The Lexus Enthusiast

Remember to turn off AFS since when you turn the wheel the lights will follow and shine across the road.

If I were in your shoes I would do it. The LS is a beautiful line of cars. Don't have any 460s but two ls430's for over a decade with no major issues since original purchase. If I understand correctly, your IS250 is the least valuable of your cars and on Ebay etc, they seem to sell privately for around 9-10k price. Therefore if you swap it for the 460 you want then you lose about 2k but you save yourself time and hassle and there's no guarantee you would get that much for the IS anyway due to condition and other variables. The 460 is only two years older and a more lavish car. So you have left the SC which is just as large though as the LS so you are stuck with two massive sedans which would be the drawback, but on the bright side you have a sporty one and a car for cruising. If you really want the 460 perhaps be patient and sell the IS first for 9-10K, then get the/a 460 and with money left over get a small 'run around' car. The IS and SC are similar- if I were you swap the SC for the LS then you really have a massive cruiser and a compact sporty smaller Lexus IS on the side. Sorry for length guess I'm passionate about cars lol Alex

Perhaps. A long time ago I wanted to swap the red needles for white ones but could never be sure if this was doable. Perhaps you actually can? It's a shame that the photo is not sharp enough to see if the whole cluster is from a pre facelift or wether it's just the needles. Still doesn't explain why the 430 brochure I have shows just one picture of a facelift with these red needles but the rest of the pictures in the brochure have all white needles in the cars. Maybe Lexus just forgot and made a few with red ha ha! Alex

If you have smart key turned on and whilst the vehicle is running or in "on"/"ACC" position and you open a door ( I think it is any door but perhaps just driver's door) the car chimes perpetually to warn you that you could be leaving the car and walking away with the key. It is a very classic Lexus chime which I like personally😎 The said knob controls the volume of this chime and twisting it past the click disables the chime altogether which I think is a danger- the chime should always be loud and clear. It seems silly but I read in a news archive somewhere that many years ago in the early 00's an old lady in America somewhere died after leaving her Lexus with engine running in garage and going inside house and falling asleep. I think her husband survived, can't remember really but absolutely tragic. People can actually forget, hence said chime. Alex

Hi everyone, I saw this ad recently on Car and Classic. It is a 2005, thus facelift of course, LS430, however the speedometer needles are red! All facelifts had white speedometer needles and the previous non facelifts all had red. I saw this phenomenon in a ls430 brochure, the car pictured was left hand drive EU spec and I also saw this years ago on another facelift for sale on Ebay. but have never seen it on any other facelift 430. Have been dumbfounded by it for ages. Is it that easy to swap the needles for a different colour? Can anyone explain it? Hope it's okay to post the picture from the listing here. Thanks Alex

That's an idea John! Had forgotten all about good old HJ. Thank you for suggesting will try it tomorrow.

Thank you for this information! Unfortunately £500,000 more than I can afford 😂

Unfortunately no matter how drunk I get my dad, a spare 50k isn't an option let alone 500. Unfortunately Flux can't add me as a second driver and am still waiting to hear about just a day instead. Thanks though guys for the suggestions.

Wow ha ha! How did they expect that to work? Surely you have to start somewhere with one Porsche in the first place. Insurers, eh? Glad you found someone in the end, gives me hope😀Adrian Flux is my last chance I think. Alex

No offence to above guy obviously

The current Marquess of Bath looks a bit scary so perhaps i'll pass. Would rather talk to a nice Adrian Flux rep than this guy!

Perhaps. I will have to do some more searching but in my opinion driving on a runway isn't as nice as driving calmly on real roads especially heading out to a motorway or nice bit of the A34.

Hi, interesting that your son is on your policy for your Jag at 22, in that case perhaps if I wait just a few years they would put me on a bit early if I have a clean record and haggle? At least it would knock a couple of years off the waiting time lol. Luckily I am already driving in my own car and have my own policy, I like my car a lot don't get me wrong but its just not quite a massive great LS. Thanks for reply. Alex

Ha ha, i'll just drop him a message on Facebook then 😂😂 Yes, I can certainly understand where the insurers are coming from, it's a shame that lots of young drivers abuse the roads and spoil it for people who just want to experience such a beautiful car. I would just love to get in it, plug in my favourite tracks, hit the motorway, set cruise control and just relax. Unfortunately I don't know any race tracks or anything that I could go to. Anyone know any abandoned airfields in/around Oxfordshire area? Or on the other hand does anyone on here have a really big garden?

Hi Dan thank you for reaching out to me. All I want is just even a day to enjoy the car, I understand the limitations on age group and insurance category, but perhaps this small time period could be possible. Thanks, Alex

I also just saw that too, guess it's a possibility. Thanks for your suggestions Malc I will look into that and flux as well.

Yeah, I will definitely be doing the manual test soon and will also do pass plus as even if it doesn't help for this it will at least reduce my insurance a bit anyway.

That's an idea and sounds like an enjoyable career for a car person!

In that case I stand no chance lol. The s500 is a lovely car, I don't really know much about BMW cars but the one you inherited sounds nice, bet the wait was a pain but at least you had something nice in the meantime. Looks like i'll just have to be patient. Alex

With the reputation my age group gets on the road it's not a surprise really. Still, perhaps there's something short term or maybe in a few years but before 25 the insurers might be lenient if I keep a clean record. I can only hope. Alex

So with being added ruled out am still holding out hope on some kind of temporary insurance so that I could enjoy the car for a day or something. Perhaps a treat for my birthday ha ha! Or maybe chatting with Adrian Flux and explaining my conundrum. Alex

Perhaps a temporary insurance for a day or something? Or is that also unavailable until 25 with every company? Perhaps there is a company who does very short term insurance without such a harsh age restriction? Thanks

Thanks Malc looks interesting. I will check that out later.

Hi Phil, unfortunately my policy doesn't allow for that and then there is of course the annoying age restriction anyway. Thanks

Hi everyone, Despite being a member on here the car actually belongs to my mom. Joined the LOC to be a part of a community of enthusiasts for such a beautiful car. I love the LS430 and am a bit of a car enthusiast in general but not being able to drive the Lexus is torture for me! I passed my test in May and have my own car on own policy, have full automatic license (will do manual test in coming months when have time). Whenever I look online or contact any insurers including my mom's, they all tell me that I can't be added on the LS until 25 yrs old because the car is too awesome 😎. I have even looked at temporary insurance by hours or days however same restriction applies. Waiting 7 years is an eternity! Does anyone have any ideas or knows a company who can insure me temporarily on the Lexus- a day or something only? I once saw a guy who looked in his teens driving a ls400, very well I should add, so surely there are some insurers or arrangement possible? Am I not searching hard enough? Thanks very much in advance Alex