MLW

You can check it was replaced in about 3 mins by pulling it out from behind the glove box. On my old Prius, Toyota said it needed replacing at about £47. Are you sure I said. Oh yes, our 'technician' has checked it. Oh, I said, that's odd as I replaced it yesterday with a new Bosch one! (£13). We checked it and I showed him it was pure white. Some apologies, but that is why at a main dealer you are always nervous.

I put in ASDA, Salisbury's, Tesco's, plus other stuff and have done for 40 years. No problems. I put a pot of Red-X fuel cleaner in when it is £2 at ASDA and it is fine.

My LS 430 at 70,000 miles needed a oxygen lambda sensor at £295 supplied and fitted. It also needed petrol, and some new tyres after 44,000 miles of me driving it. My previous Toyota Prius need a headlight bulb and a side light bulb after 70,000 miles. There is a serious point here. Are we 'old', 1995-2005 drivers going through a 'golden' period when stuff was well made and very little plastic used. I fear a new Lexus LS is a shadow of the past.

A spark plug that lasts 60,000 miles or more is amazing to us 'older gentlemen' who changed every 10,000 miles and cleaned and gaped ever 5,000 miles just 30 years ago.

Having done this job, I agree. Only fit iridium plugs. It is such a faff to do, once in 6 years is more than enough. Anyway, iridium plugs give such better performance. If they only give a 2-3% improvement in mpg, that is a lot of fuel in 6 years.

They look a mess. But that is the past. We need to look to the future. I changed mine at 60,000 miles as they should be. ONLY buy Denso iridium plugs. Opie oils do genuine (be careful on Ebay) ones for about £58 for 8. I was so worried about cross threading and torque specs I bought a low torque wrench. Being very thorougher, it took me just under 2 hours to do all 8 plugs. Would have been 15 minutes on a Mercedes W124. This is a difficult but rewarding job you do every 6 years. DO NOT snap off any of the small soft wires.

From whom and how much?

Easy job to do, takes about 7-10 minutes in total.

Gave them a ring. Very good service and high level of cover but 33% higher quote.

A financial organisation looking after customers????? Actually, my new quote is 3.78% more! I am going to call them and say as the car will not have moved for 8 weeks, I want a reduction.

Japanese manufactures seem to use the 'strap down' method which is good if both rods are open and exposed and you can see where they hook in. Here it was about a 4 mm slot, buried way down in a crowded battery tray. Mercedes seem to use a 13 mm clamp bolt at the bottom which is far easier and very solid. Took me over an hour to lock this 430 down.

UPDATE. New Yuasa battery from Halfords now in. I went for the biggest 5 year battery I could get. £98 minus 10% from a Shell Go+ voucher that gives 10% off till the end of October, which Halfords accepted. So £88.20p. https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batteries/car-batteries/yuasa-hsb030-silver-12v-car-battery-5-year-guarantee-257748.html I asked Lexus by email for a price but nothing forthcoming. These batteries are tricky to fit as the two clamps keep slipping down or popping out. Plus this battery has the positive and negative at the back near the windscreen, not at the front. Bit of a squeeze re-positioning the positive clamp. The negative is easier. Instantly all went back to normal. Ignition lock was simple and easy to disengage, as usual. No forcing it all. All the lights on the dash lit up, and the steering wheel moved out and down as normal. Interior light very bright. Lots of pumps and motors whirling but then all bog standard normal. It reconfirms my experience that modern cars must have a good strong 12 volts. Anything less and it all goes iffy. I charged the new 75 ah battery and it took about 15-12 amps till my trickle charger said full. The old battery read 5.5 volts, so that is well knackered, which in a way was reassuring. It was never really a 'strong' battery, or maybe this car is so demanding. I will charge it and see how long it takes to discharge off the car. I have switched off the smart system which I don't like anyway.

I thought that, but as a car gets older, it must pass more gunge back into the inlet manifold. I think I'll clean it as see how bad it is. I am always jealous of American companies like Rock Auto. Genuine parts so cheap. Its a pity import duties make it all so expensive.

How much was a new one. Is it a Lexus only part? Is the inside basically a ball bearing that blocks a hole one way, and allows gases to flow the other way?

That is very true. On my old Prius when the 12v battery was failing, the dash lights were all over the show. The alarm went of by itself. The wipers went wacky. New battery = all went back to normal. FIAT Pandas can even have the electric steering rack go crazy. Modern cars are very iffy on a failing battery.