MartinShorthose

I had front and rear pads changed last week together with new discs on the front. Seems fine after a week of motoring - we'll see how long they last. Total cost - £250 including labour. :winky:

I need new tyres all round on my 1994 LS400 and thought about the possibility of replacing the alloys at the same time - corrosion is starting to set in! I visited Motor World this morning to enquire - they stock wheels from many manufacturers and do wheel and tyre packages (I know I will need to replace tyres prematurely as they will not be top notch, but this is OK). They suggested fitting 17" alloys to replace the 16" OEMs - on the basis that the tyres would be more common and therefore cheaper. I don't want to go to 18" or above and sacrifice ride quality. They tell me that they only sell one wheel out of their whole range which will fit as the brake calipers are unusually huge on the LS. The cost would be in excess of £1000. Anyone got any better ideas? Anyone else using 17" wheels? Where did you find them? How much? Cheers! Martin

I have just had my first service done on the LS400 complete with cambelt change. One fault that was pointed out to me was some chaffing of plug leads. I don't know where this occurs but they kindly replaced four for me (at vast expense). This might also be something to check. My tickover speed is a little lumpy when the aircon kicks in and out but apart from this rise and fall in revs occasionally, you should be running totally smoothly. Incidentally, I was sitting in my parked car listening to the end of a Radio 4 broadcast that I had become fascinated with. All of a sudden I thought I felt a slight earth tremor - a very slight movement of the whole car. It happened a second time a couple of minutes later and I turned the radio off to concentrate, thinking I had felt a small earthquake! I then turned off the fan to make it quieter still in the cabin. It wasn't until a couple more minutes had passed that I noticed that the aircon was on and that this could not happen unless the engine was running. My earthquake had been the shift in engine revs when the aircon came on. I hadn't even noticed that I had left the engine running - that's how smooth this V8 should be!!!

Thanks for your input - it is definitely pressure and not vacuum!

After I have driven for a few miles and stop to refuel, a seemingly huge amount of pressure is released as I remove the fuel cap. Is this common or do I need to replace my fuel cap?

There is a mobile cradle attached to the front of my centre console which is obviously not original equipment. The wiring heads behind the passenger carpet against the transmission tunnel where there is a Siemens box of electronics. There is also a microphone just above the drivers door so this was obviously a proper hands free kit. Siemens have not replied to my query about what phones would fit their box and so I am faced with changing it all. Incidentally, I have no sound from the passenger front speakers so I wonder if this speaker was 'pinched' for the phone speaker. Anyway... does anyone know if Lexus put any wiring into the loom ready for a phone and where the connectors are or if the whole job was likely to have been done by a phone fitter? Thanks for any info. As another aside - my radio antenna has always been stuck in the UP position since I bought it, the motor whirrs merrily but the aerial stayed up. I was quick enough the other day to grab the aerial and shove it down. Since then it has worked perfectly and even adjusts to different lengths for different frequencies - just as it should.

I guessed it was NOT fuses since I only have SOME lights missing - not all of them. I will check and report back however - just in case.

I spotted this problem on a car I was considering buying. A call to the Lexus dealer in Worcester ensued. Apparently they had just done one - the whole centre console electronics bit needs replacing at a cost of - get this - about £1100 (plus VAT!). I bought one with a display that works!!

Anyone got any experience of replacing whatever little electrical things illuminate the centre console? I have a full compliment of LEDS that show when a switch is ON (heater controls for example) but only SOME backlights shining through to tell me WHICH switch is on ! I can't even find a way to get behind the console to check it out! I assume there are some further LEDS behind the switches and I don't have a problem getting the old soldering iron out if necessary! Also - an on the same sort of subject - the large radio display (frequency) backlight and the cabin temperature backlight are both "inop". Any clues?

I am a newly registered owner of a 1993 (L) LS400 and was a little wary about the fuel consumption thing too. I moved up in the world from a Citroen Xantia 1.9 Turbo Diesel and was expecting to empty my wallet every day. In reality, to make any sort of progress in a lesser car, you need to drive it with foot to the floor at all times and honestly, I have noticed an increase in spend - but not hugely significant. I have been driving carefully though - just to see what mileage I can do on a tank. I was once the owner of a Toyota Celica GT4 import and like the Lexus, I found I drove it more sensibly than the 'ordinary' cars I have owned - I have nothing to prove; I know I CAN go quicker than the hatchback boys so I don't even bother trying. That racks them off more than beating them off the lights I feel! So there is not a huge difference (fuel-wise) between a Xantia driven hard and a Lexus driven gently. When its 6:00pm, freezing outside and everyone around is battling with their neighbour on the M6 in the rush hour to get home, it is really pleasant to relax in heated leather comfort, something soothing on the autochanger, cruise set at 70 (if you're lucky) feeling smug. Go for it - enjoy!