Cotswold Pete

I wonder what state the original Lexus wheels are in. Seems darned dodgy driving as is. Also it looks far too tidy a car in the photos, and if I lived in Stoke On Trent I would be curious enough to look. But have put it on 'Watch List' to see if it goes

I am thinking that anything that making the lens surface as smooth as possible is the trick to having the cleaning work for longer. Any micro-scratches left act as little gutters for water to sit, and then bacteria to fester, and the lenses go cloudy. Not quite sure what the UV protection adds, but I know they work. Maybe it protects the lens from being chemically ruptured by sun light, which would then stop more un-eveness being created where water and bacteria could do there thing. I agree Mk3 headlights the best, and the foglights way better than the Mk4, but I think it was the law that said glass headlamps need to go because of injuries caused in a collision, I assume with a pedestrian, but would welcome someone who knows more about this than me.

I have been using T-cut about every 4 months or so to get headlights 'clean'. Never got around to doing it propelry with a UV coat on after, but my sons Peugeot looks like maybe time to polish and coat as his headlights go 'foggy' after about 2 months. Seems to me that the Lexus headlight is better than your average light, as they do not cloud up so readily. Or am I imaging that Lexus is better

Had no idea such things existed, and just trawling the web amazed to see what has been offered over the years, including this one https://diecastsociety.com/new-ivy-models-lexus-ls400/ Maybe when I have to let my 400 go I will seek out a model to remind me of the halcyon days of LS driving

Most of the time I let the impatient go by, as I ussd to be one of them in my 20's (though I only had a 1.3 escort I used to tear about in). The other day I had some lumping great Audi trying to get into my boot, and then we pulled up at some lights, and I thought, lets give it a whirl. He left behind but when I go home found out on the web that a Q7 sports has 500bhp, so did not feel disgraced. But it did remind me to 'Keep Calm and Carry On' when in the LS. I have been looking at a local ES 300h that most days gets to drive in tandem for about a mile across Minchinhampton common. Looks lovely, but when I read the specs on top speed and acceleration, kind of put me off. Maybe I am still a 20 year old at heart.

Nice looking car, if I did not have one already my cheque book would be waving about. Sure to go quickly

These sensors spoil the look IMHO. Also had the door rust problem properly sorted two years ago. Looks nice, I just cannot seem to full in love with a 430 enough to move away from my 400 (which looks like a wreck compared to this car)

Interesting video with some tips for people who insist on thinking a cheap product must be as good as the original. Had quite a few mates who have set up production lines in China, for food companies, IT and office equipment manufacturing. Thir stories were always that the local workers believed they did not need to adhere to the details that the USA/EU HQ said was paramount, so after a very short period of time the Quality was dropping like a stone. The only way to cure it was to have a USA/EU Manager in there every day telling the locals to stop thinking they knew better. If that was the case when the original manufacturer had set things up, then Lord help us with the copy-cats. I worked very closely with Chinese at the start of the 80's over here in UK when setting up the early days of the Internet, and lovely people who did things at 100miles an hour and never seemed to check their work as much as the rest of the team. Mind you they made amazing Chinese food like nothing you would get in any takeaway.

I assume playing a cassette in the car the music comes out of both speakers! Do you have a cassette player in the house to see if it is the same and only playing one channel.

Not sure why having spent all that time on it and having only done 1000 miles, and saying such a lovely car to drive you want to sell it to fund another project. I wonder if given the rust removal done so far, then some other aw-my-gawd lump of corrosion will surface anytime soon. I'll be giving it a swerve for now

LS just failed MOT What is shocking is last MOT was when I had both rear shocks replaced with OEM. Makes no sense that only 1500 miles later one of them is leaking. Had to apologies to mechanic for my choice of words, but it was different garage I used last year (but they mucked up on some other items -so using some one highly recommended this time). Have ordered a new shock (1 week wait) and have asked a Lexus Swindon as to what they are going to do, as seems like unit must be faulty. A pain, otherwise the old lady would have sailed through.

The cheap one should be fine, in past I have found some adaptors upset the auto-reverse in the LS, but they one I use is 10 years old, so no longer made so cannot recommend) The more expensive (Bluetooth) one should mean you can take calls on your phone, which the cheapie will not, as it will disable the mic in your phone. Cassette adaptors do give a fair enough sound, not as good as CD, but good enough for anyone playing 320Mb/s Mp3 files while driving.

Two exhaust fails in last few years, has that been bodged to get it through. I would also be thinking at 121,000 other parts of running gear are going to be getting tired but worth a look if anyone near Bridgnorth. Drivers sear looks a bit ropey, worse than mine is at 210,000

Gordon Bennet, I think I would have wanted full leathers and a helmet to use that for shopping. Mind you, your magnums would not have time to melt on the way back from Morrisons.

Anything on a smart motorway makes me twitchy, would be ruddy nervous if I knew car was going to konk out. Last time I broke down was when a part of the M5 was not smart, now it is smart and I have had many a time when at 50mph, I have had artics and cars (and even the highways agencies bodkins) pull out making me have to jam on the anchors, and this is when the signs are saying 'slow down', so would hate to coma across a breakdown not yet discoverd. Who ever decided they were a good idea should be made to sit in a Fiat 500 for a half an hour waiting to be rescued.

I cannot see how this is not repairable by a exhaust specialist. No harm in getting one of them to have a look, just search for specialists who can do bespoke tuned exhausts, they will (usually) know all there is about retro-fits in stainless to just about anything. I would add though that the chaps who did mine reckoned my exhaust was not stainless (when they put a stainless Y-piece in), but I think they must have thought it was not the sort of stainless they would use if they did a full rebuild. At 209K, engine and exhaust as sweet as a nut.

Possibly tyre separation, where one of the layers comes apart for a short section. Usually manifests itself as like driving on some ice at low speeds, and produces odd noises at higher speeds. Only happened to me once, and turned out to be a new tyre gone rogue after a thousand miles.

Could it be a wheel balancing weight just clipping the calipers, though usually only happens after a new tyre fitted and it is an apprentice who does not know clearance on LS is pretty tight.

Was there a time when the government believed that oil burners were the saviours of the planet, so tax was very low. I do recall Ford back in the mid 80's saying lean burn petrol would be better than diesel, but one can assume that the experts were ignored (maybe Michael Gove was punting his beliefs that experts are dumb even back then???)

Well never thought of Delphi, they seem to have a choice and prices look good, not sure why any link is better than another, but maybe I will give them a call Links on Delphi site

I need new drop links on rear (for sure) and mat as well do the fronts. Having looked on Ebay I can see otpions, and on Amayama. Question - Has anyone used ebay ( Rear Links ) for example, as my research indicated this part is used on some Kia makes as well as Toyota. The price from Japan is not that bad, though I assume a drop link is not taking a huge load, so even if the bushes are not as good as original they will last a good few years. Any thoughts or experience with these on ebay most welcome.

The assumption seems to be that if you can afford a luxury car, you can pay a luxury tax (to drive on roads that have not seen the VED spent on them). The very reason why I went for a 400 Mk4 as the VED is okay to live with. At the time I could have got bought a 430 or 460, but it was VED that was part of the equation. Having worked around most of Europe I have never found anyone who is happy with either the yearly fee or the new registration fee, but it does seem most other countries spent these taxes making the roads look like roads not tank training grounds. Trucks do not pay anywhere near enough for the damage they do and though truck owners may complain, the damage to weight ratio is exponential. Though reasonably sure my 2tonne LS is not doing that much more damage than my wife's lightweight Mazda 2!!

Only thought is that there is a slight air gap when the window is up at full closure, and this is the right size gap to create a certain frequency of noise. I would maybe just get some masking tape over the seals, and drive to see if it goes. Then if it goes, maybe just peel off parts of the masking tape until the noise comes back, might indicate where the seal to glass fit is playing up. As the seals harden over time they do sometimes have little gaps that can whistle (had this on old Volvo - but not on any LS - so far)

I would add from lockdown experience of having let the battery run down four times that the Engine Managment ECU does take a while to stabilise. What I mean is that for the first few hours of driving the car behaves like the ECU is having capacitor failure (having had a Mk3 which did have ECU on its way out), and I was getting near stalling. But after a few decent runs the whole thing seems to settle down. It is now 3 months since I did a battery-out and full recharge, and all systems running like a dream in terms of RPM. Of course it could be other factors that cause the old lady to stabilise after flat battery which had been flat for a month or so each time.

Was watching Car SOS the other day when restoring a Hillman Imp (mate had one once, had the clutch come flying through the back seat - end of car. Anyway they said those cars were designed to last 7 years or so before they fell apart, good job that is not the case these days. Amazing that they got Ship Builders build the Minx, be a bit like having a Lexus built by Microsoft techs who knew how to fix a toaster!!.