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Frubbins

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  • First Name
    Philip
  • Gender
    Male
  • Lexus Model
    LS400
  • Year of Lexus
    1998
  • UK/Ireland Location
    Surrey

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  1. Didn't ask. No point, I wouldn't get the truth. He did say the old company would cease to exist tomorrow and as the new owner he was forming a new company. So maybe things could have been a lot worse.
  2. At the eleventh hour (5pm today) the garage told me the car was fixed. Apparently they had brought in a mechanic who knows his boot from his bonnet. They tried to charge me another £165 which I refused to pay on the grounds that if they had done the job correctly in the first place they wouldn't have needed to bring in outside help. Also I pointed out that the first "mechanic" had told me he was working for free. So when the garage owner told me he had lost over £200 on this job I got out my violin and drowned out his tears. Anyway, the car is presently sounding like it's old self again. My fingers are crossed that it remains the same. So thanks once again for all your help. @Keith Bowler I dont know how to PM you, so could you send the details of your Carshalton man to me. Thanks
  3. I've been in touch with a motor engineer from Epsom. He suggested I remove car to a Toyota trained garage in South Croydon. If they cannot fix it or work out some sort of forensic work on the history of the engine, I have him as a fall-back. So far I've heard nothing from the original garage. I will give them until the end of tomorrow and then have the car uplifted by the new garage. Hopefully I will be able to report some progress. In the meantime thank you all for your support & advice. It has certainly helped
  4. It looks like I am going to need an independent motor engineer. Anyone know of one in the Croydon area ? With regard to the garage saying "it was a non-starter when it arrived so we don't know it worked" (Obviously it didn't start as it didn't have a working starter motor). Anyway I just realised that the RAC guy who turned up two days before the starter finally died, jump started the car. With the bonnet open and the engine running we spent a good ten minutes talking about LS400's. His father had one and both of them were great fans. So having stood next to the engine turning over silently for 10+ minutes, I have an independent witness to the prior state of the engine. Useful if this goes to Court. VISA have noted the failure to supply service bit and have posted the £700 into an escrow account pending satisfactory outcome.
  5. It was, as stated above. I picked it up 6pm last Friday. Immediately told them and returned it today, they not working weekends and the replacement relay not in until today. I need to know the likely cause of the diagnostic readout, given that they carried out a full service, replacing filters, plugs etc, and took the lower engine off to instal the starter motor. With the previous dirty filters & plugs it ran like a dream. The only fault being the death of the starter motor last week.
  6. Thanks for all your well wishes, but to be honest it hasn't helped. At 6pm today they told me the car was again "fixed" although they had been unable to clear the O2 codes. Having waited for a bus for an hour I arrived at the garage. Inserted the key . It sounded like a 50's jalopy. Putting it into reverse to get it out of their yard it had trouble clearing a 1" kerb. Suddenly it leapt into the road and died. Guys from the garage EVENTUALLY came out with the diagnostic machine. It gave the same codes as originally shown. The guy told me the garage had been sold, he was working free and couldn't wait to be out of there. The new boss restarted the car sounding so sick I thought it would die. He parked it back on the lot 6 metres away. Then had the cheek to tell me it was a non-runner when it arrived. Of course it was you PRK it had a dead starter motor. The RAC had to put it on a low loader. He then told me he didn't know if it really worked before it was shipped to them. At this point I nearly smacked him, but remained calim by cursing. It has been a beautiful, wonderful vehicle ever since I got it. Subsequently (a) I've given him a 3rd chance to get someone with a brain to sort it. (b) I've phoned VISA to register a dispute and they have said they will issue documents for me to sign for Court stating I've been ripped off (He doesn't know this yet). (c) I will summon Lexus or RAC if anyone knows which dept in order to carry out a forensic analysis. As the car is still with the enemy this may be better carried out by Lexus.
  7. It was, as stated above. I picked it up 6pm last Friday. Immediately told them and returned it today, they not working weekends and the replacement relay not in until today. I need to know the likely cause of the diagnostic readout, given that they carried out a full service, replacing filters, plugs etc, and took the lower engine off to instal the starter motor. With the previous dirty filters & plugs it ran like a dream. The only fault being the death of the starter motor last week.
  8. Re: 98 LS400. This car has always run like a dream. So quiet people walk out in front of it. Last week went to start but just got clicks. Battery & Alternator fine so booked into local garage for full service and a new starter motor. Having replaced plugs, filters etc, the garage then took about 10 hours to fit the starter motor (list time 5 hours). Whilst doing this they managed to damage a relay on the engine (not sure which) and apparently had trouble putting the bits back together. Having charged me over £700 they returned the car with the engine sounding very sick, noisy & occasionally rocking. The "check engine" and "VSC off" lights remain on. On starting, the car will now give one vroom then die, after 6 or 7 attempts it will splutter into action followed by a cloud of smoke. It is still sick and noisy. I returned the car today and was greeted by shrugs and the enclosed diagnostic readout. Can anyone suggest what they have managed to do to cause these problems and how to fix them. I get the impression the mechanic hadn't got a clue what he was doing. Having just stumped up £700+ I don't want to have to take it to a main dealer to fix. So hopefully you guys can offer some advice which hopefully I can pass on to Moron Motors. Thanks in anticipation
  9. Thanks for your help. I've ordered the magazine from EBay which is quoted as being for a Lexus 400. The seller "Pac46cars" told me it's for the glove box Pioneer. So I hope it fits.
  10. Hi. I'm looking for a CD magazine or auto-changer cartridge for my '98 LS400. I think it may be a Pioneer. I've looked on EBay but no luck. My main dealer quoted the part number as 8627350050. But their price was just too high.. Can anyone suggest where I may find one at a reasonable cost. Maybe someone is breaking an S reg 400 ? I'm new here so I apologise if I've breached some posting protocol. I have searched the forum for an answer, but without success. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.
  11. Welcome to the Lexus forums Frubbins :)

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