moomin

Hi there. I am the proud new owner of a 1997 LS400; just had it a week now and am absolutely delighted with the car. The car has covered almost 80,000 miles and has a full history, with all but the last two services carried out at Lexus main dealers. The car is due a service and also I cannot find any evidence of a timing belt change so I feel that I should get that done as well. My main concern is to get the work done by a competant garage, not necessarily a Lexus main dealer (given the car's incomplete main dealer history). Apologies if this question has been asked before, I've had a search around but cannot find a list of recommended independent garages. Could anyone recommend an independent garage to look after my car in the London area, preferably east or north London? I've had a chat with a couple of main dealers and would be prepared to take the car to a main dealer if absolutely necessary, but their prices are a bit scary, considering what I paid for the car! Many thanks in advance.

Hi folks and thanks for all your advice. I am now the proud owner of a Series III LS400! I cannot seem to post a picture but it's a 2 owner car registered in Dec 1997 with 79,000 miles and full history. The colour listed on the reg docs is green but it's actually more of a battleship grey. I'm delighted with the car and just couldn't get over the smoothness of the suspension and the total lack of engine noise when I was driving it home. In fact the only noise I could hear was a little tyre roar and some wind noise from around the windscreen pillars - I think it's had a replacement windscreen at some stage and I understand from this forum that that can cause some extra wind noise compared to the original factory fitted screen... The only problem I have found so far is that the in-dash cd changer sounds like it's going to work fine (i.e. makes whirring and clicking noises) but won't actually play a disc - "ERR21" is displayed on the audio system. I've tried a lens cleaner and I'm definitely putting the cd in correctly (label facing down) and if anyone could offer some advice about the fault or where I could get the unit reconditioned, I'd be very grateful!!!

Hi Guys and Girls, I am looking to buy a "second generation" LS400 and drove one for the first time yesterday - extremely impressed! I've had a little search around on this forum and I understand that the cd-rom satnav database can be updated for around £150, which is good news (a Lexus dealer told me that updates hadn't been available for several years!). I have two questions that I cannot seem to find answers to. Firstly, how can you spot a car with the Dynamic Handling Pack? One thing that really impresses me is the smooth ride - there are lots of cobbled streets and speedbumps where I live and I don't want to buy a DHP version by mistake! Also, personally, I am not so keen on the gold badges that you see on some cars. Is it possible to change the gold badges on the front grille and bootlid cheaply/easily (I guess the wheel centres are quite easy to swap)? Thanks in advance for your help.