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Here we have a bad rear ender that hopefully the occupants were not in situ but it shows how well any one in the cabin would have been protected.

Yes it is a terrific example and would imagine those miles are motorway cruising being a company car. The belt change is recommended at 10 years if that comes first. The leather will come up really nice with a professional clean and feed the paint looks good so its a keeper ,can only go up in price from here in. This was mine for 17 years.

As alluded to in my message yesterday about classic insurance (thankfully resolved at sensible cost), I've just got myself back into LS ownership: Camry and Lexus by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1992 Lexus LS400 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr As purchased, unseen after I first had a chat with the owner back in 2013 and left my number with him. Have seen it every so often since then, he finally rang me in the week and we agreed a price that meant I could try and give it a long-term future. It'd sat unused in his garage since Christmas but fired-up first time on a battery I took with me. MoT was just about to expire, but just today it got extended so I can use it sympathetically and then work out what to do with it. Treated it to a wash on the way home. Three related cars here. Very interesting to see the similarities between the Camry and LS. LS has more sense of occasion to drive than the RX, lovely as that is. It's done 161k and runs nicely, temperature good. Cam belt probably well overdue, if it doesn't need too much else on brakes/suspension/bodywork then I'll get that done as a priority. Edit: Just found that it was changed in 2011, 15,000 miles ago. So OK on mileage, but probably several years beyond the recommended change interval? All the family mucked-in with giving it a good clean-up inside, for the mileage it's worn its years well. Most things seem to work. I think the pearl white and silver colour scheme is fantastic. All present and correct, barely used. The chap I bought it from said he got it from someone who'd had it as a company car. It was sold new by Cooper Park Lane, London, and I still have the Club Lexus cards for the first keeper. Looks like Park Lane serviced it until 2001/118k miles. It drives really well, looking forward to enjoying it over the next few months then thinking about its future. Always wanted a Mk1 and this seems like a good start.

Nigel, she looks a lovely car for sure ....... Reminds me of my J reg Mk1 all those years back ................ same colour as mine then, pearlescent white Problems I had at about 160k miles, the front UCAs had to be changed and the pas reservoir leaked onto the alternator and burnt it out one night on the M20 The expansion tank cap failed and cost about £5 in those days from a factor The 15" wheels and brakes not so good as the now 16" for sure ... the wheels look the same but they aren't, there's one spoke more for the 16" I had her till about 186k miles ( when I bought my M reg Mk2 ) and had the cambelt changed at about 120k miles, it's first change I thought .... didn't realise about the waterpump needing changing too in those days ..... long while back My first taste of a Ls400 and I've had one every day since, about 20 years now You'll enjoy every moment of her, just use her as much as you can, they are amazing cars to drive and as cheap as chips to keep on the road ...... whenever you replace something expensive ( with OEM ) it wall last another 160k miles .... forever Good luck Malc

Yes it is a terrific example and would imagine those miles are motorway cruising being a company car. The belt change is recommended at 10 years if that comes first. The oil mist around the right bank head looks like a pcv valve issue could do to change that out and a clean up should bring the engine and bay back to its classic look, not as today shrouded in plastic. The leather will come up really nice with a professional clean and feed the paint looks good so its a keeper ,can only go up in price from here in.

Agree with Herbie, but just a word of reassurance on the nickel-metal-hydride traction battery. The similar battery on our 15 year old Prius has never gone flat, and still performs pretty much like new, holding its charge for extended periods of non-use. It's probably the very last thing to worry about on the car. Hope you enjoy the Lexus ownership experience.

Replaced rusted front fenders today... Used fender fitted...quite a satisfying job...she looks much better now.

Great post, great story, great pictures!

Always good to educate yourself when the opportunity arises and its a no loss situation,I found the water bottle float sensor was not working on my mark 4 when I bought it. I bought a new one from Lexus fitted it but did some research on why the old one failed, it turns out they get saturated with the fluid and sink giving a empty bottle reading. I dried it out and painted it with lacquer tested it for a month and it passed the test ,stuck it on ebay at half the cost of new and sold it to someone in Germany ,unusual to say the least but it shows benefits of education.

I chased the major battery supplier in Belgium yet again re the Hankook AXS55D23L battery, as I had not had a reply from them to my emails They responded by saying that they had referred my request to Megastore in the UK (who didn't contact me). Furthermore, they advised they did not stock this battery anyway, although it is shown on the list they link to on their web site. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I did contact Megastore who is the distributor for Hankook batteries in the UK. at the outset. It seems it is up to Megastore which batteries they stock and they would only consider stocking AXS55D23L if there was a demand for 100+ hence my contacting the Belgium supplier who also provide to agencies in France. It is disappointing that there exists a battery that would be suitable but we cannot get hold of it. Other battery manufacturers make Auxiliary AGM batteries but their restricted range does not include one of suitable capacity/size. Therefore, It is with regret that I have to conclude that I see the only satisfactory possibility is to 'negotiate' with a main dealer (including Lexus Direct), on replacing with the same battery as originally fitted. Sorry folks!

Does the valve have a nut on the outside? Mine had a leak from where the TPMS sensor was, so the fitter got a socket out and tightened it a bit. Been fine since then.

Had a leaky valve stem once just after getting a tyre fitted - took it back and they just pulled on the valve with some grips to make it fully seat - never had another problem with it.

Hi having bought my ls430 just before lock-down, I've spent considerable time and money to rectify similar issues. After cleaning the oil from my throttle body, I managed to replace both rocker cover gaskets, spark plug oil seals, PCV valve, rubber grommet and inlet connection pipe (all for under £50 off Amazon). With fresh oil, plugs and filters all round (£150 from Lexus) this has all but removed my engine smoke on startup and full acceleration. Hope this helps! By the way, later I replaced the coolant temp sensor, installed refurbed injectors and remapped ECU too - what a difference!

I personally avoid transmission flushes. If transmission flushes are done at shorter intervals from new then yes it can prolong the life of the transmission. But the reality is that most people will follow the "manufacturers" sealed for life claims and not touch their transmission until some problems arise and then all of a sudden they start looking at transmission flush. A transmission that has not been serviced and starts to develop issues which then goes on to having a flush is at very high risk of failure after the flush. The idea of a flush is to completely clean out the transmission, but this dislodges a lot of buildup materials and in worn transmissions these build-up materials are actually helping to continue to just go on. The minute it is flushed some of those materials will end up in places it shouldn't too. One is probably better of adding some friction modifier to a worn transmission just to keep it going that little bit longer. I personally do a trickle fluid change every 20k/2years and a sump drop and filter change every 60k. Trickle change is simple, just drain, re-fill then run up to temperature. Then I repeat the step a few times and that dilutes the old fluid with some new fluid giving it a better chance. Ofcourse this is my personal opinion and based on my personal experience of owning my car for 13 years and covering almost 200k miles on it.

Thanks both for the replies, great insight into how a hybrid functions. Learned a great deal. Wouldn’t want to run the car dry on petrol at all...just something different from the usual engines I am used to. It’s for my wife but it’s a very good car. We used to have the rx300, and now this hybrid.

Engineered with safety in mind....Now these were built by engineers not accountants.

I have a detachable tow bar fitted to my GS450H ok not an RX I know. When the bar is not attached the fitting is invisible from the rear of the car. Looking up under the rear of the car there is a square hole in the under tray of 2.5" X 2.5" cut neatly around the cast iron receiver. A hinged flap hides the pull down 13 pin supply socket. The fitting looks like someone cared about the job they were doing. I cannot say the same for the destruction of the under tray in the pictures provided by Ron. I would ask they supply a new tray cut carefully to the minimum amount required. John.

take a look here: https://7zap.com/en/catalog/cars/Lexus/brand/10/0/LEXUS RX/LEXUS RX300%2F330%2F350/Lexus/R1d1N0NrcytEVUZmT1Y1bWlmMzQweFd1bnVrSVZDYzcxK0xOaUx2OS96WkI3aXpDYWhSbGU0RkJZVU5yaEJ0bmxpVDJTZGNTb2dIMThLZjdiRnkrSzM0S0pLWHN4a043NWY4a0s0cFdsWk8yN21JcVN6bThicFBEcW1FWVZIbnIvektER0dDVU9wcVRYdDJRY2p6UWRnPT0=/6bbffde8b5b8077d2d0a5796da6eea3c:03f88e64ffc3ba74849bee939087bc77/manufacturer/3->5503/5503---551831 possibly CLIP, COWL TOP VENTILATOR LOUVER Code: 55799-48020

As Herbie above says with the hybrids having at leased two batteries "some such as the GS450H with active suspension have three". There is some confusion on what battery powers what. The 12 volt battery generally powers the computer systems and normal 12 volt systems such as lighting, heater fans, and windows. The high voltage battery "voltage varies depending on vehicle type" is use as a traction battery, a starter battery, and also used to run the power steering via a voltage converter to 40 volts or another converter up to around 500 volts 3 phase variable frequency AC for the aircon. It is also used to charge the 12 volt battery via another voltage converter. Running out of fuel, and continuing to drive till the high voltage battery is depleted will put you in a position where the car will not start, and require recovery to the dealer to charge it. No amount of 12 volt jump starting will help because the car does not have a 12 volt starter motor. If you run out of fuel, and stop reasonably quickly you will need to put around 3 gallons or 14ltrs of fuel in the car before the computer recognises that fuel has been added, and will start. John.

Will this do to replace them? https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-ux/lexus-ux-2018-present/lexus-ux-exterior-interior/lexus-trim-push-clip/ I got a few cheaper than these from the Toyota side of the RMB Teesside dealership.

Hi all It's nice to know you all agree with me As you can see it's not just cracking there is split in the tyre as well. All i wanted to do was to go and pick up my new car see it looking nice and shiny, valeted inside and smelling nice with good tyres (which surely is one of the most important things on a car ). But no all I have had is "stress" .if this matter is not resolved I will be contacting Lexus customer services and if they don't resolve the matter I will then go to trading standards. Someone has to stand up to the dealerships and stop them getting away with poor standards. Rant over ? ron

Thanks a lot Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Keep in mind they coming from Germany so may take a little longer to arrive with everything going on right now.

I'm just looking up part number 90981-20005 and that seems like a D2S bulb which is the wrong HID bulb for the second generation IS.

Thanks Phil and Piers. Good tip about the PCV valve. Just enjoyed a trip out to take daughter to work - any excuse! I think last week I used my 1973 Datsun 1200 which is the most ludicrously basic car you can imagine, so it was a bit of a contrast.... It definitely feels like something to keep, even if I have to store it for a bit until I can get it really nice. Everything here seems to work, and more importantly go out when it should. The floating effect is so cool. I built this Tamiya 1:24 kit version of the Celsior back in the early-mid '90s, never thinking I'd end up with a real example one day.

I think an AC Service is: switch it on, is it cold? Then run one of the £7 aerosols through it. That'll be £35 please...

Maybe spray some silicone spray around the top whilst it's closed - let it permeate for a few days?

Hello and welcome to the LOC. Answers above but if you don’t have the Owner’s Manual you can download a PDF copy free of charge or register for a hard copy. https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/resources/owners-manuals?type=om I hear the road tax in Ireland is a crippling amount, feel free to post up a picture or two of your new LS430.

Not a silly question at all as they do only work with the headlights on!

Silly question but have you tried them with your headlights on?

If an AC system has a major leak I totally agree with you. If however you have a system like mine that has a minor leak "needs topping up about every 3 years not totally re filling" you can spend a lot of money chasing a leak that is impossible to find. I have put dye in my system, and that does not show the leak. So what I am saying is it depends on the rate of leakage, and not on loosing some gas over a long period. My wife has a Toyota Aygo from 2006 still only 70,000 miles. The AC has never been topped up, and works fine. But still if I take it in for service the dealer will push for an "AC service". The AC filter is part of the normal service so what else are they going to do. Are they going to draw out the gas that has nothing wrong with it creating a vacuum in the system reversing the pressure on seals that are 16 years old, and refill with fresh gas reversing the pressure again? For no reason. I see this as more likely to cause a leak. If it ain't broke don't fix it. John.

3 yr policy for 18" wheels is £191.13 3yr policy for 18" tyres up to £150 / tyre is £186.56 3yr scratch & dent policy is £249.74 3yr gap policy for a car costing 30K is £189.21 total £816.64 dont forget i dont know the size of your wheels 17" is cheaper and i based the gap with the car being on a pcp with a value of 30K

I'll not shoot you down in flames for that John, but I still think there must be something wrong with any system that needs to be topped up so an investigation by a specialist would be money well spent.

I didn't know that, I thought they all had oil in. Mind you, if it needs topping up then something must be wrong somewhere so it may be as well to go to a specialist anyway. We had a Nissan Maxima QX for best part of 10 years and the system ran just as cold (very cold) as the day we got it, so no top-ups or any other work needed doing at all.

I changed my tyres due to cracking and they were not as bad as those and had about 5mm depth but they were the Dunlop ones Lexus usually come with and sounded like a rear wheel bearing needed replacement. The replacement Cross Climates obviated this noise and gave a much better ride. Maybe I should have argued for replacements at the time of purchase but the Lexus dealer did reduce the price after negotiation so I did not push it. Certainly, the sun causes a lot of cracking and I have it in mind to make some hardboard protectors to minimize deterioration as tyres on one side catch a load of sun in the normal parked position. Interestingly, I have a spare wheel with unused tyre that has been shut away in the boot of another car for over 11 years but there is no sign of any cracking. This goes to show how well tyres survive when not subjected to sun and light.

cracking on its own isn't dangerous - that is why it isn't cause for an MOT failure, but it shows signs of old brittle rubber which is going to give a harsher ride and more noise than when new, and the cracking could get worth to the point where the carcass is visible which is a safety issue. I remember when a Lexus used vehicle had to have 5 or 6 mm thread depth to be sold - unfortunately that was 20 years ago and standard have slipped to maintain competitiveness.

I would not be happy with 3mm tyre tread on a vehicle purchased from a dealer, it might be legal , just , but right on the limit and I would never run my own vehicle below that. The cracking , as already said does not look safe to me, good luck, Roger

Having just stripped out the rear of my 2007 RX400h to find that none of the photos here matched the hose layout on my vehicle. I had water in rear near side. Firstly water ingress was from the grommets at the bottom of the gulley where the tailgate closed. New grommets and plenty of sealer solved the problem. Looking at the moon roof drain pipe n/s rear showed a 90degree bend in the down pipe before the 90degree bend through the bodywork to the outside world. I cut the pipe at the bend and inserted a plumbing 15mm copper pipe joiner which solved the bend problem. Two weeks later and plenty of rain, no more water in boot. Looking at refitting when time permits.

We've mentioned this before on the LOC, parts that are designed to move should be used regularly. My parking brake is a fairly useless affair but a couple of times during the week I apply it, just to keep things moving.

Hi Ron The sidewalls show a lot of cracking of rubber, that comes with age and sun damage, they look quite dangerous🤔 I think you have a case for replacement tyres with that and only 3mm of tread!

Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to have a look at the old compressor to see how the clutch fits, how it works and how to remove it. First thing I noticed is that the pulley bit, it should turn free and smooth without the clutch engaged, wasn’t free. It was catching and didn’t turn smoothly at all. A bit of turning and it was smoother but not as smooth as you would expect. 10mm bolt in the middle removed and removed the first black front bit with holes in it, this is connected to the compressor splined shaft and there are a couple of shims. A metal ‘plate’ was next which was loose and I removed it. When removed it didn’t look right, debris and black gooey stuff in the middle. Not knowing how it all works and fits together I didn’t think anything of it much. I then removed a circlip and removed the pulley bit with a bearing in the middle. You could see where the pulley part had been catching on the magnetic clutch stator. Cleaned it all up and put it back together and tested if the clutch engages with 12v applied.........nothing so I’m pretty sure the issue is the clutch assy which was the initial diagnosis. I then looked at the parts diagram to see what bits I would need to ‘fix’ the clutch assy, I found that the metal ‘plate‘ which was loose shouldn’t be loose at all and should be a fixed part of the ‘Rotor sub-assy, magnetic clutch’ which isn’t available to buy anymore. That I think is the bit that broke. The whole clutch assy is available from Lexus at £450 but I paid £270 for the whole compressor so not worth fixing it. Anyhow I know I have a good mechanical bit compressor as a spare.

Pictures from my 2016 450h tow bar fitting - quite neat

I fitted one of these and it works really well. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluetooth-Audio-Musik-Adapter-LEXUS-IS-ISF-GS-RX-LS-300-350-400h/264004475652?epid=6025037608&hash=item3d77e49b04:g:KGIAAOSwVFJbzvUu

Both times it was done by Russell Birch at Toyotec who I am sure knows what he's doing. Maybe he reset adaptations before the test drive, not sure what the official procedure is. Both times it was a drain and fill, I'm wary of flushes after listening to Louis Altazan talk about them - http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/168. Sounds like you're probably right on it simply being dirty fluid/debris left in there after the first service. I guess I'll start changing it at least every two years now, the vibration seems to have started after the two-year point so maybe that tells me something. I just hope that the vibration didn't damage anything! He test drove it afterwards and said it drives really nice anyway.

Another quick way to improve your rusty nuts. Roll a 3 inch wide piece of card into a tube to fit over the nut. Put nozzle of silver spray can right up to the tube and give a very quick spray. All four nuts done in 5 minutes.

I got over the problem of the rusty locking nut by cutting off the skirt of 4 plastic chromed covers, and using some epoxy resin glued a button magnet into the top section. These then sit nicely onto the end of the locking nuts. This hides them completely. John.

Well, there's moisture or water coming from somewhere ,,,

They look rather smart Brian. (I won't show your pictures to my wife, for I have encouraged her to believe that any scuffs on the wheels will necessitate brand new wheels, (for reasons of metal stress! 😉 ) and that they'd have to be paid for out of 'housekeeping.) 'Mum's the word' eh?

Hi here is a picture of my tow bar assembly fitted by Westfalia Bristol, tow bar is on.

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