plastic orange

New discs/pads tomorrow - here's hoping. Pete

I think you just have to pay what you are comfortable with. Unless you are buying a 'classic car' where there will be little or no depreciation, you have to be prepared to take a hit when you move it on. However, on a car at around £3k, the total loss over a 3 year period will only be around £1-2k - far less than depreciation on anything new. I paid effectively £2900 for a 99 DHP (122k) which had a full lexus history. It has cost me around a further £1.5k to get it up to my standard (I'm fussy, but most would have needed this work) of mechanical health, but as I hope to keep it for 5 years this should (fingers crossed) pay dividends. I also see very few LS's for sale (particularly in Scotland), so there is a shortage of choice, therefore you pay more than the guide prices. Pete

I'm going to swap the wheels from back to front (original position) then see what happens. There is no shake/vibration until I brake from 60mph and over. I watched the fitter balance the tyres when they were fitted. Pete

2 new arms fitted today - did it cure the problem? - NO. I guess I'll have to fit new discs (Blueprint - £181 with pads), but they are well within tolerences. I'm starting to get a bit fed up now. Pete

The whole brake/suspension thing seems to affect quite a few cars. I've replied to pm's asking about the ebay control arms, but won't know for certain if they cure the problem until Tuesday. My car doesn't shake until braking from around 60 - nice and smooth otherwise. I guess the only real solution is to renew everything - first time I've had to contemplate this on any car in nearly 40 years of motoring. Pete

Super quick delivery - parts arrived today. Pete

Checked over the car fully today - on ramp and rollers. The only wear we could detect was the ball joints in the upper control arm - and only when weight on the car, and the use of a large pry bar. So new arms ordered from ebay. Discs and pads seemed fine. I'll report back. Pete

I know what you mean about the boot space as my first trip back from the airport had us carrying bags inside. My wife wasn't impressed as the Saab 9000 we had previously had a huge boot. However, as the car was built for the US market, their cars aren't exactly great on boot space, so no surprise there. I did think about cashing in my Saab on the scrappage scheme, but decided on the Lexus instead. Time will tell if I've done the right thing. Pete

I'd rather not have an aftermarket alarm as they are notoriously unreliable - plus they really aren't a deterrent. I had an expensive one on my bike which stranded me one day without warning - it was 4 years old. I had a mobile fitter test it (they only usually last 3 years sir, so you've done well), then remove it as a replacement was £300. My Saab had a Scorpion one which kindly disabled my fuel pump, leaving me stranded and had to be relayed home (removed soon after), and my Golf's one expired completely, but fortunately didn't disable car. My Seat Leon Cupra (new at the time) gave me no end of alarm trouble, leading to complaints from my neighbours. Just my opinion, but one which the majority of bikers agree with. Pete

I've been doing my research :D . Strange that it suddenly happened when I fitted new tyres. I've never been hard on brakes in any car or bike I own, prefering to anticipate the corner and power round. Having said that, I'm certainly not slow, but try and be smooth, so perhaps I do corner quicker than most cheers Pete

Took it out for a test on the local dual carriageway (quiet) and noticed that it doesn't wobble until braking at over 60. There is no pulsing of the pedal, but when I did a quick stop from high speed I got a fair bit of knocking from the front end, but nothing through the pedal. I guess it wouldn't be any harm to do the top control arms - are the ones for £100 on Ebay any good? Pete

I've had quite a few big autos too, and was told not to put them in neutral (i always did up till this point) whilst stuck at traffic lights etc - Saab in particular caused problems over time apparantly (governor seals). I suppose it really depends on the auto box concerned. I certainly slip my Minor V8 into neutral when stopped and may do the same with the lexus now. Pete

I get no clonks at all from the front suspension. The discs were replaced around 40,000 miles ago, and pads around 20. I know it's a heavy car, but I'd expect parts to last longer than this. Pete

Since getting new tyres fitted to the front of my car last week, I've noticed a bit of a wobble whilst braking. It isn't too bad under hard braking, but when just check braking for a corner it starts. The car was just Mot'd last month, and no wear was detected in the front suspension, and the discs look in particularly good nick. I'm going to have a closer look, and perhaps see if the discs are warped (dial gauge). Any other ideas? Hopefully when this is sorted the car should be fine for a bit as I've spent a fair bit on it since buying in November. Pete

£78.10 here: http://www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html My last tyres from them arrived in 3 days - great service. You do have to add fitting cost to this price though - shouldn't be more than a tenner each. Pete

I asked the same question a while back and have used the following company: http://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/ They seem competitive price wise and delivery is prompt. They did muck up on my first order, but rapidly sorted it out to my satisfaction. You'll be looking at around £400 for all the timing area components - check out threads on this topic. Pete

A local tyre stealer wanted £468 for 2 pirellis - fitted. I suggested that the most I'd pay was £400, as the tyres were £172 at mytyres, and I couldn't see how they would be charging £100 to fit 2 tyres. They said they can't compete with internet prices (won't when folk are silly enough to be ripped off). The Falkens are the 912 model, as recommended by folk on here. They don't look any narrower than the pirellis, and certainly make the car more pleasant to drive (cost me £20 to get them both fitted and balanced). I'll see how they last. Pete

I decided to fit Falken 235/50 x17's (£83 each) to the front of the car, and put the 245's to the rear (until they wear out). Car drives far nicer than before, with little tramlining - a result I'd say. Pete

I only remain logged in for 2 days, then I have to re log on. I looked for settings that could change this, but couldn't find any. Pete

I replaced an upper rear Control Arm (well my mate did - I was fitting Rover V8 head gaskets), and noticed that my rear tyres have suddenly become marginal. They have done 10,000 miles from being fitted last year - is this all I can expect to get out of a set of Pirelli's?. My options are to buy a pair of the same at £172 each at mytyres, or go smaller width, but increase the profile to save some dosh. The front tyres are still like new, hence my dilemma. We all know who the previous owner was :D, so perhaps it was just his driving style. I wouldn't mind if I got 20k out a set of rears, but can't really justify nearly £400 every year to replace with disappearing rubber. Pete

I'd say you got a good price for the cam belt change, Oil change could be cheaper (filter at bottom of engine - accessed when splash gaurd moved), but trans fluid change if done properly (filter, fluid flushed through) is very reasonable too (cost me £258 at a trans specialist). Pete

I thought that my 99 model had them as it has what looks like sensors on the rear bumper, but it appears not (seller listed this as being fitted). Unless of course there is a switch to turn them on that I have not found yet. I'm not particularly bothered, as I've had them on hire cars in the US before and found them annoying. Pete

You should have kept pestering them until they sorted things out. If you leave it till they call, you could be waiting forever. Get on the phone now - speak to the manager and kick up a fuss. Tell them that their reply to the problem is waited with interest on the Lexus forum. At the very least you should get your money back. Keep us posted. Pete

After getting my Timing belt changed just before Christmas, the garage topped up the trans fluid with compatible fluid (had rad out), so today I had a local auto trans specialist service the box as I wanted the correct Toyota fluid in it. They removed sump and changed filter, then flushed out the old fluid using 10 litres of Toyota T4. They said the old fluid was in reasonable condition, and no sludge/dirt to speak of in the transmission (124,000 miles). Cost - £258 - a bit of a shock I must say, but fluid and filter alone was £125 +vat. Still, it gives me peace of mind for the future wellbeing of the car - next task is an upper rear control arm - then car should be as it needs to be. Pete