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Have been offline for a couple of weeks, while I took the LS400 (or rather it took me) on the biggest road trip I've ever done: France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, and then back.

 

I'd bought this LS400 specifically to do the trip. Sceptical family/friends said I was mad to do it in a new-old car - one that I didn't already know and trust.

After 2600 miles we're now home with all sorts of bounty: wine, cheese, truffley stuff, best salami I've ever had, olive oil, etc. And... the LS400 was flawless. Not a surprise to many of you, I'm sure. :)

It dealt with the usual German high-speed Autobahn cruising as well as unmade roads to Croatian villages perched on proper mountains. Plus the urban perils of Ljubljana, Milan, Verona, Padua, etc. I only needed the Other Half to help me park it a couple of times! ;)

 

And it also made easy work of the Spugel Pass between Italy and Switzerland. We paused a little way up for breath - it's one of those multiple hairpin turn roads, a bit of a white-knuckle ride.

 

Worse fuel economy on the VERY hilly parts was 21mpg and the best was 35mpg on the flatter section through Belgium/France - both a pleasant surprise. This was on 95-ron petrol and with proper brim-to-brim measurements - the on-board computer is definitely a few mpg optimistic.

I presume that Lexus is not as successful in the rest of Europe as the UK? I saw not a single LS in the whole trip. Just a few RXs.

A great trip - can't wait for the next one.

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Did you have to lift the bonnet at all .................. to replenish the windscreenwasher reservoir ?

Well done, these are wonderful dream limo cruisers and ideal for that Grand Tour ............. the Lexus Ls400 GT ....... armchair comfort with all the power and speed and acceleration you will ever need.

Why only 2600 miles ???????

Malc

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Wow Barry, one hell of an adventure.

Did you trust the SatNav much or rely on maps?

What about planning. Meticulous detail or just where the LS took you?

I'd love to do the same (both in our 60's, do it while we still can) but trying to convince the good lady wife will take some doing.

How long were you away? Have you driven through Europe before? I suppose doing that trip in the winter would be a bit perilous. Too many questions, I know, but you can judge my enthusiasm.

Lots of memories for you and a testament to the Mk4 400's, had one myself 3 Lexus' ago, same year and colour as yours,

Well done, Graham.

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Brilliant, I'm envious. I hope you live to tell the story many times having brought back all that artery thickening bounty! Interestingly, I would have happily done the same kind of trip in my LS400, but I would be slightly less confident doing it in a 12 year old 430. Maybe I haven't owned it long enough yet to be sure.

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Quoting Phil ''I hope you live to tell the story many times having brought back all that artery thickening bounty! ''

If you read the post very carefully you will see he bought back a bottle of Olive Oil, so he'll be OK.

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Graham ....... in your 60's .... you have the elixir of youth don't you ???? Just go and do it. I've never worried about doing anything to do with travel in my life ........ in the full knowledge that I could never do it later in life when I just physically couldn't ................. In my late 30's I went trekking in the Himalayas out of Khatmandu and trekking in the Andes in my early 40's and down to Tierra del Fuego camping ..... I know I just couldn't do that now, too knackered, sadly, ( at 64 ) ............. SO Graham, get the car serviced and just GO4IT ........ you don't want to look back on life when you physically can't do it and say " I wonder " and " if only ".

Malc

sorry, it's the sage in me coming out

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Thanks for the replies, chaps. I had done some driving abroad (Holland, Dubai, USA), but was still more than a bit daunted by the idea of 9 countries' various road layouts. Motorways were fine, but the more complicated urban junctions - where to look, priority, etc. But basically it's a very big car with UK number plates so the plan was that wherever there was confusion, take it slowly, indicate clearly and let everyone else avoid me.

Toughest parts of the drive were definitely the narrow country roads between Croatian villages and up/down the mountains. I only had to reverse perilously a few times to let tractors past (satnav route suggestions not always the best!). The LS400's Satnav gives up at Calais, so we relied on Google map printouts and the CoPilot app on the mobile (variable success, including some plain daft suggestions).

The Other Half had done all of the hotel planning, and then after that it was 'make it up as we went along'. So at a vineyard, we did the tasting (or rather the OH did!) and then we asked for suggestions for local cheese makers, then set off for the next village with a name and just a rough idea of where to go. One goat cheese place we only found because I just noticed a goat skull next to the gate. Foodwise, the find of the trip was that local salami - so tender and juicy and far tastier than the supermarket/deli stuff over here.

Graham, I'd definitely join in the 'just do it' chorus. I've never done this before, and it was fun - a completely different sort of holiday. Tiring at times (a 4hr autobahn trip in pouring rain on Friday took over 8hrs), but at least we got out feeling fine. Had the LS seats' lumbar support thingy fully set forward which really helped.

Why only 2600 miles? Just happened to be the result of the route we planned, with a lot of quite local trips, from the 6 places we stayed at. We went for quality, not quantity! ;)

Only prep I did was a belt change (car was new to me and there was no evidence of a belt change) and two new front tyres. I'll check the brakes, because in a few of the longer downhill stretches, there was definitely some fade. Never lifted the bonnet once, just frequent visits to the petrol stations. Although the last leg of the trip including the tunnel and Kent was pretty efficient, as you can see:

 

One negative: the LS400 boot is not as big as I first thought. With two small suitcases, we only had room for about 70 bottles. So we're already planning a trip to Riesling country in May...

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Such a trip is on my bucket list, would not want to do it in anything less than an LS.

As for the small boot for the booze, I have managed to get over 1/4 ton of drinks in the boot (30 mile trip from cash and carry to Village Hall), and would not have been wanting to any long distances as the car was not that stable.

Know what you mean about foreign roads,the urban junctions and sign-age always gets me, was forever going wrong in USA when I spent a few months driving, and even after 7 years of Spain still get confused to heck when skirting new towns.

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This is a truly wonderful and fascinating story, and provides ample evidence that the LS400 is an excellent and peerless car. Mark my words: this car will become a collectible classic before long.

Pepe

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and the amazing thing is that whilst almost classic and of some age, as a lot now are, we owners can still hammer them along motorways and autobahns, up mountains like goats and traverse thousands of miles without a whim and in the full likely knowledge that our " classics " will be none the worse for being substantially used and indeed, even polish up like a new car at the end of it all ................ indeed rather better than a timeless classic coz timeless classics one has to constantly revere and pamper to ............ the Ls400 just seemingly, enjoys a hard drive and thrives upon it.

There are very few cars in this world that one would be able to treat in such a way at this age ( mine's 19 next month ) and be confident of continuing longevity.

Malc

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Pepe - it's a good question: will the LS400 become a classic? It deserves it for sure.

Malc - yes, I bought the car about a month before the trip, and it inspired confidence from the first drive. I did get the geo done (at Wheels in Motion) and that made a big difference to the way it handled bumps (not so surprising after 99,000m).

One other thing I forgot to mention: on the very tight hairpin turns of the Splugen Pass - see http://rodandsimonseurotour2011.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/247-sunday.html for some other chap's pix - the LS400 showed that it has a VERY tight turning circle. This makes it super easy to get around the tight turns shown in those photos. It feels so much tighter than the NSX (which was the car that I rather wanted to take on the road trip).

Anyway, I now have a big decision to make. Do I sell this car now and continue to use the Aygo as my 'sensible' daily driver? Or vice-versa? Chalk and cheese cars, but 'one in, one out' is the policy at Goldtop Towers. Decisions, decisions... :)

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I know what your saying. Ive worked belgium- germany ect never seen a single Ls. could it be loyalty to bmw- merc ect?

Is this not due to the fact that German companies and even Joe public get good deals on German motors to keep the manufactures healthy, and then trading up after a few years to another Beamer means a lot of second hand ones that spill out around the German borders.

Never saw that much in the way of Jap cars when I worked in France/Germany/Belgium/Sweden back in the mid 90's, but that must have changed over the years with the push to offer low cost motors to the public, and with Toyota/Honda having plant in UK to push to EU.

So maybe the Lexus being made in Japan is not going to make a big footprint in main land EU. They do not know what they are missing - I say.

Having said that used to work with a lady recently from Macedonia, and her dad ran his own company over there and said Lexus was the best car you could buy

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goldtop .............. hahahahaha ....... fancy asking the Ls forum which car you should keep .... you know the answer of course. ................... if you don't keep the Ls I'll take it off your hands for £50 :whistling:

Malc

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My OH's cousin is a big cheese at the German office of a global auto parts business. She said that she had a choice of more-or-less any company car, but had to choose German as the clients she was seeing (car companies) would not be happy at all to see her turn up in a Japanese car. So she has an AWD Audi A6 (not as comfy on the poorer Croatian roads as the LS!)

Malc - very kind. I'll keep your offer in mind, honest ;) Acksherrly I've just thought of the strange way the two cars are unrelated: the Lexus is a Toyota that doesn't wear the Toyota badge, whereas the Aygo is NOT a Toyota but does wear the Toyota badge. (You cannot buy the Aygo in Japan - the JDM city cars are much better built.)

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I've driven to Germany a few times and never seen another LS400. I have noticed some admiring glances though when the car has been parked up. The Germans are very proud and loyal about their cars. You don't see too many non-German cars on their roads. Apparently they look down on 'inferior' Japanese cars according to my son who lives and works there. That makes me think Jeremy Clarkson must have German genes. He loves to denigrate Lexus.

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Maybe there's still a hangover from the early days of Japanese car imports to the UK (which I can nearly remember). At that time they were all small cars, competing on price against poorly-built British cars. They were very well-equipped and mechanically reliable but tended to rust and had no 'image'. In fact some of them were rather 'bling'. They were bought by sensible motorists, not enthusiasts, and there was no way that a big, expensive Japanese car could compete against a Merc or BMW in those days. I guess this is why Toyota wanted to invent a luxury brand to challenge the best of the Europeans - and, of course, to crack the American market for big limos. Wasn't the LS really designed for the US market? However, the original LS still looked like a Toyota, which may have affected people's perception of it. (Is this why Lexus made the 430 look like a Mercedes?)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Lexus have a good dealer network throughout Europe despite their low volume of sales. (Iv'e had to use two of them.) Spain is my favourite driving country, empty roads spectacular scenery in the North.

This is a good website for finding hotels with easy access from French motorways:

http://about-france.com/tourism/routes-through-france.htm

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