The-Acre

The compressors used on our LS400s are widely regarded as one of the most reliable and durable units available. Have you had your air con serviced recently? A proper service should include a full evacuation of the system, checking it can hold a vacuum and then refilling with the correct weight of gas and oil of the correct viscosity. If its noisy now then it may be past the point it can be saved, it would cost you £50 for a service to potentially find that it hasn't helped. If you decide to replace I would be confident in buying a second hand one, as long as i knew it hadn't been sitting around for months off the car, or sitting on a car with the AC not working. I did have it serviced with a vacuum test just 4 weeks ago (at Halfords) I'm just hoping they haven't messed something up!

A couple of weeks ago I thought I noticed a very slight bearing sound from the front of the engine, yesterday is seemed quite a bit louder, and after popping the bonnet it was very noticeable. I thought at first it was the water pump, but when I switched off the air con it went, so it's obviously the compressor. I suppose the question is, can the compressor be repaired? It still works and blows cold. I've had one or two strange issues with the air con lately so it may or may not be related. What's the best thing to do or try would you knowledgeable people suggest? Thanks Phil

All I can say is you must have the patience of a saint, obviously a metaphorical saint as you say you're not religious! :D

Well done Andy, a good result!

Hi Chan, welcome to LOC. You certainly won't regret going from a Saab to an LS400! As is often said, patience is the key to finding a good one. If you have a budget of £2,000 you shouldn't have much trouble finding one. I certainly wouldn't even consider one with only a months MOT. As for fuel economy, I really don't find mine that bad. One of the ads you've mentioned says they cost £60,000 when new, which is not true, certainly not in 1996, so that suggests they don't know as much as they should. Good luck with your search, some gems do come along. Phil

As above, and don't delay. Get him off the road before there's a funeral and a family destroyed, I really have no time for people driving without insurance, worse still driving drunk.

I still wouldn't let it go. Ask for a copy of the report and take it to the top,

Very common for the balance weight to rub slightly. I had it on mine.

Nice colour, looks from the photo a like scrape on the back bumper. I would take a look asap as at that price it may go quickly. I would make sure the cam belt has been done.

Yes, I noticed the new horns. Sometimes you get a feel about an ad, and this one does look good.

Certainly looks genuine, and a nice colour.

I think you'll find Mike that the whole country is going down hill whichever way you go!

Unbelievable! I don't think I would be willing to leave it there, Lexus are known for their excellent customer service, so I would be taking this further. I get fed up with being taking for a ride like this. I think the gesture of goodwill to waive the VAT amounts to an insult after the way you've been treated. Don't let it go. And welcome to LOC!

41.4? My wife's little Corsa doesn't mange that! You don't live on a never ending down hill do you?

Excellent MPG for such a big car. And great news on the MOT and the self repairing bearing!

My main concern would be the statement "a few electrical problems" he's mentioned two, but I'm not sure two constitutes a few, so I wonder what the others are? Looks OK though from the pictures.

Still, at least it wasn't anything major, most of us won't have that problem here with our 70mph speed limit. And hopefully it didn't cause any more damage?

After owning a MK2 for 5 years, as great as it was, after now owning a MK4 I would never go back. A much nicer car all round, but just my opinion. Phil

Well that's what got me started on the LS, I knew nothing about them, didn't even know who made them, I just liked the look. I've always liked the look of American cars anyway, and the LS400 always looked a bit American to me. I also spent a fair amount of time in Canada visiting my sister for weeks at a time, loving many of the cars there. One time driving a Toyota Camry from Vancouver to Calgary with absolutely no traffic hold up in 700 miles. definitely happy days!

This is what mine would have looked like restored fully.....time to dream again!

HI my advice is do a bit of reading up on these forums (or post for advice) before committing to a repair also find yourself a nice trusty local mechanic to work on your lexus rather than going to the main dealer - changing the starter motor is certainly a time consuming backbraking job but it can be done cheaper I agree, I had mine repaired for a total of £350, that was mostly labour. The LPG system it seems will always be an issue when it comes to dismantling the top of the engine. It's got to be worth keeping after having that much work done surely? Just bad luck I guess. Phil

I don't know if that's possible or not, what I do know is that after reading a recent post about changing bulbs for LED's causing major problems, I would be very wary about even considering adding anything on to what is already a very, very complex electrical system, especially on the LS430. I may be wrong of course. Phil

You had an Oldsmobile Toronado, bigjap. .... What a beast of a car,( sorry to hijack this thread,folks) It was the first car that I bought when I moved to Canada,In the mid-70's, damn near 7 litres,front -wheel drive, drum- brakes all round,this car took some stopping,as the brakes were prone to fading,for obvious reasons,my Canadian Relatives,warned me,( I arrived there in early May) that come winter,I could have traction problems,-I lived in Toronto then,not known for its mild Winters, but, having had experience on British roads, owning front-wheel drive cars, driving that beast around was a doddle, yessiree! Gasoline then,was an wallet-pleasing 36cents a gallon,happy days! Well I'm hijacking to too. Back in the early 70's when I lived in London, an American neighbour moved away. For 2 years his light metallic blue Chevrolet Chevelle (like the SS Malibu) sat in the road until I was given the go-ahead to buy it for £150! 35K on the clock AND it was right hand drive. Petrol then was cheap, and how I wish I had that car today! Phil

Now when I said it wouldn't be my first choice colour wise it looked a brownish rust colour on my monitor, having looked again and reading what you've said about yours I got that wrong! I've seen a picture of yours and it's actually a colour that I think would look good made today.

Looks excellent. Wouldn't be my first choice colour wise though.