Some notes: In 1998, Toyota added VVTi to both the 1UZ and 2JZ which is where the torque bump comes from. 92-94 1UZ are thick-rod (overbuilt) non-VVT, 95-97 are standard con-rod sized, then 98+ are VVTi. This is also when the facelift front, rear, and side skirts came in. These cars also only came with open diffs until 97+, and Torsen diffs were a dealer option so they're rare. 1JZ was an option but only outside the US :( ironically would have made the car an "SC250". SC400s *only* came in automatic, SC300s come with a W58. If you have the auto trans, flush the fluid at ~125k. The W58 is glass, so the popular swap is a CD009 and Collins adapter. And yeah, the *one* manual SC400 does exist, it's in a garage in the states somewhere at one of the Toyota factories. Team 92 taillights gang.
I am sorry to break any hearts or dispel any urban legends with this comment. I too believed this story for a long time and pulled a few favors to verify its authenticity. The long-rumored single factory manual SC400 (believed to have been owned by former Toyota USA president/COO Jim Press) did not ever exist. Hagerty has been perpetuating this rumor for close to a decade now, it is sadly not true. As the urban legend claims, the car was thought to have been a 1995 SC400 assembled at Kanto Auto Works with a W58 transmission on the factory line, and brought to the USA as a company car for Press. I can't breach his anonymity, but a close friend (who works for Gazoo Racing marketing at Toyota HQ in Texas) contacted Jim personally on a favor, to confirm the story a few months ago, and Mr. Press revealed that story is not true. It would have been awesome if it was true however!
Got a Red 1995 Sc300 auto with 206k miles on it for $3500 a week ago. Exterior and Interior is nearly conditionally mint, drove it home man it was so f*ckn smooth. Inline sixes sound so great dude! Got many plans for it next couple years
@@hakosan86 Drove 3 hrs away from my place. Do you use facebook market? That’s where I found mine occasionally there’s really good deals that come out but sell quickly. Bought mine just 12 hours after it was listed on sale, make a video asap if you ever find one! I’ll be in here just watching everyone’s own build and breakdown 😃
I am the proud owner for 2 weeks now of a 1993 SC 400 in pearl white with beige leather. The cherry on top is the 26,000 original miles. It is dead nuts new and totally original. No prior paint or body work, never smoked in, not a chip or a ding. An amazing time capsule. I’m in love with my new Lexus.
@@cityboyt6317 befoward. Just be mindful there are customs fees and stuff that have to be paid once the car gets here depending on the price of the car it can add up to a decent amount more money. Plus you have to pay someone to file all the paperwork for you and pick the car up from port for you.
didn't read the comments to see if someone mentioned this but the factory manual transmission and clutch master cylinder are weak. if a current SC owner or potential buyer plans to make more than 300-400 HP they will want to swap the transmission anyway so there is no point in paying the premium to get the manual. To make one of these fast whether its a 300 or 400 you're looking at roughly $6k for a trans swap and another $6k-$8k for a turbo setup. Superchargers and NA builds are cool but sadly will cost more to build than the return in HP that you'll get. Performance wise, a turbo build with ARP head studs and sturdy head gaskets is the way to go. Trust me, I own one. If nothing else, Sikky sells a LS/T56 swap kit, and we all know you can get LS parts anywhere.
I’ve owned a 97 factory 5spd for almost a year now, and I’m only the second owner. Honestly feel super lucky and I’ve loved every single minute of driving it
Congratulations…you have excellent taste. At 18 I bought a 93 Acura Integra in 01 after working as a cashier at ShopRite and a lucky accident that totaled my dads old Buick Regal that paid me 3500 bucks even though it was on its last legs. The other driver didn’t realize I didn’t have a stop sign and came out and T-boned my passenger side door. I wasn’t hurt, got paid and the cop dropped me off at home lol. It also caused 2 other accidents as people weren’t paying attention looking at my totaled car lol so the cop had some documenting to do
Just some extra insight... if your door stops opening, it's most likely a little cheap plastic door handle piece, the replacement takes like 20 min tops. If the door doesn't open don't use that window as the regulator can bend and destroy the metal rod that operates the door handle. Then you have another more expensive issue. Also if you want a 400 to swap a manual into, reconsider a lot because in a lot of places you can't legally put a manual in with smog as the 1uz wasn't offered manual in the US.
To comment on what you said about "if the fuel pump is not running, run a wire from the battery to the pump" no, you can bypass the fuel pump ecu which is located behind the arm panel of the driverside back seat. Simply un plug the fuel pump ecu and run a small wire from 1 prong to the other and your good. There are videos that show you which prongs to run the wire from.
I owned 3 ae86 an mr2 turbo and a Celica GT.. i sold the em all.. now i have a 97 sc300 5speed factory and a 92 sc400 v8.. these two are the ones i kept and enjoy the most.. a legit full size Grand Touring coupe.. Class and sporty at the same time.. I always tought i only wanted an sc just because I couldn’t afford an mk4 supra at that time.. I probably would still get an MK4 supra one day but im definitely keeping my SC’s too❤
I’ve got a 5 speed SC in teal mist that I swapped the interior out to a black one for. You’ve got everything on point. I actually think the rarest factory color for this car was Baltic Blue. It was only available in 95 as a special option or something.
@@nkchoate I actually won the lotto with mine because there was one at my local car junkyard with a full black interior. I think in total for the seats, carpets, dash, etc, it was around $250-350? Definitely worth it considering what it costs on eBay or in person sometimes. I did the work myself, not too hard as long as you don’t lose too many screws or break too many clips. Be super careful around the door cards and interior window trimming as they’re pretty fragile.
Saw a 1996 sc300 auto for 5k about 40 miles from me. It has 159,000 miles but it looks like a grandma was driving the car. Completely stock and the interior is mint.
The best part is most of the Supra parts swap right in. I was able to put an NA Supra LSD into my 97 5speed. The whole diff just bolted right in when you swapped out the driveshaft flange. Also the Supra turbo brakes plug right in with a minor adjustment
Great video, but, i have to call you out on that last point with the rsp being the rarest color. I have a 2000 sc400 which i believe is the only year this color was featured, along with cinnabar red and five others. So the previous owner who i bought my sc from told me about how he contacted lexus usa about the production numbers as far as colors go, and what he said was there were 100 in cinnabar red, 100 in rsp, 100 in a greenish color, but… thats all i really took from it. The car i bought has original paint and the color is pearl white/gold. When i bought the car the license plate read “1 OF 18”. This is how i learned everything i know about the colors for that year at least for the 400. Now this is all from what i heard the previous owner tell me about it, so take it with a grain of salt i guess. But hes a pretty stand up guy, a fellow car enthusiast himself and i would believe him. 324 400s were made that year, so that leaves 6 other cars with different original paint. The numbers may have been smushed somewhere along the way, but im pretty sure that (at least as far as sc400s go) Royal Sapphire Pearl is tied as the third, fourth, or maybe fifth rarest color. Thank you for listening to my ted talk
Great review! The first gen SC was my gateway drug into the Lexus family. I came out of the club, saw it, and was like...."What. Is. This?!" Couldn't afford one, so I started with the ES just to be in the family. 🙂 Five Lexus' later and I'm still all-in. Thanks for posting!
I own a 1996 SC400 Diamond Pearl white, when in the sun🤤. My favorite color!! Surprised not to see on your list. Maybe it’s not the rarest? Great vid btw. And cool to see you respond to all the comments👍🏻
I have a 92 SC400 with 87k miles and my fuel pump ECU stopped functioning correctly bought a used one and it’s back to normal. Also Lexus doesn’t manufacture new parts so one con of owning one it’s when things break your only option may be used or junkyard finds. Also if you lower your car, 1 the wiring harness relocate and 2 aftermarket suspension parts are slim. And unless you adjust your alignment, lowering might lose you grip and handling stability. I love the car tho I got it from my grandpa, the original owner.
If your alternator stops working because oil leaked on it just open it & change the copper brush inside. I did it twice because I didn’t fix the leak lol. I think you can get from other car’s alternators,(not only SC400)
Yes leather cracks if you don't take care of it... And I don't know many people who actually takes care of them. Its literally as simple as a quick wipe down and applying conditioner like Leather Honey. Leather will last hundreds of years if you take care of it, i.e. hydrate it. Go to a museum and you'll see samurai armors made of leather...
Good cars. I got a 2000 sc300 and 94 ls400. Used to have a 98 sc400 as well. Biggest bummer about these cars is the oem parts. They are either extinct or you are paying crazy money for them. Like the control arms are 1800 for a oem set. 900 a pop.
I have a maroon 98 soarer. Bought it while in Japan in 2020 and currently shipping it to the states. Didn’t know I came up at the time but so glad I never sold it!
I got a 95 sc I am building right now, full black interior new suspension and oem renaissance red paint. Get a 300 if you want manual turbod car and get a 400 for daily driver.
Don't run a cable straight from the battery to the fuel pump. That's not safe, The actual way to do it is jump the two wires where the fuel pump ECU connects to and then you bypass the fuel pump ECU
I just saw my car on this video red one at 5:33-5:49. Got different wheels on it and paint is really bad but it drives just as good, steering is butter thanks to my mechanic in Las Vegas. I bought in 2015 in north port Florida thats how old that video is, from Tampa to Vegas to San Jose and now in LA. The clip on here is from a video review the dude in blue made right before I bought it in 2015. Got it with like 140k now it has 248k.
Never run wires too ur fuel pump straight from the battery always add a switch or relay otherwise you run the risk of burning out ur pump or catching ur car on fire
Just picked up an sc400 for 650. Crank but no start, can smell fuel but doesnt want to run. Windows dont roll up, doors are not opening lol alll the common issuies. But for that price its worth every penny
Baltic blue is a special because its a Toyota color not a Lexus color. Theyre very rare. Mine is midnight indigo which seems to be rare even though they painted them from 92-96 i have not seen another in person and only talked to 1 other indigo owner on the other side of the world. Its fair to say that the rare sc ever is the 97 green w/ 5speed, probably less than 10 made. (Besides the one off manual 400 that was given to the ceo of trd American)
I have a oem manual is300 with an Altezza front end conversion and trunk. My dream car is a Supra and I know the sc300’s are closer then is300 for being built like a Supra so I’m tossing back and forth for selling for an sc300 oem manual or not or building the is300. tough decisions
I have the rarest color of sc300 you can get. I have a 95 sc300 in Baltic Blue paint code 752. Doesn't even show it as an option anywhere except for the toyota supra and even then it was rare. I got it confirmed by the vin at the dealer plus it has the gold badges.
Idk about giving up a kidney but these cars can be built up pretty nice just gotta do tons of maintenance because their old but once you get that right these are great daily drivers.
Depends what you mean by heavily modify. If your gonna take all the interior out and put a 2jzgte, I would just buy a shell. No point in ruining a well kept car
@@officiaIdemon The 2000 is easier to work on. Trust me I own cars with both motors and I would say I would definitely not recommend someone by one with a non-vvti unless they're willing to learn a lot and have to fix a lot of things or if they're not already mechanically inclined. Basically the vvti 2jzs are pretty simple to work on and what's really nice is you can hook up a code scanner if you get codes and you need to diagnose a check engine light a lot of things are a lot easier to access and the non-vvti it is very very hard to deal with since you got a distributor, and obdI
@@officiaIdemon oh yeah and also I forgot to mention non-vvti parts are really really hard to find and a lot of stuff is completely discontinued the vvti parts you might still might be able to still find. Non vvti parts are more expensive, they have a lot more things fail on them unless you find one that has been maintained really well. For both cars I would say do a lot of research if you haven't already, common failures for the cars are the fuel pump going bad, the fuel pump ECU, the main ECU having leaking capictors and failing, and a bunch of other things but I would definitely say for price wise for the two cars you listed I'd say go with the 2000, just because that's the last year and you're probably going to have a lot better luck with that one than doing with the older one. These cars even if they're maintained correctly and even stored in the right conditions still will have issues.
Alright guys, can someone give me some input on these. I came across a guy selling his 97’ SC 300, he posted it for $15k but said he’s willing to negotiate, it has 300k miles on the motor! So what all should I be looking for when I go and check it out?
I have 2 sc300's (one is a 5spd), and 3 sc400's... none of them have door sag, it doesn't happen...ever. You didn't mention the ONE thing they all suffer from and turns them into a death traps: Front Lower Control Arm Bushings!!!!! All my cars suffered from that. Slick tips are IMPOSSIBLE to find and the IS300 5spd trans is the weaker w55 not the supra and sc300 w58 5spd manual... The inner door handles are very fragile and the upper door card is usually cracked just under the window.
HELP!! I just bought a 1993 Lexus sc300 manual transmission with 35k miles. The car drove fine for a few hours but after letting it sit after turning it off and trying to start it back on it immediately turns off even if I give it gas. After a few tries of turning it back on after it keeps dying it manages to stay on. Any idea what this could be? Alternator was replaced already. It does not stall once it turns on and running nor does it hiccup or surge. Could it be that fuel pump isn’t receiving the 12volts ?
I have replaced the fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator and most recently the idle air control valve Runs better but somehow it is still stalling on me randomly only after immediately starting the car up after it has been warmed up to running temperature Any ideas? Next thing will be to clean the fuel tank and tank lines for gunk (the car did sit god knows for how many years)
And if you own Bank you may be able to keep up with the $C300 havye to put 25 Grand i and V8 car at least. Thvejnse 300 onlyiii needs a big turbo and can wax them all 800 horsepower will wax them all your friends anyway.
With all due respect to Toyota's reliability and possible appreciative value but the SC series is Cheryl Tiegs and my 98 Jaguar XK8 is Christy Brinkley visually of course beauty can be subjective .
Some notes: In 1998, Toyota added VVTi to both the 1UZ and 2JZ which is where the torque bump comes from.
92-94 1UZ are thick-rod (overbuilt) non-VVT, 95-97 are standard con-rod sized, then 98+ are VVTi. This is also when the facelift front, rear, and side skirts came in.
These cars also only came with open diffs until 97+, and Torsen diffs were a dealer option so they're rare. 1JZ was an option but only outside the US :( ironically would have made the car an "SC250".
SC400s *only* came in automatic, SC300s come with a W58.
If you have the auto trans, flush the fluid at ~125k.
The W58 is glass, so the popular swap is a CD009 and Collins adapter.
And yeah, the *one* manual SC400 does exist, it's in a garage in the states somewhere at one of the Toyota factories.
Team 92 taillights gang.
92 tail lights >
It's also worth swapping for a TH400 into the SC400 if one's goal is peak power.
I am sorry to break any hearts or dispel any urban legends with this comment. I too believed this story for a long time and pulled a few favors to verify its authenticity. The long-rumored single factory manual SC400 (believed to have been owned by former Toyota USA president/COO Jim Press) did not ever exist. Hagerty has been perpetuating this rumor for close to a decade now, it is sadly not true. As the urban legend claims, the car was thought to have been a 1995 SC400 assembled at Kanto Auto Works with a W58 transmission on the factory line, and brought to the USA as a company car for Press. I can't breach his anonymity, but a close friend (who works for Gazoo Racing marketing at Toyota HQ in Texas) contacted Jim personally on a favor, to confirm the story a few months ago, and Mr. Press revealed that story is not true. It would have been awesome if it was true however!
The connecting rods in the 1UZ went from "forged to cast" after 1994's run of production.
Bout to get me a 92 sc300 manual tomorrow
Got a Red 1995 Sc300 auto with 206k miles on it for $3500 a week ago. Exterior and Interior is nearly conditionally mint, drove it home man it was so f*ckn smooth. Inline sixes sound so great dude! Got many plans for it next couple years
Nice man im happy for you! Wish there was a clean one near me so I could pick one up
@@hakosan86 Drove 3 hrs away from my place. Do you use facebook market? That’s where I found mine occasionally there’s really good deals that come out but sell quickly. Bought mine just 12 hours after it was listed on sale, make a video asap if you ever find one! I’ll be in here just watching everyone’s own build and breakdown 😃
@@SentientOrang yeah i use facebook alot! Haven’t been looking for one strictly though so I haven’t found a good deal yet.
I just picked one up today for 2k with 149k miles.
@@bgchile2002 Hell yeahhh, congrats dude! Enjoy the ride !
I am the proud owner for 2 weeks now of a 1993 SC 400 in pearl white with beige leather.
The cherry on top is the 26,000 original miles.
It is dead nuts new and totally original.
No prior paint or body work, never smoked in, not a chip or a ding.
An amazing time capsule.
I’m in love with my new Lexus.
I just paid $7000 for a 97 Soarer shipped to the US. Was Grade 4 in auction. 1jz-vvti 80k miles
What website did you use to get it
@@cityboyt6317 befoward. Just be mindful there are customs fees and stuff that have to be paid once the car gets here depending on the price of the car it can add up to a decent amount more money. Plus you have to pay someone to file all the paperwork for you and pick the car up from port for you.
Wait that’s a steal steal
Ok but when? & from what importer?
i dont believe that price. not being honest
didn't read the comments to see if someone mentioned this but the factory manual transmission and clutch master cylinder are weak. if a current SC owner or potential buyer plans to make more than 300-400 HP they will want to swap the transmission anyway so there is no point in paying the premium to get the manual. To make one of these fast whether its a 300 or 400 you're looking at roughly $6k for a trans swap and another $6k-$8k for a turbo setup. Superchargers and NA builds are cool but sadly will cost more to build than the return in HP that you'll get. Performance wise, a turbo build with ARP head studs and sturdy head gaskets is the way to go. Trust me, I own one. If nothing else, Sikky sells a LS/T56 swap kit, and we all know you can get LS parts anywhere.
I’ve owned a 97 factory 5spd for almost a year now, and I’m only the second owner. Honestly feel super lucky and I’ve loved every single minute of driving it
Yeah dude ur super lucky! I wish i had enough money to buy the one i was looking at for 5k back in the day.
@@hakosan86 if you can find a 5spd it turns the sc into much more of a drivers car, strongly recommend
got a 97 sc300 in diamond pearl white with gold badges and 120k for $2800 a little over a year ago, i’m forever grateful to have it as my first car
Congratulations…you have excellent taste. At 18 I bought a 93 Acura Integra in 01 after working as a cashier at ShopRite and a lucky accident that totaled my dads old Buick Regal that paid me 3500 bucks even though it was on its last legs. The other driver didn’t realize I didn’t have a stop sign and came out and T-boned my passenger side door. I wasn’t hurt, got paid and the cop dropped me off at home lol. It also caused 2 other accidents as people weren’t paying attention looking at my totaled car lol so the cop had some documenting to do
1998 SC300 black/black 138k miles. I bought it in 2002 and is my daily driver. I work remote which is why the miles are low :)
I just bought a '96 SC300 for $1500 last night. it runs perfect, drove it an hour and a half home.
Wow congrats!
Just some extra insight... if your door stops opening, it's most likely a little cheap plastic door handle piece, the replacement takes like 20 min tops. If the door doesn't open don't use that window as the regulator can bend and destroy the metal rod that operates the door handle. Then you have another more expensive issue. Also if you want a 400 to swap a manual into, reconsider a lot because in a lot of places you can't legally put a manual in with smog as the 1uz wasn't offered manual in the US.
“This is the color if you were racing down the street” I know the feeling
Love the profile pic dude! It looks sick
To comment on what you said about "if the fuel pump is not running, run a wire from the battery to the pump" no, you can bypass the fuel pump ecu which is located behind the arm panel of the driverside back seat. Simply un plug the fuel pump ecu and run a small wire from 1 prong to the other and your good. There are videos that show you which prongs to run the wire from.
Or you could run a wire from b+ to Fp in the diagnostic port in the engine bay?
I’m not gon lie I ended up doing the kill switch from battery to fp on my SC. Yall think she’ll be good over time?
I owned 3 ae86 an mr2 turbo and a Celica GT.. i sold the em all.. now i have a 97 sc300 5speed factory and a 92 sc400 v8.. these two are the ones i kept and enjoy the most.. a legit full size Grand Touring coupe.. Class and sporty at the same time.. I always tought i only wanted an sc just because I couldn’t afford an mk4 supra at that time.. I probably would still get an MK4 supra one day but im definitely keeping my SC’s too❤
Damn dude you’ve owned alot. Yeah I definitely want to get an sc to keep for good.
@@hakosan86 you wont regret it..
92 nice 👍🏽 billet fuel rails and no passenger air bag, such a clean dash
I’ve got a 5 speed SC in teal mist that I swapped the interior out to a black one for. You’ve got everything on point. I actually think the rarest factory color for this car was Baltic Blue. It was only available in 95 as a special option or something.
Hmmm ill have to look into baltic blue! Thanks for watching!
How much did the interior swap cost you? Did you get it done by a shop? Thinking of doing it myself in the future.
@@nkchoate I actually won the lotto with mine because there was one at my local car junkyard with a full black interior. I think in total for the seats, carpets, dash, etc, it was around $250-350? Definitely worth it considering what it costs on eBay or in person sometimes.
I did the work myself, not too hard as long as you don’t lose too many screws or break too many clips. Be super careful around the door cards and interior window trimming as they’re pretty fragile.
idk i’ve never seen another sc with mystic gold metallic like my 92 i’ve never even personally seen another 92
I got a 95 teal mist SC300 with the special edition wheels auto and stock rear disc brakes for two grand one owner
Saw a 1996 sc300 auto for 5k about 40 miles from me. It has 159,000 miles but it looks like a grandma was driving the car. Completely stock and the interior is mint.
Get it!!!
NO WAY was it in federal way??
The best part is most of the Supra parts swap right in. I was able to put an NA Supra LSD into my 97 5speed. The whole diff just bolted right in when you swapped out the driveshaft flange. Also the Supra turbo brakes plug right in with a minor adjustment
Great video, but, i have to call you out on that last point with the rsp being the rarest color. I have a 2000 sc400 which i believe is the only year this color was featured, along with cinnabar red and five others. So the previous owner who i bought my sc from told me about how he contacted lexus usa about the production numbers as far as colors go, and what he said was there were 100 in cinnabar red, 100 in rsp, 100 in a greenish color, but… thats all i really took from it. The car i bought has original paint and the color is pearl white/gold. When i bought the car the license plate read “1 OF 18”. This is how i learned everything i know about the colors for that year at least for the 400. Now this is all from what i heard the previous owner tell me about it, so take it with a grain of salt i guess. But hes a pretty stand up guy, a fellow car enthusiast himself and i would believe him. 324 400s were made that year, so that leaves 6 other cars with different original paint. The numbers may have been smushed somewhere along the way, but im pretty sure that (at least as far as sc400s go) Royal Sapphire Pearl is tied as the third, fourth, or maybe fifth rarest color. Thank you for listening to my ted talk
just picked up a bone stock unmolested 82k mile 99 black on black 99’ SC400. For 4 grand. It smells and looks brand new
Great review! The first gen SC was my gateway drug into the Lexus family. I came out of the club, saw it, and was like...."What. Is. This?!" Couldn't afford one, so I started with the ES just to be in the family. 🙂 Five Lexus' later and I'm still all-in. Thanks for posting!
97 SC300 auto. Best first car you could ever have. In the far future, I plan to mod it into the ultimate daily. Absolutely get one, its worth it.
Agreed!
I own a 1996 SC400 Diamond Pearl white, when in the sun🤤. My favorite color!! Surprised not to see on your list. Maybe it’s not the rarest? Great vid btw. And cool to see you respond to all the comments👍🏻
Had a gold 93sc300,my favorite car of all time,love the teal color and that blue at the end ,takes me back to 2005)))
Why happened to it? You end up selling it?
So glad I got my factory 5 speed in 2011. These current prices are crazy to me
I know man :( wish they were back to 2001 prices so i could buy one lol
What are current prices like for 95+ OEM 5 speeds?
@@liamvg 8-16K depending on mileage and body condition.
Baroque is when you own 3 project cars but no house.
this video is a huge help, im looking to get a well maintained 92 SC400 at a dealer. looks very good condition but still want to inspect it to be safe
I have a 92 SC400 with 87k miles and my fuel pump ECU stopped functioning correctly bought a used one and it’s back to normal. Also Lexus doesn’t manufacture new parts so one con of owning one it’s when things break your only option may be used or junkyard finds. Also if you lower your car, 1 the wiring harness relocate and 2 aftermarket suspension parts are slim. And unless you adjust your alignment, lowering might lose you grip and handling stability. I love the car tho I got it from my grandpa, the original owner.
If your alternator stops working because oil leaked on it just open it & change the copper brush inside. I did it twice because I didn’t fix the leak lol. I think you can get from other car’s alternators,(not only SC400)
2000, white, tan, had to roll with the MK4 control arms, hella cheaper, a little stiffer.....I got the SC madness....Driving is my therapy..
Yes leather cracks if you don't take care of it... And I don't know many people who actually takes care of them. Its literally as simple as a quick wipe down and applying conditioner like Leather Honey. Leather will last hundreds of years if you take care of it, i.e. hydrate it. Go to a museum and you'll see samurai armors made of leather...
Proud owner of an all orig sc300 97 5 speed’ and a 92 sc400 v8
I think Sc300 is kinda underrated, but I'm absolutely in love with it. When I have an opportunity to buy one I'm definitely going to
Cant wait to see what type of build you do!
Good cars. I got a 2000 sc300 and 94 ls400. Used to have a 98 sc400 as well. Biggest bummer about these cars is the oem parts. They are either extinct or you are paying crazy money for them. Like the control arms are 1800 for a oem set. 900 a pop.
Man I miss my 1uz SC400
I have a maroon 98 soarer. Bought it while in Japan in 2020 and currently shipping it to the states. Didn’t know I came up at the time but so glad I never sold it!
I got a 95 sc I am building right now, full black interior new suspension and oem renaissance red paint. Get a 300 if you want manual turbod car and get a 400 for daily driver.
Don't run a cable straight from the battery to the fuel pump. That's not safe, The actual way to do it is jump the two wires where the fuel pump ECU connects to and then you bypass the fuel pump ECU
I just saw my car on this video red one at 5:33-5:49. Got different wheels on it and paint is really bad but it drives just as good, steering is butter thanks to my mechanic in Las Vegas. I bought in 2015 in north port Florida thats how old that video is, from Tampa to Vegas to San Jose and now in LA. The clip on here is from a video review the dude in blue made right before I bought it in 2015. Got it with like 140k now it has 248k.
私もsc300に、乗ってます❤❤❤❤❤
thank you❤️
Never run wires too ur fuel pump straight from the battery always add a switch or relay otherwise you run the risk of burning out ur pump or catching ur car on fire
I ran a wire with a fuse relay and kill switch from battery to fuel pump. You think this will be okay forever?
Just picked up an sc400 for 650. Crank but no start, can smell fuel but doesnt want to run. Windows dont roll up, doors are not opening lol alll the common issuies. But for that price its worth every penny
Baltic blue is a special because its a Toyota color not a Lexus color. Theyre very rare. Mine is midnight indigo which seems to be rare even though they painted them from 92-96 i have not seen another in person and only talked to 1 other indigo owner on the other side of the world. Its fair to say that the rare sc ever is the 97 green w/ 5speed, probably less than 10 made. (Besides the one off manual 400 that was given to the ceo of trd American)
I want the manual 400. That would be so sick. I saw a swapped one for sale like a year ago
@@hakosan86 good luck with that. Like you said, its probably in a museum somewhere. Maybe sitting next to the weird prototype sc from before launch
Baltic blue and shadow rose quartz are rare af also
Yeah i wanted to add them but i didn’t want to go over 5 because the video would be too long
I have a oem manual is300 with an Altezza front end conversion and trunk. My dream car is a Supra and I know the sc300’s are closer then is300 for being built like a Supra so I’m tossing back and forth for selling for an sc300 oem manual or not or building the is300. tough decisions
Both are great cars. That will be a tough decision!
I have the rarest color of sc300 you can get. I have a 95 sc300 in Baltic Blue paint code 752. Doesn't even show it as an option anywhere except for the toyota supra and even then it was rare. I got it confirmed by the vin at the dealer plus it has the gold badges.
wait what if ur your 92 lexus is a slicktop with leather seats, gold badging and burgundy?
I got a Lexus automatic sc400 all white, with 69k miles. What should I do first ?
Luckily I picked up an OEM 5 spd 3 years ago and built it
Just bought a 1995 sc400 with 170000km costed 5 gs in Canada and the radio was broken
Got my 95 SC400 2weeks ago … I Fuckin love this car
I have 97’ Soarer with factory 1JZ GTE VVTI engine with R154 trans
i have both 300 and 400 and the 400 is better in my opinion
This car is so sweet
Do these make good track cars or are they too heavy and more of a gt?
7:14 what wheels are those?
Just bought a 1992 sc400 for $1500 282k miles and needed an ecu that’s it
Nice! How you liking it?
I owned a 93 sc300 for 7 years I brought for $1,500 with 90k miles
Thank you so much for making this
Would you guys say 3K for a 191K mile 2jz sc300 is a good price?
W vid helped a lot im looking to buy one so this info was very good to know
Thanks for watching!
Idk about giving up a kidney but these cars can be built up pretty nice just gotta do tons of maintenance because their old but once you get that right these are great daily drivers.
Get a 1UZ rather than the 2jzge. 2jzge isn't very good for big power.
@@fraided88 you got that the other way around my friend
What’s obd1 and 2? What’s the difference
Is this a good first car
Definitely if you find one thats taken care of!
Are the manuals any good in these?
Where da 🔥 are all the mechanics who work on these cars? I have a ‘97 SC300 that I need a repair guy to work on!!!
is 190k and well kept good if i want to heavily mod the car, or should i look for something with less mileage?
i found a 2000 sc300 with 190k miles and untouched for 5k, and i found a 94’ with 100k miles for 8k also untouched.
Depends what you mean by heavily modify. If your gonna take all the interior out and put a 2jzgte, I would just buy a shell. No point in ruining a well kept car
i meant like an 2jzge nat, vertex body kit, cd009 kinda build
@@officiaIdemon The 2000 is easier to work on. Trust me I own cars with both motors and I would say I would definitely not recommend someone by one with a non-vvti unless they're willing to learn a lot and have to fix a lot of things or if they're not already mechanically inclined. Basically the vvti 2jzs are pretty simple to work on and what's really nice is you can hook up a code scanner if you get codes and you need to diagnose a check engine light a lot of things are a lot easier to access and the non-vvti it is very very hard to deal with since you got a distributor, and obdI
@@officiaIdemon oh yeah and also I forgot to mention non-vvti parts are really really hard to find and a lot of stuff is completely discontinued the vvti parts you might still might be able to still find. Non vvti parts are more expensive, they have a lot more things fail on them unless you find one that has been maintained really well. For both cars I would say do a lot of research if you haven't already, common failures for the cars are the fuel pump going bad, the fuel pump ECU, the main ECU having leaking capictors and failing, and a bunch of other things but I would definitely say for price wise for the two cars you listed I'd say go with the 2000, just because that's the last year and you're probably going to have a lot better luck with that one than doing with the older one. These cars even if they're maintained correctly and even stored in the right conditions still will have issues.
Alright guys, can someone give me some input on these. I came across a guy selling his 97’ SC 300, he posted it for $15k but said he’s willing to negotiate, it has 300k miles on the motor! So what all should I be looking for when I go and check it out?
97 sc300 2jz ge for 1500$ bought today!
Champagne color ❤❤❤❤
I have 2 sc300's (one is a 5spd), and 3 sc400's... none of them have door sag, it doesn't happen...ever. You didn't mention the ONE thing they all suffer from and turns them into a death traps: Front Lower Control Arm Bushings!!!!! All my cars suffered from that. Slick tips are IMPOSSIBLE to find and the IS300 5spd trans is the weaker w55 not the supra and sc300 w58 5spd manual... The inner door handles are very fragile and the upper door card is usually cracked just under the window.
Make a playlist on ur channel for the buyers guides you have done
ud sell a kidney for 5-10k?
It's like 5 connectors you have to unplug for the harness in the wheel well. Just did this a few days ago lol.
Sick!
Its the part where you gotta shove your head in the pedal space that got me lol that shit was mad uncomfortable
i’ve got a bordeuax red 97 with the gold badges 😏
Dang dude thats sick!!!! Riding in true luxury
Mine is in great shape 97 sc400 black on black with 350,000
Mine is the royal sapphire peral. Only one i saw in nz and bought it real quick
I own a 98 & 95 mostly stock, not boosted.
Nice dude those are keepers!
@@hakosan86 Thanks, my 98 is my daily and my 95 I drove home as a parts donor for the 98. 🤷🏿♂️
own a zilver 97 sc400 and a gold 99 sc300 gold
I have a 96 classic green pearl, im pretty sure it was late 96-97 a bummer I couldn’t get the facelifted body lol
anyone know what body kit is on the first one??
HELP!! I just bought a 1993 Lexus sc300 manual transmission with 35k miles. The car drove fine for a few hours but after letting it sit after turning it off and trying to start it back on it immediately turns off even if I give it gas.
After a few tries of turning it back on after it keeps dying it manages to stay on.
Any idea what this could be?
Alternator was replaced already.
It does not stall once it turns on and running nor does it hiccup or surge.
Could it be that fuel pump isn’t receiving the 12volts ?
I don’t know anything about these cars which is why I’m watching this video but generally speaking that sounds like a fuel pump issue
Straight fuel pump issue
I have replaced the fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator and most recently the idle air control valve
Runs better but somehow it is still stalling on me randomly only after immediately starting the car up after it has been warmed up to running temperature
Any ideas?
Next thing will be to clean the fuel tank and tank lines for gunk (the car did sit god knows for how many years)
It was the ECU that had blown capacitors.
About to pick up a teal misc metallic with 68k miles tmr wish me luck
grandma just gave us a 79k miles 1993 SC300 pearl white, stick shift, leather, sunroof ^__^
Great guide. I would never part with NA-T SC proud owner since 2013.
I have a sc 300 lexus silver blue with 14500 miles...and I need a kidney...what blood type are you?
Gettin mine Memorial Day for 1k 95 SC400 mint black interior and black paint job
just got a 1993 sc300 only 106,000 on the dash
you forgot ab shadow quartz
Good car hard to find part or they are very expensive!!!!
Sc400= 1st Japanese V8 product coupe. Why does no one ever mention this???
Sheeshh 🔥🔥
Thanks for watching!
My man literally forgot a color rarer than 3 out of 5 of them 3k7 shadow rose quartz
i want one but cant find bro
Hopefully you fine one soon dude! Im looking for one too
🔥🔥
Mines a 95 300 5 speed in the teal mist
And if you own Bank you may be able to keep up with the $C300 havye to put 25 Grand i and V8 car at least. Thvejnse 300 onlyiii needs a big turbo and can wax them all 800 horsepower will wax them all your friends anyway.
Bro how are yall finding the craziest deals 😭 im buying one with 260K fpr 4000
I just picked up a 92 sc400 1uz with 150k for 2k. Has some of the problems listed in the video like the gauge not lighting up and stuff but great car!
With all due respect to Toyota's reliability and possible appreciative value but the SC series is Cheryl Tiegs and my 98 Jaguar XK8 is Christy Brinkley visually of course beauty can be subjective .
I have a 1996 5 speed SC300 and the only thing I found wrong about your video is that they are slow as shit stock lmao
I bought a 1999 sc300 for $1900
Nice!
Nice man! Hopefully one day I’ll pick one up