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I've recently had to source a couple of parts for my LS430 and 1 of the breakers I spoke to actually buy fully working cars and break them for parts - the manager was very open with me telling me it's a very lucrative business. Seems such ashame that perfectly functioning cars are broken up this way, especially with Lexus vehicles which are not exactly that common. Whilst my car hasn't been 100% perfect, I feel very lucky to own my LS430 given its low mileage

Maybe a garage (not necessarily a Lexus one) can diagnose the problem for you. Could be either a throttle sensor or an issue with the Air-Flow mass meter. I've not heard of this issue before on the LS400 or LS430

I sold my LS400 last year after 13 glorious years of ownership and 225k miles and I finally got back into the Lexus fold a couple of months ago. I did re-consider another LS400 but managed to find a low mileage LS430 Whilst the LS430 is a big step forward in terms of space, gadgets and luxury, it hasn't been as faultless and as reliable as my LS400 which is disappointing but overall, I am very pleased with my purchase

I've had my LS430 for a couple of months so far and whilst I have had some issues recently, my local garage who are very good have sorted it for me. I do like Lexus dealers and the service is still excellent but I do really resent their labour rates. I need to negotiate a reduced rate given that my car is over 10 years old. WIth my previous LS400, I got 20% off labour and 10 - 15% of parts which did help a lot and I kept my Lexus service history intact.

Most important thing is that you & other people involved are not hurt. Someone reversed out of a parking space and caught the same side of the car as you although my car was stationary at the time as I was parked at the supermarket. The damage was minor but they had to repair the wing and the 2 parts making up the front. When I had an incident with my LS400, I was insured with Admiral (part of Direct Line Group) and whilst they have their own network of repairers, they did give me the option of selecting my own repair shop. Given that their approved repairer was offering a 5 year guarantee on the workmanship, I was happy to go with them so you'll need to check your claims Ts&Cs. Also some insurance companies will consider using secondhand parts to keep the costs down so hopefully they won't be refusing the repair bill. Good luck and I hope your car won't be off the road for too long.

I have only owned my LS430 for 3 months and my car is nearly 11 years old but I am getting low upper teens / low 20s for urban driving with mid to upper 20s for the longer runs I used to get between 14 - 16 mpg from my Audi A8 W12 (6 litre petrol, 12 cylinder) so I do find 12mpg very hard to believe from an LS430

Hello. I thought that the LS460 and the LS600h audio systems allowed you to either plug an iPod / iPhone into it as standard or that you could play music via the bluetooth. There are plenty of companies out there who will provide aftermarket solutions to allow this sort of integration.

I rang Lexus MK, Lexus Oxford and Lexus Birmingham who all quoted this price There have been times when I have called different dealers for jobs and quotes on parts where you get told different information - confusing and annoying to say the least. Good luck

Yes this is what I was quoted for both the key and the programming - price include labour, parts and VAT. I spoke with 3 different Lexus dealers who quoted this level of price

I'm afraid I don't know the part number but I did get a quote from Lexus for a replacement key and the required re-programming for it. They quoted me around £200 as 1 of the cars I was looking at buying only had 1 remote key. I too considered sourcing the key myself and trying to get it programmed by an auto-electrician but I thought it could be a lot of time and hassle but in the end I didn't proceed with this purchase and the car I did buy came with multiple remotes. I'm not entirely convinced you would save much time or money but that's just my opinion

A few years ago, I was quoted £150 for a single replacement Xenon Bulb by a Lexus UK dealer for my LS400 and thankfully after a bit more research, I found a US supplier who had a European Distributor who supplied me 2 bulbs for £100 in total (parts, shipping and duty) Lexus did charge me for 0.5 hours labour for fitting so good to know it's much easier on the LS460 Lucky I did order 2 bulbs as 2nd one stopped working a year later. Now you can find these types of bulbs for sale on eBay and other motor part suppliers at reasonable cost.

Well said Anthony - I have a Merc CLS 350 CDI which is a great car to drive and own with superb mpg and range along with plenty of luxury but in some respects, it is not a patch on my LS430. And I don't feel resentful about the additional fuel the car uses. The refinement, luxury and ride make up for it and make journeys so much better

My previous LS400 was without question the best car I had ever owned and the quality and reliability was truly second to none. I never even found the running costs crazy either for such a car, especially when compared to BMW 7s, Audi A8s and Merc S-Classes. Size wise, the Lexus is a long car but it isn't especially wide or tall - part of the design which adds to the sleekness of it. Even now when I see them on the road, they really have a lot of presence - probably the main reason I bought back into the Lexus fold recently with my LS430. There are plenty of toys for sure - I upgraded my LS400 with a Parrot Bluetooth and iPod Kit to update the car as these were not standard fit in 1998. I did also fit reversing parking sensors so I would strongly recommend you investing in these. Judging parking spaces not easy with these cars. Glad to hear you are enjoying the car and I hope you continue to do so :-)

I bought the car from a prestige car dealer, albeit close to trade price and the car is a 2003 with only 44k miles on the clock. Mileage checks out with the DVLA MOT database. 1 owner who clearly didn't use the car much. Not quite the bargain I had hoped for given the repair costs Will definitely keep in mind to use the suspension switch every so often to ensure movement at front. I haven't yet decided how long I will run it as I do like the latest facelift LS460 and LS600h but they are way out of my budget !

Good LS400s are becoming very hard to find now. Most even from dealers need some work done to them but if you can get parts cheaply and find a good local garage to do the work, it keeps running costs reasonable. Before I sold my LS400, I replaced the bonnet struts for £50 for a new pair (Lexus dealers were asking for £170). I saw a really nice LS400 in excellent condition with low mileage (70k) on eBay a few months ago but in the end, I bought myself an LS430 I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the right car turns up though

I ended up having to replace 1 of the rear brackets on the passenger side as this side of the car was sunken and it wouldn't rise. I also ended up having to replace some front sensor parts. Labour wasn't too bad but parts cost me a few hundred pounds from Lexus (I wasn't going to risk buying used parts for this). All sorted now and driving absolutely fine thank goodness

I ran my LS400 for 13 years and sold it last year to an owner who is a big fan of these cars and thankfully still very pleased with his purchase. I got back into the LS fold a few weeks ago and whilst I am pleased to be back, the one bit of advice I would give you is to make sure that you check everything works or that you allow for this in your purchase price. My LS430 has had some issues - air suspension not being correct and my electric steering column needed replacing. These are beautiful cars and the gadget count compared even to the mightly LS400 is superb but these cars definitely seem a bit more fragile compared to the LS400. Shame as it's otherwise a great car.

I'm getting low 20s around town and upper 20s on the longer runs Supposedly, I should be able to hit over 30 on a long run but my LS430 is 11 years old so not holding my breath Still reasonably good for such a car

I didn't know there was a reset procedure - great to know so thanks for this

This sounds like an issue with the passenger side - either a motor or relay has stopped working. The battery being disconnected shouldn't cause any issues. Can you operate the Passenger window from the Drivers side ? Hopefully a good auto-electrician can sort this out for you without too much expense.

George - my LS400 was without question the best ever car that I owned. I ran an Audi A8 W12 (this has the 6 litre petrol engine) and it was an awesome car and a real head turner but OMG, the running costs were unreal and it's a car I was so glad to sell. Parts cost a small fortune and I couldn't risk running it for any longer in case something else happened to it. My LS430 hasn't been entirely trouble-free but I am really glad to be back in the Lexus fold again :-)

I assume you are talking about the steering column not fully adjusting. Almost certainly 1 of the motors ceasing up or just not working that well. I never had that issue with my LS400 but on the LS430, you usually end up having to replace the entire column (changing individual motors doesn't work out cheaper once you factor in the labour involved). I have heard of some owners dismantling the motors and applying grease or silicon to keep parts moving more smoothly but it still requires time and effort to do this. My local garage did suggest we change over the adjuster switch as he thought the column itself was fine. Unfortunately this fix didn't work and I wasted £60 on this part. This is the only risk of buying something a bit older - used values drop but the maintenance bills don't drop in the same way.

I was in the same dilemma last year when I sold my LS400 - I did consider 'mothballing' it as I didn't want to let it go cheaply but then I realised that these cars need to be driven and enjoyed rather than sat around doing very little. The owner of mine is still very happy 18 months later after buying mine which is good to hear. I can understand why you can't part with it though - leaving it standing still though will not do it any good. Cars are like pets - they need activity and to be run / driven a bit not sat around.

I have removed and then re-inserted the Sat Nav Disc from the changer and there is also a reset function on the Sat Nav which should recalibrate the position I've not heard of the GPS Sensor failing in these cars before

I ran my LS400 for 13 years and sold it last year to a guy who still keeps in touch and tells me how much he's enjoying the car I recently came back into the Lexus fold and now have a superb LS430 - this is a low mileage car which had only covered 40k miles. Whilst the LS430 is a fantastic car, mechanically it is more fragile than the LS400. I have had some issues with the Air Suspension but then it seems most manufacturers with cars fitted with Air Suspension seem to be more fragile compared to more conventional vehicles. There are some keenly priced LS430s around but from my recent experience, the cheap ones really need to be avoided as they are likely to have a number of issues which could be costly to fix