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The mk4 from 1997 onwards has the VVT engine which gave a bit more power and torque and better economy, 5 speed transmission, touch screen sat nav, climate and audio controls etc, revised styling and xenon headlights with auto levelling. Many say the mk4 is the best LS400 they made, some would even argue the best Lexus ever made.

Hello everyone. I've recently bought an old (2006) RX400h and thought I'd share my first impressions (and a few solutions). Things I love: Very easy to drive and park - My wife doesn't feel she's driving a bigger car which was one of the selling points for us. Our family is getting bigger and we needed something more practical Efficiency - We live on the outskirts of London and most of our journeys are short (distance wise) stop start journeys. Over the first 10 days I've averaged 31mpg, with lots of short journeys, a quick blast on the motorway and hauling paving blocks from the garden centre. I think that's great for a car of this size and weight. I'm using shell V-Power btw. Not sure on people opinions on fuel types (I'm sure there's a topic on it somewhere) Gearbox/hybrid combo - I wasn't sure what I was going to make of the CVT. On the one hand I've always liked manual cars and finding the best/optimum gear to give me the torque. However, for a hybrid of this nature.. I think the smoothness of the CVT really suit it. It makes absolute sense to me For a 10 year old car it still looks relatively modern Things that annoyed me/us: The tailgate didn't stay up and the auto tailgate didn't work either. I ordered and changed the gas struts and this sorted this out. I've written the guide here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/245-replacing-tailgate-gas-struts-lexus-rx300350400h/ Sat Nav is old. OK I never expected a 10 year old car to have upto date in car technology but the lack of full postcode and being able to operate it moving was really bad. I purchased a new (2016) updated disc from eBay which works perfectly. however the routing is still not a patch on googlemaps No AUX port - I was really surprised by this! I find it shocking that something that should be standard on all cars was missing from this premium SUV. I've rectified it with an iphone/AUX kit. I wrote a guide here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/244-iphone-lightning-ipod-and-aux-connector-for-rx400h/ iPhone integration - Although I can connect the iphone for voice calls via bluetooth. I couldn't sync the contacts. I found a way around this however. I exported my icloud contacts to a file and uploaded the to my google contacts list. I was then able to pair my android tablet and upload my entire address book. However, I had to remove all spaces from all my phone numbers for them to import correctly which was annoying. The other annoyance is having to manually switch paired phones.. when my wife and I use the car. Reverse Camera - I've actually got used to this but my wife didn't really like it. So I retro fitted some reverse sensors at the cost of £12!!! It was well worth it and I've written a guide here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/246-installing-reverse-sensors-rx400h/ However even despite the small annoyances (many of which have been rectified), I think it's a great vehicle. The feeling of pulling away silently yet still being able to put your foot down to boot it is great.

All been said really, I did front brakes (discs and pads) last weekend with all original parts for £155. Fuel I don't really think is so bad for a big motor, average 27mpg over last 10k. Servicing cost, If you intend on keeping the Lexus service history the cost is in keeping with a £55k car but not so extortionate to put you off, Lexus service plans are decent value. Overall though you get a hell of a lot of car for your money and running costs are reasonable.

My IS is normally 2 to 3 mpg over, similar to any Toyota/Lexus i've had in the past. If you click on my Fuelly link, the notes against each fill-up have the readings from the fuel computer and fuelly has the real readings.

I once had a strong smell of mildew from the aircon vents of a month-old BMW 328ix. The problem was diagnosed as stagnating water, and resolved by hot air being blown into the vents simultaneously with the heating system itself being set to maximum. This was more than twenty years ago when systems were less advanced, but the technique may be worth a try.

Martin I concur with your last comment in your appraisal ; The LS400 was overall from concept to final production 18 years in development there is not a modern car ever that had that degree of onward improvement in some instances a complete change of suspension and major improvement to the chassis. There really was the pursuit of perfection going on then ,but I do not think it is as relevant in todays models.

Hes deleted the picture showing the mileage on odometer which stated 81000 miles

I thought I do a write up on replacing the puddle light bulb in the door mirror. I didn't take photos of this but have followed and used photos from the US CT forum. I replaced the capless bulb with a standard one and not LED. Firstly move the mirror to its highest setting (pointing up) to gain access to the underneath of it. Using a trim removal tool or a covered flat head screwdriver prise the mirror upwards to release it from the clips. Do the same for the top of the mirror. Looks like this after. Inside you'll see 5 screws. Remove all of them to release the outer mirror cover. This will leave the mirror looking like this. The puddle light unit is in the bottom of the assembly. Release the light unit from its holder and unscrew the bulb holder to change the bulb. Which is one of these. Before reassembly check that it works by locking the car with the remote and unlocking. Refitting is as removal but make sure the indicator lamp is aligned back up otherwise the mirror cover will not fit correctly. Caution: When removing mirror glass be patient to part it from its clips with gentle force otherwise it'll break. When refitting apply pressure to the centre of the mirror glass until it clicks back on its mountings. I hope this is of help to anyone if they have to do the same. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not being nasty or funny about this but I'm asking a genuine question - why would anyone use a CD/DVD-based satnav over, say, a TomTom? My 2005 RX300 has the factory-installed disc-based satnav but, even if I could get an up-to-date disc for it (which I don't believe you can), I would use my TomTom in preference to the built-in one. Why? Well, unless I'm mistaken, I'm almost sure that you can't integrate your own POIs with the disc-based systems, so why would you limit yourself like that? One example is that we recently had our RX300 converted to LPG, so my TomTom has the location of every LPG/Autogas filling station in the country loaded as POIs. If I'm getting low on gas but not sure where I can fill up, all I have to do is to select 'Navigate to POI near you', select LPG as the POI and off you go. Another example is that the TomTom will load things like the PocketGPSWorld Speed Camera Database and lots of other stuff, so why would you prefer to use the limited functionality of the integrated system over that?

50 more horses from fitting an exhaust? Really!

Beauty is in the eye etc, but I personally think that the mk3 and mk4 in styling was a backward step to the Mk 1 and Mk2. Its that front wing that looks slab like without the crease. It became a fashion with Mercedes which Lexus clearly copied to iron out the crease, but look at todays Cars and the crease is certainly back in fashion.. Looks being 90% of consideration in my book, and the non intervention engine so if the Cam belt goes you don't wreck the engine being the other 10%) Daresay performance doesn't match of course but as I say Beauty etc etc etc

Also the Swift Sport I had before this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk