lordturns

Couldn't agree more, all you need to do is watch a video by Bill Still called the 'Money Masters' it tells you everything you need to know about the banking system. It's not conspiracy, it is historic fact and politicians are just puppets for the bankers and I would be surprised if half of them don't really know what is going on.

They sound like my Indy BMW specialist, a pleasure to deal with. In fact I gave them a call and spoke to a lady there who said she'd get either of them to call me back as they were having a VOSA inspection.

Hi Brian, thank you very much for that - I read your post on Japex regarding your engine mount replacements and how this had transformed your car. Love the name of the business park 'Happy Valley' looks like this applies to how they send their customers away then :outforcount: :outforcount: :outforcount:

Hi everyone, I was wondering if any of you out there know of good independent specialists south of Peterborough that work on our great machines, maybe around one hour drive away or so? thanks for your help in advance :outforcount:

Mad Max? :outforcount: :outforcount: :outforcount:

February 2013 - I paid £1550 for my LS with around 66k miles on the clock. Yes, she does need some work doing although it was my intention to buy a reasonably sound car and renovate. Think that price is Way OTT, also seen a MK3 on autotrader in black with low miles for around £4595.... Steve - love the MK1 restoration, even before the job it looked good!

Hi Malc, yes - I think it is just surface although it was picked out as an advisory on the MOT, something along the lines of: 'suspension outriggers corroded to within 3mm of chassis frame' The alarm system completely foxes me, I have tried most of the tips on here and nothing appears to prevent it from doing its own thing - you can go for days with no problems and all of a sudden it'll go off and then stop. It will do this repeatedly, very often at unsociable hours. If I can find a decent automotive electrician and a wiring diagram for the car, I am sure it could be repaired using a standard process of elimination. I will of course share this happily if I make any progress :outforcount:

1997 LS400 Mk3 - just over 78,000 miles on the clock - a completely scatty alarm system that has a mind of its own - there must be a fix for this? - front seat heaters not functioning - bonnet struts failure - replaced with SGS brand new parts - leaking tweeter speakers - fixed by me :outforcount: - constantly losing air from the tyres and alloy wheels in poor condition - blowing center exhaust section - repaired, the welding around here was sub standard - cleaned up, welded and sealed. - rear subframe heavily corroded - some minor rust on the body - only very recently - slight knocking sound from front suspension at low speeds? - squealing front brakes for the first few minutes of driving, then mysteriously stops. - damaged front bumper lip - now removed

Hi Rafal, my Mk3 also has front seat heating that doesn't work, although the rears do. As everyone on here says, it is a common problem - I did some research and came upon a tutorial to remove and strip the seats....quite a job and more than a little tricky although not impossible. You can buy retro fit seat heater element kits although you would need to find yourself a good automotive electrician who may be able to help you. Not had a problem with the seats or part of the seats moving whilst driving....

Yep couldn't agree more as I have owned a string of BMWs and still own one. I do like the older BMs though and dislike that their product range is expanding to fill seemingly every niche whilst simultaneously losing what once made them appealing (sharknose, hofmeister kink, svelte looks etc) - they will be releasing a '9' series soon! which will simply be a larger '7' makes me wonder what is next in the range. Plus I feel the styling on many of them is questionable, oddly enough people still seem to buy the uglier BMs.... Fortunately I was lucky enough to own an E34 M5 3.6 and that was a very good car to drive, being fast, with great dynamics and last of the truly hand made M series. The quality was also superb in every respect which is something I found lacking in later BMW models.

Wonder how many pub car parks look like this with such a fine selection of machines :-) and yes agree with you Mark - the maroon colour does look very good on the 400.

Sorry to hear that Chris - it certainly doesn't make you feel warm and cuddly to other road users. Hope your 430 is back on the road sans damage and in fine fettle soon.

Hi Rodt, see my thread below - when I purchased my 400 over a year ago, the leather simply hadn't been cleaned for a long time and came up a treat after using this stuff from furniture clinic... http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/82254-the-furniture-clinic/ Jeremy

I also purchased new struts from SGS last year and they are excellent - post your struts to them first for an assessment, as if they can re-gas them, they will do so and save you money in the process. If not they will sell you a new pair....

Mike - I have what I call 'some knowledge' more of an overview of how the system works and did not specialise directly in insurance plus as you know it is always good to ask for opinions, experience and points of view from others....sharing knowledge is powerful and the only way we can all outwit the cons that are so prevalent in the insurance game.

Thanks very much to all of you, I am most grateful - comparison sites are useful although supposedly they earn commission as a kickback from the insurers for everyone that uses their sites. I note that when you do get a quote from an insurer on their website, you 'spec' your insurance up just like an options list on a car with things like 'legal assistance' 'protected no claims etc' and many more that just serve to bump the cost right up - so what appears to be very cheap initialy ends up being expensive because they don't include any extras and how many of us have used these extras anyway?....plus we all know that we are indemnifying those that are not insured etc, etc. Years ago when I did my insurance for the first car I had, it was from a broker and one price included everything and there were no extras or bolt ons. The broker was recommended and I managed to get a good price. Regardless, I think insurance is a complete rip off and despite having no points and being claim free, it still goes up....so how does that work? because I don't know and what's more I have been involved with financial services for a number of years and it pains me to say that I know how the 'system' works (oh dear I better stop otherwise I will begin to rant :tsktsk: )

It is time to renew insurance on my 400 and was wondering who you would recommend - the quote from the existing insurer was verging on the ridiculous to say the least! There must be someone who can reasonably insure a 16 year old car out there for everyday use...... Thanks in advance, Jeremy

The Two Ronnies springs to mind - the classic sketch 'four candles'

This has also been on fleabay for ages....does look good though http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1996-P-LEXUS-LS400-4-0-V8-AUTO-LOW-MILES-FSH-/171039929696?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item27d2c63560

No, you don't have to be cut throat to be rich, if you remember the principle of giving back to others and the laws of leverage coupled with your own self belief, that is one way to do it!

Point taken, as you know when you refurb a house you carefully control your costs and do your comparables before you buy to make sure that there is a likelihood of you making a profit over and above what you put in - for example, buy at £85k, spend £6000 on refurb and sell for £125k....yes, you are adding value, creating a nice home for someone, helping to uplift an area, providing work for tradesmen - so you are doing so much more than just making money by giving back to others in so many ways and making a decent profit to boot. So in essence you have an 'opportunity' here to make money. Our man selling the LS has merely spotted an opportunity and taken advantage of it and if he makes a grand for what appears on face value to be a good car then great - that means another owner will potentially join the community here, contribute and hopefully talk to us before he hands over any dosh! Now consider - my Father bought a brand new Merc E350 Cdi through a Merc stealer and traded his E320 Cdi and they gave him £9k for this - it appeared on the forecourt for around £13k within days!

Good luck to the guy - after all, it is no different to any of us buying a house, doing it up (adding value) and selling it on and making a nice tidy profit all in a short timescale. Business is business, right? He will after all only get what someone is prepared to pay anyway....

Had a look at the tutorial - it all looks fairly straightforward, will buy some leads too and do those...

One foot brake cable later and she has passed.....phew now just the advisories to attend to.

Yes, I too use mine everyday for work and anything else....