Titch LS

Why, when overtaking on a dual carriageway does the bloke in the car next to you always put his foot down? Had this happen to me again this morning on the way to work. A '62' plate E class Mercedes driver just floored it as I was passing him. Perhaps these people can't bear the thought of being 'outdone' by an old Lexus. Anyway, without thinking, I floored it too.. Result? Old 'W' plate Lexus, 1, new '62' plate Merc, nil. The Lexy pulled well ahead and stayed there. These cars can really shift. (My apologies to Mr. Plod).

Iain, my LS has just passed its M.O.T. (only a blown numberplate bulb to mar a clean sheet). Good for another year. I've never had a 14 year old car pass so easily as this one. By the way, your price of £28 was a bargain. Mine was £50.

Martin, I replaced my tensioner pulley and belt a while back. Most generic auxilliary belts are of manufacturers' quality e.g. Gates brand. THE thing to remember though, is what Adam said; the bolt to undo the tensioner is REVERSE thread. It feels strange when you get a spanner to it, having to turn the thread the "wrong" way to undo it i.e "righty tighty" actually UNDOES it, and visa versa.

Mark, the 'Hatfield showroom car' is definitely a mk1or mk2. It's on display to show potential new customers a bit of Lexus 'heritage'. It even has its own write-up displayed on a posh looking wooden lecturn. It didn't have a 'for sale' sign on it, so I just made my own tentative enquiries about the car while I was there buying my new LS460 (only joking). I'd really gone there to pick up a few oem parts for my own car. The Lexus chap just remarked that they would only let the showroom LS go for 'a seriously good offer', by which I think he meant, in the thousands. I've not seen an LS as good as that one though, it looked like it came off the production line yesterday. And you're right, I'm not selling my Mk4 either! Cheers.

Barry, you can try fleabay, I got mine off there. They were very cheap and came with the correct Lexus type fitting, but sadly, not Lexus quality as I've never been able to totally eliminate the squeaking that occours intermittently when they're being used. By the way, don't ever go to Kwik- Fit to get your wipers replaced. For convenience I popped in there once to buy some replacements. Kwik-Fit couldn't for the life of them, work out how to remove the old ones!! I left in disgust without buying any blades and got some off e-bay instead. I managed to remove the old ones myself in about 1 minute. (I would never trust Kwik-Fit with my car). On reflection, I would say that genuine Lexus wipers would be your best bet even if they cost more.

I have no desire whatsoever to change from owning my LS400 mk4. These cars are definitely worth throwing money at as they age. What else drives like one of these? A new modern car instead? No thanks. My Mk4 is 14 years old and has just sailed through another M.O.T. with no advisories. That tells you something.

I'm fairly confident that the LS400 WILL become a desirable 'classic' given a few more years yet. Prices do seem to be on the rise at the moment for well maintained examples. When I casually enquired about the absolutely immaculate early LS in the Hatfield Lexus showroom, I was told it would only be sold 'for the right money'---- meaning they would obviously ask a whole lot more than 'book' price. I'm sure someone would pay way over the top for that car, it's fantastic. My 2000 mk4 is nice, don't get me wrong, but it's not in the same league (condition wise) as the one in the showroom. My insurers value mine at £1500 at present which I thought was a bit low, but that's insurance for you.

Ron, that ESGI stuff is a real bargain compared to Flashlube. I have a Flashlube system fitted to my LS400 and have been looking for cheaper alternatives for a while..I haven't seen ESGI before, it must be fairly new on the market. I'm presently using Dexter valve-saver which is cheaper than Flashlube but still twice the price of ESGI!! Many are saying that it is unnecssary on our cars but I did once read somewhere (can't recall where now) of an LS suffering a burnt out valve after around 100,000 miles running on lpg. Maybe the set-up on that car was bad, I don't know. But for me, I will carry on using a valve-saver product even though the risk of long term damage looks quite low. I will try ESGI though, especially at that sort of price. Thanks for the 'heads up'.

Hugh, Very good choice of car. I can help you regarding replacing the side lights as I've just replaced mine with LED ones which work fine. To get to them is easy. Undo the small 'philps' screw on the top of the indicator lense, and then pull the said lense out toward the SIDE of the car. You have to be a bit bold with it.. It will then pop off from a plastic retaining clip and a small plastic guide pin above it. Then, on the headlamp unit, it's undo 4 x 10mm bolts (one hidden at the top/ side) and pull out the headlamp, which can be a bit fiddly. You then have access to the leads for the sidelight. The s/lights have the 'wedge' type fitting. Hope this helps. Others on here seem to have answered all your other queries. Enjoy.

Never driven one, but one came past me slowly the other day and it was TOTALLY silent on electric. Scary.

Shiner, the 430 does seem to be more problematic than the 400 judging from what various owners say. The 400 mk 4 is widely recognised as the best Lexus model ever made. A friend of mine has just forked out £6,000 recently on repairs to her 9 year old B.M.Troubleyou X5. (Gearbox failure and A/C repairs). Also, my brother has just spent £3,000 on his '04 Mercedes Spends, (timing chain failure/ head repairs), and he still has other problems to sort out on it. To be fair though, it has done 180,000 miles. Our 400's are getting on a bit now so owners must expect to pay out on the inevitable repairs coming their way. But, until then, we'll enjoy driving the best Lexus ever made. They certainly seem to have fewer problems overall.

Ron , sorry to hear of your misfortune regarding the big scratch. There are some real morons out there. I looked into scratch repair myself a while ago and was really surprised to see there are some pretty miraculous results to be found on You- tube with people using 2000 grit wet n' dry and polishing compound (NOT rubbing compound). There's loads of sites which give really good tips and instructions. Have a look , you could save yourself a bundle if you went the DIY route..

Any on-line vehicle dismantler (there are a number), will send you the part you need once they've sourced it. They will e-mail you with a price first before you commit to buy. You even get to pick the best deal if there is more than one potential supplier. I've used this method a few times. Saved a ton of money.

Well, bonnet struts are not exactly crucial parts, so maybe Chinese isn't so bad. On the other hand, If it was suspension parts, I wouldn't touch anything from China with the proverbial barge pole.

Just a tad over 2000 revs @ 70mph on my mk4. Nice and stress free for the car and for me.

Perhaps it is a bit unfair but I suppose you get what you pay for. I rode in a 51 plate Mercedes Spends the other day and though it was a quality ride,(a bit harsher), the seats were harder and the fit and finish was a bit disappointing. I still preferred to be in my Lexus.

Malc, I agree with you, the Honda was an excellent car, but if you'd had driven both cars for 2 years like I did, you would have soon noticed the difference in the Lexus believe me. Like I said it's a Lexus clone, but not quite on the same level.

I thought my Honda Legend 3.5 (Lexus clone) was quite luxurious until I got the LS400. The LS simply trumps it on every level. Quieter, smoother, more comfortable and more powerful. Should have got one years ago.

I bought mine off fleabay and got stung. The seller was in Hong Kong. Lots of Chinese fakes out there.

Is this "cheap" price just for replacing the belt only or would it include all the accessories ie tensioners, idler pulley etc?

Adam, I hope you are luckier than me with your "mini-vci J2534" diagnostic tool + cd's. Mine arrived and when I tried using it, it didn't work. I thought it was just me being low-tech, but even my lpg installer, who is very computer savvy, couldn't get any diagnostic readings using it. Big disappointment and money down a Chinese drain. No response from the supplier either. Scam? Let us all know how you get on with yours.

Hugh, I'm with you on this.There are plenty of 'story tellers' out there who try to pull the wool over your eyes. I'm sure you will find the right car eventually but be prepared to pay top price for a really nice mk4, otherwise someone else WILL buy it! Nice examples seem to be attracting premium prices at the moment. Judging the present market I reckon my motor, a 2000 mk4, hasn't lost a penny in the last 2 years.

I have found that RockAuto in the States have a huge range of OEM quality parts covering all years of the LS at much lower prices than you would pay here or in Europe. And, this is still taking into consideration the quite high delivery costs as well. Worth a look. I would avoid using any Chinese parts though as I'm very sceptical of their "quality" control.That's just me, but I wouldn't chance it with my LS.

Martin, yes, there is a quick fix.I had the same problem a few years back and found that by carefully applying a small thin strip of clear silicone all around the outside edge of the black triangular door mirror base , it cured the leak permanently. I didn't think the water came from the sunroof in the first place. I did this on the driver's and passenger doors. Much cheapness.

Surprised to hear of an LS engine needing replacement after only 150,000 miles though.