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Lexus GS S140 or Lexus Grand Sedan or Toyota Aristo. Very few people might be interested in such a thing, but you might be surprised by what the plate is spinning.

After the unexpected success of the Lexus LS in 1989, Toyota engineers thought of launching the second generation of LS in 1994 and also a rival for a class below, namely a rival for the Series 5 and E Class, because A6 did not exist back then, as they already had the Lexus ES for the compact class like Series 3 and 190E, and Audi 80. And so, the Lexus GS S140 was born. Only this time, they didn’t set aside money for a special and exclusive platform, as was the case with the LS, and they resorted to the platform of the legendary Toyota Crown, a name that means little to us but made waves in Japan and the USA.

The recipe was composed of all the right ingredients. It had independent and full of surprises suspension both at the front and rear, it had e-German engines with horizontal figures and paranormal eights. It was built to endure longer than the factory in which it was built. It had an average price, and you no longer had real reasons to buy a Series 5. And yet, it was a bigger failure than Pimp my bedroom. Get on me, rub better, with those supernatural vertical engines, stay a bit longer…

Why was it a failure?

• Because the initial price was better than walmart commercials from the 2000s, which you can no longer air nowadays, only that the yen had started to gain value, and the price had increased so much that you could buy a Series 7 for that money. Then the Lexus GS S140 fully felt the effects of the lost decade in Japan’s history, and sales were slim. Super slim. Gwyneth Paltrow slim. 


• The second reason was that people were not so interested in a luxury sedan in the middle class. We are in 1994 and in the midst of madness. The Subaru Impreza WRX is just being launched along with the first Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. The Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 and, right from Toyota’s courtyard, the legendary Toyota Supra with which most readers around here grew up through NFS. I think you get the idea, even if the most important and best car launched in 1994 was the Range Rover P38.

Lexus GS S140 Engines

Petrol

• 3.0 l-6 2JZ-GE 227 horsepower – Yep, that legendary 2JZ from Toyota. Water pump, oil consumption, and high-pressure pump. These would be the issues, but they happen rarely enough not to raise your tension to paradise.


• 3.0 l-6 Twin-Turbo 2JZ-GTE 275 horsepower – Yes, it’s that 2JZ from Toyota but with two connected turbines. Yes, it’s that engine from the Supra. Yes, on the Supra, the engine was sold with 330 horsepower stock and somewhere around 750 if you started to fiddle with it. In practice, the Lexus GS300 is a Toyota Supra with 4 seats, an automatic gearbox, and massage seats. As for issues, the turbines tend to fail just as Nikita makes love – rarely but well.


• 4.0 V8 1UZ-FE 250 horsepower – Seeing that the Lexus GS S140 was selling like hotcakes, the slavs from Toyota thought of offering the legendary 4.0 V8 1UZ-FE from the Lexus LS and Toyota Land Cruiser. An almost indestructible engine, and the only real issue is age in the sense that it doesn’t have any specific weak points, but anything can be weakened at this age.

Lexus GS S140 Reliability Issues

• Lexus GS S140 came packed with technology, and that means that at its age, it will also have complementary electrical issues.


• Good luck finding parts and mechanics. In fact, this is the biggest issue with the Lexus GS S140 because it was a rare car. On one side, you had the Toyota Aristo, which was 90% Lexus GS at 70% of the price, and on the other side, you had the Toyota Supra.

Lexus GS S140 Verdict

One of the shortest articles on this online septic tank, and that’s because the list of issues is short because that’s pretty much the strong suit of Lexus. Honestly, I have serious doubts that this article and this car will catch on with the public, just like I caught my fingers in the piano, but without the Lexus GS S140, we wouldn’t have the Lexus GS S160, one of my favorite cars.

Which engines do I recommend? Realistically speaking, the 2JZ-GE engine with 227 horsepower is all the engine you need because the next engines are already too rare and too expensive.