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I renewed my warrenty with Lexus for two years, this was six months ago. I just wanted peace of mind as everything on my LS is electrical, head restraints included and I'd hate to think how much one of those would cost to repair. I did compare the Lexus warrenty to other company's and did find that the Lexus warrenty was as near as damn it the same as the standard three year from new warrenty.

I park my LS430 in an under cover car park. This has a steep driveway going upto the road. I had to park my Nissan Micra driving school car in this car park as the driveway to the above ground car park was too steep and coverd in ice to get it up to it's usuall parking place. I got the Micra down the driveway to the underground car park without hitting or killing anything but sliding all the way down. Couldn't get it back up though as there is no snow setting for it's automatic gearbox. No matter how gentle you were with the accelerator pedal, it wouldn't move. I then had a go in th Lexus. You would think that 2 tonnes, and a steep driveway covered in ice that I would have no chance. I just stuck it in drive, no snow setting, traction controll on and it went up the steep driveway with no skidding. It felt alot safer than the Micra did in the snow. Perhaps the more weight you have the better it is. I also have the Michelin Piolot Sport tyres on the LS as well so perhaps that has made a difference. Jim.

Lexus Woodford did this for my old GS300 too. I'm seeing them tomorrow for a new parking sensor and an oil and filter change. Weather permitting of course.

I think I'll take that advice. Jim.

Hi Everyone. Thought I'd have a bit of a moan. I've had to have the last two days off work because of this damn snow. It's now getting on my nerves and apparently we are going to sop it again on Thursday. Please be carefull out there everyone. Now is not the time to learn to powerslide. Jim.

Hi DJ Wozza. Thanks very much for your advice. I'm still waiting to see if my old CD204 can be repaired. It's been over a week now so to me that doesn't sound like they can get the parts. I'm currently using my old Sony SACD and DVD player on my Arcam amp and it sounds very dull and lifeless compared to my Philips CD player. I do like the Marantz unit and would love it in black. I'll wait and see but if I havn't heard anything by thursday, I shall dig the credit card out and do some shopping. I would like the Arcam DVD player but I am specifically after just a CD player but the Arcam player would match my amp. Decisions, decisions. I shall keep you posted and thanks again for the advice. Jim.

I would also add that in icy conditions it is going to take you ten times longer to stop than in dry warm conditions. Slow down much earlier and far more gentle than you would do otherwyse. I saw a Range Rover, Freelander, Ranger Rover Sport, and a Porsche Cayanne all in ditches round my way yesterday. Ice is ice. Jim.

Crikey, I forgot to mention about the keys. When the dealer had mine, he didn't have the master key so they had to replace the ECU and supply two master keys. I remember seeing the bill for this and it was well over £3,000 though. Also heard that it was an extortionate amount to have the touch screen replaced. But, renew the warrenty, and don't worry. Jim.

I've had my 54 plate for a year and a half now. The only scary thing has been the replacement of four tyres, and those 245/45/18's arn't that cheap I'm afraid. I did have a suspension problem which was sorted out under warrenty which involved the replacement of front suspension bushes and somthing was tightend to stop a clonking noise when the steering was on full lock. Make sure it has a full service history and press every button to make sure it works. Cambelt's are changed every 100,000 miles or 10 years. I've not had a problem with the gearbox on mine at all. It feels like a CVT when driven normally but can be quite fun when put into sports mode or used manually. It is suprising how quick these LS430's can be when you get them in the right gear and give them a boot full. I absolutly love mine to bits. Your first long journey in it will be amazing. Crank up the Mark Levinson system, set your cruise and off you go. Not alot beats it in my opinion. I'm averaging 22mpg at the moment and that's running it on BP Ultimate 97RON petrol. If you use Castrol Edge 0W-30 fully synthetic oil on services, that improves your MPG as well. Jim.

Thanks for the advice Aido and Mike. I'd imagine I will find out next week if my old CD204 can be repaired or not. I would really like an Arcam CD player to match my amp but I also like Marantz as well. I have a hi-hi dealer just up the road from me in Broxbourne so I might pop in there and see if they will lend me a display unit for a couple of days. Thanks again guys. Jim.

Hi everyone. Hope you have all had a good weekend I'm looking for a bit of advice. I have an amp from Arcam and a pair of Mission speakers which I spent an arm and a leg on a few months ago, all because I bought a cd player from Ebay. The CD player is a Philips CD204 which was made back in 1984 and was their first model with the sliding drawer rather than the flip top. My CD player is currently in for repair as it doesn't read the discs and I have been informed that it needs a new laser. Being the best part of 25 years old it seems the repair people are having some trouble finding the parts required to do this so it looks like a new CD player is on the cards. My budget is £300 tops (which rueled out everything from Mark Levinson ) and I would like some advice from people in the know about which model is best in that price range. Many thanks. Jim.

Would be cool to know where my old one was. GS300 SE Y902NVX.

I knew I should be using it as a mini bar rather than a fridge. "Hic" Does anyone know where I can buy a bald patch from? Jim.

I was under the opinion that Skoda's were for tight people. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, if the GS430 is an old man's car, what is an LS430 then? I'm only 32 Do I have to start looking at Sandal's holidays, cream coloured slacks

Hi Pete. I'm sorry to see it go to. I hope I can still bother you from time to time for advice as you seem to know the LS430 better than some main dealers. Jim.

The grill on the bonet looked like it's come from a Nissan Primera.

The knocking noise on the car came back on Tuesday evening. The noise is almost like a loud crack. When hearing a noise like this, there could well have been some safety issue with the car. I'm no mechanic and have no experience in the automotive industry but when you can hear and feel such a loud noise, then in my opinion it's unsafe. Because of this the car needed to be looked at quickly. The only gap that the garage could fit me in for was today when a courtesy car was not available. Warrenty or no warrenty, it's time off work when I'm loosing money. Warrenty's also don't cover inconvenience, especially when it is the same problem which has returned. Anyway, I will monitor the situation and hopefully it won't come back. It is also going in this coming Wednesday for a parking sensor to be replaced and an oil and filter change for which a courtesy car has been booked. Sorry for sounding frumpy. Jim.

The idea of warrenty in principle is fantastic but when it has been repaired before and the knocking noise comes back, then it is a pain to have to take time off work to have it looked at again when it should have been done in the first place so money has been lost. Anyway, it has been looked at again today and the same part, which was described as a suspension adjuster (your guess is a good as mine) has been tightend so no more noise. If the knocking noise does come back, I will ask if the offending part can be replaced rather than tightend. Jim.

Hi Pete. Thanks for the info. It is just being looked at tomorrow but will be going in on Wednesday next week for an oil change and a parking sensor replacement. They couldn't find anything wring with it last time other than this bolt but if I tell the nice lady to write down on her sheet to have a look at the upper wishbone bushes, then they might get to the bottom of it a bit quicker. Will keep you updated. Jim.

Evening all. I had a problem with the LS before Christmas. The front suspension would make a knocking noise when the steering was on full lock in either direction and the car was travelling slowly, eg, when parking. I took it back to the dealer who found one bolt on the suspension somewhere wasn't tight enough and all was well. Anyway, the knocking has come back with a vengence. It is going back tomorrow to be looked at but I wonderd if anyone had some ideas I could throw their way to get it sorted. I still have over a year and a halfs worth of Lexus warrenty on the car so this is going to be a money no object repair. Any ideas would be of great help. Thanks again. Jim.

Crikey, that's alot of money. Good luck with it. I'm so glad I took out another 2 years of Lexus warrenty.

To me, it looks like it has had in interior fire and charred all the windows. I'd like the rear windows done on mine but I would look more like a chauffeur. I get enough of the "Home James" jokes as it is. Jim.

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated. I'm the big 32 now. Jim.

Lane one is your cruising lane. Lane's two and three are for overtaking only. Those who sit in lane two are causing an unecessasary hazzard as people will have to move from lane one to lane three to legally over take them. When joining a motorway from a slip road, if all is safe, then approach on the far right of the slip road. This will open your view of the motorway earlier than if you were to approach on the left of the slip road, giving you more of an oppertunity to match your speed to that of the traffic in lane one. When in lane one and you know you are coming up to an entry slip road to the motorway, have a good look at the slip road because you might not have to move to lane two if no one os coming along. Mirror checking and blind spot checking are essential before any lane change. Traffic should be moniterd in all lanes to look out for the ones traveling in lane three who want to change to lane two at the same time as you want to move out to lane two. Anticipation is the key to motorway driving. Remember most people don't know you are there so a quick flash of headlights can be an advantage before overtaking. Also, when overtaking foreign lorries, it may be worth moving out to lane three if it is safe to do so as they sometimes have a problem seeing who is on their right hand side. If this is not possible, then pass as quickly and as safely as possible.

YAY MY IDOL IS TOM CRUISE That's the last time I buy a calculator on ebay.