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This is how I thought my car would look on collection but alas it took 35 hours of reworking the paint before I was happy with it.

😲

Firstly, I’ve had my own IS300h previously and it was fine but I’m in a brand new IS just for a week and it’s great. I’ve just chopped in my September 2018 NX Premium ready to pick up my new ES. Rather than picking up the ES on the 1 September I’ve elected to wait until Friday 6 September. My local dealer has leant me a brand new IS (19 plate, practically zero miles) to get me through to Friday. After my NX it’s so much more comfortable, not surprisingly wayyyyyyy quicker and super quiet and smooth. It’s s base model but with Premium Pack. The PP wheels are stunning and overall it’s a very striking car particularly in Sonic White. I like a lot. I’m missing BSM, RCTA-B and the HUD but otherwise it’s great. Weirdly, it has the 10.3” screen like the NX but it appears deeper than the NX which makes driving in nav mode easier. The NX’s screen appears very shallow - think letterbox - and it’s impossible to read street names on the NX’s screen whilst on the IS they’re larger. Two things I don’t like: still has the foot operated parking brake and the infotainment menu and reversing camera image are still in around 6-7” mode so there’s black space around the screen edge. Seems strange not to have updated the software to use the larger screen. Habu

Finally got round to changing the gearbox oil yesterday. Not a difficult job, however trying to get the car in the air and level without a workshop ramp made it a little challenging. Using a combination of ramps, trolley jacks and axle stands i managed to get the car in the air. I had measured the distance between the top of the wheel arch and the floor when on the floor, the front wheel arch sits lower than the rear so I need to keep that difference when the car was in the air. Finally got there, not quite level, ended up with a difference of 3 cms between front and back with the back being higher. I had put the car more over to the left of the garage as nearly all my work was on the right hand side of the car (drivers side in the uk). Protecting the gearbox is a plastic cover, this is held in with 4x10mm headed screws and 2x10mm headed nuts that are on the rear of the cover. In order to remove the plastic cover there is a metal A bracket in the way that is held on with 4x14mm headed bolts, one on each chassis leg marked in red and two on the central front jack mount, these need to be undone. There is also a plastic 13mm nut that holds the bracket in place on that central jack mount, do not undo this. Once these 4x14 mm bolts are undone the metal bracket will move around so as the plastic shield can be removed. On the plastic shield there are a series of expanding clips, don’t remove them, these hold on the soundproofing. Once the cover is removed there is access to the refill and sump plugs, remember never undo the sump plug before checking the refill plug will undo. They are both 14mm headed. Lexus say the gearbox capacity is 3.8L. Experience of doing Prius gearboxes has taught me that you will never remove that all the fluid though, this is because there is a cooler built into the radiator and so some of the transmission oil will be in the rad and in the cooler pipes. Also with the way I had set the Lexus up because of my height difference front to back I knew that I would drain even less. I managed to drain just over 2.3L though. Using a hand pump I then put the same quantity back into the gearbox Once I had the fluid in it was a case of putting it all back together. Total time to do was about 2 hours, with the majority of that being getting the car in to the air. As I have said earlier next time I will rent a ramp for a few hours and do it that way, it would be so much simpler. Can I feel the difference? No, but I know its been done and if it prolongs the life of the outbox then it was worth the work involved.

soory

Very nice Steve, I have a sneaky suspicion that you would have spent 35 hours anyway. Enjoy.

She has arrived...

I've got a fairly loud colour and was thinking of doing something with the interior. I quite like the look of this for my seats and centre consul. . Think this would tide the outside to the inside. What do ya think?

Thank you for all info, hope i dont need it. You have a picture of your bike, so i like to show you mine.

Gave myself more work than I care for - Too old for all this malarkey! However stripped back the plastic to check and replace the plugs, Lead set, Coil (not two- 2nd too difficult to get to) possibly the ECT (Cabling looks difficult to just lift off the unit, so probably will leave alone (temp always constant on long trips) to get to the bottom of the occaisonal misfire on overtaking at speed (120kph) doesn't go into O/D and one in the Dartford Tunnel (45 mph) not something you want to experience. Changed plugs before - Dont buy Prospark! only good thing about them is that they are numbered. however their lengths don't match and as you can see in photo's I've possibly discovered part of the problem. No 1 spark lead (I had to replace put back the old Yazaki lead, three years ago as the plastic shroud or Cam spliced through the No 1 the moment I started the engine. It ran on 7, Doh! Well, you can see No 1 lead has been touching the Cam belt in two places and maybe causing the spark to divert. Not sure. I put in Brisk spark plugs last time as I thought I'd go LPG. THe LPG kit is in my Hall for sale on t'bay as I don't think it will ever happen. Wales is too far to go. Number 5 cylinder plug I pulled and apart from it being oily on the thread the burn looks OK to me. I have a new set of Denso's but they are not easy to get out and the Brisks have only done 20k so may leave in. Wife wants me to take her to the Dentist tomorrow (havn'y you finioshed the job yet? etc (no I made that up) and it should be back together if I leave the plugs. A new Throttle position to be fitted as may be the cause of my problem or wrng calibration. I have diffculty with the Lexls explanation of how to Calibrate. Also each vutube vid always shows three terminals and we have four. Diagram doesn't epclain which is what on Lexls photo. So, busy busy busy! Lucky me!

Just to clarify the bit above. It should have read as below because it sounded like I was willing to offer £50 more than the asking price for the light purple car..............ha ha. I don’t think I would do but you never know! “There is another light purple 1998 MKIV for sale on eBay (link below), it's done more miles but description says it's excellent and drives like new for £1,050 so was I that far out or unrealistic with offering £1,100 for the car I viewed yesterday. I haven't seen the car of course but it's very close to where I live so may have a look.”

Definitely try out dark gunmetal. The GSF wheels look fantastic in dark gunmetal grey. Supposedly the closest colour is Shadow Chrome.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201905157991180?advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=l321bh&model=LS 600H&page=1&make=LEXUS&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used anyone know this car and it’s history

Good news! The company in question have come back to me and agreed to pay for all 4 wheels to be refurbished at a company of my choosing. i'm tempted to get them powder coated in a dark gunmetal grey as I've never been a fan of the diamond cut finish and prefer darker alloys. Any reasons not to go down the powder coated route?

Thanks for the info, yes TR7 owner still, Silver drophead X reg had it for 35 years.

If its anything like the Range Rover P38 I had then the air tank is there to enable the suspension to give a fast response to the changes in height of each suspension unit. Without it you are relying on the compressor to be nearly constantly working to allow the suspension to make alterations. With the air tank then the air is taken out of the tank as required then the compressor is just used to keep the tank at a suitable pressure. Noticed your user name .. I am guessing you are a former TR7 owner? Mine was a S reg in red with black roof.

Thanks for all your comments, it's very interesting to know other peoples opinions and get their advice for which I'm grateful. To put the record straight concerning my interest in purchasing a Lexus LS400. Am I hell bent on buying an LS400? No I'm not. Would I like one? Yes I would. If I end up purchasing one I would be using it daily to commute 25 miles to work and back, 50 miles per day. This being the case, I may not be able to live with it as a daily driver. I think I would but I won't know for sure until I do it. So I want to spend around 2k to find out. If the car I looked at yesterday didn't need a cam belt etc, I may have done a deal near the asking price because cosmetically it is in excellent condition. Take off the cost of the bits for the cam belt work, around £500?, that makes it £1500 and absolutely needs to be done asap if I'm running it daily to work and back. Another factor is I'm not that wild about the colour at all to be honest and ideally would prefer Silver or Gold maybe, these colours seem to be more desirable and I prefer them. The brakes need attention plus maybe suspension work. I could easily spend another £500 for this work, just my opinion of course. So that brought me to the figure of £1,000. If I could not live the car as a daily driver then it would stand me at 2k so wouldn't break the bank as a second car and if I decided to sell it then I could stand waiting for a while until it sold. There is another light purple 1998 MKIV for sale on eBay (link below), it's done more miles but description says it's excellent and drives like new for £1,050 so am I that far out or unrealistic with offering £1,100? I haven't seen the car of course but it's very close to where I live so may have a look. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/lexus-ls400/254346126030

hmmm....... I remember 8 years ago I paid £1400 for mine with 123k miles and Full Lexus Service History ( the last one btw ) from ACLex on here and I didn't get the cheapest available by far on pricing but I know I did from quality and everything else that matters to us Ls400 owners and I'm thinking she will last another 10 years maybe too hopefully Malc

I'd have rejected your offer as well! And as Herbie says, you're being unrealistic. Maybe 3 years ago, but now so many people are aware of these cars and finding a good one with your budget may prove a fruitless quest!

I don't think you're being cheeky, but I think you are being unrealistic. I've no doubt that you'll find one at that price but it'll be in a worse condition, which leads me to wonder if you really want one anyway or if you'd be more comfortable sticking with your BMWs?

Sorry forgot to post an update. I got the Bosch S4 026 (068). It's a perfect fit and installation fairly straightforward. 10mins max. It's been a week and so far so good.

Wow that’s nice!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

You are right after all, that sensor did not work, at the end the the £23.99 is what I used to solve my problem. https://amzn.to/2ZEPLE1 Autel Programmable Universal TPMS Sensor Dual Frequency (315MHz + 433MHz) I also find out that if you press the pressure reset button it will start the ECU initiation, this will stop TS to communicate with the ECU hence you will not be able to code. I left it overnight and tried it again in the morning and I can code again..... Headache to do it yourself and once I have the time I will make a guide for the forum as it is a ball ache to nav through all the information on the net. I now have to coding pad so I am happy to code sensor for anyone needed etc. Benson

Definitely a yes from me, looks very “tasteful”........I’ve a friend with a black GSF and he’s added a few orange touches to his, I’ve always said about a bit of orange on the seats.

That is spot on!......absolutely love the orange.

The amg is an entirely different beast and on island roads probably faster point to point behaves more rowdy / immature in a positive way ( the sports exhaust (- my wife calls it that man button🤣-it burps, pops and farts like crazy) however no v 8 sound, lesser seats and leather on a (desrrstriceted) motorway it would be left for dead once v8 comes on cam and if you close the door on the Lexus it sounds like a bank vault the Benz door sounds crappy Benz is more economic but Burmeister looses to Mark levinson Sound System but better sat nav and phone integration despite older style command on this pre fl car roof comes off interior nicer looking both great cars in their own right mb after sales is amazing Lexus only claims to be

Haha I'll use "spirited" if I get pulled over 🤣

tyre wear was pretty much perfect 3.5mm from inside to out then 3mm on the outer edge I think my driving is more spirited than aggressive 😇

Thanks for the welcome, one of the reasons that swayed me into buying this particular one was the wheels on it. It has the Lexus logo on them so figured they are official but didn't see them on the others RX300's I had shortlisted. I also tinted the rear lights, got 2 dashcams fitted and debadged the rear. I just took these photos this morning and yes I know I need to take it car wash tomorrow lol.

That looks great. Definitely suits the cars exterior.

I like it!

Hi mate. I've only just changed my fronts since I bought it. 30k on those and they werent brand new when I bought it so no doubt they will do more than 30k. Changed the rears last year and got about 20k on those, they were brand new on when I bought it. Running the stock Potenzas all round. Either mine last longer or you drive harder 😎 I'm going with the latter 😁

Eventually got around to having my wheels refurbished and I'm very pleased with them. Before and after photos attached. Just driven home and took photos immediately but really I should have given them a wash/wipe first. However, you can see the massive improvement. 😀

The strange phenomena with Toyota/Lexus hybrids is that reverse is pure electric drive. If the drive battery is low on charge the engine will run to charge it, but because the engine only runs one way, and there is no mechanical reverse gear the actual fact that it is running reduces the effectiveness of the electric motor drive the engine try's to drive the car forwards. With the gen2 Prius if you park facing down a steep hill it is possible the car will not reverse if the battery is low, and the engine starts. Force charging the battery by holding your foot on the brake, and applying the accelerator till more charge bars appear resolves the situation as the engine stops with the charge level being higher. John.

The engine will kick in and drive the motor generator, which will produce electrical power for the motor to use. The engine doesn't drive the wheels directly in reverse.

Lovely job and well worth doing. I did mine about 2 years ago and they’re just needing doing again now. I’ll probably do them this month as the old girl is going in for a 2 Stage paint correction and wheel refurb this week. Have you thought about some caliper stickers to finish it off? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F270871152574

Do you also shout louder when talking to foreigners Just repeating what you said above won't help him understand what it is or what it's for you know

Had the PS4S fitted today by a mobile fitter and he damaged 3 wheels, under inflated all tyres and lost one of my metal dust caps and replaced it with a black plastic one. To make it worse the fitter starting driving off whilst I was inspecting his work, managed to stop him and he told me he wasn't aware of the damage (yeah right). Already spoken to customer services and gave them both barrels. I expect refurb on the wheels and some compensation due shocking service.