CB1300

LS 400`s are worth jack Shi*e

Fantastic cars, but don't waste your money on them unless you really intend to keep them for years to come.

I just sold my series 4,108k, FSH, updated sat nav,superb condition for £2000, sickening I know, but with petrol at £1.20 a Litre it was inevitable.

Dear CB1300

I find it infuriating that people purchase these iconic automobiles and then have no idea as to the time and life long effort our oriental friends instilled in this product.

If you look at the quality, dimensions and exact positioning of this tray you will or should understand its primary function. The rear part is exactly moulded to accept the Revell Batman Utility Belt, complete with the Robin vassaline holder. Just forward of this you will find room for your full European touring kit complete with the two sleeping bags to smuggle Bosnian terrorists in. The forward part of the tray is designed to take your L.B.K. yes you Lexus Breakdown Kit. This will consist of a single 30A fuse to be used in the cigar lighter circuit as I have found, getting a cherry glow on the end of a King Edward necessitates several operations of the cigar lighter, a known Lexus fault. The fuse obviously will not blow, but after several years use, it is felt by them that know, the fuse should be replaced as a precautionary measure.

Moving to the front we have the exact dimensions to accept 3 Tenna Lady Extra. This really is just over engineering as no Lexus owner would ever consider using more than 33% of the available throttle travel.

Just a thought, does yours have the Rakoon fur lining?

I hope this helps

PS I am sorry this is in crayon, it is just that they won't let me have anything sharp at the moment.

Dear tel999,

This was a perfectly valid question as to what the tray was for ?

I actually find your reply very insulting,not at all funny or in keeping with the spirit of this forum

The tray under the front passenger seat on a series 4 LS400 for ?

It doesn't seem to have any purpose ?

Well... My series 4 still has less than an 100k on the clock and has full lexus service history.

I paid just shy of £3k for her from some one who purchased her at just 11 months old from Lexus Bristol.

I guess it just goes to show that what you paid and what the insurance company will fork out is a World apart.

Sad to think that even the slightest shunt could write the car off !

My Brother came around to use my internet to get some car insurance quotes through moneysupermarket.com

They have an all new quote format that, on the first page, gives you the industry valuation for your vehicle.

My LS400 series 4 is only valued at £1595 !

Former BBC boss Greg Dyke fined and gets six points after crashing his Lexus GS450H SE into the rear of a family car near Exeter.

Full story http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...ipped-roof.html

Ive had the same hassle.

Eventually my underwriters (Aviva ) removed my "potential claim".

The Post Office (The Brokers or as they like to be called, intermediaries )jumped my renewal premium up by £200 after I was hit by an uninsured driver on Christmas Eve .

I renewed with Ibuyeco but is also underwritten by Aviva for £269 FC.

I have since had a letter from Aviva saying that my claim as been removed from their system and will not effect my NCB or future premiums.

On another note Swiftcover couldnt offer me cover for a LS ??? Go figure ?

Remember its not only the Sat Nav, the unit on a LS400 Mk 1v also controls the audio system and Air Con/Climate Control.

BTW mine came with the original disc which only had Birmingham and London on it.

I now have the updated disc and its very accurate, although it does not have POI or Post Code entry.

I recently had an appointment in the centre of Bristol a destination I have also done with a Tomtom , the Lexus took me a mush better and direct route and placed me smack , bang outside the building .

As for fitting this system to an older LS (if at all possible ) I think it would cost so much money you could probably buy a 2000 LS430 !!

I am looking to upgrade my LS400 to a 460 later this year.

Can anybody tell me how they compare in length ?

This is important for using my parking bay.

LS460 is 25mm longer than LS400.

Many thanks Jelly Bean.

That wont make any difference, will go ahead with my plans for a 460.

I have a MK 1V LS400.

For me its the position of the armrest ( too low ) and window ledge is too high.

The drivers seat doesn't go back far enough .

Stereo was not future proofed ( would love to upgrade to a MP3 system )

Final sweep on windscreen wash drives me mad ( especially with all this salt on the road at the moment )

Crap quality of alloy wheels ( lacquer )

Apart from that its spot on.

I am looking to upgrade my LS400 to a 460 later this year.

Can anybody tell me how they compare in length ?

This is important for using my parking bay.

Well Im still waiting for Aviva to officially remove my claim from their systems ( despite asking them twice and being assured it would be done )

In the meantime my renewal premium is still at just under two hundred quid more ( the Post Office say they are looking into this but need Aviva to remove the claim but cant assure me it wont decrease ??? )

If I pursue the claim, sure the MIB can "TRY" to recover my losses ( but if the scum bag cant afford insurance on a battered old Mondeo he aint going have much else is he ? )

Basically to pursue the claim I will need to pay £250 excess on collection of my repaired car, pay the £200 premium increase ( I have no claims protection ) and have all the inconvenience of it all and I doubt for one moment they will provide me with another Lexus as a courtesy car ?

This sucks big time folks!

You are in the comfort of your own home and a driver hits and damages your beloved Lexus.

It turns out he has no insurance and its you the law abiding driver who is hit severely in the pocket.

On Christmas Eve whilst my LS400 was parked outside my home it was hit by another car ( Mondeo )

The driver exchanged details but they were sketchy , but one good thing was that he was wearing the uniform of a local bus company and I have beenable to confirm that he does indeed work for them and the name he gave me was correct.

He told me he was insured with the AA and would bring the details around, of course he never turned up.

In the mean time I report the incident to my own insurance company ( The Post Office / Aviva ) who act very quickly and get me a booking for a repair quote and arrange a hire car.

Its the front passenger door that has been damaged, and I would have to fork up my £250 excess on collection of the car, but they were confident they could reclaim the costs from the driver.

Ironically my renewal also came through the post on Tuesday morning and to my shock had increased by just under two hundred quid !! :tsktsk:

I then get back onto The Post Office who tell me its because I have a potential claim going through.

I immediately contact the AA so that they can deal with the whole thing, but they inform me that the vehicle registration I have given them is not shown as being insured on their system, and I should therefore contact Aviva to get them to do a trace.

Aviva are reluctant to do this but eventually, after some hot words, the call centre worker puts me through to the underwriting dept.

They do a trace and confirm the vehicle is not insured.

I have asked Aviva to remove the claim from their system and I will arrange to get the car repaired myself, whether or not this lowers my renewal premium remains to be seen ?

They have said that if I do decide get the car repaired through their approved repairers (Nationwide ) they will try and recover the costs through my legal cover ( waste of time paying this folks ) or the MIB ( took my friend two years to get his money through this lot )

I have now reported the incident to the Police and filled in a collision report form and they will decide whether or not to prosecute.

Uninsured drivers are a real scourge and need much heavier penalties imposed on them .

My LS was simply parked outside my own home and I am now seriously out of pocket always round.

Stop ! your making feel bad

"Im Zoiberg I have no freinds ! "

Well we live and learn...

To be honest it was no different to having an Air Con specialist come and do it, just that the gas was in a cannister, like I said I have no quandaries with it, it has recharged the system nicely and the car now gets nice and cold.

Cheapest I could find locally was £69 for a recharge and I was put on to the DIY kits by a friend who recharged his Honda.

But in hindsight maybe I shouldn't have been so tight !

I will certainly keep the forum informed if any problems arise.

Yes it was one of those DIY kits from Halfords I did it myself but got the guy in the shop to do a free level check.

The whine has actually gone so it was probably the compressor working with a fully pressurised system ?

I have no quandaries with it, the car gets ice cold now and it only cost me £39.

"R" Reg

Some are series 111 some series 1V

Mines a 1998 series 1V on a R plate

"R" was the change over plate for the LS400 from series 111 to series 1V.

If your car has the sat nav built in then its the series 1V with the VVTi engine.

Also if you pop the bonnet you will see VVTi on the plastic engine cover.

Hope this helps ?

Just had mine recharged this morning,its made a World of difference and the car now gets nice and cold.

The initial check showed the gas to be quite low and it took a full cannister to bring it up into the blue zone on the meter.

The only thing is, I have noticed a whine when the the AC is turned on at the low button, any one have any ideas what this could be ?

Mmmm ?

Well my series 4 Ls400 is petrol and im getting a constant 32 on a run and 24 urban.

Would seem that LPG isnt worth the bother on my model going by the figures M.IQBAL has supplied ?

David,

I had my cam belt idlers/tensioners and water pump changed by the Mechanic who has looked after all my cars for the past twenty odd years.

I would trust him over any Lexus quick fix fitter any day !

There are plenty of Ed China`s out there, you just need find someone who, like Ed, really know their onions.

Take a look at my thread HERE Regarding the cam belt change.

And because of the age of your car it really isn't worth taking to a LMD I mean £2074.07 is taking the urine !!

Well the problem is exactly as it says in the header... Grayed Out Nav Unit Icons ?

Came back from my Mothers last night and the AC button on the nav screen was grayed out ?

A quick check around the other functions showed three grayed out icons under set up ?

I turned the engine off and back on and it seemed to clear it, however today the three functions on set up ( all to do with the sat nav ) where grayed out again but flickered back on ?

Is this a problem anybody else has encountered ? Or is this darn Nav unit on its way out ( good excuse to buy a 460 :winky: )

But seriously any suggestions welcomed.

To be honest why don't you try and look for a series 4 ?

The R reg car here is a series 3 and I picked up my series 4 , with 88K on the clock 1 previous owner and full Lexus History for £2900.

You can tell its a series 4 because it will have the in built navigation unit and were built 98` onwards.

Lexus had ironed out all the 400`s faults by the time it went to series 4 and it has the VVTI engine which for a 4L V8 is extremely economical, I get around 32 - 34 on a run 21 - 23 urban.

Just a thought ?

On a series four.

Open the boot and on the side of the light assembly you will still two plastic caps.

Prise those out with a screwdriver, un screw the fastening screws, the unit will pop out and replace the bulb.

I recently watched an episode of myth busters where they tried every fuel saving device on the market.

Not a single one saved on fuel, in fact a couple of them made fuel consumption worse.

Just my two penneth.