Gbneil

Very professional and clear who products end user was meant to be...

My brabus got around 40 mpg round town, usually nearer 45, and aprox 50 on runs, once as much as 58 over almost 600 miles, which I think is pretty good for a specialist engine with 700 cc and Well over 100 hp a litre...dumped in a package you couldn't help putting the whoosh button down in...ALL THE TIME....still miss it....roadster for me next time....although we have a reliable, tidy bmw z3 roadster so I guess a smart on top of that would be a bit of an indulgence...

Nice car...I was offered really cheap gs several months ago but already have a ls???a sportier drive I guess?....

When I was considering selling mine I had it advertised for @ £2k , 67k miles, history, wonderful condition...I did get three or four interested parties before talking myself out of it but now see several cars that SOUND like mine advertised for even more....but down south I guess...man maths now says I made the right decision as my car is an INVESTMENT haha

Wow, I didn't think these old barges rusted....every days a school day...

Having owned two 96 v4 and a 95 v4, a 99 and almost every iteration of the classic shape 900, I'm a bit of a saab fan...a two stroke is on my dream car list!....tried a few modern saabs, 9000, 95, gm900 s and didn't gel with the, in the same way...

Seem to be a lot of optimists advertising ls400 these days...OR, are the prices on the up...

Does anyone have a 'survivors' to ls sold in uk ratio....it would be interesting to know? I have only seen two other ls400 in dundee and around the area...I always flash my lights and usually get a wave back...ls430 owners don't usually bother!! Reading is forum and speaking to people who have owned them, they remind me of my other two loves, saabs and volvos....people keep them a LONG time....

My 96 is looking great...my mate is a painter and could not believe the quality of the paint on the ls....

I actually like clarksons writing...his TV persona is just that, a persona..but I think it's fascinating how national characteristics shine through in cars....a jag could only be English, a bmw, German, and so on.....lexus, inc lfa, could only be Japanese....another car I think ticks the Japanese box is the rx8... As Japanese as a pebble and bonsai garden!...

Trains pull like an ls400 on full wallop....

My original wheels are in excellent condition...kinda add to the cars class...argh, decisions...

Strikes me both of my most recent cars, a smart for two brabus and the ls400 are perfect cars for philosophers...just the kind of car you'd expect a philosopher to drive...haha.... My favourite philosophy observations so far are Philosophy, it is what is isn't.... Philosophy doesn't answer any questions it just questions all the answers And ...everyone's a philosopher.....or are they?

It strikes me that our cars have been unfairly tagged with the extremely competent but soulless name for too long, almost damning with faint praise. I of actually think the ls400 is dripping with personality, the problem has been that is is personality from a culture we don't live in, so it's personality sneaked under the radar. Think about it's main attributes....space and quietness, serenity, inner peace....if you were a Japanese car designer designing the best car in the world, what two characteristics would you make sure your car had?....the two any executive in Tokyo or any bustling city screams out for...space, and serenity. Space is at a huge premium in Japanese cities, as is peacefulness. If the car is to be a true luxury car it must relax its inhabitants, protect them from their normal environment, allow them to breath out, relax....we never really got that over here because space is available to all...to the Japanese businessman leaving a crowded building, walking through the crowded streets with car horns and voices going, the lexus must have seemed like a welcome Sensory deprivation cocoon....the engine whispers even under load and the cars performance is as powerful as any heavyweight judoka....it just has manners, doesn't shout about it.... The Japanese have a fascination for mechanical integrity we just didn't have when the lexus came out. A luxury car for us was a beautiful looking jag with ford switchgear or an overly ostentatious rolls Royce that had been living off a hundred year reputation for an excellence it no longer really provided. Neither were overly concerned with ergonomics nor did either give a damn about the feel, the operation of their switches, buttons etc. Japanese culture puts things like this above traditional looks etc, which we will come to next. Japanese luxury cars through the ages have not been beautiful, they have been big, square rigged cars with big, sometimes ostentatious grilles....they took this idea to its zenith with the ls400... I bet out of all the countries it was sold in, it stuck out and commanded most respect from its looks in it's home country. Designed to be non fussy, designed not to stand out, but with that Japanese love of a look at me grille minimised so the lexus did not look like a caricature of a saloon car but a cohesive, obsessive design. We like our luxury cars to shout look at me. The Japanese like them to be excellent, aesthetics has always come second. I would argue they nailed both with the ls, it's not till you live with one you appreciate what a master class of design it is....vast yet perfectly proportioned....much lower than you think, very aerodynamic whilst keeping those traditional Japanese attributes, it's built in spoiler/boot lid lip being a case in point.... I bet the Japanese thought the ls400 was a huge car with a huge personality....THEIR personality....it drips Japanese culture, it's personality is steeped in a tactile integrity that can be sensed by all who drive or, are lucky enough to own one....just as a jag, or a Bristol can be said to represent English culture, and just as both until recently, had almost become a pastiche, a caricature of said culture, the lexus ls400 represents Japanese culture and personality to a tee...and lexus has continued to do that with their options without becoming a caricature... No personality?....my cars loaded with it...

Can't answer questions but....nice buy....really think only car I would replace my ls 400 with is an sc430...keep looking at the classifieds and tempting myself...!

The gearboxes are awful left in auto....and I have a theory they contribute to some cars early demise as they allow the car to rev way to high when cold....using the tiptronic lever or paddles if fitted and exercising a small lift when changing, I really think the changes are as smooth as a usual manual and no slower...this technique takes time though...I am fairly certain al have another at some point...

Talked myself out of it again for now....I would ideally want a big set of wheels and a wee bit lower and it just seems like too much hassle for what is, essentially, an aesthetic whim...

my smarts always flew thru their tests...ony problems I had were broken springs on the brabus, which was, inconceivably, made even stiffer..

Not a button...but I notice, unlike every car iv owned, that if I use the windscreen wash wipe with the drivers window down, no water ever comes into the cabin,.....I'm betting it's designed this way....money on it...they thought of everything else!

Ou, my ls is Jewish/Arab racing gold....delete as appropriate.....although I would say its more of a light champagne than gold....someone will know the colour code....and no, I love the Corinthian bronze....it's very rare...for a reason I guess haha....it would be my colour of choice...think the bright blue would be next....one day, one day!

I like to think lexus is the singular and the plural.....he has a lexus, he has many lexus....

Here's a funny thing....iv owned loads of fiats, from 750 fiat panda, thru twin cam 132, turbo diesel mk1 punto, various UNOs, a brace of 127s, and a brace of cinquecento sportings, which I LOVED..and lastly, my favourite car up till the ls, a gorgeous turbo coupe....and NONE of the, gave me moments trouble.... I concur with what you say though, all of the above were bought with an eye on provenance and I always I buy from owners, not dealers, so you can see who has owned the car and gauge their enthusiasm for them....the old fella I bought the ls from shed a wee tear when it went....he did have a 430 on the drive but I think I got the better deal.... Don't get me wrong, I have never owned a 430, so,shouldn't comment, but of I was to make a judgement on aesthetics, and I know many won't agree, I actually think the ls400 is a beautiful bit of design...it may be a traditional saloon car, but it's proportions are spot on...and its integrity makes it seem even more attractive....I see 430s in dundee and just think the older car is better proportioned and more aesthetically pleasing to my eye anyway...which one is BETTER I can't comment on, all I know is it would have to be something very special to beat the 400 as an ownership proposition...

Owned four smart cars.....love them....but you can imagine how soft and supple the ls400 ride seems after six years or so of the terrible ride in the smarts....last one I had was a brabus and if you ran over a matchstick you knew about it...

Going into fourth year of joint honours in English lit and philosophy....so, last year unless I apply for masters year or PhD..which I might if funding available....it's been great fun,,lot of work but hugely enjoyable at my time of life....(45 this year)..

Thanks man, not gonna go down this route