sip it, savour it, roll it around your mouth and really get a taste of it to appreciate it's fine texture and sophisticated quality. Where Doug went wrong is he just devoured it like it was something ordinary, thus missing the finer qualities. To really appreciate a Lexus, you need to spend a considerable amount of quality time with one, get a proper feel of one. A quick flip flop around the block and you won't even begin to understand the true depth of this car's fine qualities. It's all in the subtleties, and once you've owned a Lexus, nothing else even gets close.
Ok that antenna thing is really friggin cool. Never seen anything like that.
Just saw Doug’s review before yours. This is definitely a better review! Can I ask, do you have trouble diagnosing issues since this was before OBD2?
Wow, I didn't know that about the antenna. Great review! My personal feature is how the engine warning lights shine down from the top of the speedometer cluster and reflect off the bezel creating a holographic effect.
Man I like this you hit it right on the head Doug was wrong
"DOUG!!" Lol this guy cracks me up, also a solid review. I love the ls400 and the 1uz in general.
13:55 Our family car when I was 17 was a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix and it had windshield wipers that disappeared when you turned them off. Nice of Lexus to bring that feature back.
I had a an LS400 like the one Doug gave a review on, it was 259k miles and was not treated with respect at all until I got my hands on it, it really felt new, I have a 91 Toyota Celsior (The LS400 in Japan sold as a Toyota) with 65k miles, not a single difference between a high mileage one and a new one.
Doug is whimsical and curious in his reviews they are so so he focuses and nit picks as a theme so he is less than objective it almost seems like it depends on his time of the month lol and he is a giant so he forgets that some people have 6 year olds in the back seat
He misses a lot of things lol and I enjoy them occasionally but he always finds something to get on my nerves lol like the scoring
When you actually know the thing being reviewed, you usually get pissed, and this goes for pretty much any thing and any reviewer, but it's especially true of Doug these days, since he apparently feels the need to stretch any video to 30 minutes, exposing to a much greater risk of saying something stupid. I really love Doug's videos, but I prefer the ones he does on his own cars to the reviews.
THANKS for a good review, well in depth and certainly in perspective
Doug’s review disappointed me as well.
I drive a silver 2000 LS with 158k miles, and my Mother drives a metallic taupe 1993 LS with only 105k miles. No rust on either of them. We LOVE these cars and cherish them for the automotive masterpieces that they truly are.❤
Thanks for the vid. Peace to all the Lexus lovers worldwide.🌎
1UZ for life Y’all!🔥☝️🔥
i really like the start-up of the Lexus LS400/Toyota Celsior
I have a silver 98' UCF20
I too thought to comment on Doug’s review of the LS400 but you’ve done a far better job than what I could have. Kudos to you.
Doug will have to go back to car review school after this lexus review. Thank you Rob, lets see more reviews please!