haggettd

Yes, I think fitting the towbar is the easy bit, what took the time was the disassembly and re-assembly of interior parts to route the 12S and 12N harnesses correctly through the car!

Mine fitted at Lexus dealer over Friday, sat and mon. Took the fitter 16 hours against a Lexus book time of 3. I only paid for 3. I was given the fitting instructions which I read through. One book for the 12S loom. One for the12N and one for the tow bar itself. I am amazed anyone could think it could be done in 3 hours, least of all Lexus. Lots of disassembly of trim to get the wiring through to the front end. Bar is manufactured by Thule. A bit disappointed that the plugs are all on show but I guess packaging is a bit tight Definitely not a DIY proposition as far as I can see!

Still waiting for the return of my car complete with tow bar! It's basically done along with the intermediate service however, final checks have revealed that the rear air con is no longer working! Something has been disturbed/broken during removal/replacement of the rear Seats. I'm glad it's a main dealer doing the work instead of an independent who may try to suggest that it wasn't working anyway. I imagine these things might be checked prior to work starting so they know what was/wasn't working anyway. To be honest, I hadn't checked the aircon myself and maybe would not have noticed for some time. I can't see me travelling in the back - I enjoy driving it so much. I hope it's fixed tomorrow and does not turn into a bit of a saga. I'll report back!

That's not bad John. 20 mpg - I'll buy that! Bar should have been fitted fri/ sat plus service. Unfortunately the key malfunctioned for some connected or unconnected reason so that held them up until I could get my spare to them. Because it malfunctioned at the dealer, they have offered to order a brand new key at their expense - which is very good of them. One nice thing about using the Lexus dealer is that you get to try other Lexus models as loan cars. I got an IS250 sport 6 speed auto. A fun, solid drive, hugely comfy seats, taut handling but a very firm ride indeed! Looking forward to getting the LS430 back. John, I guess yours is a 5 speeder so 4th gear is for towing. I'll have to see whether they recommend 4th or 5th on my 6 speeder. Is a gearbox oil cooler an effective and worthwhile mod? Is it a Lexus option or aftermarket? My van is only 1200kg so maybe not necessary.

Funny that, Lexus Sheffield quoted me £760 but only if I bought the LS430 I went there to look at! £760 is supposedly the 'cost price'. I did not buy my Lexus from them so am paying full price!

Hi bookend, who's the dealer that quoted £600? cheers, Dave

Correction! I thought I'd better double check with the dealer that when I said I wanted the single electric plug that he understood that I meant the 13 pin single euro electrics. No, I'm afraid that that harness is not available due to the age of the car, so, I need an additional harness to provide the caravan electrics. Unfortunately, this involves removal of the rear seats, and an additional hours labour as well as the harness, so, all in it will be about a round thousand pounds! Good job I called to check. Luckily I've still got the 13pin to 7N 7S adaptor harness I previously bought.

Hi Tc I don't have the Towbar fitted yet, it's booked in on the 9th. I can't find any manufacturers that cover the LS430 so I've had to plump for the Lexus factory fit including 13pin electrics. Cost is quoted at £818 all in (2 hours labour) Expensive enough but not outrageous.

The LS430 is not your average caravan towcar is it now, but it will be mine for the forseeable having just swapped my Octavia diesel for one! I wondered if anyone has towed a 'van with one and if so, how did it go? I expect no problems pulling my 1200kg van along but have been wondering about mpg!!! I think or hope it will manage 15mpg against my usual 30mpg motorway mpg. Anybody got any towing mpg figures? Cheers

Thanks for all your helpful tips and comments. I am now a proud Lexus owner! I first viewed a dealer car at Sheffield Lexus - 75k miles, full history £9350. Scruffy bumpers (scratched and scuffed). Drove nicely but dealer would not tidy up the bumpers nor haggle on price. Thanks mikeyv for your tip; I tried the steering wheel adjustment and.....kaput. A common fault indeed then! Off I went to Lincoln and saw what looked like a showroom fresh, beautifully prepared jet black LS with cream leather. Close inspection revealed few flaws; the only thing being a bit of bubbling paintwork under the front waist brightware - under the mirror. The size of a thumbnail. Worst case is I have to call on Lexus' 12 year perforation warranty! Drove beautifully. History looked incomplete - book not fully stamped up but paperwork showed a good history with full Lexus to 40k then two independents. Due an interim service which will be done this Friday + Diff oil change at a very reasonable £180 all in. Column adjustment worked as it should, in fact everything did except for nearside front park sensor which vendor told me about. He'd ordered a replacement which I received last night - an easy fit too! Deal done, lovely drive home. Checked with Lexus Glasgow who confirmed history and also informed me that they'd just (1 month ago) replaced all brake discs and pads, plus a nearside front caliper and an (or the only) oxygen sensor. That's a result I'd say. I will send my service book to them to get it properly stamped up. Drove the 72miles to work and recorded 29.9mpg for the whole journey, including 50 miles of M6 at 70mph and town work either side of that. Amazing. Hard to believe - all that for £7995. Will look out for 17" wheels over the next 6months so I can get prepared with winter tyres. Thanks all

PS, the dealer hasn't had time to advertise and photograph the car yet so I can't forward a link unfortunately. I'm relying on his description and hoping it lives up to it. He's ok for me to have an unaccompanied test drive for an hour or so. That will enable me to have a good fiddle about without having someone look over my shoulder and temper my investigations. I'm sure I will initially be a bit mesmerised by the huge step up in quality, refinement, equipment and power compared to my current Octavia. Must keep my sensible head on!

Hi Steve, thanks for your reply. I look forward to getting lots of info from this forum and can hopefully contribute useful stuff too! Yes, the Air sus is probably the biggest concern. Sounds potentially expensive to put right depending on whats gone wrong and seems like something that will go wrong at some stage too! Nothing lasts forever though. So, If I take along a tape measure, find some flat ground and measure wheelarch to ground that will be a good guide. There will be some variation but I wouldn't know what is acceptable variance. (Up to plus/minus 5mm reasonable?) How does the headlight auto levelling work and how could I check it? Will the car be self levelling? I intend to tow a smallish caravan and this will be a boon I'm sure - as will having 280hp or so! Just wondered if it's possible to get and fit 17" wheels so I can fit snow tyres when the time is right. 18" Snow tyres are very expensive! Thoughts appreciated. Cheers, Dave.

Hi all, have decided to get myself a Lexus after years and years of new or nearly new 'ordinary cars. I'm fed up losing £3000 a year in depreciation and the increasing complexity of diesel engines and the emissions controlling rubbish that has to be strapped to them. (DPFs etc). I figure that a well cared for 8 year old LS430 will fit the bill and won't cost any more to run than my 60plate diesel Octavia (Which has lost £3000 in ten months!). Am looking at one on Friday that sounds good. 04 plate LS430 in Black metallic with cream trim. All the extras. 70k miles. Lexus history to 50k miles then a couple of independent services. has had new discs and pads at 65,000. described as very straight and clean one owner vehicle and is for sale by a dealer who buys carefully, preps very well and sells for a small profit. He's a one man band and specialises in Lexus. Seems like a very good and knowledgeable bloke and very helpful. I'm treating it as a private sale warranty wise however he does offer a 'top to bottom parts and labour warranty' of one month which he underwrites himself - sounds reasonable. He's been selling Lexus for years and has only had to replace one reversing camera under his warranty (£600). Whilst a full Lexus stamped history may be preferable, I am confident that non franchised services can be carried out effectively so am not worried about that. Should I be? I will be checking for accident damage, shut gaps, fit and finish. Wobbles creaks and groans however, coming from a diesel Octavia I'm sure a noisy wobbly Lexus would still impress!! Are there other checks I should be making on the engine, gearbox, electrics and suspension etc? I hope it's a good 'un. Thanks in advance. Dave