Just Bought A Lexus Gs430!

[emcclariion]

I get 29 to 30 on the motorway at a steady 70ish, round town in the low 20's, A/C on or not.

I have had my GS 430 quite some years, so I thought I would talk about my issues.

All Gs430's of this age will have issues with the exhaust Y section, I bet your has been patched up have a look what has been done, I converted a stainless Steel Sierra XR4x4 one, also the join flange from the CATS to the Y section rust through and blow.

I had a rare issue for LEXUS but common for Toyota, my sump started rusting though behind the Cross member, so it had to be replaced.

The AC condenser breaks down it does not leak, have a look.

There is a electronic/Valve on the 3UZ which controls the flap in the intake manifold which fails, it will not effect fuel consumption or emissions, you will just drop a little power at peak revs and you will get a engine light, this will not fail a MOT. I finally changed mine, but you have to take the intake manifold off, which is a pain.

and the thermostat half fails, it does not fully open.

Other than that disk and pads etc.

One more thing parts which are specific to the GS430 are tricky to find in the UK and LEXUS will abuse your wallet:

For non-Lexus manufactured parts: www,rockauto.com, they send to UK and it is quick, I ordered rear brake hardware kit on the Wednesday and the Parts arrived the following Tuesday. Lexus charged £45 plus VAT for the part, rockauto charged £3.78, plus 8.45 shipping.

For Lexus only parts go onto www.ebay.com, lots of the Lexus dealers sell on there and eBay will automatically sort the shipping and import duty, New sump for my car from UK LEXUS £250 plus VAT, new sump from LEXUS US £160 with shipping and import duty.

[noby76]

How did you manage that!?! Was it on motorway or going downhill lol!!! My current average seems to be staying around the 23-24mpg mark.

no lol 430 operates at its most efficient when cruising at exactly 70mph any less or any more and its inefficient. i had recently changed my oil that week if that contributed to it i dont know but I am now averaging 26mpg. 5 miles town and 20 miles motorway. which still betters 23mpg quoted in the book so am still happy :-)

[dave1]

How did you manage that!?! Was it on motorway or going downhill lol!!! My current average seems to be staying around the 23-24mpg mark.

no lol 430 operates at its most efficient when cruising at exactly 70mph any less or any more and its inefficient.

Info based on ??????. Having owned my GS430 for over 7 years I can say with certainty that this is incorrect.

[noby76]

i extract more when cruisng at exactly 70mph anything less or more then i notice it starts dropping slightly.

[dave1]

To state that the GS430 is inefficient at any other speed than exactly 70mph is totally incorrect. Are you basing speed on speedo reading or sat nav? speedo will be slightly out and satnav cannot allow for inclines when calculating speed. Type of road will also affect consumption.

[ColinBarber]

The GS should be much more efficient at 50 mph compared to 70 mph.

[noby76]

To state that the GS430 is inefficient at any other speed than exactly 70mph is totally incorrect. Are you basing speed on speedo reading or sat nav? speedo will be slightly out and satnav cannot allow for inclines when calculating speed. Type of road will also affect consumption.

This was based on my experience but i might be wrong. my average mpg of 29mpg a few posts above was achieved with tyres inflated at about 36psi front and 35psi rear and going by my speedo reading of 70mph at roughly 20 miles motorway which was not travelling downhill.

[mrdoofa]

I didn't think of slightly over inflating the tyres, I think mine are at about 33psi. Does it make much difference?

[dave1]

I didn't think of slightly over inflating the tyres, I think mine are at about 33psi. Does it make much difference?

I didn't think of slightly over inflating the tyres, I think mine are at about 33psi. Does it make much difference?

Depends on what wheels you are on. Never a good idea to run over/under inflated on a regular basis but if you are on 18" wheels then 35/36 psi is not over inflated. Manufacturers of both cars & tyres give recommended pressures for a reason. It is not just about fuel consumption but also handling, braking and tyre wear. Get extra mpg but lose stability and replace tyres faster? My advise is to use recommended settings.

[noby76]

36/35 psi is still not over inflated on standard 17" inch tyres. these can be safely run upto 38 psi which is recommended in the owners manual

[dave1]

38 psi is recommended if up to 4 passengers at speeds in excess of 130 mph!!!!!

For speeds up to 100 mph with up to 4 passengers the recommended pressures are 33 psi front and rear.

If you want to go to extremes then why not inflate to 41 psi front and 49 psi rear in accordance with handbook recommendation for loaded to vehicle capacity at speeds in excess of 130 mph?

For "normal" driving in UK with up to 4 passengers I see no reason to exceed the 33 psi recommended but that is purely my opinion based on the research which Lexus have previously done.