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Apart from the OP cleaning out his wife's pollen filters and putting a copy of Viz in the boot, I don't think people are taking this thread as seriously as they should.

The rear shocks are easy to change on the GS450H. You do not need a spring compressor, and there are no problems with the high voltage battery. (1) Remove carpet trim in the corner of the boot depending on witch side your working. (2) With the car still on it's wheels remove the plastic cover over the motor on top of the shock "just pulls off". Remove the motor over the shock " 1/4 turn and lift". Undo the centre nut now exposed holding the top of the shock. (3) Jack the car up, and make secure to work on. Remove the wheel. Remove the long thin bolt holding the anti roll bar link, "and ride height sensor on the passengers side only" to the bottom link. A jack under the bottom link will remove any load on the bolt till it's removal. Remove the shock bottom bolt. Remove the bottom link to hub bolt. (4)The bottom link can now be pushed down by hand, and the shock removed with the loose spring sitting on it's top. I can change a rear shock in 30 minutes on the floor with hand tools, and I am disabled. The fronts can be removed again without a spring compressor. If anyone needs details just ask. Changing shocks on the GS this way does not affect alignment. John.

Artic ration pack and satellite phone. High altitude fluorescent ballon so you can be spotted by the nimrod fleet looking for you.

I left the Celsior at a hotel near to East Midlands airport whilst on holiday and came back to a very slammed rear end. On the near side I could just get my fingers between the tyre and arch but the offside was so low there was no gap at all. Got the AA out and discovered that the offside spring had broken and slipped over the bottom mounting. No other option but a rear lift tow back home, the AA have some clever little devices which they fit around the damper/shock absorber to stop the suspension from bottoming out completely during transportation. 2 new KYB springs ordered, job doesn't look too bad but mine has the TEMS so may be a bit more involved, can't grumble with 23 years old springs and UK roads.

Treated the ISF today as the weather was great!

If you have the space in the boot, a multi fuel stove, a 25kg bag of coal and some quick burning fire fuel would keep you warm in winter.

Ok Looks like I on my initial check I did not wait long enough for the codes to display - Now I know the car is recognising a problem - so as planned to dig deeper into the dash and check the wiring behind the unit.

Linas, Many thanks for that information, it certainly helps me to appreciate both points of view. When I started driving over 50 years ago, insurance was not cheap, but I suppose that everything is relative.My weekly wage of £5 had to cover all items of expenditure and I had to make sure that it did. I wish you well in your driving future. Regards John

Agree with yout thinking moriwaki. I have a 2000 LS400 with 100.000 miles on it. Nice dent and rust free condition and all the gizmos work. The records indicate very little has needed to be done to it over 17 years. A new starter is the only thing that sticks out. My second LS400. I have a 1995 also. They like petrol a bit much but other costs are not bad and the ride is hard to beat. I also DIY most things. LS400 is a fine piece of engineering which I enjoy working on. Made to last or at least that was a spinnoff when they made it reliable. Mikael

Thanks Robb... I've left a deposit today and I'm over the moon! The advert just popped up and I made the most impulsive decision in years today! Like I said to Robb, I only had a kidney transplant few weeks ago and life has already shown me to live for your dreams and desires. thanks again and long live Lexus!

Finally had a chance to get out with the car and my camera today. Still looking to scout out some cool locations for a more dramatic photoshoot but these will do for now! VJ

After seeing @Farquis shining Gs450h is always planned on getting my car corrected they (autobrite) had it this week for three days, £280, and what was a car made up of more of swirls than I remember seeing, and multiplying every second look, was transformed into a rather nice clean car two stage polish, some manual effort involved where paint has been repaired and was too hard for machining, and a water based ceramic coating then within hours, my neighbours building work took effect, the car is now covered, or as I am now pretending, covert.

So time for some more updates, firstly ive just become a gold member 🤘 got to support the club. Ive tried to change my profile name too but im not sure thats worked. On to the car and time for some more transmission bits, next up was the pedal swap and master cylinder fitment. I was going to use the wilwood master supplied with the clutch kit but as this was designed for a mk3 supra, the billet adaptor supplied would have to be modified to fit the IS300. I really looked into this but i just could not see a way round it without butchering the billet adaptor and i did not want it looking crap. I decided the wilwood master would be sold and i am going for an IS200 OEM master and clutch line. This would again be using original toyota/lexus parts making it look nice and factory fitted. I first of all made a little template out of card to mark the bulk head. I then marked up the bulk head and drilled the holes for the master cylinder studs I the used a cone cutter to cut the hole for the mater cylinder plunger to go through. As you can see good old toyota came up trumps again by leaving a hole in the insulation for the bulk head exposing the master cylinder location. This was the same for the inside of the car on the bulk head insulation. It was pre cut so all i had to do was pull it out. I then fitted the master ready for the pedal to go in. Now as this was auto i would have to swap out the large auto pedal for the manual pedal, ebay provided these. Went from this ........ To this .......... Thats better, looking like a proper original manual now! Master cylinder all bolted up to the pedal box now and a paper gasket used. Just waiting on the factory clutch line now and the beauty of this is the clips on the bulk head holding the brake lines have the blank space for the line the clip into. So no ugly braided line hanging across the bay and another part i can sell on with the wilwood master. Whilst i was at toyota i also ordered a gear pattern plaque for the center console, not fitting this yet but just thought it would be a nice touch to make it look OEM factory fitted. This brings me up to date, from here updates will be slower but i will keep this going soon as i get something else done. Once the clutch line comes, next weekend im hoping the engine will be out so some juicy updates to come.

The only shocks that fit with full functionality are Lexus, and I have not found any for under £265 for one rear shock. I did some checking a while ago, and it looks as though the ordinary GS shocks of the same year will fit the GS450H, but you loose the ride stiffness control. There is no hole down the top of the shock threaded rod where the adjuster is. The track rod end is easy to change, and again no special tools are needed. To remove the tapered stud just give the outside of the ring it fits through a good smack with a hammer. This distorts the ring momentarily and the tapper stud pops out. You will not damage anything by doing this. John.

Dont ever give up hope i too was at alot of these points that you have said but now im at a point i can ive just jumped on it. As for skills tbh these cars are very very easy to work on compared to something like bmw where i work. The japanese made these things very easy to take apart and put together unlike the germans who seem to try to over complicate things.

Welcome. 28k on a 2005 IS300 sounds like a dream car.

Watching with interest, Rob. Love to do something like this but I a) lack the space, b) lack the time, d) lack the budget, d) lack the tools, but perhaps most importantly e) I lack the skills to do it properly!

The issue with the shock absorbers is bad particularly with the high cost of replacement, but I have found that with a thought a way of re filling, and sealing them at reasonable cost. The high voltage battery is not such an issue as there will always be plenty of spare 6 cell modules available from the Prius that uses the same parts. I can see that in the future it will be possible to use lithium batteries as a replacement source as costs are falling rapidly. Or may be even supper capacitors. There is much going on in this area. With Richard at Hybrid Battery Solutions also doing sterling work in this area keeping costs more than reasonable. They only known "common" issue with the transmission is the oil pump bearings that can be replaced at little cost. An auto transmission from almost any car would cost more to replace than the HV battery. The auto transmissions being less reliable at high miles than the battery in the GS. John.

Indeed, I believe you nailed it with your question - quite different perspectives exist even in the same environment. When I quoted for insurance first time in UK in 2009 - it came out as £30000, the second one was £36000... was it that expensive 50 years ago (considering average salary in London in 2009 was like £22000)? After playing around for a while and probably year later I finally found the cheapest car to insure which was Ford Focus 2001 with specifically 1.4l engine and it was £9600 per year. The first insurance I got 4 years ago was £2600 with gps tracker. Now for me that was real shock, because I was driving from 16 and I had various cars and my insurance was in a range of ~£125-150 for likes Mazda MX3, Mazda Xedos, BMW 525 etc... The most expensive insurance which at the time I though was astronomical price was like £35 per month (so that is why I only insured it for 3 months) for modified BMW 525 with 4L Engine from 540. I have all modifications stated on policy and I was 17 with few days left until 18.... quite a contrast.

That is very unlucky. Not too much damage I hope?

This is what keeps putting me off buying one: 1) There is no aftermarket alternative 2) Lexus know of the problem and havent done anything about it i.e revised the part so the problem does not keep re-occuring - even where parts are replaced they keep failing. What makes it worse dealers show no sympathy at all and even warranty claims are being rejected. 3) The part is quite over priced. For this reason and ofcourse potential battery cell issues I think these cars will quickly get scrapped and disappear from our roads - something I would not expect from a high end marque with its unique performace figures.

So true. Last year we were supposed to get 5ft snow drifts from November to February! Guess what.............not a single drop!!! In fact it only ever dropped below 7 degrees on a coup[le of days.

It's about now The Daily Express do their snowmageddon story isn't it?

Treat your paintwork, I started on mine today.

And a trailer to carry all the extra gear!

Now this is what I call a build thread, top work! Look forward to watching the progress!

Winter tyres! Yay! Do I win?

Last hot news !!! News OEM black Lexus IS carpet : Saturday, I tinted the windows and poses of the SpeedHunters windshield : While my friend worked on the glass, I took off the badge of the trunk, I just kept the central emblem to make a contrast with the chrome and the black windows. And to day, two another little upgrade Passage of the third stop light in led : K2000 spirit : And a new trunk lighting, because the original one is really ridiculous : Before : After : The force :

@rob_clio172 Cheers yes it's been fun. There's one in the US with a 2JZ big single conversion and as much as I love it as a nod to the 1JZ turbo Soarer, I think their true heritage demands a V8. Forced induction on the 3UZ is possible but the cost and journey to achieve it is scary. I didn't think I would keep it so long but it's a much better car to own than I first thought. The exhaust does sound nice, not too loud but vocal enough to confirm it's a V8, the clip doesn't really do it justice. I may swap the merge pipe for an X pipe just to finish it off. MIJ did an exceptional job to build the offside header as it's never been done before. I would recommend them, sensible pricing, good quality, just allow plenty of time. Installing the Alpine head unit has updated the tech a bit, I've always used high end Alpine like the 7998R for past installs but wasn't taking this one very seriously to begin with. With hindsight I wish I had gone for a higher spec and bigger screen model. At the moment I'm trying to improve the bass set up by swapping different subs, boxes and crossover settings to get the right result.

Vrmm Vrmm and Linas, It has been interesting to follow this thread and its been a bit like watching Ping-Pong. You both have strong views and I would not wish to criticise either of you for holding them. What I would find very interesting would be for each of you to declare on open forum just what your respective drivng records are, your respective ages (to the nearest 10 will do) and to state just how long you have been driving. Such information might enable members to view what has been exchanged between you, in some sort of context. No problem if neither of you wish to do so. Many thanks for the entertainment anyway. Regards John

Hi Chris welcome to LOC. The most likely cause of a screeching noise from the area you are talking about is a worn or loose serpentine belt "fan belt". Squirting some water on the ribbed side of the belt will usually stop the noise for a short while "a minute or so", but long enough to prove if this is the problem. Tensioning the belt should remove the screeching noise, but get it checked out for ware. As for continuing to use the car short journeys should be ok, but I would not advise motorway use as if the belt brakes the engine will rapidly overheat. John

If you search "Ebay for Tabbed cr2450 button cells" you will come up with a list of suppliers. Some of these are two cells in parallel, but these can be used by cutting the tabs between the two cells giving you two separate batteries. Cells supplied from China are the cheapest, but take longer to arrive. However whatever country you buy them from they will almost certainly be of Chinese manufacturer. Some button cell suppliers will fit tabs/tags if asked to do so. It is by no means essential to use tabbed/tagged batteries just fitting a standard cell the correct way round in the TPMS case and closing it up works perfectly well as it does in your key fob. Soldering does make for a more reliable connection though. John

Exactly my sentiments too Malc. I think that as one gets older and gleans more experience, one`s perspective and values change significantly. Regards John

Well, I did another run to France and back. About 2000kms total. The trac light and abs problem turned out to be a broken front brake back plate that was twisting back and forth and pulling on the abs sensor wire. Finally set the tps up properly. Had a broken egr pipe, which i removed and blanked off. Finished the new stainless dual exhaust system including 120 cell race cats. Notice more power at 4000rpm and above. Below I don't feel much difference). The car flew through its yearly test, emissions good. The 2000km trip was flawless. Average speed over 200km runs on the trip on some motorways 130 -170 (80 - 110mph). So no difference noticed with the egr removed. Average consumption on 98 ron 1ltre to 11km (about 28mpg) So everything seems fine. So I think I can safely say the problem is solved.

Hello Rob and welcome to the LOC. Just seen your other thread, looks like a project for sure.

Welcome to the forum Rob. Having a former Lexus technician around should prove handy. Well done finding a low mileage IS, will be looking forward to seeing how it develops.

From another forum https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-4th-gen-2007-2017/602438-ls460l-problems-after-warranty-expires-2.html#post6921203 First, the "Auto position" that you are referring to has nothing to do with the headlights Auto Off feature. It, the Auto position on the stalk on the left side of the steering wheel, enables the autonomous control of the headlights on/off in response to ambient light conditions and is only active when the ignition is on. It is that feature, when enabled, that turns on your headlights when you start your car in a dark garage and then turns the off when get into the day light. And it turns your lights on automatically in the day time when you drive into tunnels. And it automatically turns your headlights on when you are driving during the transition from day to night. It is that sort of feature. It pretty well takes over operation of the headlights so that you don't have to worry about ever driving in low light conditions without your headlights on. It is a great safety feature.The headlights Auto Off feature is an autonomous feature that can not be disabled - it is always enable. It automatically turns the headlights off any time the headlights are on when the ignition is turned off, after some conditions are met. The conditions that must be met are: at least one door opens after the ignition is turned off, followed by all doors and trunk closed, followed by a delay (the default delay is 30 seconds and can be customized by the dealer to 0 seconds or 60 seconds or 90 seconds). You can test this feature by turning the headlights on manually, or by setting the selector to Auto (testing in the Auto position has to be done in low light conditions) and then starting your car. Then turn the ignition off, open the drivers door (you can remain in the driver's seat if that suits you), close the drivers door and wait for the delay to expire (0-30-60-90 seconds depending on how it is set) - the headlights should go off automatically.The headlight Auto Off feature can be defeated by turning the headlights off manually and back on manually after the ignition is turned off. Or, if the headlights are off when you turn the ignition off and you turn them on manually the Auto Off will not turn them off. If you have some reason to do this, the headlights Auto Off feature is reenabled as soon as you start the car.I recently experienced a dead battery event that was caused by the headlights not turning off automatically. The root cause was a rear doorthat was not closed. I have the power door closers and by observation the door seemed to be closed. However, the power-close feature did not complete properly and the door was slightly ajar and prevented the headlights Auto Off from completing. When I got the car going I could see this open door status on my dash.There are a couple of ways to guard against the open door gotcha. One is to always lock your car when you exit by depressing the lock button on the outside door handle or by pressing the lock symbol on your wireless remote key. If you get a long beep when you do that then a door is open. Of course if you are out of hearing range that may not work for you. The other way is to turn the headlights off with the wireless remote key. To do that you press the lock symbol on the wireless remote key twice and the headlight will be extinguished, even at a considerable distance.

I could be wrong but this may have been fitted by EMP in St Albans. They have an ISF custom exhaust on their website and YouTube and they did a similar job to this on my dearly departed BMW335i. Can't say for sure but the handywork and in particular the cross pipes look very similar.