GEN

In my case there was nothing left to stick anything on as the mirror (glass) was smashed into many small pieces. In fact it even 'bled' very nasty fluid on the door which I did not notice until the next day....

Fortunately only the glass was damaged otherwise the cost for the whole thing is over£1000.

It doesn't handle as well as the Ls430, it has many more things to go wrong expensively (air suspension and the hybrid battery, to mention only 2) which could easily write off the car. The Ls400 had the most comfortable seats of all three. I only bought the Ls600 because I couldn't find a decent Ls430 at the time and I had to have a car

I purchased a 2008 Ls600hl a little over a year ago. So far I have had to replace the following: Tyres (19 in). Standard battery (not the hybrid one) but it's not standard as it's designed for the hybrid so over £260 from Lexus. Radiator. Passenger side mirror (over £300) - the glass only. The hybrid battery is under warranty for a year at a time provided it's been inspected/serviced by Lexus ( certificate is issued). Has not had to be replaced yet. One front shock absorber is now leaking but not yet needing replacement ( Lexus quoted over £1000 for it plus labor and the 8 (?) control arms are £80 per unit! It's the old story: an originally expensive car may be cheap to buy when old but it'll be just as expensive to repair as when new! The car handles well as it has all wheel drive and the combination of the 5L V8 and hybrid motors provides enough power to move the 2.5 tons but the best mpg I've seen is 32mpg (motorway with light traffic). It is rear heavy: as the hybrid battery sits between the rear seats and the boot which is therefore greatly reduced. There are toys: dynamic cruise control, DVD player for the rear passengers, heated and ventilated seats, etc. This is my third Lexus: LS400 for over 10 years, LS430 for a very few months (written off by the proverbial white van man) and now the Ls600 hl. If I had to choose I'd pick the Ls430 and that only because Toyota is no longer able to supply the parts for the Ls400. Any questions please feel free to p.m.

Purchased this from Lexus for my LS430 but the white van man wrote it off before I could open it. Anybody who wants it can have it for the price of p&p (I'm guessing no more than £4). Colour: Blue Mica. All details can be seen in the photo.

All the dash audio controls (on/off but not sound level, the ones selecting disc or radio, eject or load disk) just stopped working. But the duplicate controls on the steering wheel and in the rear console are still functional. Essential I'm unable to turn off the music unit (can only turn it on via pressing the mode control on the steering wheel and rear console), cannot eject or load discs. The other functions are available via the duplicate controls. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you and best wishes, Gene

I always buy them from Toyota: expensive but the quality, in my opinion and experience, is second to none.

I don't have the answer but my 2007 Ls600hl displayed the same message and went into limp mode. I was on a 70 mph dual carriageway and 200 miles away from home and friendly dealer so I just hit the gas pedal harder and it eventually recovered. Drove the 200 miles back home and took the car to my friendly Lexus dealer who could find nothing wrong with the car, no codes, just nothing. This was last year and about 6000 miles ago and it had been running fine ever since.

I started with a 1998 LS400 (from 80K miles to 238K miles) and then the transmission went. Bought a 2005 LS430 with 68K miles and about 3K miles later it was written off by a careless van driver who ploughed into me. Then bought a 2008 LS600hl with 120K miles and have covered about 10K miles so far. My conclusions: The Ls400 was the most comfortable of all three. It had fewer blind spots than the other two. The Ls400 did not need a rearview camera or any parking assistants! Provided you avoided the air suspension (which was rare on this model anyway) the maintenance was predictable, straight forward and rendered the car pretty much bulletproof. (My transmission could have been fixed but the 2 solenoids needed were no longer available). I never had to have any suspension work done. The Ls430: excellent car with a very planted drive. Had to replace the radiator preventively. The satnav screen was playing up which may not seem a problem except that some of the a/c controls were only available via the screen. This car had air suspension. I did not have it for long enough to have a problem. This would be my second choice . Finally: the Ls600hl: full of gadgets, comes with all wheel drive which I'm hoping will be useful in the event of snow. The rear of the car is substantially more comfortable but then this car is pretty much intended to be chauffeur driven although I do enjoy driving it. The hybrid or better put the electric side of the car is in use relatively little: if memory serves the claimed range is about 3 miles and it is for low speeds and I don't think it makes a substantial difference to the fuel consumption. I get best mpg (28-30) on a motorway drive. By the way this is not bad for car that weighs in at almost 2.5 tons. Things to worry about:. the hybrid battery replacement cost is four figure. the air suspension. It has a CVT transmission. These 3 items can easily total the car. And the boot is just unbelievably small. I don't know but I gather that the LS460 is the same as the Ls600 without the hybrid. So, for my money, my first choice would be the Ls400 but the parts are not there. I would avoid the LS600hl and the Ls460. So I would go for the Ls430. But of course that is just my opinion...

On my 1998 Ls400 I just hit the remote lock twice (without pause) and never had the problem again.

These are wonderful cars but bear in mind the following, especially if you are not able to do the mechanical work on it,: - you can buy what was once an expensive car cheaply but both the parts and labor are still expensive. - I had to write off my 1998 Mark IV because I could no longer get the solenoids for the transmission. Everything else was in fine working order but you can't drive a car without a transmission. It was heartbreaking ... Leaving the above aside, my LS400 was the best car I ever had and by the time it broke down it had 228k miles (I then had an Ls430 and now have an Ls600hl, neither one of these is as good as my Ls400 even though they have more features).

I tried it with the RCA cable and selecting video via the remote control and it works! I don't know whether it makes a difference but it might: so all the CDs I had loaded in the CD player were music with no videos or DVDs. Once started the video screen can be closed and the aux input will continue. Thank you!

They are also long lasting.

Thank for the clarification, I was wondering if there was another difference between various models of the Ls600hl.

Sorry can you explain "video port in the glove box"? Is there a video port in the glovebox?

Vredstein: have now used this brand on my Ls400, Ls430 and now on the Ls600hl and they are excellent and long lasting ( and reasonably priced).

I'm not mechanically minded so, for what it's worth, I had a similar experience (same symptoms) with my Ls600hl: it needed a new radiator and it seems I got to the garage not a moment too soon (the coolant temperature was going through the roof by then) so check the radiator? (I seem to recall some of the Ls430s had a problem with the radiator coolant feeding through to the transmission?) Hope it's none of the above.

Tough question as it all a matter of opinion and experience... In my experience ( with 1998 Ls400, 2005 Ls430 and 2007 Ls600hl) the LS600hl seems the quietest and the Ls400 is the most comfortable! But there are so many other questions you need to look at... And of course somebody else on here might give you a better answer...

Thank you, that settles it for me.

Thank you. What is puzzling is why does it have the outlets/plug-in points for the aux... I also miss the cassette player that was standard on my Ls400 and Ls430 but then I just miss those two cars for everything else they had and which the LS600 doesn't have.

Now, here it is.

Here's mine. Here it is.

Just tried pressing the DISC (mine doesn't have a DISC/AUX button) twice (various kinds of 2 presses) but just works the disc (hence disc button!)... The cable ends in a red and white connectors and have matched these to the car white and red ..

Thank you for this. I have a feeling that I have tried this some time ago but will try again.

Have exactly the same year and model and the same question. Have tried connecting mp3 player and then android phone via the outlets in the front armrest but not a squeak! I think the problem is that the music player remains in whatever mode (disc,radio,etc.) is already set and I have not discovered a way to switch the mode/input...