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When I bought my Luxury NX, I'd started looking at the Lexus dealers but eventually found one from a major non franchised dealer about £5k cheaper. It was 2 years old and had full local Lexus history (which I checked with Lexus for anything untoward) and one year of manufacturer's warranty to run. It has the navigation and convenience packs and now after 4 years of faultless motoring, I'm passing it to my daughter. Over this period I've lost £7k in depreciation, which I reckon is pretty good. Now looking for an RX450h Premier - seen a 2 year old one at £6k below dealer prices, 20k on the clock from a major premium car franchise and a year of Lexus warranty to run. Not fully checked it out but it is tempting. This time round I know I'll lose a lot more , simply because of the maths and the much higher starting price, but generally if I can get no more than £3k pa depreciation I'll be happy. The longer you hold onto it, the less you lose a year on average. My Jaguar XK that I sold recently fell into this depreciation target bracket too, again helped by getting a big discount at outset from the dealer. Good luck on finding the right car. There should be a few coming to market in the coming months - 2021 is a big year for PCPs and HP loans coming to maturity and, sadly, there will be some people who simply can't buy a newer car or afford to buy their existing one. Lockdown is restricting supply somewhat just now so prices are firming up. Be patient and the right model and deal with come along but don't be afraid to look outwith the Lexus network for cars less than 3 years old.

Hi All, It’s been a while since I bought my GS (Oct 19!!!) and I’ve been a top lurker since then 😌, but my intention was always to tweak it a bit, when I finally got ‘round to it, as I’ve been unable to not tinker with any car I’ve bought, ever! This one was going to be no different and this build thread is the result. So, to the car, a 2006 Mark 3 GS430, with a Black exterior and Grey/Black interior. I spent a long time looking for exactly that colour combination and still love it! Pics below… As I do a high (ish) mileage, there was no way I could afford a V8 running on normal Petrol, and I never planned to, as it was always on the cards to LPG convert it. This was completed straight after purchase and I now have it running fine, although I had to sort out a few issues first (not with the LPG per se – it’s just very sensitive to existing issues in the car). Over the last year, not helped by COVID-19, I’ve worked through the little issues, which I wanted to get done before posting on here, which including giving it a much needed clean first off: Interior Leather: Mats: … although cleaning the exterior just highlighted that the paintwork needs a full detail, which I’ll get cracked when the weather gets better in Summer, hopefully: Swirled Paintwork: However, before I could get stuck into the proper mechanical stuff, there was a slight mechanical hiccup in Aug last year that put things on hold, which I’ll expand on soon (I’m still editing the video on that one), teaser here: Heads: So, I’ll stick up a link up to the video when ready. It’ll be in three parts – which gives an idea how much of an epic it all was (!), but hopefully all will become clear! Now that the car’s back on the road after five months, I’m going to be working through all the little things that I hadn’t had time to do before, so will be sticking all the updates in here. I’ve already managed to get a few little jobs done, starting with refurbing a set of these: Calipers: The plan (Small ‘p’). As there’s not a massive amount of performance upgrades for the Mk3 GS (please don’t mention superchargers… 🤐) my focus was going to be getting it cosmetically spot on and making a lot of improvements to the ride and handling, without compromising comfort (one of the key attractions of the car to me). This will be focused on Suspension (coil-overs, sub-frame, bushes, anti-roll bars) and Chassis (bracing front and rear) plus whatever else may come along. As I’ve alluded to, my intention is to document the work through a small (capital ‘s’) You Tube channel I have, which I’ve been doing as an interest thing for just over half a year. Still very much learning as I go, but I’ve found it really fun to do and a bit of a challenge to try and get things that look and sound decent. Very much not there yet, but practice makes… so criticism will be more than welcome! More to follow soon! 😊 ETA: A flipping link to the Channel wouldn't have gone amiss I suppose!! - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsjaW4uQpjLO6zKekj6wiw Enjoy, hopefully!!

Thx!! little switch at 10 a.m. at frontal rim of the glove bos.. on /off and the clear symbol trunk.. Thx!

Given that all suspension components and members are in a good condition without any play and that all tyres are of the same make and type, the car should hold the road and not be affected by side winds. A heavy car like the one in question should go straight ahead without holding the steering wheel for about half a kilometer, assuming a level surface and no strong side winds. The wheel geometry is the key to road holding. The modern electronic alignment equipment needs calibration so the set values correspond to the actual true values of the various parameters. There is non electronic equipment that uses absolute methods of measurement that are not subject to wear or adjustment. When an alignment is done using this equipment, the car goes like a train and the slightest command from the steering wheel, the car obeys precisely. The person who is doing the wheel alignment must know what he is doing and what every adjustment does and which way it influences the behaviour of the car. Looking at the wear of the tyres, he will know the cause and he will compensate within the range given by the manufacturer. Sadly there are very few of them left nowadays. Chris.

YouTube video thing 😁

Thanks guys - Herbie, mine looks more like the one in the top pic (no lovely walnut though!). I'll double check camera on by reg plate tomorrow though to be sure ColinB, does this mean I have a series II? The manual is a bit generic I think. Worried now I might have a leaky boot after reading through this forum! Soon find out after all this precipitation! Haha 😳 I'll post pics tomorrow.

It's all a bit inconsistent actually. The series I RX all had a touch screen as standard, whether you had nav or not - if you pressed the Nav button it would just come up on the screen that Nav module cannot be found. But on the series II they used the two different approaches - the smaller LCD for non-nav vehicles and the bigger LCD touch screen for vehicles fitted with Nav.

So...... I got one! 😁

Hi there 🙂 You only have a reversing camera if the vehicle is fitted with Sat Nav.

I have always tried on here and LW to help people , including VL................. Unfortunately sometimes the help is misconstrued as being a smart alec , as in the recent case ...... ah well !!! thats life !! Trump supporters everwhere🤣🤣🤣🤣

I have posted about this before somewhere on the forum John. An electrical issue that fixed itself. My brain is a bit fuzzy at present so can’t remember exactly but there have been a number of contributions on this subject to prove the point!

maybe contact the company i mentioned as they are always breaking lexus cars and could probably help you as the interiors will always be unscathed after an accident (bar airbag related items) so they could have a replacement head unit they can sell you, they also give a warranty with the parts they sell it maybe 30 days but its definately long enough to evaluate if the part bought is working correctly.

Many thanks, this is great.

if it came back in the same condition, then yes most deffinately

I've been a member of GEM ( Guild of Experienced Motorists) for quite a few years now. Called on them a few times, usually for a flat battery, but not for my NX, and once for my wife's car when the rear brakes decided to seize for no apparent reason. My wife and I are covered for any car we are a passenger in, at home or elsewhere, even in a friend's car, and there are additional membership discounts, offers and benefits on other products, if you want or need them. The process is slightly different though - you call GEM and they arrange for a local breakdown service to come round ( always been within the hour), you pay them on the spot and then send the claim form and invoice to GEM who reimburse you within a few days with no excess applied. Always been a handy service with no small print that other breakdown companies rely on to get out of footing the bill themselves. Their website comes under Motoring Assist.

Stuart, I had a 98 model. The radio was coded and it lost its code one dark night in the wilds of Warwickshire when the battery died and had to be replaced without the benefit of keeping the power to the radio. Nobody had recorded the code in the manual and the previous owner could not help. The specialists who can deal with code locked radios said this was one they could not do. After an exchange of letters with Lexus HQ the service manager from Lexus Oxford came to my house (suit and LS) to remove the radio to take it to be fixed. After a week or so I drove to the dealer for it to be refitted. They said they would send an invoice but never did. I don't know if the service manager agreed with me that it was silly of Lexus not keep a record of codes to cover this not unlikely event of code loss or if it was a real administrative oversight. Whatever much better PR the Lexus HQ. John

here is a link for a replacement screen just incase you need another one but its not cheap https://www.synetiq.co.uk/parts-breaking/details/multifunction-display-lexus-is-hybrid-2013-to-2016-screen---warranty---10828633/-/76208/

I forgot to mention. Use we buy any car. Create a duff email address first so you don't get inundated with emails from them. Once in the site be honest. Mention all dents scratches etc. This will give you an accurate value a dealer would offer if you were to part ex. But add £1k to that as your asking price. This is about as real as you can get market value wise.

no other car " self heals " quite like the Lexus Ls400 Malc

Just ordered 2 bags of 1kg Keplin desiccant bags from Amazon, £25.49 at the moment.

Hi John, Brent and Vlad. Apologise for the late reply, I hadn't received any email notifications, I've now checked my notifications options and made the appropriate changes so hopefully that'll fix that. Yes, fair question, I guess? My current car is the very exciting Golf MK6 1.6D Match, finished in the equally exciting grey! So, blends in with all the other grey boxes on the road, but that being said has been a very reliable and comfortable car for the last five years, so why would did I buy it? Well long story short, I was living in Hampshire at the time, just outside Southampton and was very happy with my Audi TT MKII, TFSI but changes in circumstances meant moving back home to London, so needed a sensible car, hence the Golf. So why am I now looking to change? Well, it's not necessarily by choice, it's the ULEZ which is coming in later this year and my car isn't ULEZ compliant. However, I long made the decision that my next car was going to be a hybrid of some kind, and having looked at various options: GOLF GTE, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota Prius and a Toyota Auris it became clear that the obvious choice was going to be a Lexus. The thing that stood out having read numerous reviews and comments in countless YouTube videos was the reliability, and given that there are countless Priuses -which as you know uses the same running gear - used as minicabs all over the world, it's fair to say the technology was well proven. Not only that but Lexus after sales service and of course the fit and finish of their cars were just some of the main standout points. But why the CT200h? I'm a practical minded person by nature and although the IS300h is a handsome looking car, it's a got a boot, so not for me, the last car I owned that had a boot was MK5 Cortina (yeah, I'm that old). If Lexus made an IS300h with a hatch I'd be all over it! No, I like the look of the CT200h, sure it's a little quirky (rear door shut lines) but that's part of its charm, there's nothing else quite like it on the road. It's been catching my eye over the last year or so while driving around London, especially the later models with the revised grill, so maybe subconsciously it was inevitable? Coincidently two colleagues at work have recently purchased one; One a Sport and the other an Advance model. I've sat in the Sport but not as yet been out for a ride or taken it for a spin, but was impressed with the layout and finish. I'm leaning toward the F-Sport, I read that the rear lateral dampers improve the ride and I like that mesh grill. I'll need to take one for a test ride first though, failing that then maybe the Sport or the Premier? Well, that's me, I'll be sure you keep you all posted on my progress. Mike

JayEmm is one of the best car reviewers on YouTube IMO. Coherent,fair,not juvenile or sensational. He has reviewed a lot of high performance cars,Porsche,Ferrari and the like,but can also appreciate other types new and older.

A pipe clip as well, very pro! Looks like a neat job even down to the PTFE tape. No need to turn off the water to re-align it, slacken the compression nut slightly with a cloth underneath, re-align and tighten 🙂

Agreed - very fair. Thanks for posting.

Hi Sergio, There is a 2010 GS450h on the Carsireland.ie website. It is an original Irish car with 75,000 Km and the asking price is 8,700 Euro. Private sale in Co Dublin. Might be worth a look. Dec.

Excellent, thanks for posting!

Cheers Vlady! Yes - that's exactly what I'm experiencing too. The alignment and checking of bushes/tyres is primarily to make sure the baseline is sound before moving on. Ref shocks, because I've got the Teins, I can now adjust damping to a reasonable degree, so that will allow me to test different variations between front and rear jounce and rebound bias and see what differences that makes. I feel the anti-roll bars don't help either and body-roll is one of the first things I want to get at in the future, along with chassis stiffness too. I'm just composing a build thread now where I'll keep track of it all, but I have lots of plans for this car, all centered on ride and handling, just need to save for a bit and wait for better weather to start spannering. Your thread just prodded me into actually starting to type stuff out!

Mike welcome. I did wheel alignment couple of times and one of these times was after putting on 4 New Goodyear tyres (not a budget tyre) and the car wonder on the road, it just does not have linearity to its movement, basically if you look left or right during driving the car will change direction Slightly, Even on motorway I Always try to catch a car especially if it is a bit windy. I also had a chance to drive behind my car and noticed that the rear of the car behaved like on the waves. Lexus checked suspension and shocks and nothing is Worn (car has done at that point about 40K miles) or leaks. Yesterday I Tried to drive the car in SPORT setting which helped a bit but still not even close to other car I drove. Considering the car weights almost 2 tonnes it should behave on a motorway more like a train not a boat.

So you've all been on tenterhooks wondering how I got on.... I've just finished. From this: to this: The eagle eyed among you will notice that the new tap is not entirely vertical. This is because it leaked slightly when I turned the water back on and I had to tighten the nut on the tap (I should have got the stilsons or pipe spanner thing on the tap body - note to self, more haste less speed next time laddie!). I will check again later, and if there are no leaks, depending upon how many Brave Pills I have left (I got through a lot this morning) I may attempt to straighten it. If it works though, I may leave it and let purpose triumph over aesthetics. The tap does turn on and off by the way :-) Thanks everyone for your advice and as long as there are no puddles in the cupboard later, I shall treat myself to a very large glass of wine tonight!

Don't forget Stuart, pics or it didn't happen

😮You could buy a lots of different full EVs for similar or less and do 200-300 miles on electric and pay 1/10th the price of petrol.

I bought a Coleman 3.5 watt. Seemed to do okay in the summer. But now it's the winter so it has to cope with minus 20 and snow covered or frosted windshield. Good to know that the circuitry is good. With the covid lockdowns the car doesn't get driven a lot, maybe once a week which is barely enough to keep the battery topped up. Thanks for your comment.

Lead acid and AGM self regulate. That means that if you charge with a constant voltage, regardless of set current when the battery approaches full charge it will draw less and less current. The float voltage of AGM is 13.6V, while lead acid (wet) is 13.4 this takes a lead acid upto 2.26v per cell which is permissible and within spec for most (all?). The absorption voltage (which is the maximum charge voltage) is 14.7 for AGM and 14.8 for standard lead acid which is also so similar so as not to be an issue. The float voltage should be adjusted according to battery temperature. Flooded lead acid batteries are relatively indifferent to higher temperature charging, thats why the majority of old tech cars do not have a temperature sensor on the battery while most agm equipped cars will. An agm battery requires the float voltage to be lowered more than a fla for every extra degree in temperature. AGM batteries come with a maximum charge current recommendation, this is typically 0.2C-0.3C, so 0.2 x capacity, fla batteries are less intolerant of charge current and can often be charged at 1C (if not more) without damage. An overcharged fla battery will vent and require 'topping up' so one of big (marketed) advantage of an agm is that it is maintenance free. Regular cars will simply charge their batteries at 14.4V forever, this poses no real issue to a fla other than the need to very occasionally add distilled water, since an agm is sealed and cannot be maintained this 14.4 (2.4/cell) at some point may represent an overcharge - most information simply states that overcharging an AGM will dramatically shorten its life, likely because they have a pressure relief and so vent which means lost electrolyte(?) The charge system in an AGM equipped Toyota/Lexus will likely be doing a number of things. It will charge the battery to absorption voltage and then drop charge voltage to float voltage (where it will be maintained) these values will be altered depending upon battery temp (hence the additional sensor). Above a certain voltage charging will be indefinitely halted. The maximum charge current will be limited since a flat or low voltage lead acid of any type will draw a lot of current, enough that the electrolyte can boil, not such an issue if they vent and can be topped up - incidentally the gassing voltage for fla is 14.4V at 25deg C, at higher temps the gassing voltage is lower. The gas is hydrogen which is explosive at concentrations of over 4%, a normal cause of battery explosion is a single low (fluid) cell, the cell fills with hydrogen and at some point explodes. The other gas emitted by overcharge is hydrogen sulfide which is both explosive and toxic - filling up a car with that would be bad and likely another consideration for using an agm when the battery is located within the car. So from that blurb. You should NOT charge an AGM type lead acid using a regular charger (unless you know what your doing a little) OR install an AGM in a car which usually has a regular flooded/wet battery, the battery maybe overcharged which will at best shorten its life. You CAN install a flooded lead acid where an AGM has previously been used because the charging method is compatible this way round. AGM is maintenance free, a non sealed flooded battery is not. An AGM is able to be deep cycled to 80% without damage, a wet lead acid can be deep cycled to 50% without damage, an AGM has a lower self discharge rate (so can be left for longer with needing to be charged) I believe around half that of FLA. So another consideration when installing a FLA where an AGM previously was fitted is that you do not allow the car to sit idle for long periods otherwise you will shorten the life of your new battery. Apparently an AGM can accept charge faster than a FLA however I dispute that due to the fact that the don't like high charge currents but I'll leave that for others who know more. On the bench an AGM is technically 'better' in practice with this application I do not believe it is so clear cut. Thats charging covered, Now the biggest advantage an agm has, and possibly a very big tick in their favor for an OEM - They can be shipped as non hazardous goods and require no paperwork. Health and safety I'll leave to others. PS - apologies for interchanging terms so much, its late and I can't be bothered to go back and correct it all, maybe a few typos too so please forgive me. AGM - Absorbent glass mat FLA - Flooded lead acid WET - Flooded lead acid

Hi i have an 04 sc430, had her for 14years and love her dearly, only I hate the bumper reflectors, any ideas? Paint over? Replace? ?? cheers Andy

Hi Andy 14 years, that must be worth a long service medal. 👍 There are a few ways you could deal with the side markers. I have a bodykit on mine so took the opportunity before fitting the bumpers to blank out the side markers with fibre-glass. A good body-shop should have no great difficulty doing the same to your original bumpers but there's a fair amount of work involved to do it properly. There's a short version of the thread here. https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/112580-sc430-project/ and it will lead you elsewhere too. One of the best if not the best examples of a class and cost effective solution to side markers is found on Steve's WIL44 's SC430. There are lots of subtle changes to the car, it's brilliant but as you can see, the side markers look fine painted in the body colour. Here's a thread on clublexus that may help. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc430-2nd-gen-2001-2010/584952-how-to-remove-side-markers.html

A friend from another forum (Hybrid Synergy Forum) suggested me to join this Lexus forum to have information and suggestions on a GS450H model. He is also part of this Lexus forum.

Very sorry to hear this! Bit of an odd question, would you buy it back in the future? I'd say have a nose about on autotrader and the like but prices have been a bit odd in recent time I've noticed!

i said you wouldnt be sorry!

My latest lockdown mod split and paint the internal doors in the fog lights black very easy to do and I think it looks great!

I've sadly never been in a Princess Malc

I bought my GS300h a month ago. On the M27 I was struck by how much the car steering was affected by wear in the motorway lanes. Near-side lane and indentations caused by lorry wear were the culprit.

Did the same with my old Honda accord. AA man got it going in 2 minutes. Same exactly.

Hi Andy and welcome. Bob or Neil or Nick or ano will pick this up shortly. In the meantime join Lexusworld.com

This....^^^^ all cars suffer this. The shield takes a lot of battering, gets hold then cold every time you drive the car. The areas around where the bolts make contact with the heat shield eventually rot away. Either fit it back on with big metal washers or buy a new one and fit with the same big metal washers.

Hi Michael. Why do you want a Lexus and what are you leaving ? Have you driven one yet ?

I'd be more concerned with the fact you have frost(?) on the inside of the windscreen! Just how damp is your car interior?

20201119_164043.mp4

All Lexus vehicles sold in Europe have always been built in Japan.

Why? Lexus have had lukewarm reviews from the motoring press for ever. But we know better don't we? In a nutshell.

I shouldn't worry about the in-house VAG magazine, they have to keep their principal advertisers happy, and their biddable readership. I read that Lexus are looking to sell a meagre 700 ES in its first year in the UK. Not a massive target. Enlightened folk like us (!) will buy the right Lexus for us, the problem is for greater sales amongst the Audi/Mercedes/BMW set is getting the - generalising here - image obsessed user-chooser company-car driver to realise it's not all about office car park Top Trumps and what Jeremy Clarkson thinks (or whoever it is people follow now). If only you could say to them: "drive the thing, and imagine it's 200 miles to go to home, its a wet Wednesday evening, brake lights are stacked for 800 yards ahead. Hmm, that understeer-oversteer balance doesn't seem quite so important now, does it? " [Channelling Alan Partridge there]. Some hope. Anyway, just so long as Lexus sell enough to keep it in the UK market, so I consider one in five years time... 😁