Leaderboard

LOL........main dealers maybe a little bit better than back street garages, but I have heard of as many horror stories from main dealers as i have from back street garages. I don't trust any garage and it pains me to have to take my car for servicing, but i take it to the main dealer as they are likely to be aware of any model specific issues. With the prices that Lexus charge i don't think they should be 'just checking' the basic items(filters etc) but changing them as a matter of course.

Sorry I'm also too lazy to look for you :)

Hi Shirish Being one of the older members of the LS400 forum and a 400 owner since 96 I have had quite a bit of experience of these cars having owned a Mark 1 for 16 years and now a Mark 4 for 4 years ,as one member as said you get smitten when you own one because there is simply nothing better as a luxury vehicle in its sector . Reliability will stop any worries on parts replacement and the parts that need replacing (consumables) are going to be rare with the mileage you intend to do. Follow Cruisermark' s excellent advice and your intuition and you will end up with a dream come true

Hi Shirish. My LS will be 19 in a week's time but still looks and runs great. I do 2-3,000 miles a year (the car is now up to 156,000) and insure it on a classic car policy (no NCB) which is cheaper than any 'normal' policy I could find. It's my long-distance car - superb on long runs, and quite economical too - but it needs to be used fortnightly or weekly (at this time of year) to keep the battery charged. My biggest expenses have been a cambelt plus water pump and pulleys, and also the starter motor contacts. These wear out and, although very cheap to buy, require the dismantling of half the engine - so not a cheap job. There's a bit of play in my front suspension but it's gone through six MOTs with that. I'd recommend finding a good local indie mechanic, unless you intend to maintain the car yourself. If I were looking for one, the silver one would be first on my list. These are now very old cars, so you must expect some things to be not perfect, but maintenance is the most important thing.

Newby back again, having had engine warning lights on recently & scanner checks indicating CAT underperforming I tried ‘Cataclean’ which worked for 3 days. Before that a tank full of 99 RON petrol seemed to extinguish the little engine warning light for a few days too. Had the engine carbon cleaned for twice the normal time (60 mins) today & the minute I drove away, vibrating steering wheel & new warning lights not seen before (as in title). I have seen comments like "sensors need re-calibrating" to "replacement oxygen sensors" elsewhere which I hope leads to sensors & not CATS as I have been quoted nearly £1200 for OEM parts. BTW The engine can hardly be heard now, smoother shifting and power delivery, probably quicker too & they claim up to 4 MPG improvement as well so for £100 a good investment despite current situation, especially as mine has done nearly 195,000 miles. Merry Christmas

786 pointed out just tip of the ice burgh. I had shared my last experience here. It was terrible. But summary is, soon as you do the search they keep the records and if you e.g. thought of 50 group insurance but just out of curiosity, they will file it. Now you are a potential 50 group owner and the risk can and will apply to you. This increases your insurance cost. I know it because I have been caught once. The simple search is more than a search. It took me a lot of effort to clear it and the person at other end advised out of records, never to use own details for curiosity. Insurance is a scam in my opinion.

Hi all, Does anyone know what is involved with steering wheel changes? Does it affect the air bag or button function or is it pretty much like the old days where you just undo the nut and change it over? I've just changed the gear knob to a wood effect one from a 430 and I quite fancy having the matching wheel. Thanks, Bod

I have removed the duplicated posts. Some times posting is slow but only hit the enter button once as it counts each time you hit enter and posts accordingly. Have a great Christmas Mike.

some items are check / replace this maybe a reason for some parts not being changed

Both look good cars - the green one looks familiar but cannot say where i saw it - the MOT histry brings upa lot of advisories - the silver one looks tempting - even if you wanted to re-do the cambelt - a lexus dealer will charge £295 to do the belt only - you will obviously get a better feel once you meet the seller. These are both Mark 4 cars - here are some things to look out for: Make sure it has a full or at least a good service history which includes the cambelt change. On driving the ride should be quite smooth comfortable with no noises or creaks from the suspension. Gearbox changes should not be noticeable Upon inserting key the steering should tilt and retract - test and make sure the mechanism works When starting from cold the starter should engage and start the engine immediately - if there is clicking sound then be prepared to have the starter or starter contacts replaced - the is a big job - takes about 7 hours therefore costs a lot and finding a competent mechanic who has the knowledge to properly dismantle and reassemble everything may not be as easy as you think. Braking should be quite and smooth - if you get a groaning noise when coming to stop that’s a sign of cheap aftermarket brake pads - they will need replacing. Check colour of gearbox oil it should be red with no smell of burning. Check all electrics work Check the temperature display backlight works - these fail and require a lot of dismantling to replace. Check the bonnet struts hold the bonnet Check there is no water or dampness in the spare wheel well - if yes then boot seal needs replacing or sealing Check the car has the correct Toyota red coolant Ask if the cabin filter has ever been changed - these are often over looked. Check toolkit is present Check for exhaust blow - the Y pipe is prone to leaking Make sure there are no warning lights lit in the dash Ideally you want 2 remote and one grey key Check the car has a matching set of tyres and wether they are branded or not - this should give an indication wether the car has been pampered or neglected Check the headlamp levelling mechanism still works - these often fail Before driving off make sure you have the say nav code and locking wheel nut key. Hope this helps

Hello Shirish and welcome to the LOC. I would take a look at both of them,give them a test drive and then compare the two. Unusually both seem to have refurbished alloy wheels as they tend to corrode badly but check the tyres on both cars for make and quality and whether they are the same type on each axle. If you have another daily car you should also be able to insure the Lexus on a classic policy with limited mileage with agreed value for less than standard insurance rates. All parts for the later LS400 are still available, the exhaust is stainless steel apart from the front Y section which can leak so have a listen for blowing in this area, also make sure the auto headlight levelling works as the rear connecting rod tends to break but cheap to make a replacement. Also check the steering column moves correctly both in and out and up and down as the control motors fail and are expensive to replace. Press every button,move the seats to ensure all the functions operate,try the CD player, check the aerial goes up and down when the ignition is turned on and off,check under the boot carpet for water and check the AC blows cold.

Yep certainly worth having. Keeps you aware of your speed especially in the RX. Also has navigation instructions, music info etc. With the new one it even provides adaptive cruise control info. Panoramic cameras aren't that important really. You can see behind with the reversing camera anyway and hopefully you can see forwards too. Parking sensors all round help a lot

A flat battery can cause this, the lights may extinguish when the car has been driven for a while or try resetting the codes.

Hi Shirish, Welcome to the forum. As regards your questions, I think parts availability is not too bad. I have not had any trouble getting parts so far. eBay is a good source for secondhand parts and there are usually a few cars on eBay which are being broken. There are also aftermarket parts available e.g Blueprint. You can also get genuine Lexus parts from the United States (e.g from Rock Auto) or from Amayama in Japan for a cheaper price than you can get them from Lexus dealers in the UK. It can be quite a bit cheaper even with postage and customs duty! Don't let parts availability put you off. Parts are not usually cheap and some can be expensive (e.g. upper front suspension arms) but, on the plus side, these cars are very reliable and rarely go wrong. These are great cars and I do not think you will regret it if you buy one. Hope this helps.

Yes, these cars do have minds of their own, they are almost human The true story about the CD changer that spoke to us is one for a rainy day................... Btw, I got the struts from my neighbour's scrap ls430 which I was posting about here a while back, so a great free fix

Be careful if buying wheels for the MKIV, I was going to buy some 17" lexus is wheels, subject to trial fitting them on my 99 LS. Didn't fit, due to large front brake calipers, so my advise would be to try before you buy.

Hi John, was it polegate services?, I use the BP at golden cross, which gives you a card that adds 1p a litre off every time you use it, up to a max of 10p a litre, at which point you start again. I often fill an empty tank, without the drama you experienced, though a friend of mine once got badly burnt at a Morrisons pump, to the extent that she was off work for months(policewoman), and she got compo from Morrisons. I'd be interested to hear of any lpg specialists you find locally, I've not come across any so far.

There was a sport between 1998 and 2000. It was discontinued when the facelift came out, along with the GS430 at the end of 2000. Lexus GB were going to release the sport, but weren't happy with the suspension, go a few where sold with just the cosmetic changes. In 2003 they finally got the revised suspension 'correct' and so the sport was re-introduced. All series II sports are modified by Lexus GB on import, they leave Japan as standard SEs. They use European sourced parts - TTE body parts (no doubt manufactured by somebody else), O.Z. wheels, Eibach suspension.

The Certificate that came with the car describes it as having electronic sequential injection, so I think that probably means it is a multipoint rather than a single point injection system.

Have you been in touch wiv giblet a member on here that is selling a suberb example.

I also prefer the originals, but I must say this option does give the car a certain look that I could also live with, certainly a bit racier looking.