mrdoofa

I'll hopefully get to have a look at it tomorrow in daylight, these short days are a pain when you have jobs to do and working full time!!!

Is it easy to pop the mirrors off?? I don't want to risk damaging anything lol!!! I'm not all that mechanically minded but don't mind having a go at certain tasks if easy enough. I've had a closer look at the parking sensors and they look quite scuffed, can they be polished or sanded down?

It's the actual adjustment of the mirror that doesn't work. The passenger side one works fine so I think that means the switch on the dash is working ok. The drivers mirror moves left and right ok but not up and down. I'm going to try putting some WD40 into the folding mechanism tomorrow, not been able to do anything with it today, it hasn't stopped raining!!!

I once went to one of the famous online car buying companies to sell a Jaguar X-type which had a short MOT on it, they said they'd offer me more for the car if I got a full MOT, they even told me about a back street garage I could go to who are, let's say, very lenient with their MOTs. I didn't end up selling to them in the end as I got a better offer p/ex for the car.

Do you have to do any dismantling to spray the lubricant in? Do you think this may also work for the up and down of the drivers mirror?

When I set out to buy myself a Lexus, I looked at an LS400 first but that had too much wrong with it so I dismissed it, I then spotted a really nice GS430 which I bought and have been really happy with but underneath I really wanted an LS!!! I spotted this one for sale by Old Baz on eBay which had one owner until this year, 20 Lexus service stamps all from the same dealer who sold the car new complete with printouts and 2 more independent services. Everything is fine with the car except the few small issues above which I can live with but if they can be put right easily and cheaply I will put them right, I've just ordered some boot struts from eBay which I'm going to try doing myself (wish me luck!!!). One of my favourite and novel features at the moment is the keyless entry and start, I love walking up to the car and the kerb lights come on automatically then touch the door handle to open the doors!!! Another thing, how warm and cold are the climate front seats meant to get, they are working but seem quite weak. Is it worth trying to clean or replace the filters in the seats or is it not really worth it? Cheers again everybody!!!

The alloys look in very poor condition, one point of concern is the amount of MOT advisories there are regarding corrosion to suspension components, subframe etc from the last couple of years. Other than that it looks quite nice to me.

Yes it is old Baz's. We managed to do a deal we were both happy with in which he took my old GS in p/ex. I was going to sell the GS privately myself but couldn't really be bothered with all the hassle, timewasters etc I would inevitably get!!! Baz is retired so he said he has all the time in the world to sell it on. Really love the LS, I didn't realise how much nicer than the GS it would be!!! It just has the few minor niggles above but none of those were enough to be a deal breaker for me because absolutely everything else on the car works great and it has fantastic service history and it shows because it drives like new!!!

Hi, I've just bought myself a 2002 LS430 am thoroughly pleased with it and everything seems to work great apart from these few niggles: Boot struts need replacing, I've seen some on eBay for £25. Do you think these will be any good and are they an easy DIY job to do? The power fold mirrors only fold about halfway and also the drivers mirror only moves left to right but not up and down, although it is in a good position for me it'd be nice to have it working!!! The NS front parking sensors appear to be faulty, I noticed they feel a bit rough with some paint chipped off them, could this be causing the problem? Like I said apart from these few niggles the car is great and I much prefer it to my old GS430. I just wondered if anybody could offer any help to try and sort the problems above. Cheers everybody!!!

Just done a £20 HPI check which has come back all clear... Don't know what to think now!!!

Cheers mate!!! I was thinking of doing my own hpi check, is this the best one to go for?

Hi guys, I've been to see the car today and found it to be very impressive indeed!!! The service history folder is immense with 20 Lexus services all at the same dealer with full printouts and 2 independent services, the most recent being in June this year. I didn't get chance to read every detail but did spot the 2 cambelt changes, a new radiator at 199k, work on the air suspension amongst lots of other things over the years. The car drove silently as you'd expect, I went over several speed bumps and didn't hear any noise from the suspension. How noisy should the compressor be when you first start the car? I'm not saying that it was excessively noisy but you could hear it for a few seconds, is that normal? Everything seemed to work fine except I think one or 2 front parking sensors maybe faulty and the power fold mirrors only seem to fold halfway, it also needs new boot struts. Are these cheap/ easy faults to fix? Other than that everything seems fine with the car. The toolkit is also present and looks untouched. Now, I asked him about the inconsistencies in the MOT history, he showed me the current certificate which shows the mileages for the last few MOTs and it adds up on there, everything seems fine in the service history and he said I could ring the Lexus dealer myself if I wanted to verify the mileages of services etc. He seems to think it is mistakes on the website and assured me everything was bona fide. I've told him I'm going to sleep on it and have a think, is it possible the website could be wrong? Is there any other checks I can do? I really like the car, it is fantastically comfortable!!! Especially the reclining massaging rear seats, it's better than the sofa in my house lol. I suffer with a bad back but found the driving seat and position just about perfect. I'm just still a bit concerned about the MOT history...

I see what you mean!!! I've planned to see the car on Thursday afternoon so will challenge him about it. Could it be that the private plate has been on other cars?

Hi, Just a quick update, I haven't yet been able to see any of the cars because I've been down with a horrible virus for the last few days, temperature, aches and pains etc. The £1500 one has disappeared from Auto Trader but is still on their own website, I'll get in touch with them again to check it hasn't sold, in the meantime this has turned up on eBay today. It's done a few miles at 207k, has full 20 stamp Lexus history all at the same dealer, 2 cambelt changes. I've been in touch with the seller and he has assured me that everything works as it should, it says the boot struts are a bit weak, are these easy to replace? And the alloys would benefit from being refurbished. Here is the link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-LEXUS-LS430-AUTO-SILVER-MOST-SERVICED-LS430-IN-THE-U-K-/381468550108?hash=item58d14c23dc:g:uf0AAOSwkZhWSevy Is it a fair asking price for the mileage etc? I'm hoping to go and view it on Thursday afternoon, it's in Bolton which is where fish motors is who has the other one for sale I mentioned so hopefully kill 2 birds with one stone.

Thanks for all the help and tips on what to look for, I'm hoping to go and see the car over the weekend if it doesn't sell in the meantime. I have found another one for sale at fish motors in Bolton, this one is more expensive but is slightly newer and has 40k less miles on it, I emailed fish motors and they said that the service history is 10 Lexus stamps in the book with the cambelt changed at 123k, it is now on 140k, they said as far as they know everything works on the car but obviously I would have to check everything for myself, one thing I noticed is that I don't recognise the alloys, it says they are 18" but I haven't seen them before. Anyway, I have posted a link to the car below, what do you think?? http://www.fishmotors.co.uk/used-LEXUS-LS-bolton-bury-Manchester-668879 Thanks once again for all your help and input, I do appreciate it!!!

Hi guys, I noticed an LS430 for sale today on auto trader, it's a 2001 51 plate, 189k miles, 18 stamps in service book, on its 3rd cam belt, MOT until July 2016. It says there is a slight knocking from OSF wheel and a small dent on front bumper, they are asking £1500. I wondered if it might be worth a look. I've put a link to it below: http://www.harisautomotive.co.uk/used-cars/lexus-ls-430-4-3-4dr-eastwood-201511108577294 How good is the LS430? What are the things to check for on these?

My mk2 GS430 has a sun, ahem sorry, moonroof, I like the extra light it lets in. I like to tilt it for a bit of extra ventilation. I wouldn't like a car without one which is a shame as more and more cars are coming without them, back in the 80s and 90s most cars had sunroofs, how times have changed!!! if I was going to spend £60,000 or more on a new car I wouldn't hesitate to spend the extra £1000 on the moonroof.

So far I've put about a litre of coolant into the car, I haven't had any problems with the heater losing heat since. I do have a concern though, yesterday I filled the expansion tank to the max line when the car was cold then after the car had been run then left to go cold again the coolant settled just under the min line so I topped it up to the max line again. Today I drove it again to work and before I set off home again I checked the level and it was just under the min line again. I don't know whether to keep adding coolant and hope eventually it will stay on the max line or is there a sign of another problem? Thanks again for all your help!!!

Today I decided to tackle burping the cooling system, I parked the car pointing up a slight hill then had a look in the expansion tank and quite shockingly found it at least 1.5" below the min line!!! Anyway, I set the heater to max setting 30 degrees with blower on fastest setting and let the car idle without the lid on the expansion tank. I added some ready mixed coolant to the tank to just below the min line, I didn't see any obvious bubbling or burping but the level fell by about an inch or 2 within a couple of minutes, this process was repeated 3 times until the coolant held its level in the tank. I then took the car out for a quick drive, then checked the expansion tank again, it had risen slightly probably due to expansion. I'm now going to let it sit overnight and see where the level is tomorrow once fully cold again then just top up to the max line and see how it goes. I have some hopefully good news though, the heater now seems to stay warm when it is idling, so hopefully the issue may be fixed, fingers crossed. I'll keep my eye on it for any leaks although looking around the pipes, radiator etc there is no evidence of any leakage. Anyway, my question now is, does the sequence of events above seem normal and have I done it right more to the point?!? Cheers guys. PS: Whilst I had the car running still cold I decided to take the cap off the radiator but within seconds the water level started to rise and I quickly put the cap back on before it overflowed everywhere. Is this normal?

Thank you for your help, I will try burping it on Thursday as its my day off work. Just a couple more questions to make sure I do it right!!! When you add coolant after each burp, do you add it straight to the radiator or the expansion tank? How do you change the thermostat? (I'm not that mechanically minded lol) When the heater goes cold it affects all vents. What happens is when the car drops to idle or close to it such as gently cruising without really working the engine the air goes cold, the climate control tries to compensate by putting the blower motor on max speed but that just pumps in more cold air. If you apply a bit more gas and up the revs to 2000 or more the warm air immediately returns and all is well again, in fact when it's working the heater is very warm and toasty!!!

Thanks for all responses so far, I really hope it isn't the water pump!!! What is the best way of attempting to clear any air locks?

***UPDATE*** Tonight when I was driving the car I set the climate to 25c and within a few minutes from starting cold I was getting nice warm air, the temp gauge went up to the half way mark perfectly normal and stayed there. However, just driving at a steady 40mph the heater then went cold. The engine only revs at about 1200rpm when cruising at 40mph. I decided to rev the engine a bit harder to about 3000rpm and then the heater came back warm again. The temp gauge stays at the halfway point. It seems that when the engine isn't revving much you lose heat but when you rev the engine it starts working again. Any ideas on what could be causing this?? Cheers for any help!!!

I have a 2001 GS430 mk2. Last night on the way home from work I decided to set the climate to 23 degrees, the heater then just blew in cold air. The temp gauge was at the halfway point where it normally is. I decided to pull over and switch the car off, leave it for a minute then restarted it, the heater then worked fine for the rest of the way home. Do you think this is a one off glitch in the climate control or is it a sign of something more serious? Cheers for any help.

The air through the vents certainly feels quite cold, not quite ice cold like my old Rover 75 was but still cold!!! My daily commute to work is about 12 miles there and 12 miles back, although I don't usually encounter many traffic jams because my hours of work are outside peak times I never get much above 40mph on the types of roads they are.

Hi, I have actually mentioned this briefly on a previous thread, but just wanted to quickly raise the question again. I have a 2001 GS430 and am still extremely pleased with it, I have noticed that the average MPG drops by about 2-3 MPG when I use the air conditioning. I average about 24mpg with it off and 21-22 with it on. Is this normal? I wondered if it might need regassing although it still provides plenty cold air but the system might be working harder if not fully gassed. Could that be the case? If it's normal that's fine but just wanted to see what you guys think.