The Lexus Enthusiast

Hi Cruisermark, thanks for the reply. I should hopefully be able to check this all tomorrow when it is finally the end of the weekAnd thanks for the reassurance. hopefully the car won't end up at the local stealership

Hi Tinonline, thanks for the reply. The power steering fluid is fine but i'll make sure to check all the others. Where is the transmission fluid tank, out of interest, as I couldn't seem to see it?

Hello all, I am getting quite worried about a very odd noise coming from our ls430. On starting up the car, particularly from cold, there is a quite loud whirring noise I have never heard before. It stops when the gear lever is put into 'drive' position. It doesn't tend to happen when moving, only when stationary. Very occasionally it will sound when turning sharply left. Any thoughts? I really hop this won't turn out to be a very costly transmission issueThe car has had no real problems for over a decade now so this noise has come as quite a surprise. Thanks in advance for your help. Cheers, Alex

Hi Robert, Just a small point- if you are going to buy an LS430, the ones mid 2003 and after come with stock 18"wheels and quite low profile tyres, and this would cause a harsher ride and possibly more noise. The 2000 to early 2003 LS430's have 17" wheels and thick comfy tires. Welcome to the club and I'm sure that whatever Lexus you purchase, you will not be disappointed. Alex

Wow, that sounds FANTASTIC!. Might be just what i need. Do you think that they would fit a 430? Sorry for late reply, only just got home.

Hi Steve, My neighbour has not as yet signed the car over to the insurers and thus it is still his. He said that I can take any parts I want from it, just not the wheels as the insurers when he eventually signs it over to them would not be able to move it. I have left the nav screen and opened up the cluster and taken the needles. I do not think that this would affect their ability to pull it onto a flat bed truck, or at least I hope it will not Alex

Cheers Cruisermark. I'll probably give it a go when I go down to the car tomorrow. I still don't have a solution about my old wheels which are on it, but can't wait to pull out the instrument cluster perhaps and the nav screen and of course try the rear lights. Alex

Hi Steve, Thanks for the reply. Am i correct in saying that all I need to do is remove the lights via the two little openings in the boot right behind the lights? They look like two little flaps i think.

Hello all, A quick question. I have a non facelift ls430 and my neighbour is about to have his facelift one scrapped after an accident. If i remove the facelift style rear lights from his car will they fit on my 2002 ls430. I want to get rid of the orange plastic bit on my rear lights. Also would the connection be different? I already have his facelift wheels on mine and would really like to complete the look Cheers Alex

Hi Tinonline, Perhaps I will just have to sit down with my neighbour at some point and ask him nicely to phone his insurance company and ask them about keeping the wheels and returning them. The only problem is that as I think I mentioned earlier in the post, my neighbour is quite elderly and I feel he doesn't quite understand everything about what his insurers plan to do. I believe that they have to remove the wheels anyway in order to scrap the car, but perhaps after they pay out money for the car to him, they will sell the wheels, and therefore will not allow me to take them back?

Hello messi, Unfortunately it is quite difficult to remove anything else from the car. I think that the only way I can also take back my originals is to find four random wheels to put on the ls to be scrapped so that it can be recovered by the insurers. I suggested this to the people at the auto care place it is sitting, and he told me he would want £150!!! Goodness knows how much he would want to charge me to remove the air suspension!!!! He claims it would cost extra to remove anything because the car has been pushed forward and is now blocked by brambles on the right so it would be extra labour to get into it!!!!!!!!!???????. I think he's giving me a run for my money, because there was no need to push the car further forward in the first place. Hi Cruisermark, Thanks for the reply. It is my mother's car and she was a bit worried about the change in wheels but now that they are on the car, loves the look of them and the feel when driving. Overall, the odd humps and bumps are felt just a tiny bit more with the 18s. I can't really comment on steering feel as the car is only ever driven fairly slowly around the countryside and a bit on motorways. I Don't know if it is just me but the 18s seem to be more quiet on most roads??? Fuel consumption is as always- terrible. Hi PJD, Yes, I love the look of the wheels as the car glides along. They look like a big rotating star!

Bob, Am really sorry to hear that your car has had a run in with the brainless gang. If there is one thing I hate it is vandals who go around damaging the things that do not belong to them and have not payed for themselves. Unfortunately our red LS430 has suffered a lot from this sort of thing since it was purchased back in the day. Just recently it was left for only about twenty mins in a supermarket and when I came back, there was a vertical scratch down the side I know who did it. Driving home a small old car overtook us at a phenomenal speed whilst the passenger pulled a funny face. I glimpsed the driver, who had been in the supermarket at the same time as me and had given me an odd look. I have no idea what he thought I had done to upset him. I had never even set eyes on him before that. I could never prove anything, unfortunately. I am going to try some coloured polish....... Alex

Hello The- Acre, we meet again. Thanks for your kind words. You are spot on about being satisfied. I love the facelift wheels but greedily want the best of both worlds, and would like to take my old ones back and keep them in boxes just for the satisfaction. If any of my other friends crash their ls430's I'll let u know about wheels needing a new home

Hi there Tinonline. It is my neighbour's insurer as it was my neighbour's car which was crashed.He is really quite elderly and i think that he is a bit dazed by the whole process with the insurers. As yet they have not paid him for the car and it is still his car. Thus I think that i could remove my old wheels with his permission as it is not the insurers car yet. The only problem would be, that then his car would have no wheels at all and would make recovery very difficult. Also the insurers might have a problem as the car might then be deemed as "incomplete". Any thoughts?

Hello members, Almost a year ago I had these wheels put on my non facelift ls430 after my neighbour's one was involved in an accident and was going to be scrapped. In a week or two he is finally going to have it taken away and scrapped. I'm getting a bit sentimental now about the original wheels and cringe to think about an LS being crushed. Do you like the look of these new ones or consider the old ones to look better? Ideally I would like my old ones back as well but I think that the insurers would be a bit upset if they came to take the car and it had no wheels at all Alex

Congratulations harrylime for actually finding an honest mechanic in the world! I have had enough of my local Lexus stealership. Unfortunately round me there isn't that much choice. Alex

Tape decks rule! Just can't beat the sound quality of a tape, can you Malc? Indeed, I think that Lexus interiors are just too luxurious, sorcerer. It looks like i'll just be putting up with poor FM reception then. At least I can sit back and relax in the original looking interior

Hi everyone, How much would a DAB receiver cost and who could install it?I'm still a bit old fashioned about the whole radio thing and never bother with DAB really. On the other hand, I suppose an LS430 with a clothes hanger on top wouldn't look too bad now, would it? Great economical fix lol.

Thank goodness. Unfortunately I believe he continues to trade on Ebay under a new name. Sorry If that's already been discussed. Alex

Hi MLW, I feel your pain. Our 2002 LS in the middle of London (yes- London) will only pick up bbc r2, Classic Fm and one or two others. It's very annoying. Our other LS430 can pick up all the other little ones broadcasting many non main stream genres. I changed the aerial to the spare but it didn't really make much difference. Sorry that i'm not posting an answer but IF ANYONE KNOWS PLEASE ENLIGHTEN US. Alex

Hi Jyde, Just the other day my wheel bearings were replaced which were causing a whining sound from near the wheels and the car did pull to the side a little a bit as if it was a very windy day. Perhaps it could be your wheel bearings- front, rear or perhaps both? I am not an expert on cars so I could be completely wrong. Alex

That would be fantastic! I wait to hear from u in the future. Alex

Hi The- Acre, Also thanks for the kind words. Yes, typing this is proving hard for my tired arms Probably tomorrow after a good night sleep they will be ready to make anybody think twice about messing me around, ha ha! Am glad you mentioned the facelift thing. I see that I have almost fooled you. it is actually just the wheels. They were a free gift from my neighbour who's facelift 2004 LS ended up in the front of his house. That was a very bad day. I also got all the wood venir for the doors and centre console!!