SimonR

I gave up using Lexus dealers for my 1990 LS400 because, although they tried to be helpful, they really didn't know anything about the car. I now only use Powerhouse in Camberley. They only charge £25 per hour and Colin has forgotten more about Lexus than the official dealers will ever know. By the way, I live in Sevenoaks so he must be good if I am prepared to make a 150 mile round trip every time!

I have tried a number of products and they have all given reasonable results but I always use Mer now. Unlike most other polishes, Mer can be applied when the car is wet. This means that, unlike other products where most of the polish sinks into your rag before getting on to the paintwork, you can damp the rag first. This saves a lot of polish. This may seem like a skinflint approach but I save an awful lot of polish this way. I also suggest that you buy your car care products at car shows (I recommend the Bromley and Enfield Pageants). They are usually 25-40% cheaper than retail and you can haggle if you are buying in bulk.

Greetings. I bought a 1990 LS400 just over a year ago. It now has 154,000 on the clock and it’s still a better car that my mate’s new 5-series BMW. I used to think that Japanese cars were cheap rubbish that didn’t last – but I know better now. There’s an issue that I would like some advice on, though. When switched on from cold, the engine revs straight to 1,800 rpm. It stays that for a couple of minutes then drops to 1,600 (stays for a couple of minutes) then 1,400, 1,200 etc until it settles down to idle at 600 rpm. I’m convinced that this isn’t doing my engine any good and, as I do my best to treat it sympathetically (new SLX every 3,000 miles, only use Optimax) I’d be grateful if anyone has any suggestions. My local Lexus dealer hasn’t a clue but that doesn’t surprise me as they are pretty useless most of the time. Also, I recently replaced the shocks and springs with new Lexus items but the ride is still quite lumpy. It’s much better with a car full of passengers but most of my driving is done solo. Anything else I should have replaced?