thatfatbloke

Now I can see through the tears,I see the emissions weren't far off. Max limit is 1.030 - actual value 1.129 on second test,1.132 on first. Injector cleaner and a good blat down the by-pass as Mybikesacx500 says?. Plus the other bits if I can source used springs,it may not be as bad as I first thought.

Now the advisories - front exhaust has minor leak of gases,one tyre close to limit,both front brake hoses slightly deteriorated,poss dodgy front number plate.

Just took my beloved LS for MOT. Dismal fail - big time!!. All four coil springs broken,emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits,offside rear (feed) brake pipe excessively corroded,nearside and offside rear parking brake recording little or no effort,parking brake efficiency below requirements,front brakes imbalanced. Also five advisories which I won't bother you with.

How could there be that much wrong with it and it still be a beautiful thing to drive?. Surely with all four coil springs broken,wouldn't it handle like a sack of s**t?. It would cost a fortune to repair her and it's too dangerous to use,so I'll have to weigh her in tomorrow.

I only had her eight months - but what a beautiful eight months that was.

Typical!!. I'm down here in sunny Eastbourne,East Sussex. Couldn't be much further away.This is the same problem I had with the Merc. guys. The meets tended to be in the wilds of the far north or the far west. Us old carrot crunchers in the south east got left out. Will keep my eyes peeled for further posts.

Does this forum ever have official 'meets'?. When I had a Mercedes the owners club were always meeting up somewhere or another. I must admit I never went to any as they were always too far away or I had work commitments. Just never seen any meets mentioned on the forum.

I've had to replace a brake light bulb!!. This mindless expense can't carry on,the wife says. This has happened after only six months of ownership of my £500 200,000 miles LS400. If another bulb goes that'll be it - it'll be the crusher for her. I LOVE MY LEXUS.

Ford Consul (old shape - MK1?)

1971 Mini van

1965 Triumph 2000 Mk1

1974 Toyota Crown Custom Estate

Rover P5 3.0

1968 Ford Cortina Mk11 1300

1975 Chrysler 180

1965 Wolseley 6/110 Mk11

Triumph 2000 (banger racing)

Triumph 2500 Estate (banger racing)

Moskovitch (banger racing)

Triumph 1300 (banger racing)

Volvo 164E (banger racing)

1973 Daimler Double Six V12

1977 Ford Capri 1600

Ford Granada Ghia 3.0 Mk1

Vauxhall Viva HB

Triumph 2000 Mk11

1971 VW Camper

Bedford CF recovery truck

Ford Escort Mk1 (grass tracker)

Ford Escort Mk1 (grass tracker)

Mini 1000 (grass tracker)

Renault 16 TX

1976 VW Camper

1973 Bedford CF Camper MK 1 Autohome

1977 Rover SD1 3.5

1975 Fiat 128

Volvo 245

Mazda B1800 pick up

Bedford coach (motorhome project)

1977 Ford Capri 3.0S

Volvo 164E

Vauxhall Chevette estate

1973 Rover P6 3.5

Triumph Herald

Renault 20

Mazda 626 Montrose

Ford Granada MK11 2.8 Ghia

1989 Hyundai Stellar (don't laugh)

1980 Bedford CF Advantura Motorhome(many happy memories)

1993 Saab 9000 CSE(written off by a Fiesta!!)

1993 Isuzu Trooper 3.1TD

1993 Vauxhall Frontera 2.3TD

1995 Nissan Primera 2.0 SRi(great car,well built)

1993 Saab 9000 Aero (went like s**t off a shovel)

2004 Peugeot Motorhome

Citroen BX St. Tropez(what was I thinking)

Citroen BX St. Tropez(yes I bought two of them)

1988 Mercedes 300TE (went round the Nurburgring in this)

Range Rover 3.5

Mercedes 230TE

Volvo 740

Volvo 740 estate

1993 Rover 620 GSi(wish I had kept it as a second car)

1988 Mercedes 300SE (owned twice) B)

1990 Mercedes 190E 2.0

1995 Lexus LS400(what car can top this!!.) ^_^

Not taken the LS round,but did take my old Merc 300te estate round a few years back. Probably the slowest laps in history but great fun!!. Still had the shopping from Lidl at Adenau in the back and didn't even break an egg!!. One day we will return.

Have spent the weekend on the bonnet with the t-cut,and I must admit it has come up nicely. All the faded paint has come back to life. I guess I was too scared to rub too hard before in case I took all the paint off!!. Thanks for the replies.

Hi - forgive me for being a bit fick,but I don't seem able to upload more than one picture to my photo album. The original pictures were large file sizes so I 'shrank' them to 50/60kb each. Still no luck - keep getting message saying I can't upload any more pictures to this folder. Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this,but I couldn't find anywhere else.

Hi - have polished and waxed my old girl,she shines nicely now but the paintwork on the bonnet is letting the side down. I tried to t-cut it a while ago to no avail. There is a flat section in the middle about 'engine size' caused I am told by the engine heat. Does anybody know of a product that will bring it back to life please?. I dread to think what the cost of a bonnet respray would be. By the way she managed a 700 mile round trip a few weeks ago and didn't miss a beat!!. Not bad for a £500 car. Also got 30 mpg when on motorway. I LOVE MY LEXUS!!.

Spooky - exactly the same thing happened to me not long after I got my LS in February. 'Orrible noise it was!!. As I took the wheel off the dust shield fell off completely. Have never got round to replacing it as advice given on here was of the 'non urgent' tone. Will do it one day when my new hip allows me to get down there.

Glad that nobody was hurt. A few years ago my Saab 9000 was written off,by a Fiesta would you believe!!. The guy had no insurance and was over the limit. The first offer I got from the insurance company was laughable and would hardly have paid for a tank of petrol. However I had the use of another car at the time so could hang out for a decent offer. After two months of haggling I finally got what I wanted. Then a while later I got a cheque in the post for £250 - my excess back. That was a nice surprise. My insurance company took the bloke to court for recompense,where the book was thrown at him. So if you are able,don't accept the first offer as nine times out of ten they will be relying on you to be desperate to get back on the road as quick as possible.

Sorry I can't be much help with your problem. When I bought my '95 MK111 it too had only one key. I went to my local locksmith and he cut me another one (a Toyota blank) for a fiver,which works fine in the doors and ignition,but doesn't fit the boot (not a problem to me). I would think that your's being a later model it probably has a transponder in it whereas mine didn't. Suggest you try this link from a Dublin company.

http://www.crothers.ie/lexus-keys.html

I don't know what I'm gonna do. Going in for a hip operation on Friday,which means no driving for six whole weeks. I suppose I'll have to get the good lady to chauffer me around in that time. The rest of the time I'll have to sit in her on the driveway and make 'brum brum' sounds a bit like Toad in Wind in the Willows. If I were to start her up I might be tempted to go for 'just a little spin' so the wife will have to unlock her and take the keys away. Six weeks......

I don't suppose you have the o/s/f/ brake back plate do you?. Thanks.

I know they didn't build any,but that would have been the perfect car for me. I will NOT let my dogs in my 400,they have to travel in the wife's Citroen Synergie!!. I suppose it would be possible to build one,perhaps from a saloon that has had a rear end shunt. Would it be insurable?. Perhaps if someone has Photoshop and has five minutes,it would be interesting to see what one would look like - I can't really envisage one.

Thanks Ruud for the reply by the way.

I had a spare ten minutes so popped down to my local locksmith,and he cut one from a Toyota blank. Ten pounds changed hands and I came away a happy bunny. Works fine in all locks - result.

Hi,my 1995 LS400 came with just one key,and sods law says that when you only have one key you will lose it!!. It is the type that has no buttons on it as there is a separate remote 'blipper' that operates the central locking and I assume the immobiliser. The key seems to work in all the locks,does this make it the 'master' key?. Question is can I go to any old key cutter to get a copy or do I have to go to a Lexus dealer for one - the nearest one being thirty miles away. Recently heard a story of a Fiat dealer charging £600 for a key 'cos it had a transponder or something in it!!. Does my key have something in it to make the steering wheel do it's party trick when I put the key in the ignition or is that just a simple case of the key completing a circuit?. Thanks.

Hi - the o/s/f brake backplate has fallen off completely and now resides in the boot. Is it reasonably safe to carry on driving the car without it until I can source a new one?. This was the cause of the rattle that has been on the car since I purchased it five weeks ago. Been too busy to find out the cause 'til now. Car is now as quiet as a church mouse - all I can hear now is that wonderful V8 'growl'. Beautiful. Thanks.

Thanks for replies. Unfortunately mine doesn't have the fuel computer,you only get to see total mileage and trip mileage. I try not to let it get to the 'red light' but we all get caught out sometimes. Why is it that the bottom half of the tank always seems to empty quicker than the top half !!.

Hi - does anybody know how much fuel is left in the tank when low fuel light comes on please?. It doesn't seem to be mentioned in the handbook. Thanks.

Would anybody have any idea what pressures I should keep my tyres at please. I have 245/45/18 Goodyear tyres fitted to my 1995 LS400. They were on the car when I purchased it a month ago. Thanks in advance.

Hi - me again. Well I picked up the £500 black LS400 with the 'aftermarket' wheels we discussed yesterday. Seems fine to me. Of course I have nothing to compare it to as I have never driven one before. Everything seems to work except the radio backlight. She certainly doesn't hang around when you bury the right foot but is still a lovely thing to drive at 'legal' speeds. So smooth and effortless. A stonking audio system. For years I have regarded older(up to 1995)Merc's as the dogs doodah's,but this car has made me think again. In short it has and does everything I want a car to do. The wheels by the way are 18" TSW's with 245x45 Goodyear rubber on and will be at the top of the list to deal with. A good rub down and a can of matt black paint will suffice for now. Happy days.

If it is as desribed then you've a bargain there. Wheels aren't to my taste eoither, but as they need a refurb I'd personally be tempted just to spray them matt black until I could find the wheels I liked. But them you may like these so why listen to me? And if the rattle is still there, get it up on the ramp to see what it is-if it's the heat shield rip it off or secure it with some self tappers.

My 1996 model has done over 225k miles and runs perfectly-the only fault with mine being the radio backight doesn't work

Thanks for all your replies. Ruud - you had me worried there for a minute!!. As for the wheels,I agree they will look a lot better if sprayed black. If there are no mechanical issues to sort out then they are on the top of my list. This will be the 59th car I've owned and the first Lexus. The last Toyota was a Crown Custom Estate back in the early eighties,an old 'M' registered 1974 model I believe. That was a decent car in it's day. Thanks again and I am really impressed with the speed of answers and the friendliness on this forum. Will let you know the outcome tomorrow. Cheers.