Cotswold Pete

Indicators the size of a gnats crotchet, this is my moan. Why do more and more car designers think that having a large LED array on the rear with blaring red lights is acceptable when the indicators are so small as to be naffing useless. I am not aware that the Highway code is about to change to say 'indicate if you can be bothered, but do not worry as your indicators will only be visible if the person behind is actually hanging off the bumper'. I know in theory you should be far enough away to anticipate, but more and more my old eyes have no clue as to what the modern EV or hybrid in front is thinking of doing. Apologies if this topic is already covered in this moan, but if it was, I suspect that back then the indicator was the size of 2 gnats crotchet (not one)

Not in my house, every room has a proper music system, even the TV room has the TV plumbed into a non-AV amp along with the 40 year old thorens record deck, a Yamaha cassette deck and an aging CD player (which I will now upgrade) played through some decent transmission line speakers . On the car front I had the Pioneer system in my 400, and in my current Merc 350 it has the Harman system. I would say the LS system had a better sound but part of that may be down to more solid build of an LS over a 350. I always wanted a Nakamichi cassette when I was young and poor with a mortgage, so never achieved that, but still have 600 cassettes to play, and though not as HIFI as the vinyl or CD. IMHO any car without a decent sounds system is never going to be a relaxing drive

Wonder if maybe the rear sway bars need a bit of look at. My missus always said the LS was bouncy and once I had the sway bushes she stopped complaining. Other than that not sure what it could be. I always found the LS hated certain road surfaces and was fine on ones that the Jag, Honda, Mazda gave rough ride, I always put it down to tyres, variety of wear in running gear and my mood for the day. Now I drive an E350 it is much quieter and better at ride than even the LS (which shocked me), but there is one corner I drive on every day where the 350 likes to skip a little rear end dance, where as the other cars held as tight as a train on the tracks.

More than a pound down I would say, as you have to factor in your time (which is not free) to find out that you have not saved anything. Good to see this moan channel woken up. My mona of the day would be working for a company where the first thing I got asked today is 'Do we have a process to know what the process is to be able to enage a 3rd party technician'. In the olden days it was called ask around and if no one has an answer then you either find someone who can make an executive decision or have the b*lls to make your own decision. Death by process, maybe that should be the title of one of the books I am going to write when I retire (along with a few other books bemoaning the naffing waste of time that consumes small companies who are trying to be BSI/ISO compliant - now that's a now money tree if you can get a job there )

Fascinating video, as his videos usually are. I had no idea about the concept of dimming via the ground wire, which sounds to me like a weird way of doing things. Best of luck with replacement unit

Paul, I do not know exactly what the 'really odd' ride experience was. In this case it was a comment that the owner of Osaka in newport made about a client who had driven down from the West Midlands as his LS was 'odd'. My guess would be that if the oil in the shock is not 'right' then you would get a level of wallowing that then turns into an odd stifness on heavy cornering as the oil compression gets it's act together. My first LS had completely shot shocks (never failed it's MOT), and it was wallowy all the time. And on my second LS when I had new new rear shocks (both sides - OEM) I noticed that tramlining was totally goen, so I read that as worn shocks have the oil as being 'too compressible', so end up making the springs take more of the strain. What kind ride are you getting?

I thought USB cigarette chargers had a max output of 24watts, so would mean a 120watt requirement would take 5 times longer to get the Xiaomi fully charged.

many moons ago used to get my Lexus serviced in Swindon then catch the bus to work, you had to hold your nose, as I assume some people (the night before) assumed the bus was a toilet. and the other day caught train to London, GWR Hitachi beast, with seats less comfortable than concrete, had a back ache for a week afterwards, so more and more I find public transport is not only expensive but darned uncomfortable. what we really need is a Star Trek transporter

We were coerced to go lead-free years ago, sometimes change needs to be driven by £££. But my view of EVs is not a bad idea, but not so sure they are the future, but if they can cut down pollution in towns then great (but does covering fields with Solar Panels and burning wood pellets - which are imported from USA really make for being really green). It would some how be nice if we did not need to use our cars as much, but even if countries where Public Transport is top notch seems like us humans like our metal boxes. Pretty sure when I retire I am not going to give up my V6 but just drive it less and avoid town centres as much as poss.

At my age you need lots of drugs to keep the old ticker going, not so sure selling them is a good idea, and strangely enough my missus keeps my 'stash' in order as i can be a bit 'forgetful'

Recently traded down from LS400 to Merc 350 (V6), wonder if I will last 3 years before I fully appreciate the error of my ways

Every cloud has a silver lining - other way around in our house I go off the deep end my missus tells me to 'chill' .

It can take a while to get used to large barge feeling, I live in the sticks where some lanes are just wide enough for an LS, and have driven around Bristol, Cardiff, London and Birmingham no problems. Having traded down to a Merc 350 I would say the LS length is not that much more but enough to make you think it is too big. My wife hated driving it even though she has driven transits and Shoguns, so maybe give it a bit more time, though an LS around town does drink petrol which is why if I was a city dweller i would be thinking more along lines of hybrid

My dad was AA member from 1964 to last year (so a mere 58 years) cannot ask him as he has now gone to that great car park in the sky, but makes me wonder if he got the same treatment with his fees

I think we are all in for rough ride with insurance premiums. I found not even GoCompare or Confused offered anything better. Had a colleage in office who had car side swipped by a truck. Ended up with a hire car for 9 weeks, that would be a tidy sum for insurance company to cough up. Problem is not only long delivery time on spare, but lack of mechanics to do the job, so what would have been a 1 to 2 week fix took 9 weeks. I suspect some companies will be taking the michael, but seems like we are all going to have to dig deeper.

The paint is probably not mismatched, as when I had a Mk4 taking photos of it it looked mismatched when it was not. My only thing would be prodding up into rear arches for tin mice activity, especially as this we a car always near salt water, and my Mk4 was riddled by 18 years old.

Not seen the original post, but looking at this product seems like even E5 users might benefit from a drop of the juice. The problem with ethanol

My Mk4 was always noisier than my Mk3. I would add my Merc 350 has manual adjust, so reallty appreciate what I had when I owned LS

According to ProTyre it is not dangerous, but will impact wet road handling. WIll be an MOT fail if the tester notices it. Never thought about this until reading this post, as directionals offer better performance, but as this post shows, your spare is going to correct for one side of the car only. Last time I ever needed to get the spare running was over 20 years ago

Not until 2024 seems to be booked out for this year. Looks like heaven when the sun is shining

Infrared is able to deliver high quality - and maybe the headphones need a bit of running in to get to sounds at their best. Recently bought some ne AKG phones for home and once they had about 40 hours of use they sounded as good as the reviews suggested. Bass better and highs better defined.

With my LS had full change at 148K, and had no problems with gear box until the car passed away at 230K.

I think my choice might be a well sorted Volvo 260, or maybe wait another few years until the 850 is exempt.

You can fit a Seasucker bike rack to any LS, I have seem them on Audi Q7s and so on, so appears they stick well enough. Also Rockbros do a sucker rack. And Treefrog I used Saris Bones with my LS, though I think this method may cause more drag than top mounted racks which I have used on previous cars. At least with Saris Bones no fear of dropping the bike onto the roof by accident. I was lucky in that someone had fitted a tow bar unit so I had the connection for rear lighting fitting to go with the bikes. Not sure how that was allowed as the Mk4 LS was not approved for UK fitting of tow bars (but she never failed her MOT)

So after 16 years I no longer have an LS in my hands. My beloved Mk4 sat on the drive for a month or so, but no one interested enough to take it on a as project. A week ago I tried to fire the beast up, but she refused, could have been the starter motor, but the scrap man came today to take it away to Durlsey Breaks (off A38). First time in 16 years I ever had an LS do that, maybe she was protesting about being parked up (like she was at Dia Woodhams Steam Graveyard of the 70's awaiting the inevitable, with no hope of some benefactor towing her off to a new nirvana) One last time I set in the drivers seat turned on the stereo and know I would sorely miss the sound system, the darned comfortable seats, but I knew I would not miss the wife going on about how much I had spent on that car in 11 years (which was naff all, but she seems to think I had), it has been the cheapest car to date to run, even with average MPG of just under 25 on daily commute. Still getting used to my seven speed E350 (13 years old), not as comfortable as LS, but does have Bluetooth, and does 44mpg on commute, and that V6 diesel sounds almost as good as a V8 when you give some serious welly. If I ever come back to Lexus not sure what it would be, not keen on the newer hybrids and the stupidly busy dashboards, the E350 is more old school, not as simple as LS400, more like a 430, and to me that is enough to keep you out of trouble without wondering what some light or noise is trying to tell you (as you go through some red light coz they changed the layout of a roundabout since you last navigated it three years ago). I have been thinking should I divorce the wife and get a SC430, saw a lovely one the other day, but not enough as it is with the four cards in our family. (mind you one less if I get rid of the wife, maybe no more cars as the kids will disown me as well😈) As per previous chats, will keep on this forum which I love as much as the LS, and such a brilliant collection of true gents who have helped over the years - I say thanks and carry on enjoying your steeds.