will_uk

Now sold! To a genuine buyer, and a member of LOC! Cheers, Will :)

Stick it on ebay with some photos. Should get some good interest. Cheers, Will

Re-listed due to a timewaster with champagne eyes and lemonade pockets! The cheque he left as a deposit bounced! Hoping for a hassle free sale this time! :) Lexus LS400 Cheers, Will

Hi Maneesh, Thanks for the interest etc. The main reason that I sold the LS400 was due to lack of use. In the 6 months or so that I had owned the car, it had only covered ~ 1500 miles! Due to work commitments, I am now using a company car, and the Lexus only got used about every other week! It was an amazing car. I have never bought or sold a car in my life that was in as good condition as the LS, even my current Merc. It had absolutely no faults whatsoever, and put many 2 or 3 year old cars to shame, both cosmetically and mechanically. Anyway - shock, horror, I now have a C230 Kompressor Sport, in black, with black leather, heated seats, air con etc etc. I know it is a different class of car, but for the miles that I am doing it is more than adequate! If I was ever to offer any advice to future/prospective LS400 owners, it would be the following Don't go for the cheap ones! Although there are the typical rumours that these cars can go on forever, and are 'Toyotas', therefore are reliable and are cheap to maintain, then think again! Buy the lowest-mileage, best-maintained example that you can, and get a decent service history. Check all the usual weak areas (air con, LCD displays, needles in instument cluster etc etc), and reject any examples with faults. The reason that I say this is because the good examples don't cost that much more than the tatty ones, and will cost you much less to maintain in the long run. After all, a car that originally cost £40-50K new is made up of parts that cost at least that much, even if it is only £2000 to buy ;) Choose carefully, and happy motoring. Signing off, Cheers, Will :)

Thanks for all the help/comments/advice etc guys, but I have now sold the car for a price that both I (and the new owner-to-be) are very happy with! :) A retired ex-Toyota mechanic came and looked at it (the first person to view the car!). He was full of expletives, and could not believe that it was 10 years old. If I am honest, I think that I will miss the car. It is without a doubt the cleanest, most reliable and best condition car I have ever owned. But as with most things in life, you have to move on. I now have more time and effort to put into finishing off the few jobs I want to do on the Merc! So, the LS400 chapter in my life is now over - but not forgotten. Maybe I will be back again someday!? Best wishes to all here for the future. Cheers, Will

Hi Bison, I am sure that you can buy a surround for the earlier Series I/II models from the US (about $30/£15 IIRC). Have a look on ebay etc, or try some US stereo shops. Alternatively, a decent car audio shop here in the UK would be able to make one up for you and trim it to match the interior out of MDF/Steel and leather etc. HTH, Cheers, Will

Well spotted everyone - that is my car! :o It really is a top car, and is every bit as clean as it looks!!! If anyone wants to ask any details, please use the 'ask seller a question' link provided in the auction! Cheers, Will

I don't know if anybody saw the post I placed last night in which I was speculating (and not actually advertising) me departing company with my LS400? I was only asking for opinions and advice, and have not even decided to sell as of yet! I have not published any contact information whatsoever I have just logged on this morning, and my post has disappeared! Can anybody please enlighten me? I have not received any notice or messages by way of either a reply to the thread, PM or email? I have re-read the forum "terms and conditions" and am not aware of any contravention that I have made? Anybody know something that I don't?

Hi Maneesh, I have been enjoying the lovely cold air in my '94 LS400, set at 20c with an outside temperature reading in the 30s, it is cool B). :P (Sorry, couldn't resist that!) Anyway, regarding your problem - a couple of questions: Has the air-con always worked in the past How often do you use it? Does it get used in the winter? Have you had it "re-gassed" before? The reason I ask is that an air-con system is a sealed, high pressure system. They should be air tight, and should never need re-gassing unless you have a leak. The trouble is these days, so many people re-charge air con systems without finding the fault first (small garages etc) If the fault with your system turns out to be that it is "low on gas", try and find a reputable AC specialist that will not just fill it with gas so that it works for a few weeks/months. A competent place will diagnose the system properly, and repair the leak before re-charging. Will save you time, money and hassle in the long run :) I hope it goes ok for you, Will

I know what you are saying colin, but I think Chips has got a point. It is, as you say, a Toyota. So why should 1 member of staff, who probably gets paid the same to work on either car, which costs the dealership the same amount per hour, charge significantly more for his time? I know there is this pricing of products and services to a certain market idea, but I doubt that the Japanese have to put up with paying this much, or double the price of the other Toyota models (after all, they are not so snobbish as us to call their cars "Lexus"!!!) The way I see it, the dealerships could end up shooting themselves in the foot. After all, today's secondhand Lexus owner could be tomorrow's new Lexus purchaser, and they still carry the brand on their car. It makes commercial sense to keep them happy, just as a new car owner needs to be. More cars are probably sold on recommendation, and word of mouth reviews than on dealership advertisements. If you were impressed with your current car, in terms of the car itself, and the support from the people that make/service it, you would be much more likely to spend your money with that brand again, rather than straying elsewhere. This can only mean good business, and more profits/market share for the manufacturer. As I see it, the word all round seems to be that Lexus have good customer satisfacton. As the brand matures, to keep up this standard they should start looking at offering certain concessions for older vehicles. Perhaps a discount on parts, and/or labour for vehicles over a certain age (I know of other prestige brands who do this!) Not having a moan, just trying to speculate! Cheers, William

I'd seriously look at getting an LPG conversion with that sort of mileage on the horizon. If you keep the car a couple of years it is bound to pay for itself in the long run! I am guessing with driving a couple of hundred miles a day you are going to be doing a lot of motorway work? The LS400 should take that nicely on the chin, especially as you sound like you intend on looking after it! On LPG I reckon you will be looking at equivalent MPG of 40 odd! Sounds good to me for a luxury car! Good Luck, Will

I have got original Lexus 17" wheels on my car. They were apparantly an option on the GS300 and LS400 (I still have the original Lexus fitment sheets for the rims!) They are manufactured by OZ (a very good quality alloy wheel manufacturer) on behalf of Lexus. They are 8J wide (8") and I have got details of the offset on the sheet at home. Like most people with older japanese alloy wheels my original wheel were starting to look tatty, due to corrosion. These wheels I have more faith in lasting, plus they make the car look a lot nicer (in my opinion). They are of a six-spoke design, with a fairly flat face and suit this type of car well. I managed to buy all four wheels, brand new and boxed, with twenty brand new lexus wheel bolts and four Lexus centre caps for £400. Apparantly they are a fortune to buy from the dealerships, so I think it pays to keep an eye out on places like ebay (where I got mine from). If you think you are going to save money by changing to a 17" rim, then think again! I was getting quotes of £800+ for a set of four tyres for these wheels, but after several days (and I do mean days!) I managed to get a set of four Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD-3 225/55/17s, (Extra Load type) for £540 fitted, balanced/valves etc. It definately pays to shop around. Shortly afterwards I have managed to pick up another identical brand new rim, boxed etc from the same place for about £80, so I now have a full set of 5x original Lexus wheels. So to cut a long story short, shop around! :) Cheers, Will

Being that your car is a 1992, it does not even need a cat (regarding regulations etc). I am not familiar with the process of having them removed on your car, but i'll bet that you can get it done a lot cheaper than £1,500! Good Luck, William

HT Leads = Plug wires, as you call them! Regarding your temperature sensor being faulty - It could think that the engine is always cold, hence running with an enriched mixture? Could be worth checking?!? Cheers, Will

LS400 front caliper