samurai69

not only saved that money, but he re sealed my front tyre for free....and it sailed through its MOT too

whilst in portugal i managed to hit the catalytic converter on something and was informed i had split the cat open they said they had tried a temporary fix..........it stoped blowing so bad for a day or so anyway, i didnt bother too much with it as MOT wasnt due until NOW (feb) so did 2 runs back and to portugal, now i am back in uk permenantly so as the mot is due i knew it needed replacing..........e bay says 180 plus vat and fitting thought on the off chance i would pop in to local kwik fit.................just so i had a chance of seeing the damage as much as finding out the cost from them once the guy had it up he had a look and though theouter casing is split, theres no damage to the cat..........what had happened is the gasket/joint between cat and exhaust has been opened up...............so all it needs is a little bit of work on the gasket...............saved at least £150 RESULT!! .

had my mk 1 sport for a year now had new pads front and rear and a new battery and new rear boxes................thats all i have had to replace...mine had ful service history just replaced the cat, but that was because of something i drove over MOT is due end of moneth so will see then if theres more to do .

do they fit ok, and as theres no frame do they look better ??....more stream lined .

has anyone tried these wiper blades out http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

great, i will have a check of the ball joints and wishbones luckily all bulbs have been replaced due to both rear lights blowing at the same time whilst driving half way over from portugal...............had to drive with just rear fogs for 40 or 50 miles..........ended up taping paper over them to diffuse them a bit as boot was so full couldnt get in to replace them.............and repleced both front sides after one of them blew a few months ago and just before winter i got new wiper blades just ordered the cat................hope its easy enough to fit .

My MOT is due up in 2 weeks time, are there any things i need to look out for before putting it in Its a 96 gs300 sport with just over 100k on the clock, regular dealer services up to feb last year i know tghe cat has split and will need replacing and i have recently fitted two new rear boxes and front pads and i have reaer pads if necessary...............but is there anything else which is common to go wrong for the MOT at this age or mileage thanks

You're so clever Richard. Also for Q2 it could never have been done unless there was a hole cut out the fuel tank as it sits behind the rear seat ( don't try this at home!!) must have been another car i had around that time mine was one of the first in the uk and had so many different features............i have a much newer GS now and it doesnt seem to have anywhere near as many things on it .

so at that rate i could see closer to 30mpg for a large part of the motorway stuff............about 1000 miles worth i would think, tha would be handy might get the missus to log it all this time just out of interest..............also will check at first fillup, i only had the warning light come on once and ant remember how much i used to fill it want to get the most fuel in spain as its cheapest there, so a decent fill in portugal should get me to spain.......then another decent fill just before french borfder= and hopefully wont need to fully fill tank in france also if i use the cruise and work it off the cars speedo it will be a little slower, probably closer to 75 or maybe i will use GPS which give a more accurate mph /.

did all the first lot of LS400s in the country have an electric operating headrest on both front seats also where the back armrest is, was there a drop down through to the boot so set of Skiis would fit

wondered what your average mpg is now on a mk1 sport with about 100,000 on the clock how much does it drop off over time also what size is the tank on this model, cant find much info regarding stats trying to work out how much its going to use on the journey of 1380 miles mostly motorways at 80mph, though 15% is very hilly

The trim you're looking for was known as suffolk I believe with Pembroke being black and Andorra the grey trim. Although this trim was available on most colours during the production run, it was standard on some colours whereas on others it was considered a bespoke trim and so is rarer. Typically you're more likely to find this colour on blue's (hamilton and canterbury) and red, greens and gold - similar to other makes of executive cars. The Mk2 always had sat nav as an option and was never offered as standard as far as I know, the DVD version I think came in around 2000(?) as at launch it was CD based back in 98. Satnav on the GS Mk2 also gives you a fuel computer so worth having. As for the trim surround perhaps someone else could comment on that? I think it might have changed around 2001 and if you're looking for a GS you do want the 'facelifted' one, as that doesn't suffer problems with the master brake cylinder as many people on the forum have commented on as it's upgraded. Hope that helps. (Actually if you want to see a GS MK2 with suffolk trim have a look at the post 'Fitted Hid kit to my Gs300' That has the suffolk trim and is (I think?) a rare white) thanks scandy very informative...................wil start looking post 2001 then

i have been looking at maybe getting another gs300 as well as the mk 1 i have now and i have been looking at the mk2s, but all the ones advertised seem to be black or dark grey............was the biscuit leather offered or was it just going out of fashion or something when the mk 2s started being made when did the mk 2 start getting the sat nav in it did the trim surround ever get wood trim or was it an add on

just added 1 screw mid way down the frame and it seems to work ok this time i have covered the screw and part of the frame with black electric tape and it looks Ok, no wind noise a quick fix i know hopefully once back in uk it wont be too difficult to have a new frame fitted

had mine just under a year now, came with fulldealer service history, bought from non lexus dealer, had just under 100000 on the clock, been back and forward from portugal a few times and apart from 4 new tyres the only things i have had to buy where new rear silencer boxes and a new battery...........apart from that its been great

There were substantial changes between all the marks. Just Google Mk 1 Lexus GS300, Mk2, Mk3 etc to see the change in the physical appearance alone. Minor tweeks in 2008 for the MK3 GS. The next generation GS should be along sometime 2012 I believe. thanks so theres just the mk 1,2 and 3 and a few minor changes in 2008 to the mk 3..... is that it

are there only 3 basic models maybe a mk 4 too, are there any cosmetic differences between 300s and 400s, what years did they change mk1 to mk2 was p/r reg time i think, but what about the otheres.......where there any mini changes in the models between the major mk changes

Funny you should ask that. I have used the exact thing to try and sort mine out. Didn't work for me, but might well work better if you have a screw at the top like you have done. The problem I had is that it couldn't quite keep things together and then once it eventually set fully, it can't be clamped shut anymore 'cos of the glue in the gap maybe i will try a couple of rivets then, the wind noise is coming from the gap between the window and the frame rather tha between door and frame, bloody annoying though as its drivers door not other one , maybe a common problem, just not come across it much................it may be cold coming back over (so no need to open window) so may just tape it up until i get back then get it fixed properly back in uk maybe i will try a couple of screws for now and when back in uk fill the holes up in the door frame then get new surrounds later .

That would probably work although the concealment afterwards might be tricky, worth a try though. i will look in to it a bit more...........make sure it will not show or can be covered up well enough......or disguised in some way . well i ended up tapping a screw to the top part to pull the metal in and it was working fine, didnt look too bad, but the trim is now coming away about mid window now, i think i will replace the whole thing when i come back to uk, but thats not for a month, i am now wondering wether to drill and pop rivet a couple of times down the trim or maybe use some "no more nails" or similar to insert between the door and the trim to hold it inplace at the moment there sounds like a buzzing rattley noise on more bumpy roads.............if it stays like it is on the journey back its going to be annoying ............. once back in uk i can arrange to buy new trim ................... but even then not sure how it will fit on ....weld or some sort of clips the black screw at top isnt noticable, but additional rivets would be nd would need to drill a couple of holes in the actual door frame any ideas WOULD "no more nails" work ......??

If it's the same as mine it's called damask, sort of burgundy/ruby red. well it looks the same as my old LS400....that was called mica red then, but i know its changed its a burgendy mildly metallic, probably not as metallic as the LS400s it should say somewhere on the engine/body number shouldnt it.............not that i can ever read them

tigerfish, thanks for all that

cheers what colours your car in your sig, same as mine well once its cleaned up a bit i was thinking of starting with some mods to the engine, not sure about susbpension seen a lowered one in uk and TBH it looked like it would scrape any speed humps etc maybe mod it later once i have been in uk for a while is ther a decent upgrade to the radio/mpr/satnav that works in to the dash dont really want to over do thingsas i like the lines of mk 1............maybe simple de badge sunken repeaters ..............couple of things i saw on the VIP car moded on thread on the forum

so, now i have decided to move back to uk permenantly, i can keep my mk 1 sport if that the case i want to add a few mods, is there somwhere in london that stocks a decent range of goodies , that i can check up on line with also need to get a new cat as the one i have has a split at the flange where it joins with the manifolds........is there a decent cheap is supplier around NW london also the rear spoiler has some varnish corrosion........where the varnish flakes, is there somwhere i can get that and a few little scratches cleaned out and painrted at a decent price, or maybe a blow over respray the car is the burgendy red that is similar to the mica red of the old ls400s finally the origional sport wheels are all pretty ok apart from the spare, is ther a place that re furbs wheels again in the NW london area thanks for any help there .

would it be worth just draining the oil and replacing the filter at a later date, after the long drive back what is a remote filter exactly what is best oil to use Thbanks

I have had my mk1 gs 300 sport for about 7 months now, and during that time its done a few long drives across europe, i am due to take the car back to uk in a couple f months time againg, but before i do i was thinking of changing the oil and the oil filter......so i have a few questions on the mk1 how easy is it to change the oil, and is it easy enough to get at and change the oil filter what oil and how much should i use the oil filter, is it the same as on any other model of car, toyota or other as there is only one lexus dealer here and they havent had any mk1 300s in portugal, so possibly no parts........the other option would be to collect one in the uk when i am over at xmas thanks for any help