Neil E

Indeed yes it's easy to get carried away at times but this was something different. Yes Glyn his best car by far was the near perfect early one, blue, light interior, with very few miles, he sold that soon afterwards. I couldn't see any significant defects with it except the obvious black mats. I'm not sure that either of his other two could compare to @unclebob's SC or the 2009 car that was at the MR2 meet. CF Sleaford Meet

He organised and hosted the meet at his place at Sleaford. It was a good turn out and we had a good time but some (me included) felt there was a little too much... shall we say... 'self promotion' and a lack of humility involved. I had my suspicions upon arrival at the meet how the day might go. I think CF was disappointed not to win all of the award categories and he soon realised that although he owned 3 nice examples of the SC430 model, it didn't make him 'top dog.' When I arrived at the meet near Coventry the following year, everything was in proper order. I was greeted by Tom, Race Director for the Lexiguy SC430 Touring Team, a proper enthusiast. 👍

£10k might be enough for a decent 2006 with around 100k miles. If it has been maintained correctly, mileage isn't really an issue with an SC430. Some low mileage cars that rarely get used can gather dust, surface rust, suffer from component seize up and lose charge. Mine has been thoroughly abused, has around 160k miles and it doesn't miss a beat.

That's correct, it might need the reset procedure after the battery has been disconnected but it relates to the one-touch auto feature. Operate the windows up and down a couple of times and hold the switch up for an extra second on each window and that should restore it. Similar thing with resetting the memory seat function. All the way back and fore with the seat and back rest switches and that should restore the memory function.

Good progress Glyn. I can certainly recommend a thicker leather steering wheel versus the feel of the thin wooden slippery wheel. It makes a significant difference.

It's an imported Soarer hence the odo in kms.

If it was reset, just ask them for the error code. If it's intermittent and responds to a reset, it could be something like the MAF sensor needs cleaning or a slight vacuum /air leak, exhaust leak, loose connection to an 02 sensor.

Nice pics, good turn out. Sorry I couldn't make it this year, I worked all weekend just a few miles away in Birmingham and could not escape.

Hi Graham, glad you got it sorted and I hope you didn't pay the auto sparks as they clearly didn't even check whether the amp was getting 12V. It's likely that your system has a (Beat-Sonic) interface to use the original amp. Here is the pdf manual of the US version MVA 13 Your car should have the LE Euro version but the set up is very similar. The factory amp is set using the original controls before the install of the new head unit begins.

Great work Richard, I think that makes you our new SC430 audio repair expert.👍

£3400 is a lot. If they replaced the speakers with 4ohms drivers then they probably (should have) upgraded the amp to something suitable. If you have the invoice it might confirm what was actually supplied. If the system has been converted using an adaptor such as the Metra or Beat-Sonic, the Mark Levinson amp in the boot is retained and IF that's the case then there are some extra things to check. Unlikely but check that the steering wheel fader control has not been accidentally pressed and muted the sound. It can still control the amp but the adaptor takes the signal feed from 2 channels not 4. I'm sure a sparks would have tried it but you never know.... I think there are 3 radio and amp fuses to check and then if they are all good check the blue or blue and white remote lead from the head unit that triggers the amp to turn on. (Whether it's an ML or other aftermarket amp it has power and a remote trigger lead.) If indeed the amp has failed, it should be possible to replace it with an aftermarket 5 channel amp connected to the pioneer by phono (RCA) leads but it's important to find out the details of the replacement speakers. If replaced with original speakers they are 8 ohms designed to work with the original ML (Harman) amp. Most aftermarket speakers are 4 ohms. Paul Frost - Lexus Spares Direct has a Harman Becker amp on ebay

Keep in mind that mine doesn't have any space where the back seat should be. I'll just say that it does depend on how you roll but I have 'done' the North West Highlands and the Outer Hebrides (and lots of other places) with the SC430. Constantly touring with a lot of luggage isn't going to work but if you're based and unpacked in one or two places it works fine. I don't charge up and down the motorways for hours on end with the roof down.

Hi Glyn, it's only on the odd occasion, probably when changing lanes but this gives me the opportunity to moan once again that the earlier V8 Soarer had the option on the indicators to blink 3-4 times and self cancel for lane changing. Another example of the SC430 being underspecified for tech.☹️

I have a similar problem occasionally with the GS460 and it's only the left indicator. I think it's time to take the steering wheel off to see what's not working.

Any gain in power from a cat back exhaust will be minimal but it does feel and sound like the car came alive with more torque when you need it but when measured, there's hardly any difference except the sound. If you disagree put it on a dyno to provide the evidence.

It will depend on the limitations of the insurance policy/company. Some allow modifications and charge a small premium and some don't allow any. I list all of my mods to find the best quote and recently (probably due to old age) it seems to make very little difference.

Hi Tim, Some of the guys in the US have explored this a little more than folk in the UK. Often the original sub can be repaired using a kit from Simply Speakers (There are other suppliers of similar kits) 8" 16 ohm subs are indeed quite difficult to find, A company called B and C make one, I don't know if it's any good or try searching for bass speakers with dual 8 ohm voice coils. Dayton Audio model SD215A-88 is an example. You can then wire the dual voice coils in series to present a 16 ohm load to the ML Harman Amp. Yes, using a load resistor is another option. I've no experience of using them but wonder if they might change the performance of the speaker in reducing the power that can be sent to it.

Hi Mark PM sent with details.

It seems you have a little gremlin in there somewhere. It may not be his handywork but RW did sometimes fit front cameras so that's quite likely. Does it have a rear camera that displays on the sat nav screen?

Hi Philip Did the battery go flat overnight or was it over a week or two? Was it drained completely or just a bit under 12 Volts? A working fade/balance display suggests the amp may be okay, let's hope so. Best check the footwell fuses too if the audio door isn't closing, that may be a clue. Also, just a thought, do you have a handsfree phone interface that might have muted the audio signal? Does the volume number go up and down? It's so long since I used the standard system I'm struggling to remember how it functions.

Hi Philip, did you try the balance/fade/bass/treble menu? If it doesn't display on the head unit then that points to a problem with the amp in the boot or at least the connection to it. There are 3 radio fuses, try the 30A Radio No1 fuse under the bonnet near the battery. Lift the cover and the diagram should be inside the cover. It may be fuse 47 if it's the same as the US models. It also feeds the antenna and sat nav so if they are working then the fuse should be okay. The 10A and 7.5A radio fuses are in the footwells. If you take the covers off it will confirm the locations on the back of the covers, I doubt the fault is with either of those.

Unless someone has been working on/behind the head unit or the amp, it's more likely a fuse than a plug working loose. The connectors have retaining clips so they shouldn't work loose but the connection within the Mark Levinson (Harman) amp can develop a fault. It's a known flaw that appears with age, more so with other models than the SC430. In some cases pushing the connector may produce a temporary fix. If the head unit turns on but there's no sound, check the fuse for the amp and try adjusting the fader/balance/bass/treble. If the head unit doesn't display the menu, it's a good indicator that the remote connection between the head unit and the amp isn't working. It's also a known cause for batteries going flat overnight as in some cases the amp does not remote switch off when the ignition is turned off. The fault in these cases is with the connection in the Harman amp.

It's worth having the aerial working in my view. I would fix it. It even adjusts its length when switching between frequency bands. Others who don't rely on it for decent radio reception would disagree because it is not required, is old fashioned and spoils the look of the car when extended. FM reception is probably still okay as the SC has 2 antennas. Replacing the mast is a bit of a fiddly job from what I've seen and read but shouldn't take too long to do.

Hi Nick. Look forward to seeing the photos, it sounds like you're giving the car the full treatment. My comments about the black mats were about Peter's car with the beige interior. They all came with the same beige colour 'A' post trim and headlining, fortunately the black mat sets are still available from Lexus. I agree it's much easier to keep the black leather looking great and for that reason I sometimes wish I had opted for black but it's well documented that the cars with beige leather are a bit quicker.

Great post Nick, it seems you like the SC🙂 I think you may have liked the earlier model Soarer too. Lexus should have put some better tech in the SC430 and done a bit more to the ride-handling set up but it's still a great car. It is possible to upgrade the suspension to improve the handling without compromising the ride but there's a limit to what can be done before it starts to become the inevitable compromise. Before you commit to never parting with it, you might just want to try the later version with 6-speed trans and various other tweaks to broaden the smile still further. Others may disagree but I think the LC500 is probably good enough to count as the latest SC. @Peter1208 I remember seeing your car at the Lexus SC430 meet in Sleaford a couple of years ago. It was the star of the show. It really is a low mileage gem. The assembled group were asked to judge the cars in various categories. The only fault I recall finding with it was the then owner who had removed the factory beige mats and inserted black ones instead. Hopefully it came complete with the original beige mats as Lexus no longer produce them.