rabnoolas

Mat you've ruled this out on cost but for completeness.... buying http://www.towequipe.co.uk/1/1/2509-watlin...loon-95-98.html fitting (similar to Mk3 I think) http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/body/trailerhitch.html Best of.... Rab

Thanks Boss. I'll sort out the aerial with a minor rewire. PS I love the car, hope you love yours too. Rab

Hi The 2001 430 has the ability to search for street name OR town first, if you put in the street name it tells you which town has a street of that name. Maybe yours will let you do that? If I still can't find places I usually print off a Google map or something and use the "point on map" option. You cannot get an upgrade for postcodes unfortunately. I think yours is a CD based system and I have heard this place do updated discs cheaper than Lexus http://www.toyotalexusspecialists.co.uk/ For the 430 you can get an interface for DVD and reversing camera from this place, maybe they do yours as well http://www.tvandnav2go.com/ This place do Tv on various Lexii as well maybe worth a try http://soarer.tv/ Hopefully someone with your car can answer better later Glad you like it Pete I love the car and thanks for the info Pete. Will try all of these. Rab

I'm new to this. My previous satnav was a PDA (handheld sort of glorified calculator) with a tiny screen and charging cables waiting to snare anything close. I now have the inbuilt version which is impressive. It has a posh voice. The children christened the old satnav 'Doris' and have decided on 'Cynthia' for the new lady. She is quite clonky to interface with though, some girls are like that. She sometimes refuses to take directions to anywhere other than home, which is touchingly emotional but not what I need. She also doesn't use postcode programming. This coupled with the fact that you need to specify the 'city' first can lead to issues....for instance I took the family to a wedding on Saturday. The church thought it was at Whittle-Le-Woods in Lancashire. Cynthia didn't recognise the street name in Whittle-Le-Woods so Google was employed to get directions and I got Cynthia to accept a street on the route. I found out later that Cynthia reckons that the church is resident in nearby Wheelton. I'm not arguing with her (I have 2 daughters and a wife and experience has taught me the futility of arguing with the fair s*x) but it would be handy to either plug in the postcode or not have to guess the town city. Anyone know if I can re-educate Cynthia? Is there a way of sorting by roadname? Also has anyone out there had the screen plugged into a reversing camera, DVD or TV? Finally, I noted yesterday that the radio arial elevates on ignition aux position. I replaced the arial on my Mark 3 and wired it to elevate on radio only (decends on CD or tape). Are all Mark 4's like this or has someone been playing?

Today I picked up my Mk 4 LS400, bought off Ebay for £2550. The car is great with new 18" alloys and tyres, all the series 4 goodies, FSH etc. The only faults I can find are; blown internal light bulb, duff drivers side door mirror glass and the road noise from the new tyres. Nothing a few quid and a little patience won't fix. Sadly I will be putting the last few things to rights on my series 3 next week, whizzing it thru an MOT and it must go via fleabay or the local rag. I hope I find a good home for the beast. I'll post some pics of them both this week. Why is it so hard to say goodbye...... Rab

Ken, a thing of beauty and a joy to behold. Much nicer condition than my mark 3. I'm having to buy a mark 4 to get close to the showroom condition your car is already in. Yours enviously....Rab

Hi Kenmac, Great to hear you have bought an LS400. I can now forgive any minor concerns Top Gear gave me..... Something good came out of it. As Manc says the forums and club here are brilliant. Everyone will help you and there is piles of stuff especially on the american sites should you want to do some of your own servicing. I hope that you will enjoy the smoothness of the drive and all the electric goodies, especially the sound system, with its "Sizewell B" output amplifier. They really can run forever. I've heard of 1 car in the US clocking up 600,000 miles, but if you keep the fluids in good order 1,000,000 is a fair target. I have done an 1800 mile fuel check, and am averaging 29.5 mpg overall, but the tracking was out so I hope to break 30 from now on. Happy driving. Rab

I'm sure that there used to be beagles who smoked a lot, normally in science labs. More worrying is how they get into air conditioning equipment. Rab

:winky: Gents, if you didn't see Top Gear series 11 episode 1 (yes the loonies are back) on Sunday, you can still catch it on BBC Iplayer. The last 20 minutes are given over to a series of challenges to buy a second hand car to turn into a Police vehicle. James May opted for a M reg LS400 in Champaigne Beige. I would recommend watching the mayhem at the end of the programme (which I found very funny) but 3 things worried me; James bought a car for £900 which at first sight looked in better condition than mine!!! Is an LS400 so much slower than a BMW 7 series? Is an LS400 a car bought by masons? Rab

Hi Rob, if you paid paypal you can open a dispute (in dispute console on Ebay summary - read the blurb there) and escalate it to a Paypal dispute. This means they record your mails and then have to resolve it. You may still not get your item but it will get him into lots of bother. Worked for me once. Rab

Hi alxm, my series 3 dash looks exactly like yours. I haven't seen any like that U tube video. Don't fret as long as the warning lamps work!!! Rab

Hi Mr2Lad, Glad you're getting it sorted. Hope it ends up how you want. If you want you could post a picture of the final outcome and make us all envious. Happy Lexing, Rab

Hi Mr2lad, My series 3 is a 4M9 too. I rang the local Lexus agency in Chester as I need to do some painting as well. There's a fella there who s supposedly red hot on paint numbers. He said the paint code for the deeper bronze tone was VCA77 but I haven't tried it yet, so I can't vouch for the number completely. Hope this helps. If you want to ring and check yourself the number is 0151 355 5555. Lex long and prosper. Rab

Thanks Steve. There are a couple of parts I could do with. Rab

Thanks Steve. There are a couple of parts I could do with. Rab

Hi Passman, yes it restarts fine and is OK until the next motorway run. Will try the clean as described on www.lexls.com. Thanks fopr the guidance. Rab

Has anybody got experience of or a cure for this; 3 times recently I have been coming off a motorway and the faithful 1UZ-FE has stalled on me. The scary thing is the engine is so quiet I haven't noticed until the steering goes heavy. This is dangerous as you lose power assist on the brakes and need to be Mr Universe to move the car off line. I think I read some advice to switch the aircon on to raise tickover but I will forget I'm sure. Did Lexus ever tackle the issue or do they even know? Anyone any ideas? Rab

Apologies if my previous note was no help...I suppose you tried all that. 2 things you might like to try; Check both the fuses radio 1 & 2 (under the bonnet and under the steering wheel dash) to make sure they are intact. Exercise both the rocker switches 1/2 and TUNE/SEEK to try and see if there are contact resistance issues inside the switches. After that you need to keep the switches pressed for at least 10 seconds when you try. Good luck. Rab

Hi BigJon. You have activated the antitheft system and SEC stands for security. The bad news is the number is user progammable so unless someone has left you a three digit code on some paper somewhere you may have a problem. THe good news is that normally the 3 digit code used is the last 3 digits of the VIN (vehicle identification number). How to try to reset; with the key in the ignition on ACC, press 1 and the upper side of the TUNE SEEK button together until Up & down arrows will appear on the tape indicator display followed by 3 underscores (_ _ _). Use the number 1 radio station button to enter the first number eg press 1 button 4 times for 4, the likewise 2 and 3 buttons for the second and third numbers. When you have the code in view on the screen press and hold the scan button until SEC disappears and the system is reset. If ERR appears you were unsuccessful. you have 9 goes ERR1 - ERR9, after that it is a Lexus dealer reset. Hope it goes well. Rab

What a superb link! Thanks Pete. Rab

Hi Nereus, I'm having similar problems getting replacement door mirror glass for an LS400 series 3. You can buy stick over glass in the US - electrochromic and all - for $40, but they won't ship to UK. Extreme Auro Accessories are trying to get me some but after 2 months I'm losing the will to live. I'm trying to get in touch with a friend from Chicago to reship it on, but no luck so far. Replacement part from Lexus.....£199. Slightly too hot for my blood. Anyone know what to do? Rab

Open the bonnet and have a look at the headlights, Just behind the lights will be phillips style screw which allows you to adjust the headlight beam manully. This works for the series one and two and then you can fine tune it off the dashboard. Also have a good llok behind the headlight in case of bad repair from a previuos crash. The front cross member maybe smashed in, hence why the lights face down. I've seen quite a few sports car with one light higher than the other on the MOT due to a little dump on the corner and having a rubbish repair. Also check that the light blubs are sitting in the holders correctly. Thanks BAZGTR. I took a headlight out today and did indeed find some damage, now repaired. The ofside headlight light sits better now. Also I found the adjusters as described. There atre covers on the inside of the headlight well that are so close that you can't see the hexagonal plastic (with the cross head slots as you said) until you are looking straight at it. the only way to access the nearside is to remove the intake filter, but I knew where to find it after studying the offside after removal. Thanks again for the "heads up" tip. I can see in the dark again. Thanks again, Rab

Can anyone help please. My Lexus 1995 series 3 headlights are set (when dipped) too close to the car. Using the thumbwheel headlight adjuster in the car just makes it closer to the nose and thereby reduces the road illumination. I can't see how to set the headlamp units any higher. What am I missing? Anyone know what to do? Rab

Have you seen the video on U-Tube of a Lexus LS400 series with the Bose active suspension system? If you have a couple of minutes spare try this link. It is based on a French TV programme so beware the reporter at the end.