Ls400 Mk4 Problems

[projucer]

i have a mk4 ls400 with dhp

had MOT done recently - passed but engineer said that o/s rear spring is broken, i.e. a crack 1 inch into the coil

firstly should it have passed the MOT - secondly WHY has the spring cracked - thirdly should i replace the spring (lexus have advised i have to buy ALL 4 as they dont sell in pairs) as the car seems ok when driving!

also how big of a job is to replace the front radius arms, bump stops and n/s front wheel bearing? (LEXUS diagnosed these problems about 4-6 weeks ago as well as the cracked spring)

other bits - lightbulb blown above P in dashboard - replaced BUT still the same

key not working (flashes red), i.e. alarm - have to manually lock/unlock the car myself

finally - the audio system NOT working, i.e. NONE of the buttons or CD or tape player - everything else ok (sat nav, climate, etc...)

mileage is 56k for a 98 - should i really be having these problems?

any help/feedback would be really appreciated

regards

[steve2006]

Hi,

I would have thought a broken road spring would have been a VOSA failure but so would a worn wheel bearing too as these are checked with the wheels off the ground then doing the 9-3 and 6-12 wobble test and then turning the wheel by hand to listen for excessive noise in the bearing.

Personally I would get a 2nd opinion for the required work.

[projucer]

lightbulb - alarm - audio = sorted (the fuse had blown)

i'm surprised that my MOT guy passed it - cracked spring doesn't sound healthy at all - any ideas as to why it would've cracked?

[kroebje]

i'm surprised that my MOT guy passed it - cracked spring doesn't sound healthy at all - any ideas as to why it would've cracked?

Cracked springs are not uncommon, quite to the contrary. Many cars move around with one or more springs cracked, and (inexperienced) drivers do not realise it just like that.

Sounds as though several items add up to one big deal?!

56k miles is nothing for an LS. It is only just run in.

If I unlock my LS manually, the alarm goes off.

[flotsam]

Sounds seriously dodgy.

56K is, as Kroebje says, nothing. Quentin Wilson was driving a MkIII with 100k and said it was still like new. If you've just bought it, I'd take it back.

Mine's a 2000 with 37k, it's as new.