JellyBean

There is either something wrong with your odometer or your arithmetic.

Trust Lexus to come up with something much classier than blacked-out windows.

But don't you find that they obscure your rearward vision a tad ?

First ever thing I bought my Mk 3 was a set of the proper Lexus floor mats. At £170 it is still the largest single expense on the car after five years. The same week I bought them, I bought a set of genuine VW mats for my wife's golf. They cost less than 10% of the LS ones. Grrrr.

From a Panda to an LS ? Must be some sort of record. The cars look great, but someone must have an awful lot of free time.

Is the handling noticeably better ?

Don't you mean strut braces ?

60,000 miles at - say - 22mpg... Don't even think about it !

Inded, I second that heartily. Mine were £80 a corner.

This would also be my best guess.

Never heard that one before. Are you really Usain Bolt ?

How do you remove the barnacles ?

Looks really good apart from the spivvy wheels. (Well, you did ask !)

Blimey, if you have to ask the price of an MOT, perhaps a 1.8 tonne, 4 litre, 32-valve V8 is not for you...

It gives me a lot of pleasure to see, yet again, that in these straitened times people are taking advantage of the low purchases price of these wonderful cars. With all costs taken into account, they cost less to run than some brand new 4-cylinder tin box (probably diseasal). What would we rather drive - a luxury car or a motorised bedpan ? I wonder if anyone has done a loyalty calculation on Lexus owners. SAAB used to have one of the best ratings but alas, I think they have had it. Modman, you are now hooked !

Blimey, that's a bit much. More like 1.8 tonnes.

And I cannot locate my Long Thin Button anymore. Always so handy when suddenly needing to squeeze through somewhere when you cannot stop in time. Anyone know where it has gone ?

What ? I love my LS so much that sometimes, when nobody is looking, I give it a kiss.

You are preaching to the converted, old bean. Why not post something saying that the LS is the noisiest, most unreliable, poorly made old heap you have ever owned - and then see how many replies you get ! I have a pal with a Jaguar and he loved to ring/email, to tell me about how he fixed the latest problem (he was merely 'firefighting'). He doesn't anymore, because I have become so unsympathtic.

Remember that a coil spring is a curled up torsion bar and if you (effectively) shorten them, they will automatically be stiffer. If you think a Mark 3 handles like a bowl of soup, you should try a Mark 1 or 2. Get young Skelton to send you his Setright Car article on the suspension upgrades between the Mark 2 & 3. Masses of work was done and it might help you to forgive your Mark 3 a little !

Never seen a family feud on-line before. Wot fun !

Just my two penneyworth, but it generally true that it can often be cheaper in the long run to (in the case of an LS400) buy a 1996-onwards car for around £2,500-£3,000 (say) than to go for a rather earlier one because it seems a bargain at around £1,000. The price of parts alone could easily eat up the money 'saved'.

Interesting post. Another Lexus Main Dealer told me I needed £910-worth of work on my suspension. It has passed three MOTs since then, with no suspension work of any kind. - Horse traders ? I had a strong and rather irresponsible desire for the original S600 2-door. Even obtained various brochures on ebay, I was so smitten. But the prices hadn't dropped enough at the time when my Golf Git was too knackered for another MOT. Glad I didn't get this big Merc, then, after reading your entry. Oh yes, and fuel aside, my LS is proving cheaper to run than the Golf ! Haven't driven my Cream on Wheels since last Friday and I am having slight withdrawal symptoms...

Five years ago, my old Golf GTi was pretty well worn out and I decided I wanted a VR6 Golf with auto. Quite rare, but scanning Autotrader one evening I spotted one at a garage a mere seven miles from home. Off I went with my wife. As we turned into the forecourt, she said "What colour do you want it to be?". - "Don't mind at all as long as it's not whiiiiiii." It was white and had a tow-bar. Goodbye. Next, I spotted one in Southend (I live in North Norfolk, so a fair journey). Off with the Mrs, in her car. VR6 was in a showroom and had polished to within an inch of its life, including the seats by the smell of them. Mileometer read 69,000. There was an oil leak at rear of engine. The handbook in the glovebox looked as if every mechanic in England had thumbed through it. Twice. The brake pedal rubber was worn through. Best of all, there was a deep gouge right across both doors on one side. Owner of showroom was chatting to a punter and I noticed he said "To be honest with you" at the beginning of every sentence. When he came over, I pointed out the gouge. "To be honest with you, I had never noticed it" said Dimmo, adding "It's only just come in and we haven't even valeted it yet." Goodbye. A week later, I spotted one in Leicester. Bloke on phone assured me it was immaculate and that all paperwork was in order. Got tolerant wife out of bed at 6:00am and we drove in her car to Leicester, arriving as geezer was unlocking. Car was tired, and had a 'We like surfing' sticker still on the back window. Not confidence-inspiring, as regards previous owner perhaps. "May I look at the paperwork?" sez I. - "Oh, we had a break in and it's all been stolen." WOT, SINCE I RANG LAST NIGHT??? I was so angry at this point I considered punching him (absurd, as the last person I punched was my older brother, about 45 years ago). I decide to ask for a road test, just to inconvenience him. Blimey, you had to haul on the steering wheel to stop the car turning left. And going around a roundabout was really an effort, to stop the thing darting off to the side. Goodbye. Now here comes the punchline (for those of you who are still reading)... Slap bang next door to this crook's car-lot was Lexus Leicester and as it was raining, I said "Let's go in and we might get a cup of coffee". We did and I bought the LS I have now. Ha-ha.

You dunno how many holes it had ! Been leaking for nearly 20 years. Mind you, one quote was for £6.5k. Either the bloke didn't want the job, or he mistook me for the Duke of Westminster. (Well, he did spot the LS.)