FQ369

So I have been toying with the idea of allowing the silky smooth V8 to be heard more, but it almost feels criminal to be installing a louder exhaust or even remove the rear silencers when you see how much engineering Lexus has actually done to make this motor as quiet as it is. And then I stumbled upon these things on ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-5-63mm-Electric-Remote-Control-Exhaust-System-Muffler-Valve-E-Cut-Out-Kits/323757660397?hash=item4b6175d8ed:g:ycMAAOSwsixcnfIA So if this works as it says on the tin, this allows me to keep the superb waftability intact and switch to car meet exit mode at the press of a button. Obviously, I have many questions. First and foremost, is this too good to be true? Has anyone else here had any experience with these things? The paranoid side of me is saying that these things will never seal properly, the pipes will rot away in a year, but the actuator will break in six months that's if the wiring will make it beyond two weeks without shorting/frying. I guess I'm just a pessimist in dire need of some encouragement. HELP 🤔

Haha, I was only joking about that ☺️ Little update: Went in to Lexus Coventry to try and make some sense of the daft answers I've had from them on the phone so far. Spoke to a very nice chap called Tom, who agreed with what I was saying about not charging me labour twice. We've agreed at £395+65, so I'll be getting timing belt + water pump done on Tuesday. They will advise me at the time in terms of the current health of tensioners and pulleys (they are dear though!) Hope this helps everyone.

Thanks everyone. I've always felt it's best to go to someone who has plenty of experience doing the exact same job. I know your average indy does timing belts all the time, but all cars are slightly different and come with their own idiosyncrasies in terms of process and design. If there is a recommended specialist who knows our cars, I'd love to hear about it; as closer to the West Midlands as possible please. Also please let me know if there's a recommended kit that's genuine/genuine quality in terms of parts. @cruisermark, I've read those £295+100 reports as well, and made sense logically. I'm sure there are dealers out there who practice this common sense, or maybe it's just a matter of speaking to the right person in the shop. As Rich above pointed out, £35 additional to throw on a new timing belt when the pump was being done. Have to say though, at £295, I'm quite tempted to just have the belt done and forget about it 😆

Hi all, This being my first post, here's a quick introduction to myself and my car. I have a '99 MK4 LS400 in Atlantis Blue Mica that I bought in March this year and I love it to bits. Growing up in Dubai where they were ultra popular bad-***** cars, I'd always lusted after one and now I've already put over 10000 miles on mine. 😄 Now I know timing belts have been discussed here quite a few times, but I thought it may help to bring some up to date information to help everyone and also share with you something strange I've found. I rang Lexus Coventry today (Listers) to enquire about a timing belt and water pump change. I was told by the service sales rep that these repairs come under "Lexus Fixed Price Scheme" and the timing belt change costs £295 (sounded very reasonable) and the water pump change costs £395. Now I assumed the £395 would include both timing belt + water pump, but I was clearly advised this WASN'T the case. To me it made perfect sense that having the water pump replaced whilst you're already having a timing belt job done would cost an extra £100, since 95% of the labour work is already done. This is pretty much standard practice with most workshops and also aligns with some older posts I've read here on this forum. I expressed my dissatisfaction and spoke to somebody in the parts department to see if there's a change in opinion, but was given the same story, "These are the rates from the Fixed Price Scheme and they are treated as two separate jobs". Basically, computer says no; common sense mustn't prevail. I've since done some searching on the interweb and found this on another Lexus Dealership website: It sounds completely ludicrous that Lexus would expect us to pay an extra £395 for an additional 0.5 hours of labour (if that!). If I opted for the water pump replacement as listed in the image above, would it really not include timing belt replacement? Have I just been unlucky and only spoken to monkeys on the phone? Is it worth going down there and speaking to them in person? Would love to hear if anyone has had a similar experience or know more about this. Feel free to let me know if I'm being daft here and if you have any other ideas 🙂 Many thanks, FQ369