117

Ok done the deal at £8200, with £5k of the balance at 0%. Think this is a reasonable amount considering the drive of the car and the peace of mind with the warranty and general prep that the garage are promising, e.g its having a replacement set of alloys due to corrosion, and all cosmetics rectified etc, so don't think its a bad deal. Saves me the hassle of trapsing round the UK to find another too - looking forward to picking it up next weekend - pics will be forthcoming.

Hi Guys,

I have owned 2 x GS300's in the past and am a massive fan of the lexus brand, today my partner and I went and drove a 2002 '52' SC430 from local lexus dealer with 64k on the the clock, my current weekend car is a 2001 S500 Merc, which is a fantastic car, but succumbing to rust, and a little bored of it after almost 4 years!

The SC430 is offered at just over 9k (advertised on website for 10k) with half of the balance on 0% finance (don't need this but seems silly to refuse) now up until this point I just wanted to get a feel for the SC as not many around locally, but after driving it and them offering a grand off without me even asking and the 0% it has sparked my interest. I am not really certain for 9k as still a fair chunk of money for an 11 year old car, but wondering if I could get another grand off (cheeky but maybe possible as they seemed very keen) would this be a good buy? (lexus approved with warranty etc, 2 owner car with Lexus SH)

Let me know your thoughts, also is there anything I should look out for or push for in the deal?

Hi Guys,

I have fitted a similar system to my GS (on the rear) with the electromagnetic strip behind the bumper, and it works OK, however compared to the ultrasonic sensors on my jag it is not sensitive enough, and only begins sensing about 70 cm away from an object, meaning it only really comes in to its own in VERY tight parking situations, and even then Im not sure I trust it 100% as it can be prone to false alarms, e.g walls near to but not in the direct path of the car. I only paid about £17 for mine from eBay, however the systems looks and sounds identical to the parking dynamics, so they obviously have a large profit margin.....

ok guys an update on this, ive ordered 5lts of fluid for now, car is off the road at the moment so I can find it if more is required at leisure.....

however took the offending rubber pipe off and it seems fine, although I have found that the portion of the metal piping covered by the rubber has corroded and this seems to be the source of the leak (similar to the problem encountered by garethr) would it be safe for me to cut off the corroded metal portion and then obtain a longer rubber hose and attach to the remaining metal pipe....

problem is pictured below

only use Toyota T-IV fluid.

Are you going to replace all the fluid or just what is in the pan? Will make a big difference on how much you will need.

I was going to try a flush from the trans cooler pipe as described here by disconnecting the transmission cooler pipe, running engine to drain, and refilling until fluid runs red

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/transmission/transflush.html

Hi guys,

found out my GS is leaking auto transmission fluid from the pictured pipe (rubber flexi),

fluid is probably due a change also, so have a few questions...

how much fluid will I need and how much will it cost me (does anyone have the part nos)

also any ideas on where I could find an ATF compatible pipe to replace the one pictured?

Cheers guys.

Is there anyway of bypassing the amp as the is no sound coming out of the stero,had the headunit , cd and the amp out yesterday to check all the wiring and it look ok ?.So i was wondering if theres any way of bypassing the amp why i try to get my hand on a replacement amp.

You may find this useful -

http://bananags.grantham-international.com/GS_DIY/STEREO/

unfortunately I dont believe that is possible, has been discussed at length on AVIC411.com (pioneer navi forums) and is hardware locked apparently.....

Hey guys,

Cheers for your comments. I was considering a factory nav retrofit but this was by far by the best option, as a lot cheaper, and has good functionality. Ive played with many units previously and its amazing the sheer range of features on the pioneer for the price I paid....only downside is limited functionality with the radio, however it still picks up the majority of major stations even though the tuning is in odd number 99.3 etc....

If any of you guys need assistance with the wiring etc dont hesitate to drop me a PM.....

Hi Guys,

my local garage also got me an upper wishbone for £50, not sure who their supplier is but they must be out there somewhere for reasonable money, personally I was shocked in comparison to £140 eBay prices. Made a massive difference to handling of the car in my case, its like a different car!

Hi guys,

Havent seen anything similar on these forums so thought id post some pics of my Pioneer AVIC-F700 Install in my mark 2 GS300.

This job took me quite a while, due to difficulties in obtaining parts etc (mainly fascia plate)

I have managed to do this without cutting or damaging any factory wiring, so the car can be reverted to stock at any time.

The general concensus (mainly from Clublexus US) was that retention of the factory amplifier was not possible, therefore I have bypassed it, powering the factory speakers from the headunit. The Factory CD Changer cannot be retained with an aftermarket stereo, I have left mine in the glovebox in case I decide to sell the car, pointless anyway with MP3 encoded cd, sd card, usb or ipod at my disposal.....

I have powered the factory sub through a JBL monoblock amp, hidden in the boot under the floor on the drivers side, I desoldered factory wires from the sub and insulated them so could easily be refitted at a later date.

Have also retained factory elec aerial, this however requires splicing into the 3 pin connector behind factory stereo (white/black)

If anyone has any wiring or other questions please ask me....

Parts Required -

2 x Toyota 87 onwards ISO wiring loom (available on eBay for £3-£5) These are neccessary to act as adaptors between standard factory wiring and ISO connections for the new headunit, and prevent any unsightly cutting or factory wiring!

1m iso extension cable (also available on ebay) This is necessary to relocate speaker wiring to behind stereo from factory amp which is located on passenger side behind the glovebox, you can make up own wiring but I found this to be a more satisfactory solution for the sake of £10. I also took constant power and ground from factory amp as the wiring looked heavier duty than power wiring behind factory headunit, this has proved satisfactory with no 'alternator whine'

If you want to have a 'factory' looking fascia adaptor part no.s are as follows, impossible to find in this country, however guys at lexuspartsdirect sorted me out! genuine toyota/lexus part from Japan so quality is A1 and perfect match (see pictures) you can import a metra kit from the states for around £15 but looks fairly plasticky!

radio bracket 86212-30221 £13.19

radio bracket 86211-30241 £13.19

Panel Radio 55412-30480 £22.16

Grand Total £48.54

1 x Amp (if you wish to power factory sub)

Amp wiring kit (had to run all through cabin as power required from Battery, ran wire through large rubber bung behind the Battery down through into the interior towards boot)

1 x Double din sat nav unit (I chose to import an AVIC F-700BT from the states, came to just under £400 inc customs charges, down side is that the radio tunes odd frequencies but not a big deal for me.... The GPS is flash memory based so I have loaded latest UK maps with speed cameras, Bluetooth function is integrated, absolutely superb can download phonebook on to touch screen, voice dialling is avaiable also)

1x Rear View Camera + Fitting Kit, I have integrated mine into the boot lock.... £20 from reversringcamerasuk.com (works amazingly well for the price, wired into power supply for reversing lights, auto activates when shifted into R)

Pics

(GPS Aerial on Parcel Shelf)

New Amp (under boot carpet)

Reversing Cam in boot lid

Power Wire feeding into bung behind car Battery in engine bay

View from Reversing Cam (looks better in real life, poor picture)

Hi guys,

I am looking for some rear brake discs, having trouble finding information on what is actually required.

I had ordered some, they are Allied Nippon and are a vented type, but on the box they say they only fit a Mark 1 GS, are these compatible with the Mark 2, would this type fit my car?

Lexus = Luxury EXport destined for United States

Update on this, took the puddle light bulbs out of both front doors, and the front sensors started to work perfectly! must have been some kind of electrical problem as bulbs looked fine, any idea anyone?!

Rear sensors are still inoperative but not too worried about this now as dont fancy paying £400 for new actuators, unless anyone has any other suggestions?

Hi guys,

desperate to find some facelift lights to freshen up my Gs, looked everywhere I can think of apart from Lexus who want £200 and would prefer to pay a bit less than that, does anyone have any ideas where I could find a pair?

Cheers.

Hi Guys,

If anyone has a facelift instrument cluster silver/black surround, chrome gear shift surround, or facelift outer rear lights going please let me know!

Thanks,

John

Hi Guys, have been trying for ages to determine why my Mk2 1998 GS300 wont register that any of the doors are open, which means I cannot use auto lights as wont turn off on exit and interior light does not come on when door open. Very occasionally it will register that the drivers/passenger doors are open on the dash but has never registered the rear doors. So far I have tried removing the front driver and passenger 'door' fuses in the internal fusebox and the car registered perfectly when either front door was opened, this trick did not work with the rears however. today I have tried installing a new drivers door ecu from another 98 gs300 but this has made no difference, please help me!

Hi Guys,

My 98 GS300 has developed an annoying habit of not starting, sometimes it will be fine for a few days and start first time then sometimes it wont start, usually you turn the key to starting position and it will just click/tick once or sometimes the starter motor will seem to turn over for a while but the engine doesnt fire. Please can someone give me some advice on this. PS the battery/alternator is new so I dont think this is causing the problem. Cheers.

update - sourced an alternator from a low mileage gs300 off eBay for a good price, and have purchased a new alternator belt, how many hours labour do you think it is to get these parts fitted?

Cheers.

Hi Guys,

have tested voltage across Battery terminals with engine running at idle, and I was seeing 13.99 volts, does this mean the alternator has had it?

Many Thanks.

Hi Guys,

Everything has been perfect with my GS300 until this weekend, decided not to start on saturday, immediately jump started it, ran perfectly, Battery tester showed that even after a 50 mile drive on the dual carriageway the Battery was only half charged, and then failed to start on sunday morning. I have put a brand new Battery in from Halfords, and on starting the car it started to make a terrible grating/squeaking noise which seemed to get louder as the revs increased, but the car still drove fine and performed as usual despite the noise. Fast forward to today and the car refused to start this morning so it seems to me that the alternator is not charging the Battery, although the noise has now gone.

Does anyone have any suggestions, and if a new alternator is required how much can I expect to fork out?

Many Thanks.

Hi, have had the following advisories on an MOT on my Mark 2 GS300 -

Offside front lower trailing arm rubber bush deteriorated

Nearside front lower trailing arm synthetic bush deteriorated

Nearside upper suspension arm has slight play in ball joint

I know the ball joint will be expensive as I believe the entire control arm has to be replaced, is it best to change both sides at the same time?

Also which parts do I need to replace the dodgy bushes?

There is sometimes a slight clonking noise at low speed, often when the car is cold, do you think this is likely to be coming from the faulty ball joint?

Thanks for your help.

Im having the same problem, door locks seem to be very expensive, and from reading an american write-up on the door lock actuators, still cannot work out where the problem lies! Seems to be poor design tbh! Have you had any luck yet chelski?

Hi guys,

got the car delivered on saturday, spent all weekend driving around in it! Found a few minor faults but nothing too bad,

none of the doors seem to activate the 'door open' light on the dash nor the interior light, car still locks correctly etc so more of a minor annoyance than anything else, any ideas on how to remedy this? Also the fuel cap doesnt seem to hold itself open, looks to be the remains of half a spring next to the hinge? please can someone with a working fuel cap post a picture of theirs open to give me an idea of how to fix this?

Here are a few pictures -

Thanks for the tips so far!

Hi guys,

My girlfriend and I have just brought a GS300. Put the deposit down on a jet black '98 MK2 in mint condition, with full lexus history.

We are both 19, and her previous car was a Vectra Sri 2.0, so its quite an upgrade! My other car is an e39 5 series and I am impressed with the sheer amount of kit and drive of the lexus. We are picking it up on saturday so will post pics then.

First job is replacing the cambelt for peace of mind, planning to buy the cambelt and tensioner from lexus and get my local trusted mechanic to fit it. How much should I expect to pay for these two parts from lexus, secondly I would really like to put the clear side repeaters on the car, how much are these roughly and is there a specific part number?

Finally I really like the look of the chrome surround by the gear shifter that can be found on the facelift MK2's, can I purchase this from lexus to fit our car, and how much is it?

Thanks for your help!