Hybrid Rex

Welcome to the SC section. I have to say your cars colour combination is as nice as I've seen.

Not hideously expensive really (certainly a lot cheaper than the ones the company I work for sells for another make of Japanese car).Just over £600 for the set.

I know a lot of people consider changing their SC430 wheels so I thought I would post mine. They are by MAK and are 18x8 with ET40. By the way you should also ensure the hub adaptor is 60.1.

Being an ex-biker I am used to going into the garage and encountering a flat battery so I tend to leave the battery on trickle charge with Optimate (or similar) while the car is stored for the winter. It keeps the battery in a permanently conditioned state so less chance of going flat with irregular use.

Has anybody ever successfully managed to change the steering ratio on SC430? Compared to most modern cars quite an amount of steering wheel angle is required in corners so if there are other components in the range that would swap over and "speed up" the steering a bit it would be good to know.

I also have lost one of the tips, which has damaged the tail-pipe at the same time so I am thinking of replacing the back box and pipes together - do you have any pictures you can post of yours?

Sorry I should have clarified a bit more; I am talking about sidelights, interior, and indicators etc rather than headlights.

I'm going to replace some of the bulbs on my SC430 for LED - is there a list of the original bulb numbers/fitment etc and/or preferably a similar list for the LED replacements. There seems to be loads on ebay but I want to make sure I get the right wattage and fitment. Thanks

Just bought today and yet to collect Montrose Blue/Cream interior 2004 '54. Bought it because you don't expect to see many (any?) and then would you believe it I drove passed one on my way to look at the one I bought! Now collected so officially an owner - 1 day in and loving it, I think I've pressed every button (couldn't get the seat memory to work at first but found the answer in the manual so all sorted now); it gets its full clean today and then I will be looking forward to some good weather to get the top down and start cruising.

Thanks for the responses. I have now bought a car (2004 Montrose Blue/Cream) and looking forward to picking it up at the weekend. This one has already had cambelt change so that helps the budget a bit, like every car I have looked at it has a few stone chips that I need to get sorted but apart from that I couldn't fault the car, so, as it was in my choice of colour and trim I bought it. One question though; it has bluetooth so I guess that makes it a 2005MY, what else were the changes for the 2005 models?

I am currently looking to buy SC430 and I have a pretty fair idea of what I am looking for i.e. Black or Blue with Cream interior, 2003-5. So, whenever I find the right car I want to consider the following as things to do straight away so would appreciate any advice: Luxlink - am I right in thinking that you have to buy these in the US and then either fit yourself and find someone locally to do it? Are there any recommended UK suppliers and/or installers. DVB-T & DAB radio - exactly the same question as Luxlink Cambelt - how much should I factor in to have the cambelt changed (assuming the car I buy has not had it done). Servicing - are there any servicing agents (Lexus dealer or independent) in either Cambs or Northants that have personal recommendations from club members? Lexus Milton Keynes is the one I have identified so far - any positive/negative comments about them. I will do minimal mileage in this car but having whittled my shortlist down from Audi TT, Porsche Boxster, MB SLK 350, I only added the SC to the list at the last minute, but now I am looking forward to rejoining the Lexus gang (having owned RX 400H several years ago) Thanks for any help.

Hi Williz, thanks for your reply but the link doesn't seem to work for me - is it expired?

I got 18000 out of my Dunlops on the front and have now had the original Dunlops, which have quite a lot left on them, swapped to the front with the Bridgestones put on the rear. I'm not aware of Michelins available in the correct size. While ringing round all I got offered was a choice between Bridgestone, Dunlop or Kumho.

Two things I would like to upgrade on my RX400h - anybody done anything about these? The quality of the speaker during a (bluetooth) phone call is very poor (I also suspect the mic is not very good either). Does anyone know if a speaker and/or mic upgrade is possible? The reversing lights are worse than useless - anybody fitted any better bulbs? If so, which ones did you use?

Got the Bridgestones for £135 each, fitted. Had to ring round several local dealers and then haggle a bit.