Keith Bowler

Funnily enough I have just renewed my insurance with Admiral after recently notifying a non fault incident caused by an uninsured driver. In fact my premium renewal came through just days after I reported my matter and it was around £50 more than last year. Called them to enquire if there was likely to be any further change and they offered me a £50 reduction in my premium plus a 50% discount on the optional additional cover I have which in total amounted to just under £100 so my premium was actual less. Left me a little puzzled but I decided to stay with them.

Going to put the cat amongst the pigeons here - although he was a complete buffoon at times, I liked Clarkson for the fact that he says things how he sees them and being around the same age I can relate to his humour - aside from the odd racist comment that is, which I do not condone. As for Mr Evans, he has a nice collection of cars is all I can really say. As to possible co presenters, I'll miss May and Hammond but not sure about possible female contenders. Jody Kidd was a square peg in a round hole on the Classic Car show she did with Quentin Wilson. Suzie Perry would get my vote as would Vicky Butler-Henderson and Suzy Schmidtz. Will be interesting to see how things pan out.

Quite fancy one of these now! http://www.kyoei-usa.com/proddetail.asp?prod=junitucf20rear

I will not be making an insurance claim as such but will pursue the other driver via other legal means. Dropped into my local Police station today and was comforted to hear that our local Police force take uninsured driver complaintsd seriously and when found the driver will be prosecuted.

Brian - thanks for the heads up, have sent them a message to enquire, thanks for that. Have a couple of enquiries out to other Jap parts suppliers too.

Colin - spoke to Kyle, nice chap, said I could have the bumper for nowt if I come up and remove it as he is going away for 3 weeks, but sadly the journey would not be cost effective for me. Still trying to establish if the MK3 will fit the Mk4 and will check the sites for parts that you mentioned. Saw a really nice aftermarket rear bumper with double twin rear oval exhaust tips similar to the Merc AMG look which would suit the rear end nicely but sadly they wont ship to the UK so may try and source one from Japan though that sort of VIP stuff seems hard to find for the LS.

Colin Thanks for the number - do you by any chance know if the rear bumper skin from the Mk3 is common to the Mk4 as I may have found one but its from a 1995 car.

Thanks for the offer Malc, Ramsgate is just a tad too far for me I really need someone more local to me.

Not really worried about colour but really want to make sure the chrome trim is present and in good nick. May have found a platinum colour one but seller has yet to send me photos to verify its condition. Looks like I am going to get it repaired under my own steam then use my legal cover on my motor insurance policy to try and get my money back. Cost of repair is likely to be just under a grand.

Anyone know of a breaker that might have a Mk 4 rear bumper available or just the chrome trim, though I appreciate the latter would be a big ask as it generally gets damaged if its removed and a replacement is mega bucks from Lexus. I see there is one on the bay at present but the paint is apparently cracked and crazed and would no doubt need a fair amount of work to get it ready for painting.

As of this evening I have had no further contact from the offending party. I am going to get an estimate for the repair and have decided to write to him at the address he gave me which is his parents address to offer my terms of a settlement. If I don't hear further then I will report the matter to the Police. Going to speak to the AA to see what advice they can offer so I know what to say to my insurer who at present is being rather unhelpful. Watch this space!

Thanks for all the advice thus far. Called my insurer this morning and they could not find any record of the other driver having any insurance in his name on the data base they have access to. Seems a little odd as they were able to verify that the car is taxed and MOT'd. One thing that did surprise me was that my insurer made it quite clear that it is my responsibility to provide the insurance details from the other driver which seems a little odd. Anyway I rang the lad after speaking to my insurers and he did not pick up so I texted him a polite message asking if he could send me his insurers details and to my surprise he replied though has not sent anything yet. Further investigation with the help of Facebook has verified that the name he gave me is genuine and it seems that the address he gave me checks out too. His family appear to run a transport business so I am hoping that his car is covered on some kind of business insurance which I vaguely recall is not always listed/logged on the national insurers database. I now also have the lads parents names too and as they are local to me may pay them a visit or send a letter to them if I hear no further during tomorrow. In the meantime I have agreed with my insurer that I only get an estimate from one of their approved repairers and that I retain the option to not proceed with a claim which seems fair to me. I may also take some legal advice and pursue a personal claim for damages if the worst comes to the worst.

Appreciate the prompt response Mike, I suppose the biggest concern is facing losing the car if its written off by insurers on grounds as being too costly to repair.

Just had a young lad use his Peugeot 306 to rearrange my passanger side rear quarter coming off a roundabout at about 15 mph. I now have a nice dent about a foot long and a local impact crease at the point he hit me. Looks to me like the top of the rear bumper where it wraps around the rear corner is damage though not cracked up to the chrome strip and the rear quarter damage is from the level of the bumper chrome strip down. On careful inspection there appears to be no distortion of the actual quarter panel above the point of impact. Damage to the other car is just the headlight which is annoying me more than the damage to mine! The question is now, what should my tactics be with my insurers as the worst case scenario given the cars 15 year age would be a 'write off'. I reckon a good bodyshop could put it right for about £600. Any tips on how to approach this would be appreciated as I have never had to make a claim on my insurance for over 30 years.

I really think its the wiring thats at fault now. I had a very complex aftermarket alarm that was playing up professionally removed a couple of years ago and the chap who did it may have missed something. Regarding fuses, I checked a fair number and they were all identical and looked very original with no signs whatsoever of ever having been removed. I can live with the intermittent interior light operation, though may check the courtesy door light switches on the front doors just in case.

Had a good fiddle around and checked all fuses in drivers side foot well fuse box and in the main fusebox in engine bay, problem turned out to be a blown 'dome' fuse. Further checking indicated an intermittent fault with the main front interior light.which seems to only come on when it feels like it. Wiggling the bulb brings it on. Changed interior light fitting and problem is still there. Not sure where to look next but at least I have my radio and remote central locking back.

Thanks for feedback chaps. Have checked a few things out, battery in remote locking key fob is fine as is car battery. Nothing else appears to have failed since yesterday. Going to check fuses tomorrow as could not see the fuse panel in the drivers side footwell. Can someone identify where to look for it, is it under the carpet by any chance? Cheers.

One for the electrical guru's among us. Just wondering if the following faults I have noticed just this morning are related: central locking not working from remote (everything works manually off the key) radio wont switch on no interior lights Hopefully its just a fuse issue, any help appreciated.

Does anyone know of any roof bars that are readily available that fit OK on a Mk4 LS?

I have a DHP spec car and that one does seem to ride a little high in comparison. There is a thread in the archives here somewhere that gives the full details of the DHP spec and IIRC there was no brake upgrade just suspension (10mm lower springs and bigger dia anti roll bars) and 17" wheels (with 245/50/17 tyres). Hope this helps

Thanks Mike - my clips don't have the cranked peg and seem to be missing the retainers like those that Steve posted an Ebay link to. I have placed an order and will see how they work.

Hi - that part I have but mine don't have the cranked mat retaining peg and are crying out for something that pushes through the hole in the mat over the retaining peg if that makes sense.

Is this the one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-LEXUS-LS400-AUTO-SILVER-LPG-/201292623750?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2eddf9af86

Anyone know where you can get replacement clips or plugs that fit over the retainers fitted to the floor through the holes of front carpet mats. I have the floor clips but cant find a source for the push in plugs. Any help appreciated.

Nigel - like the look of the GS300 sport wheels too. I have a spare set (8" wide) from my old GS300 sport so may well give them a go. What size tyres did you use and did you have any problems with rubbing anywhere around the wheel arches?