I have owned 4 Toyota cars over the past 10 years and this is so far the best of them all. Rather than waste time citing specifications and trivia about the SC line (which you can google search) I will present a real world review on how the car is to live with daily.

My story with the SC started when I was in middle school in the early 90s and saw my first SC running the streets. The car looked nothing like other cars at the time and since then. While it is true that most all cars have become jelly bean shaped Toyota made this a very special jelly bean. At between 40 and the mid 50 grand mark I knew there was no way this was going to be attainable even as soon as high school for a 13 year old kid with $200 of savings. The car kind of fell off of my radar for several years because they are rare to begin with and as time marched on fewer and fewer were seen. I did see one in a magazine after they revised the design of the car slightly in 1997. The car looked even better with a new front nose, tail lamps, and side air dams. Around 2002 when I finished college they were still selling in the high teens for early models and in the low 20s for the 97+ models. I felt this was too much money for a used car and financing a depreciating asset that will end up in the junkyard is out of the question. So, about six years went by until one day I was just browsing some online ads for cars and found my very first SC for under 10 grand. Negotiations soured and I ended up not buying the car from the private seller but then in the fall of 2008 the stock market pretty much crashed to 60% of what it used to be and the general mood was full of economic doom. I called the seller back and we made a deal for $1800 less than what I was willing to pay for the car when I first saw it and got my offer declined. It was a combination of fate and luck that got me the SC after waiting for five months.

This car was designed in southern California at a Toyota studio keeping curvature as a main theme. There is a video on You Tube that gives all of the details so I suggest you have a look at that. Although, they claim this car was designed from scratch I tend to see many of the design elements of the fifth generation Celica (1990-93) in this car. In any case, both inside and out the car tends to lack right angles and is very heavy on round edges everywhere. The proportions of the car mimic those of the original Ford Mustang with a long hood and short trunk lid. However, here the doors are elongated and the quarter window in in the rear is also quite long. The fenders are stretched as well and overhang on both ends of the car is average. The wheelbase of the car is not super long but the aforementioned design themes makes the car look much longer than it is; a good thing. Being that mine is a 1998 it has the revised bodywork with a more aggressive front/rear bumper and lower panels that simulate a conservative body kit of sorts. The car looks much better in 1997-2000 styling; IMHO.

The interior of the car is top flight. All of the standard Lexus bells and whistles like moonroof, auto dimming interior and exterior mirrors, electroluminescent cluster, automatic headlamps, automatic climate control, 8 way power seats with power lumbar adjustment, etc.. Toyota even put in a computer that gives real time data on mpg, hours the car has been operating, average fuel economy, etc...Of course, there is an external temperature display, but unfortunately there is no compass. A much more modern gated shifter was added in 1998 and replaced a 1980s looking shifter in the 92-97 cars. The 97+ cars also got additional woodgrain on the console and ashtray lid. I have yet to see an SC that had the base tape player sound system. The “Lexus Premium” system made by Pioneer includes a 12 disc cd changer and has a separately amplified subwoofer that produces deep rich sound at any volume. For $2100 more (when new) these cars came with a system made by Nakamichi that was just out of this world. Go over half the volume in the top of the line system and your ears might bleed. A Nakamichi car is very desirable but if you find a nice one with the Pioneer option you should go for it. Nakamichi can be retrofitted to the car but it is a labor intensive job that can be fun if you are into that sort of thing. HVAC controls are just perfection and very intuitive to use. The paradox with this system is how complex the design is to make it so simple to use. In automatic mode you just set a dial to your desired temperature and push it. From there the car does everything for you. For more economical use you can cool the car down as cold as you wish using the A/C button to operate the compressor manually. When the temperature is where you desire or you are under 5 minutes from your destination you can cut the compressor off and save some fuel. Seating is very comfortable and lacks any pressure points by distribution of your weight over the entire surface of the seat. The seats do lack lateral support in hard cornering but this car was built for comfort instead of speed to begin with. Surprisingly, the rear seat is quite comfortable. Of course, it lacks the leg room of a sedan but persons under 5' 6” should be okay in the back.

Mechanically speaking, these cars are very similar to Mark 4 Toyota Supras. In fact, the SC300 has the same engine as non-turbo Supras of the same vintage. Parts such as belts, hoses, suspension items, and brakes can be ordered though Toyota dealers to save some money instead of shopping at the Lexus dealer to pay a premium for a fancy dealership waiting room and first class service. Some SC300 owners take the Supra twin turbo engine and transplant it into their cars to create a wolf is sheep's clothing. Turbo Supra brakes, suspension, and seats can be fitted to SC cars if you so desire. Of course, modification is required to do these types of projects. I mention this just as an FYI. My SC was purchased to enjoy as is bone stock.

Driving the car in the city is a joy because the engine is virtually silent unless you really get on the throttle. The transmission is ultra smooth going through the gears and never under any conditions make choppy or harsh shifts that result in vibration or a jolt. Between 0-40 mph the SC300 is a champ. The inline 6 does struggle with moving over 3500 pounds of car when it comes to merges onto freeways moving at 80 mph. The car is not as slow as a snail but power comes on gradually and once you reach 70 mph you get into the better part of the power band and have much more power on tap. However, passing power is lacking with the 6 cylinder engine. You can't just lightly open the throttle and make the car jump from 70 to 85 mph like you can in a V8 powered SC400. The transmission does have a power mode that makes for holding gears longer if you want to go faster and a snow mode that is there to prevent wheel spin in winter weather. However, there is no replacement for displacement in any car.

The car does require premium gasoline and averages about 22 mpg with mixed city and highway driving. If you are looking to buy one I would suggest the V8 model because the fuel economy is very similar. However, the V8 engine is exclusive to Lexus so Toyota dealerships do not sell parts for it and fewer people know how to work on them properly. It will cost a little more to maintain the SC400 but you always have to pay to play. As a side note, I would add that the V8 engine is odd in how they placed the power steering pump directly over the alternator. If and when the pump leaks it leaks fluid into the alternator and causes failure of a very expensive component. This V8 also uses engine vacuum assist with the power steering system. If a valve in the system malfunctions the fluid is sucked into the engine, burned with the gasoline, and you get plumes of white smoke at the tailpipe. The SC300 lacks these problems but do not let this discourage you from an SC400. If you replace or rebuilt the power steering pump after high mileage (150K+) as insurance you should be okay. Both engines have rock solid internals (rods, pistons, valves, cams, cranks, etc..) that are capable of taking years and years of wear and tear. It is not uncommon to see well cared for examples to surpass 300,000 miles.

Problem areas with this car are few but very annoying. You can care for the paint work by washing and waxing the car regularly to keep it from aging but the headlights and fog lamps will grow old while the rest of the car stays young. Fortunately, Toyota replaced the plastic high beam lamps on the cars with glass lamps in the final few years of production so they still look like new on my car. However, the main headlights and fog lamps are plastic and tend to turn yellow and haze up as they age. Mine are not completely ruined but you can clearly see the age on them. At $345 for each headlight and $120 for each fog light they are not cheap to replace but I have planned to do this before these parts become discontinued forever from Toyota.

Another common problem with many Lexus vehicles from the 1990s are the LCDs for the HVAC controls and radio blacking out completely or malfunctioning to where the displays are illegible A few after market suppliers offer new screens to restore the displays and the job does run into the few hundred dollars with parts and labor. The electroluminescent display also tends to fail with age but there is a firm that repairs them for a few hundred dollars.

The 12 disc CD changer on 92-98 cars is also notorious for problems. If it is working it tends to skip if the car travels over the slightest road imperfection. The changer jams up and incorrectly changes CDs quite frequently. Mine does this if I try and go from disc 2 to disc 3. Some owners have dismantled their units, cleaned the rollers inside, and reported vast improvements. My suggestion to you is to have a radio shop hardwire in an auxiliary input into the head unit so you can use an MP3 player in the car and leave the changer as a few pounds of dead weight in the trunk. The mickey mouse tape player style adapters for MP3 players do not always work in these cars because if the rate at which the tape wheels spin is not matched in sync the radio “thinks” it is playing a broken tape and refuses to play the tracks.

The trunk lid of the car is also known for hitting many owners in the back of the head because after several years of use the struts that hold up the lid tend to fail. Replacements from Lexus are over $120 each but just as good aftermarket copies sell for under $50 for the pair online (ebay). Door hinges on the driver's side are also known to sag and fail with age because the weight of the door is over 100 pounds. The cost of this part is $430 new so if you can find a used one in good shape, buy it and keep it in your garage as a spare. The third brake light in the spoiler is also known to fail because condensation and water get into the LED strip to corrode and short out the electronics. The strip costs about $150 at the Lexus dealership and will leak/fail again because it is designed poorly. The better way to remedy this is to buy a used LED light from any car that is about 15 inches in length. I used one from a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse I paid $5 for at a junkyard. Just open up the Lexus strip, remove the screws holding the strip, and cut the wires. Then do the same on the donor part. Next, match the mount holes in the Lexus strip by drilling tiny holes in the replacement strip. Finally, solder the wires of the new strip to the old connector plug and reseal the lamp using silicon to prevent the same problem occurring again. About an hour of your time will save you money.

Overall, I would highly recommend this car to anyone who values a quiet ride in a conservatively styled car that still looks modern by today's standard. Keep in mind that we are pushing 20 years after when this car was first being planned. This car was built when Lexus was still in the establishment stage of things and could not afford to blunder.  Years of painstaking thought and work went into this model.  Toyota was not just cranking out Lexus models like they started to after they became a legitimate brand.

The interior of the car is the only part that is starting to look dated because car manufacturers have gone to the satin nickel trim (aka cheap silver painted plastic) look after doing away with the more expensive to manufacture wood grain look. Of course, this car never came equipped with things like navigation systems or satellite radio but I see this as a plus; less stuff to become obsolete. The exterior is still what I consider the best design Lexus ever brought to production. With many used parts coming into the market as more and more SC cars die early deaths the cost of upkeep and repairs is not what you would think it to be. I would budget about $1200 every 5 years or so for a major service with a new timing belt. Otherwise, you should have little to nothing to deal with. To this day the most odd bit of parts trivia about this car I have found is that the front struts for the 92-96 cars cost $165 each while the 97-00 struts cost $47 each.

Most of these cars now have over 100K miles on them and are selling for well under 10 grand. Think about what just 10 grand buys in a new car these days; some econobox with no option, a weak engine, and tiny tires. With an SC you get the Lexus grade of “stuff” at a bargain price. The 300 was around $45K when new while the V8 was about 8 grand more. Just drive on and you will see what I mean. All switches and buttons just have a level of refinement in them not found in other cars lines. You will see this as soon as you shut the door. There is a vault like “thud” and the interior is so air tight that the sunroof lifts a bit to allow the extra air to escape.

As with any car, NEVER buy someone's problems in a car with major problems thinking you can save a few bucks by "fixing it up".  Parts are rare and expensive when it comes to body panels, interior trim, electronics, etc.  In a well cared for car these things never need replacement so the fact that the OEM carpet in this car costs $895 is not an issue.  However, by the time to save an abused car it will have cost you more than what a nice one would have cost to begin with.   
Amount Paid (US$): 5000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1998
Model and Options: SC300