willydoit

Thought I'd seen on DVLA that the plate belongs to the car and it is at their discretion as to whether they let you retain it or transfer it.

Looks like you might have to marry her, we tried to insure daughters new celica as she is 21 and been driving previous car registered to wife but as named/main driver, (wants to get her own ncb started, 190bhp 140mph Celica is not the best way to start but hey, we all know kids) Insurance company says cannot insure car which is not owned by you except where it is spouse which we currently do with wifes Copen.

Hi all, Have recently purchased an LS400 1998 with full dsh with genuine 7500 (seven thousand five hundred) miles and cambelt change at 6,300 miles, I will have to have it serviced at the main dealers to keep best value I assume but could do with a trustworthy specialist for any general maintenance issues which may crop up, I am not expecting many with only 7,500 miles but could develop problems from long standing under useage according to dealers so would like a genuine trustworthy specialist within reasonable distance of Driffield in East Yorks if anyone can recommend. Thanks in advance

I've never heard of problems with the satnav screen on the LS, and I read the US forums too. I would run a mile like Chris says. Came across these people tonight while surfing, may be worth a call with your problem, http://www.dashtechservices.co.uk/

Ok that's it discussion closed, I'm off into the sunset looking for the perfect road

HI maneesh you said it the roads are bad around here, drove the car up from london with not a whisper, soon as I got into home area noticed the noise, sounds like I am dragging an empty plastic oil container under the front wheels, has to be surface noise as tone or level changes from one surface to another. as mentioned majority of the roads around here simply have a tar laid onto the surface and then covered in loose chippings, very rarely do we see proper tarmac being laid. The tyres look almost new but could be original on the car from new as it has only done 8k miles now, it may sound daft but could the compund be someway affected if it's been stood for long periods over the last 8 years, I don't suppose many tyres were designed to last 8 years on a vehicle, but dont want to shell out for 4 new tyres to find they are just the same. Reading others comments on road noise it seems as though dealers aren't much help, maybe a phone call to Dunlop could throw some light on the subject, if anyone else has an ls400 in the east yorkshire area or with this type of crap surface I would be interested in their feedback, will advise if I get anywhere with Dunlop

Hi, I took ownership of my first ls400 just a couple of weeks ago, moved to that from an XJ8 in great condition but wouldn't look back, from what I have gathered during my research I would go for the 98 onwards not 97 as this seems to have been a change year, the 98 onwards had the sat nav and will probably hold value better, I believe the aircon seats came in the 2001 facelift along with a few other goodies, As a new Lexus fan my knowledge is hazy and I stand to be corrected by the more knowledgable out there. Given the amount of advice given to those looking to purchase an ls400 which concerns making sure cam belts are changed at the correct time I would suspect that failure of one amounts to a lot of pennies to put right. I too like my music to sound right and havent been in any way dissapointed with the ls400 system, complete with a sub woofer in the rear shelf your Led Zepp should sound just fine. Nice big boot also, its obviously no estate but more than serviceable certainly enough room for a couple of bodies. Sorry my knowledge isnt greater, but hopefully it's a start.

Thanks for that, probably wouldn't have noticed as much coming from a car other than the Jag :winky: but hey where'd you get the D8Zs for £68 and do you know if Lexus are still supplying these as standard on the new LS series?

Thanks for the offer, Ill bear it in mind, was just a bit concerned if there were problems with long standing doing nothing, looks as though I need to move to a house with a long, long, long nicely tarmac'd drive. Not so sure about bargain of century, for a 98 car I think I paid over the odds, for a 50k car with 7,500 miles on the clock complete with new car smell I got a great deal B)

I have just acquired an ls400 1998 with a genuine 7,500 miles on the clock, the car has dunlop sport tyres the dx whatevers which I believe are supposed to be very good on the road noise front, however on our local roads, (probably done the cheapest way, throw on chippings and let us poor drivers drive them in while getting a nice pebble dashed look to the bodywork.) I find I am getting a lot of road noise, I am concerned that it may be other issues causing the noise due to the car doing so little mileage and being stood for long periods of time, however as soon as I hit a short piece of road with a decent surface everything drops to utter silence so I suspect it really is just road noise, moved to the ls400 from an XJ8 which was also very quiet so maybe I am expecting too much, feedback on other ls400 owners road noise experiences would be appreciated if only to stop me worrying about possible expensive suspension repairs on a car with less than 8000 miles travelled. Suspect tyres may be original fitting, they have almost full tread left on them all, so replacement in the near future is unlikely unless someone can guarantee a large noise reduction and offer a buyer for the existing tyres Thanks in advance

Hi, according to lexus each year the release starts at 1 and increments with each update for that year, som eyears have more updates than others, the disk I have acquired I was told was definately a 2005 release, it works fine and so far I havent seen a problem so fingers crossed.

Okay, it probably seems sad answering my own post, but just got off the phone to the local Lexus dealership who tell me that the version number is only relevent to that year of release, apparently in my year there were a number of updates, also turns out mine is a 2000 release so maybe the guy meant he updated the disk after a couple of years not a couple of years ago. Incidentally even on latest releases of sat nav it still doesnt allow destination input on the move Anyway hope the info helps someone else, if in doubt a call to your dealer with the part numbe ron the disk will allow them to tell you how old your version is.

Glad you purchased from an honest owner it does give some peace of mind, the only similar issue I have had with noise on the steering was on our Jaguar XJ8 it developed a leak in the pas oil cooler which caused it to drop oil which caused a groaning in steering but it didn't affect the power though, sorry I cannot be more help on this one, I have seen others in the forum suggesting taking a look at the US forum as they seem to be more popular there and there is far more technical help available. Good luck

Did you buy it from the trade? there are laws and regulations governing sales of used cars and the sooner you get it back to them the stronger your case, I would immediately make the sellers aware of the issue, if you purchased it privately it may be worth contacting them to see if has happened before however legally I do not believe there is any regulations covering private sales, you could be lucky and have purchased it from someone who cares, either way I would contact the seller asap.

Hi, I had a Supra and loved it but decided due to my age that it was time to move on to something that didn't look as though I was in the middle of my mid life crisis, it was however the only car I have run for a few years and managed to sell without losing money on it, since then I have had a couple of Jaguars, a sovereign and an xj8 again both powerfull cars, but having just taken ownership of a 1998 (older than I was wanting but 7500 miles made it a new 50k car in my eyes) ls400 with a genuine 7,504 miles on the clock complete with annual stamped service history I am more than happy, the car still has the brand new car smell, is in almost off the production line condition inside and out, and possibly because it is almost new is very economical regardless of what some may say. On a recent trip which involved mostly motorway driving I obtained in excess of 32mpg with a tank average of around 27 which takes in the odd shopping trip so I am getting very good fuel returns, yet it still accelerates like a sports car, 0-60 I believe is supposed to be just over 6 seconds. It all depends on how you like to drive, but the styling of the ls400 should make you just want to saunter along, with the lexus, you know you have it and you don't need to prove it, you dont get the chav's blipping their throttles at the traffic lights anymore, you are in a different scene than that attracted by the Supra Depending upon what you are looking for in a car I doubt that you will be dissapointed with an ls400, most that are available tend to have high mileages which we are told isn't a problem if they have been looked after, but I would bear in mind that every part of the car will have done that mileage not just the bulletproof engine and gearbox, my advice would be be patient and search out the right one, they are out there if you look hard enough, just buy the best you can afford and maintain. Hope you find what you are looking for.

Hi everyone, Having just purchased an ls400 and being told by the owners son that his father had updated the sat nav cd a couple of years ago I have checked the version number on the disk and it has indeed been updated to ver 3.4 release 00-5 and we still have the original 1.1 version supplied with the car. My confusion comes however by being offered a replacement disk apparently purchased recently which the owner states is 2005 ver 2.1, have lexus changed their numbering format of the CD (CD not DVD as car is pre DVD Sat Nav) or is this version likely to be older than the one I have which I was told was purchased a couple of years ago. If anyone has information relating to the most recent release of the Sat Nav CD for the ls400 I would appreciate it, at present my only gripe is the inability to input a destination while on the move, I can appreciate the safety factor of this but it also prevents a passenger from inputting a destination which carries no risks, it is awkward to have to come off a motorway to reset a destination to have to get back on again. Although new to the lexus sat nav system I have already experienced being taken round in circles following it's instructions so would be happy to find an improved version, although the woman is so polite it's hard to get mad with her Thanks in advance for any information

B)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(T7RY B @ Jul 4 2006, 07:46 AM) ←</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Maybe I am a bit thick but why would it need a cambelt change at 6K. How many services has it had on 7,500? The car is still brand new. Seems a bit over the top doesnt it, apparently its done on either mileage or years of age, seems like a great way to make money to me, according to the book the car was serviced at 263 miles 1430 miles 3375 miles 4195 miles 4685 miles 6271 miles (cambelt change) 7088 miles (brake fluid change and new updated sat nav cd) 7268 miles in sept 2005 and I collected it with 7504 miles on the clock. Can anyone beat 8 dealer services on a car with 7500 miles on it?

Guess it's true, Lexus owners really do cherish their cars, just moved to this from a Jag XJ8 and it knocks spots off the Jag IMHO

Thanks for that, I will look into it I will be taking some pictures for insurance purposes tomorrow so will put some up, theres nothing like the new smell of a car of this quality, was concerned about possible seizures of parts but everything seems to be fine, the previous owner even updated the sat nav disk two years ago, (dont know why, if he only does less than 1000 miles a year he doesn't go far enough to get lost :winky: )it has a full service history and previous MOT's, even the toolkit is still in cellophane including the original batteries for the torch. I am definately one very happy owner so far, as I mentioned, I think I paid a little over the odds at 10k (seller was asking 12k) as it is still a 98 car but it will certainly last me many years. way I see it it looks and feels brand new out of the showroom, once I get the plate on it I would defy anyone who isn't conversent with the ls400 facelifts to know it isnt any more than a few months off the production line.

Hi, I have a bit of a dilemma in that I have just managed to purchase what must be every lexus owners dream, a 98 ls400 with a genuine 7,500 miles on the clock with full dealer service history, serviced every year, cam belts changed at 6,000 miles, the vehicle has done only 250 miles since it's last service 9 months ago and is in pristine condition inside and out complete with new car smell, I paid a bit over the odds for the car but figured it was worth it to basicall get a new 50k car except for the plate and we will be transfering our private plate anyway. But I digress, I am concerned that if *** forbid anything should happen to it I dont want to receive standard book value on a 98 ls400, obviously this car is very likely totally unique and couldnt be replaced, in my opinion the only thing to compare would be an equivalent ls400 with only 7,500 miles which would have to obviously be a much newer vehicle to have the same mileage, does anyone have any advice on how best to insure the vehicle to safeguard the investment. Thanks in advance.