Graham Gardner

The national speed limit is 70mph was this on private land?

That is an awesome price mate, a real bargain, if you get a couple of years of LS400 motoring it'll be a win win all the way

Excellent buy mate, still loving mine after 3 months, best car I've ever had, love it

I had cancer 3 years ago, I'm fine now. I bought a Toyota Hilux mk3 around the same time and spent many a happy hour tinkering, during my treatment and recovery. Best wishes mate

Nice, very nice

Hi Yiannis welcome to the club

I looked at the s320 at an alternative to the LS400, but after having 3 Mercs all of which rotted away, I could'nt really convince myself that they have improved enough. All the BMs I've ever had never showed a hint of rust.

Unfortunately they don't last too long. Hopefully the Pagid parts will last longer than the 20k of Lexus or Blueprint parts.

Pete

I've been reading about that but that's fine, I only do around 5k miles a year in the LS400, that'll be 4 years from now

My lexus doesn't have the locating bolts either (not sure if any were actually fitted originally) - and it was serviced by Lexus until I got it. I never bothered though as the wheel clamps things tight.

Glad you're sorted for another few miles as you'll be re-visiting this again.

Pete

What, the brakes?

They are very easy to fit and you'll notice an improvement immediately. The pagid discs seem pretty good so far - done about 2,000 miles so far. I used Ferodo premium pads though.

Pete

I fitted the Pagid discs, brake sensor and pads, the juddering has gone, phew!

Strangely though, the offside disc had been fitted, WITHOUT the two retaining screw, they had been sheared off! The car has a full service history, I have have found a receipt for the disc and their fitting from two years ago by a motor engineer company in Glasgow, to be honest, I'm appalled that a reputable company should have done such a shoddy repair. I have drilled the studs out and recut the threads, it took me about half an hour, this is exactly why I now do all my own repairs and servicing (with help and guidance from my brother, a trained Jaguar engineer) you seemingly can't trust anyone?

I'm pleased to report that I've had some good news and that Lexus will replace the hybrid battery and cover all costs :hocus-pokus:

My issue sounds a little different to Tony's in that the dealer says that the battery has failed as opposed to some other part of the hybrid system.

The parts are arrive Saturday morning so hopefully I'll be up and running again by Monday ..... Probably going to get the three shocks and suspension bushes replaced at the same time as although I'm still not convinced the shocks have failed (Passed MOT 5 weeks ago) they do have some misting so only a matter of time I guess.

Fingers crossed that they find nothing else during the repair - If they don't I may be tempted to take out the 2yr extended warranty as this seems to have come down in price since I inquired a year ago (Now seems to be £995 for 2yrs up to 140k miles)

Have to say that I'm impressed with the team at Lexus Poole (Dan Perkins & Meagan) as they fought my case with Lexus on this and have managed to get a positive result.

Cheers

Simon G

That is good news Simon

Having recently bought a 1997 mk4 myself, it seems that they all have the same little problems, all I've fixed, so far, are the bonnets struts, although there's a set of pads and discs waiting to be fixed laying in the garage.

The air con needs re gassing and a couple of other silly things, other than that, they are great cars

Not another thing to look out for on the mk4?

^^ that's the previous generation, Graham (the MK2). :)

Not a GS300, but I do have its sibling the GS450h, and from what I can tell these GDI engines seem pretty robust. Never really heard of any issues with them. There was a valve spring recall but it doesn't apply to the GS300.

Other than that, have a test drive and listen out for any creaks/rattles from the interior trims.

I find the GS to be a very comfortable cruiser but just noticed that you have an LS so that may not mean much to you :P

Check this, http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/lexus/gs300-1998/

Needs a new starter motor, I thought a new starter motor was a big job on a LS400?

What do people think to the following:

http://www.sh-car-sales.co.uk/used-cars/lexus-ls-4-0-v8-4dr-auto-bedford-201408286944670

http://www.jrtcarsales.co.uk/used-cars/lexus-ls-4-0-v8-4dr-auto-cardiff-201406305421449

Thanks!

SH car sales ad seems to show a 7 year gap between services?

Gosh! Well spotted dude - I'm no expert but cars left standing for 7 years ain't no good for 'em is it?

I do have to agree, I think the 400 is a better looking car than the 430 and also the 460, the comfort level inside is for me better on the 430. I don't think the drive is any different, both when running right are very smooth.

Forget the toys, if you buy a car for just the toys then you need help medically, some of the toys are helpful, some make you say 'is there a need' such as the self closing doors and boot, no need, I can close a car door gently enough without slamming it to make it open into the cabin, and it would save a fair bit of weight with the motors and control units, plus save on the electrical side, but hey ho it's there so I use it.

What! Self closing doors are de rigueur, it's my most missed feature since I sold the BM

You can look after it all you like, interior heating controls and radio and alternator and the radiator and the water leaks will still occur/fail when they want.

I do my own work, learning on the go. Services here are mostly a waste of time and money, no one cares enough. I'm just ****** at the electronics now since I got no clue how they work, I just take them apart, clean them and hope for the best. It's just that once I fix 1 issue, another 5 pop-up. I'm tired fixing it all the time, engine is pretty much the obly thing I haven't touched yet, need some spark plugs and check to see where the oil/coolant seaps through on the block.

Ah!

Europarts sell them, I bought disc and pads for £131 it was an extra 35 for the wear indicator, I'm going to use the existing ones

Hiya Barry

Oh dear mate, what a long, long tale of woe and misery, I feel for you, I really do, you invest a lot in your choice of vehicle, both money and emotion, when it all goes wrong, it make you feel awful. Most people have been through this at sometime, I know I have, I would cut my loses and get rid of it personally, it's a very tough decision to make though?

Very best wishes

For anyone interested I have booked in with an independent body shop who have told me they can repair the bumper at the cost of £150 (includes painting)! Thanks for your help.

Good price that mate

I've had Lexus and blueprint discs - both lasted the same time. I'm trying pagid parts this time.

Pete

I've just had my tyres filled with Nitrogen, after buying two new tyres from Mr Tyres, the molecules are bigger than mixed air, so it doesn't seep through to the alloy and cause corrosion (there being only pure Nitrogen, in the tyre, no water or other contaminants. And, there's no need to check the pressures for two years! Mind you, that's more frequent than I normally check tyre pressures.

For the price of £1 a tyre you can drive into Mr Tyres and have them checked and refilled as necessary, additionally, if you have to use mixed air, whilst out and about, they will refill with Nitrogen on your next visit

I've had the 32 psi rule, for tyres, all my car ownership years, if in doubt use 32 psi, all the tyres on the LS400 are at 32 psi, funny that