which aristo?

[lambertpig]

i have narrowed the choise of family car down to one

 

ARISTO!

There seem to be 3 about in my price range -£5k 2 on ebay and one on piston heads

 

do you guys think i should go for the white facelift vvti with 130k miles on a 99 plate or one of the mk 1s with less than 70k miles on 95 plate in slightly better condition and better colour grey or black + bit cheaper

 

not that keen on the rear door windows on the facelift but suppose its an updated car with paddle shift etc

 

non have been modded and i will keep them all standard apart from wheels/bilsteins

dont want a loud mad saloon for family use

 

opinions?

[aido]

I have the Mk2 which i'm happy with, a mate has a white Mk2 which is really nice with aftermarket wheels on, looks totally different as you don't see many (in fact only ever seen one) GS300's in white!

 

In terms of space, I think the Mk1's have more space inside, I do prefer the backend of the Mk1's, it does look a little more dated though compared to the back of the Mk2 once you've fitted some of the newer type light clusters.

 

Not sure about the boot on the Mk1 but think it's bigger than the Mk2, in fact I can just fit a wheelchair in the back and that's nearly hitting the sub when it's in the boot!!

[mattanna]

Beware of high mileage, as many know i have a mk1 aristo tt which had done 100k and it has now cost me £5000+ in rebuild costs, i am not the only one either who has had trouble with Aristo engine. If they go wrong it is costly, service history seems most important thing.I think the mk2 looks terrible at the front and in general so would always go for mk1. Mk2 are known for brake cylinder problems too(£2000) to fix.Also vvti are difficult to delimit, are you getting tt or n/a?

[lambertpig]

Beware of high mileage, as many know i have a mk1 aristo tt which had done 100k and it has now cost me £5000+ in rebuild costs, i am not the only one either who has had trouble with Aristo engine. If they go wrong it is costly, service history seems most important thing.I think the mk2 looks terrible at the front and in general so would always go for mk1. Mk2 are known for brake cylinder problems too(£2000) to fix.Also vvti are difficult to delimit, are you getting tt or n/a?

 

it will be a tt will look over well having a tt supra gives me confidence when looking at motor turbos etc. one of them is a mk 1 from a import firm and is fresh in with 70miles gaurenteed dont know how to link autotrader ad but its the grey one

[mattanna]

Things too look for are engine mounts seem to be shafted on a lot of them(doubt you could see them though), binding calipers, speedo needles, rev counter etc can have dark patches on them, not a problem if they go altogether apart from at night, best solution is to source a gs300 one from a scrappy, also front ball joints, just check for play in front wheels, and check recoil from shocks, front ball joints cost £200 each from Lexus, have not had mine done as think they are ok, obviously check under oil filler cap etc for sludge etc, exhausts were stainless steel but may look a bit tatty as were not shiny finish ones, and obviously it will be an auto as no manuals, just check for damp in boot also as boot seal can go, there is not a lot else to look for, my engine was carbonised from poor maintenance as vvteyes was in thread carbonisation killed my engine, good luck with it, by the way mk1 tt is quick, only a few tenths down on an auto tt supra despite weight, they are awesome cars

cheers

Matt

[dangerous brain]

Mate you should ask this question on the lexus forum. In short the mk2 is significantly harder to tune than the mk1. Recently it looks like pro-lex have sorted out a HKS box to take off the speed limiter (it used to need a replacement ecu). Without seeing pics of the various cars or links to them I wouldn't start to comment on the merits of any of them.

 

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=36101&st=0&p=397190entry397190

 

looks like a good one.

 

If you mean the one at Keighleys on the autotrader I'd do a quick search on here for that garage and make your own mind up about that place.

[lambertpig]

Mate you should ask this question on the lexus forum. In short the mk2 is significantly harder to tune than the mk1. Recently it looks like pro-lex have sorted out a HKS box to take off the speed limiter (it used to need a replacement ecu). Without seeing pics of the various cars or links to them I wouldn't start to comment on the merits of any of them.

 

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=36101&st=0&p=397190entry397190

 

If you mean the one at Keighleys on the autotrader I'd do a quick search on here for that garage and make your own mind up about that place.

 

 

 

looking at that black one db reckon it could be fair price pretty sure id like the mk1 now

 

thanks for all the advice