Lasting Luxury: 1998 Lexus LS400

Six thousand dollars doesn't buy much in terms of a car these days at a dealer lot. The Nissan Versa is the cheapest new car you can get, but it still costs more than $12k out of the door, so will you believe me if I tell you that you can drive a luxurious, reliable, and fast car for about half that price?  Find this 1998 Lexus LS400 offered for $5950 located in Mountain View, CA via craigslist.

The Lexus LS was first introduced in 1989 but it took a few years before buyers were willing to accept a S-Class competitor offered from a Japanese manufacturer.  Ironically just as the second generation LS was getting into production, Mercedes was going into the dark era of Daimler-Chrysler when quality went out the door like scruples on Wall Street.  As Mercedes mortgaged its extensive history of building bulletproof sedans with squeaky plastic and under-engineered gizmos, Toyota was paying it forward with a line of trouble-free luxury automobiles that have stood the test of time.

Under the hood is Toyota's 1UZ-FE, a 4.0 liter DOHC over-square V8 that puts out 290 horsepower and 300 ft-lbs of torque.  That is about 200 more horsepower than the previously mentioned Nissan Versa and about 1000X more classy.

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