Scribe

At least the green one has paperwork with it, including cam belt history. So there'll be more information to base a decision on, one way or the other. And if it's a basically sound car, the price is reasonable. Malc is right: a car may not be mint but you can tell whether it has been routinely maintained, whereas some shows signs of having been neglected.

I think the green one has the same colour combo as mine. It wasn't my first choice but I figured that condition/maintenance was more important. Besides, it has grown on me, and it seems to suit the character of the car well: sedate, dignified, discreet. Yes, the boot is surprisingly small for such a big car. The 430's is bigger. Re the silver one: no proof of cambelt change would worry me because it's an expensive job if it needs doing (along with water pump, pulleys etc.) Where's the exhaust blowing? That might not be a big job to fix. The cars were supplied with (I think) two remote keys and one valet key (no remote). The silver one appears to have the DHP handling pack - bigger wheels with low-profile tyres and slightly lower suspension - which may or may not make it handle better than the original set-up. It's what you're used to, I suppose. If it were me, I think I'd hold out for a better one, or at least one with more recent history. The problem is that these are now old, cheap cars which some owners don't think are worth spending much on. Hence the scratch wasn't repaired, even cheaply. And I wouldn't sell a car without washing it! Re your last point: I bought mine for less than I was willing to pay for one because I figured it wouldn't matter so much if it got the occasional mark or scratch. But as time has gone on, it's become clear how difficult it would be to replace, and I'm now nervous about leaving it in supermarket car parks! These cars get under your skin, in a way...

I hope this won't be construed as advertising, because it's not me who's selling. Anyway, there's a 1991 Mk.1 in Brighton that needs a home, otherwise the engine will be put into something else and the car scrapped. It's mechanically sound - low mileage, runs well and has a new MOT - but needs tidying. I'm tempted to have it myself as a project, but I haven't got room. Please message me if you want any further info.

There never were many for sale, and now it's harder than ever to find more than one to choose from. Be prepared to travel to look for a decent one!

Shirish, I've never driven an Audi but I imagine the Lexus will feel soft and wafty in comparison. There's not much steering feel, for example. It's not a sporty car - sedate is about the right word, except when you put your foot down hard!

Hi Shirish. My LS will be 19 in a week's time but still looks and runs great. I do 2-3,000 miles a year (the car is now up to 156,000) and insure it on a classic car policy (no NCB) which is cheaper than any 'normal' policy I could find. It's my long-distance car - superb on long runs, and quite economical too - but it needs to be used fortnightly or weekly (at this time of year) to keep the battery charged. My biggest expenses have been a cambelt plus water pump and pulleys, and also the starter motor contacts. These wear out and, although very cheap to buy, require the dismantling of half the engine - so not a cheap job. There's a bit of play in my front suspension but it's gone through six MOTs with that. I'd recommend finding a good local indie mechanic, unless you intend to maintain the car yourself. If I were looking for one, the silver one would be first on my list. These are now very old cars, so you must expect some things to be not perfect, but maintenance is the most important thing.

Yes, welcome Jonny. Your car looks great. As you may have gathered from other threads on here, electrical issues aren't uncommon but often have very simple causes, e.g. weak batteries. In my case it's caused by not using the car much, and is worse at this time of year than in summer. But it sounds like you won't have that problem once the current issue's sorted. Mine is the best long-distance car I've ever had, and I usually get 30+ mpg on a long run.

My VSC warning lights came on last night. The car hadn't been used for a week, and from the sound of the starter motor I could tell that the battery was going flat. Nevertheless it started up okay, but then the lights came on. After a 15-mile drive, during which everything worked normally, the car started up again fine - the steering wheel zipped out as quickly as usual and the VSC didn't come on. I guess I'll have to use the car for work this week, at least some days.

That's certainly what I said...

I sometimes think there's a fault with my car when really it's a built-in feature that I don't understand. Mind you, I once turned the valet key the wrong way in the door, and all 4 windows and the sunroof opened - and I have no idea whether that's supposed to happen.

Re Steve's reply: when my battery was on the way out, the electrics went haywire even though the car started okay. So it's worth checking that first. I'm trying to use the car every week at this time of year, just to keep the battery charged up.

Yes, that's the idea!

Just dropping someone off at Brighton station when another car pulled up and the driver called out, 'Excuse me, mate, are you thinking about selling your car?' I told him that I'm planning to be buried in it.

I think it's partly because an LS is much harder to replace than a Vectra! I'm sort of resigned to not being able to replace mine if anything happens to it (except with a 430). Meanwhile it runs as well as it did when I bought it six years ago, and I could probably still get what I paid for it. Does anyone else on here wonder how much someone would have to offer them to part with their LS?

If you run an old car you eventually reach the point where repairs cost more than the car's worth. Along the way you've probably decided not to repair or replace some non-essential things, e.g. body damage, because this doesn't affect the car's value much. But to me (someone who runs four old cars) this isn't necessarily the end of their life. If they're still running reasonably well you need to factor in depreciation (lack of) as well as how much you'd have to spend to buy something obviously better. Honest John this week publishes a letter about a 2010, 45,000 mile Mercedes C180 that needs a new timing chain and tensioners - at £3,000. So even an expensive (to me) newer car can need a lot of money spending on it - while still depreciating. Having said all this, I might think differently if my Lexus was an everyday car. And if I didn't have a good local indie mechanic to rely on.

I had a red-face moment when test driving my second Xantia. While checking that the suspension worked, I found that the lever easily got stuck in the 'low' position. It took about ten minutes to work out how to release it, after which I very rarely lowered the car - at least, not without keeping hold of the lever.

My AA guy said, 'I don't get called out to many of these.' I wanted to reply, 'I hope you don't get called out to any of them.' But yes, I did close the boot again very quickly so he wouldn't see the body.

Thanks. Will have a look, or ask my mechanic to. Apart from that and the key issue, it was 450 miles of effortless travel and of course the car didn't miss a beat. Averaged 34 mpg, too.

I could have a go myself now, if I were so inclined. It looks easy enough!

Steve/Hugh, my heater seems to reach temperature when expected but doesn't sustain it for long. Turning the temperature up doesn't seem to do much, and you have to wait for it drop quite a bit before the heat returns. Could this be a valve issue, or a thermostat? (The engine temperature gauge is where it should be.) Should I try what Hugh's done with the cable?

But it wasn't the car's fault. Good news: if you, too, are stupid enough to lock your car keys in the boot, the AA can break in and unlock it. And if you're in East Suffolk you may get Colin, the efficient, friendly and good-humoured patrolman who can do it in five minutes.

John, I can give you details of the guy who sprayed the back of my Lexus and is going to fix the wing on my Honda. He's in central Brighton, near Preston Park, if you're interested.

I was looking for some wings like that for mine. Pity they're not green.

I had this as an advisory two or three years ago. My mechanic, who wasn't at that time an MOT tester but knows the car well, told me not to worry. He thought there was probably a new tester at the MOT station who wanted to impress. Sure enough, the following year the car sailed through the test without any work having been done.

Every car I've ever owned has seemed to drive better on some journeys than others, and I've often wondered why.