Titch LS

Should've gone to Specsavers.

Must try this turning onto my driveway. Only kidding.

Any photo's? Might make it a bit easier to advise on.

Can't say that I've ever had an issue using the sunroof, not from leaves or debris anyway. The tilting action is really handy for a bit of draught free ventilation.

Personally, I won't fork out for winter tyres as there is not a long enough period of really cold weather in my area to justify the cost. I'm sticking to all season tyres like I always have done. I'm in the happy position of not having to make that journey into work any more in snowy/icy conditions, i.e. newly retired. Bliss.

I know where they've gone......out of fashion. Probably as a way of keeping down manufacturing costs by not offering a sun roof. I occasionally use mine when it's sunny and I'm driving slowly around town or through my village. I love it. Having the choice of sunroof AND air conditioning (climate control) is typical of these cars. My old Rover Sterling had the same. To keep it working o.k. I've sprayed the sliding "works" with some grease lubricant.

Stuart, no need to turn the vent off yet, as it's not there just as a cooling vent for the summer. In the winter, (or now) you can turn up the heating and then set the 'climate' screen to blow warm air downwards to feet. Doing this will also blow nice warm air through that vent to your knees as well, if you direct it carefully. Have fun.

You've done a brilliant job there mate, well done. Looks really great.

Yes, check the coolant level first of all. If you do drain the system at any time, there is a old fashioned screw-type drain plug on the bottom of the radiator. Saves having to fiddle taking off the bottom hose as on other cars. Also, when replenishing the coolant, use Toyota long- life Pink coolant (which comes already mixed 50/50) or, Toyota Red which you will have to mix yourself 50/50 with distilled water. They are compatible. Refill via the hex plug at the top front of the engine. When nearly full, finish topping off at the plastic coolant reservoir. Filling it the proper way saves loads of time trying to 'burp' the system of air. It could be that you have an air lock in the system which is causing your current low heat problem.

He only asked to have it valeted.

A bit down on power; says it only has 126 BHP!! (In actuality, I think that figure should be doubled). Nice car though. Looking at that price, I reckon my mk4 is worth more than I paid for it 4 years ago :-)

I recently picked up my son and daughter-in-law from Heathrow airport and neither of them had ever been in my LS before. As we set off, (admittedly, only driving slowly) my son exclaimed " Wow, you can't hear this car". I simply replied "It's a Lexus".

Lexus specify Toyota type IV from new, so why would anyone want to put Dexron in their car if it's not designed for it? Also, If you don't want to change your gearbox oil, then don't, it's your gearbox. I would though, and change mine every 35,000 miles or so. I believe that no oil can last forever without losing some of its effectiveness in an environment of considerable heat and pressure. It's just not logical to think it could. Eventually, even if the autobox doesn't actually fail (as in modern BMW's) not changing the ATF will cause poor or missed shifting due to sticking solenoids.

Gavin, another quick thought in addition to my above post; if you do change the gearbox oil ONLY use Toyota type IV or exact equivalent ie Mobil J3309. Do not let a dealer/mechanic put in Dexron of any sort. Hope this helps.

Gavin, replacing the gearbox fluid can only be a good thing. As Pete said, no autobox oil lasts for life despite all the hype from the car manufacturers. If never changed, all that will happen is that the gearbox will eventually fail prematurely and then your local Lexus dealer will say to you "thankyou very much, that will be £3,000 pounds please". (This happened to a friend's BMW). As regards the diff, if it's only weeping and not actually dripping down on to the floor,-- don't worry about it, nearly all diffs do this for years between differential oil changes.

Stuart, if this is 'another' Lexus quality dive, what was the original one?

The owner of this early LS must be a very very careful driver. I can only dream of getting 37mpg from mine. I reckon 27mpg good from a 4litre V8.

The "Gentlemen's area" vent halfway down the steering column can also be adjusted via the heater to warm up your nether regions in the winter too. It's brilliant when it's minus five outside. You can open/close it and also alter the airflow direction.

But are they trying as hard today as they used to? In today's cut throat market, with rapid model development, I can't help but have my suspicions that the answer is 'no'.

Nothing is perfect in this life I know, but I've often wondered why Lexus changed its advertising slogan from 'The Pursuit of Perfection' to 'Amazing in Motion'. Is it just to sound more up-to-date do you think, or, because once established as a global company they could then surreptitiously cut corners a bit here and a bit there in order to keep up with the big (German) boys? The brand has certainly expanded its range considerably since its LS400 days, but are their cars as well built now as they were then? The development of the LS400 was probably without parallel in motoring history. So, it begs the question-- as a car builder, has Lexus ended its pursuit of perfection? Will my next Lexus be as good as my mk4 has turned out to be? (That's is supposing I sell it, which I doubt!) Food for thought.

Simon, I agree with you regarding the ancilliaries, but compared to other vehicles I've previously owned, my LS has outlasted them all and had less problems/failures than any of them. I'm still very happy with my LS, but realise that the older it gets the more likely it will be that some repairs will be necessary in the future. After nearly 16 years the only other ancilliary not working is the front cigarette lighter. Not bad I think.

I think the number of posts and there being a tutorial somewhere as well, shows how common this fault is. Sorry Chris,-- my solution was the lazy one, fiddling with the float is no guarantee of success and I'm not prepared to buy a new one either because I regularly top up my washer bottle fluid and don't need the light to remind me.

Finally, after nearly 4 years of ownership, I've managed to extinguish the constantly lit "low washer bottle level" warning light on the dash! This is a common problem brought on by the float switch sticking. I decided I could live without having to buy a new replacement float and couldn't be bothered to repair the old one, so there was only one thing for it,---I just unplugged the wires leading to the switch. Getting to it is a bit of a faff, but it's so nice now to drive around with no warning lights coming on. In the past, I've had cars with dashboards lit up like Blackpool Illuminations, especially Vauxhalls.

Fred, I use an impact screwdriver to undo those disc retaining screws. Works every time, even if they are on really tight. As regards to discs/pads, I've had a nasty (high speed) judder on my LS400 too in the past, it seems a very common problem on these motors. IIRC I replaced mine with Blueprint discs and Mintex pads. Everything was great for quite a long time but now after 35K the high speed judder is coming back, but not so bad as before. At slower speeds the brakes are really good with no judder. There is still loads of 'meat' left on the pads. Not a cure, but I have found that braking really hard quite a few times (when safe to do so) does mitigate the judder somewhat. I read about that tip on a brake specialist's site. Might be worth a try, it could free off your calipers a bit if there is something sticking in them, such as the pin sliders and causing the juddering.

Brilliant. Over 140 mph on the race track and then drive home...... and all on a £500 quid car! Considering the age of the car too, I think that's pretty amazing.