Another New Member With Questions

hiltonnick · August 29, 2003

Another pleased LS400 owner coming to your board ! I have just picked up a 1999 in A1 condition with 57K miles for amazingly low money (<£14K) in a private sale and haven't driven one since the early 90's when I rented one in the US (and was stopped at 125 mph on cruise control in death Valley!). I have had an A8 before and think that the interior was better, but as a package the 400 wins hands down.

I have looked through other massages and tried not to replicate questions as I know it is annoying for long term members, but these are the ones I am left with:

- Is there an 'economical' way of geting the Sat Nav data base updated? I have noticed that some new roads are not marked and would like to know the best way of going about this

- I live in the SW and work in the SE in the week (doing 30-40K miles/yr) and have found that SW dealers charge £69-74 hr and SE dealers £89 hr. If I join the Gold Club do I get 15% off these prices? I have just been quoted £620 inc labour and VAT for an 'A' Service with cambelt change, filters and plugs - does this sound about right ? I have read that some people take their own oil, etc into dealers; does this cause any hassle or is it dealer dependent ?

- I found a site saying it specialises in Lexus spares ( http://www.247spares.com/lexus-parts/ ). Has anyone any experience with them and are there any others worth noting? My wife is a stewardess and goes to the US regularly and brings back 'bits' for my other vehicles/boats; is there 100% overlap in the US and UK vehicles (except LHD/RHD bits) ? I also have an imported Landcruiser and alot of the parts are different between Japanese and US vehicles.

- I switched the air con off and the mpg rocketed up from 24 to 28 (at 85mph). This seems high compared to other vehicles i have had. Is this what others are experiencing? - if so, with the miles I am doing - I will be keeping it for when I need it !

Please shout if I can find the answers to these in existing posts. BTW - Excellent board

Monster-Mat · August 29, 2003

Hi Nick, firstly a warm welcome.

i can say there are 2 dealers in the SW that are gold discount providers, and theres a possible 2 others you can use, that are Central /south coast

is the sat nav CD or DVD based, PM me if its CD based

im afraid thats all i can help you with........

mat

ColinBarber · August 29, 2003

Welcome,

Not all dealers give LOC discounts and some give different discounts so ask around. It is worth getting quotes from several dealers as the prices do vary. The cam belt change is a few hours work and the 8 plugs bump up the price, a normal service will be much cheaper.

I have never had a problem supplying my own oil. It saves me £30 per service.

The air con does make a difference but probably not the 4mpg you saw. I have achieved my best ever mpg (33.4 mpg) in my GS300 on a 25 mile journey that I make every week when the AC was on and it was 30C outside. Once the set temperature is reached the AC will cut in and out so even if there is a 4mpg difference the average would only be about 2mpg.

I would be careful of using US parts. There will be plenty of parts that are the same but I would check the part numbers. Servicing parts should be the same (double check brake pads) and you should be able to supply them for your dealer to use along with your own oil.

GrandAlf · August 29, 2003

£620 is quite a good price for the cambelt/plugs/service, quite a lot of work involved. I think I paid 700+ at lexus leeds for my last one. Quite suprised at the price, especially for "down south"

ColinBarber · August 29, 2003

Try giving Lexus Norwich a call. Dipstick got an excellent deal on a similar service for a GS the other day, much cheaper than other dealers. Even if you don't want to go there for a service you may be able to use the quote to beat the price down from your local dealer.

maneesh · August 29, 2003

Hi,

Congrats on the purchase. That's a good deal!

I would recommend you try westfield motors, but they are in Essex. Far superior service compared to main Lexus dealers. I used them for an A service in Feb, and they cost only £130, as opposed to my usual £230 bill with Lexus. Seeing as you have so much to do, you might be able to save a few hundred quid!!!

They only use genuine Lexus parts, and Chris and Ian who work there have like 40 years Toyota/Lexus experience between them. Lexus told me my rear wheel bearings were worn, but when Chris took me under the ramp and showed me it wasn't the bearings, but the rear bushes.

The reason they work out cheaper is because their labour rate is only £32 + VAT an hour.

I think their website is www.westfieldmotors.co.uk

They are part of that official federation (what's the name?) which means they are allowed to service your car even when it is under warranty.

I would never go back to Lexus for servicing, my first service on a used LS400 was £1300! No wonder they walk around the dealership smiling, they are generating huge profits from the likes of us.

hiltonnick · September 1, 2003

Thanks for the replies everyone- very useful comments and observations. I wish I lived in Essex with labour at £32/hr but its a bit too far from my normal operating bases. I think I will keep the booking I have with Plymouth and find out if they will honour the 15% Gold discount off their £69/hr.

I have been looking in the owners manual and it only refers to 225 tyre pressures. My car has Pirelli Zero 245/50/17's - does anyone know the tyre pressures for these ?

Nick

S. Devon