Being ever the pessimist I am hoping that I can get some re-assurance from some of the more experienced people on here as I have been reading up on problems and potential problems that could arise with my 400 which I have had for 3 months now and which I bought and believe it was a good deal.
Condition - excellent apart from a couple of minor scuffs.
1998/S
Mileage - 189000
Background - 17 services stamped up. Cambelt changed at about 130,000m in 2008. I've had the osf wheel bearing done (official Lexus part) and also had the oil changed as well as the front brakes and discs back in September when I bought it. My worries are:
Timing belt - when should I look at doing it again?
Water pump - can't find any record of this being replaced yet. I spoke to the garage who serviced this vehicle every few months - the garage owner knew it well. It spent most of its life on the motorway. However, he was pretty sure that they never changed the water pump on it. Should I think about doing the recommended combination of timing belt/water pump or wait until the pump fails?
Dash display - All is working fine but it looks like it could be a bit of a job fixing it if/when it goes. Since reading up on dash problems I have now dimmed the display to hopefully give it some longer life. Or am I worrying unnecessarily and should I leave it at normal (maximum) brightness?
MOT advisories
2007 at about 103000m - NSF suspension arm - slight play in ball joint
2008 at about 138000 brake pipe slightly corroded at rear
2008 at about 162000 nsf and osf suspension arm rubber mounting deteriorated but no excessive movement.
Should I wait until I start getting strange sounds? At the moment the car drives pretty much perfectly - it starts up within a couple of spins of the starter, it warms up quickly, there are no leaks, it tracks straight on the motorway, the brakes are strong - it will idle smoothly all day long if left running.
Quick question also - what is the purpose of the 'second' set of lights next to the fog lights? Are they supposed to come on because mine don't?
Also my headlamp washer doesn't work. No noise, maybe the motor has burnt out.
My remote control seems to be failing every now and then. The red light sometimes takes half a dozen presses to come on but does eventually work. Changing the battery for a new one doesn't help the problem - dealer reckons if a new battery doesn't solve it he may need to get a new key programmed at a cost of around £150.
Control arms - what are the symptoms of failing control arms and should I get them done anyway? How much should I pay?
I really like the car and am keen to keep it. Would you be comfortable given the above mileage and other info?
cheers