JMRussell

I used to own jags for several years mostly XJS's and loved them but I've had my LS for 5 years now and still love it. The wife always says it's and old man's car but admits its a great way to travel and is as quick as her Boxster! The only looks you have to worry about are inside when you're sitting in it - you can't drive and look at the outside at the same time (well except in shop windows!). If you're worried about fuel my LS has avergaed about 25.5mpg over the last 100,000 miles. I always bought Jags cause they were british and stopped when ford bought them, had an A8 - great car but not that comfortable (and you say you're not in the bracket for the latest model). Why do I drive an old LS400 and not the newer LS430 because, in my opinion, the LS400 is still better to drive and all the improvements inside were for the passenger not the driver but an LS460 :D

I quite regularly do trips of 500 miles in a day (with a days work in the middle) either travelling from home in Oxfordshire to see people in Manchester/Warrington/ North Wales and sometimes to see clients in Belgium. In my LS 400-500 miles plus a full day in the middle in no trouble. Best single day journey was Home to France / Spain border using channel tunnel about 850 miles - this was 5 up with luggage for two weeks holiday going down to La Manga in Spain. Done similar trip down to Portugal last summer. Some may remember an LOC Champagne run a few years back though don't think other who went are still members - that's a great weekend run. My LS(MK4) is now up to 140K miles and still a dream to travel in.

Is there no one else out there who plays golf????

Non brainer it is go for MKIV it was well up on MKIII. Don't worry about bushes etc if buying from a dealer as warranty will cover them - I've had 2 sets done on mine last ones at about 90k.

Don't be put off the formula is designed for people who only play occassionally - I only play about 4 times a year. Team up with someone who's OK and the system works in your favour. The best teams are made up of some good golfers and some, lets say, less good.

Now we're started. lets see if we can get up to 6 teams for each region. North East -Dodgy North West South East -Marcus South West Midlands Central South -J M Russell (Jonathan)

The place I get my tyres from, who is very competitive on price, gives a 12 month warranty on all tyres and if you have a non-repairable puncture you get a new tyre and just pay for the percentage of tyre used on the old tyre. It was good news for me a couple of months ago when I had a screw in mine!

The only firm I've ever used in this sort of area in Manches who have offices in London and Oxford. My contact in the firm is a Rob Jonkheer based in Oxford - 01865-813608. He could tell you who would be best to advise on this sort of matter (my clients who've used them on these sort of areas have always spoken highly of them). If you do want to call him feel free to say I recommended them (Jonathan Russell of Critchleys).

Isn't anyone interested in a bit of fun - and golf?

Underr new rules most tyre companies will not repair tyres with screws/nails etc if they are within 1/3 of the tread width near the edge. They agree that they are technically repairable but becuase the chance of failure is higher as you get nearer the edge they now generally will not do it.

Thanks for all the feed back - I'll be back on the D8Z's if i can track them down again but the michelins and yokoholmas sound good alternatives.

I've always stuck with the Dunlop SP Sport D8Z tyres which were specifically designed for the LS400 - no problems with them and car is as quiet as only an LS can be but of late they have got harder to get hold of (getting close to impossible though Dunlop do say they are still making them) and recommend the New SP Sport 01. Having just changed to these they are much noisier and do tramline a bit more (they've got an assymetric tread as opposed to the linear tread). What other tyres have people tried and in particular what have they found re noise. With the old D8Z's you didn't get tyre noise at all now with the 01's always a bit of a rumble and a real roar on some surfaces (well by LS standards).

No problems at all of note with mone except for sagging drivers seat (redone under warranty) but that is due to, might I suggest, LS drivers being larger than the average and sagging rear springs (again replaced under warranty). And just to increase that smile even more I did a run earlier this week from home near Oxford to Great Barr in Birmingham, down to Kettering across to Cambridge and back home again a distance of about 310 miles and got 32.6mpg YES it's a 3 at the start!!! and no I wasn't pussy footing around and I came back cross country from Cambridge not round the motorways.

I looked into tow bars a couple of years ago and was quoted £1500 inc oil cooler etc. I only tow occasionally and when I do it's something heavy - horse box, stock trailer or big display unit. On basis tow bars tend to devalue the car as well I just paid £1800 for a 10 year old Range Rover - and I don't minf throwing building rubbish etc in the back either. No good if you are a caravanner or want to travel in Lexus comfort but if like me you only tow as a work horse. The Range Rover has aloso replaced my old tractor to pull gang mowers and chain harrows round the paddocks!

Mine's a 1998 with TC and snow setting etc. It's useless in the snow. Even on the level getting moving is almost impossible. Once moving it's ok but stopping and corners are a problem. It took me 3 and half hours to do 20 miles from Oxford home last night. Went out this morning to go to work and could even get the car to move at all. Out with the trusty old Range Rover - no problem..

Depends what you want it for. I now use a blackberry but the most important thing for me is constant contact with my exchange server so I've got live access to my diary and emails. Yes contacts and everything like taht are there but it is a device designed for the single function. Phone function is not good as no car kit (due in February) and no bluetooth. Been using it for about 18 months now.

I've recently tried the new BP Optima fuel in my LS. Garage (BP) told me they were getting good reports on increased fuel economy - it costs approx 5p a litre more than standard unleaded. I thought therefore worth it if I get better economy - again questioned whether it needed car to be modified to take advantage of it (problem with shell optimax) but was assured it was designed to take advantage of standard settings. The result was conclusive (well over one tank?) fuel economy over last 2 months 24.6mpg fuel economy on tank of optima 24.5mpg. I might give it one more chance but I'll need more convincing!!! Has anyone else tried it.

Moving short distances and stopping can be a priblem not just on a Lexus. The RAC say that one of their commonest call outs is to people who have taken their cars out of the garage to clean and then can not restart to put away again. The reason is modern cold start systems - essentially if you shut off too soon there's loads of unburnt fuel left in the engine and essentially it is floaded - leave the car half an hour or so and they're usually OK. The other common problem is trying to restart very shortly after a long run with a hot engine. Less of a problem on todays cars but earlier fuel injection cars used to suffer from vapourisation in the fuel lines and hence an 'air' lock.

If I can be of any help with any things financial let me know - no charge. I'm only down the road in Oxfordshire.

I had the same recurring problem with my 98 LS400. Had a new battery fitted and still the same problem. It seems that something can drain the battery but no one seems to know what it is. There are however 2 batteries that fit the LS one being much high capacity than the other. Changed to bigger battery and since then no problems.

I had problems with my system 'freezing'. Basically not working when starting the car. Never found what the probelm was but do have a theory. I was having problems with my battery and replaced it with a new battery. The problem on the Sat Nav got worse and I was intermittently getting flat batteries for now apparent reason. I suggested I had got a duff battery and dealer swapped it for another new one (But Higher rating) since then I've never had a problem. I suggested that the Sat Nav problem might be due to the voltage dropping and dealer was going to ask technical - needless to say we never got an answer but I still think the system must be very voltage sensitive. Try doing a drop test on your battery.

If you run a Lexus out of your own pocket then joining Gold is a no brainer. Bought my LS two years ago and found out about the club about 4/5 months later. Joined Gold almost immediately as £25 is nothing to support the club and as an Accountant I like discounts. My car has no modifications and is unlikely to have any but I do have services and other normal running costs. Even one basic service a year will win back £25 but in the last 12 months I've had my 63K service with plugs and cam belt and just had 72K service including new front discs and pads all round. Those two services alone was a saving of nearly £400! Best of all was the extended warranty. Mine came up for renewal before LOC had finished negotiations and I renewed. Imagine my surprise and shock when the my dealer sent me a cheque for the discount a couple of months later because the club had subsequently negotiated a discount. If the dealers like the club that much and you own a Lexus you must go gold.

Loz hits a mean 7 wood on the fairway. It was a good round for both of us and very level. Fortunately very little rough becuase of the dry weather otherwise it might have been a different story. The motor bikes are Metisse.

I read that two children were run over and killed on driveways in Britain on Friday. One was run over by a Lexus. My comiserations go to all involved and especially to the Lexus owner if a member of our club. Please everyone remember to check for children when moving cars on drives

If you decided to buy one of the original limited edition yellow IS here's some good news. They are even more exclusive. As you know they only make 53. Oxford Lexus put their's on as a demonstrator - some one took it on a test drive and totalled it so now there's only 52!