Cheap LS460, the fun starts...

[Haylands]

Been looking for a few weeks now, I have been trying to get a cheap LS460 but it had to have the right spec and colour combo, they were either the right spec and wrong colour, right colour and wrong spec, or mostly far too much money... then I saw one on an open auction on eBay and this picture looked promising...

A poor picture but there is definitely a button on the steering wheel where the SE-L has the laser cruise and Lane assist, but this just looks like one button, it also has the rare heated steering wheel which I would really miss having come from a Range Rover....

Then this pic nearly sent me over the edge...

Crappy picture but there is certainly NO sunroof, I hate sunroofs, never used them and being 6'5" all they do is rob headroom... 

So off I trotted to see it several days ago and it just got better and better, the steering wheel button was indeed laser cruise but no Lane assist, I love laser cruise and drive everywhere on it, really great on busy motorways... lane assist, not so much, it's too touchy... also, as seen, no sunroof, also no rear drop down screen and no all singing and dancing massage seats, just heated rear seats and a rear blind, the kids left home some time ago so all that stuff is just more to go wrong...

It has the Mark Levinson system, auto lights/wipers, soft close doors, navigation,smart entry and start, electric boot etc etc.. but isn't an SE or SE-L.

The clue was in the registration number, it turns out it had come from Southern Ireland, it had been imported into Northern Ireland in 2014 and has had three MOT's here, it was done properly and a MPH speedo was fitted. It has been registered to a leasing company since import.

It is showing 112,000 miles but came with no history, it was being sold as a trade sale by a dealer who took it and another similar one in part ex from the leasing company.

I took it for a drive and it drives fine apart from a floppy front end, I imagine a few wishbones have seen better days and possibly a wheel bearing is on it's way out as well, everything seems to work OK, it has no warning lights on or fault codes.

It is in one of my favorite colours, Smokey Granite Mica (1G0) with Ivory (LA01) leather, the outside needs some paintwork, nothing terrible, just a few small areas including a rusty rear arch where it has been scratched... The dealer has just had the wheels stripped and powdercoated in smoke chrome, it needs three tyres. The leather is in overall good condition just a few small blemishes to sort. Needs some nicer mats....

I decided what it was worth to me and set up a snipe bid in the last 5 seconds and won it for £5,600 a few hundred less than my top bid.

It has obviously been serviced, the engine oil is newish, and apart from the issues at the front it runs like a swiss watch, I will endeavour to locate the history for it...

What it's worth is debatable as there is no direct UK spec but similar mileage and age 460's in base spec are going for £8K to £10K and some up to £12k but that's a bit optimistic.. 

The next couple of weeks will see it sorted from bumper to bumper along with a 120,000mile full service, it will visit the paint shop and get a set of 4 new tyres and then be a fully sorted 460...

Buying without a history obviously affects the price but I doubt for one minute that a leasing company didn't have the thing serviced, it's not good business to have your stock breaking down...

I'll post the whole process, warts and all.....

We have just got back from picking it up, the guy even gave me back £50 for the petrol to get home, a nice touch, it cruised the 140 miles with the cruise set at 65 to look after the front end.

Tomorrow it will get a good clean and the bodywork and interior will be appraised.

Monday it will be on a ramp and have the mechanics assessed, the MOT runs out in 6 weeks so all items will be checked...

All in all I'm a very happy bunny, it's lovely to get back into a Lexus, my last one I had to sell for medical reasons....

This is one of the many things I love about Lexus...

The gearstick, cupholders and radio volume knob have been swapped over from the LHD setup that every other manufacturer, irrespective of price, dumps on RHD cars.... Class...

Thanks

 

 

[Spacewagon52]

£5600, Worth a punt! Keep us posted on how it performs - particularly reliability. 

[Malc]

ex-leasing company should be good, unless maybe it's a snatchback for non payment, non servicing etc 

But hey, I guess it will be a bit of a " steal " even if it needs lots of front end stuff doing, cambelt change and a service and new tyres all round.

These cars cost a fortune in Eire road tax duty I understand and after a few years do collapse in value but here in the mainland UK you could have a really good deal.

Malc

[Chasdad]

Looks nice. I dint think id have the guts to buy something as complicated as a project. Then again in still poncing about on mx5s. 

[madasahatter]

She looks a cracker there mate. Can not see how its not been looked after, looking at the interior. A quick look on gov.com reveals 3 mot passes.

If you look further you can get the history of the car.

[cruisermark]

Looks and sounds good - how does it compare to your 430?

[Haylands]

15 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

£5600, Worth a punt! Keep us posted on how it performs - particularly reliability. 

Yeah, seemed worth a go...

3 hours ago, Malc said:

ex-leasing company should be good, unless maybe it's a snatchback for non payment, non servicing etc 

But hey, I guess it will be a bit of a " steal " even if it needs lots of front end stuff doing, cambelt change and a service and new tyres all round.

These cars cost a fortune in Eire road tax duty I understand and after a few years do collapse in value but here in the mainland UK you could have a really good deal.

Malc

Servicing just seems to be oil changes and lots of checks, with modern oil, I dare say it wouldn't make a massive difference if it had missed one, the oil in it now is fairly new.. I guessed it was the tax that sent it out of Eire, seen a few, mostly with KMH dashes for sale.. I'll find out tomorrow what the front needs... The 460's are on a cam chain so no worries there...

3 hours ago, Chasdad said:

Looks nice. I dint think id have the guts to buy something as complicated as a project. Then again in still poncing about on mx5s. 

These have been around 10 years now so there is a lot of information out there... hopefully be able to sort problems via Google...!!!!!!

3 hours ago, madasahatter said:

She looks a cracker there mate. Can not see how its not been looked after, looking at the interior. A quick look on gov.com reveals 3 mot passes.

If you look further you can get the history of the car.

Yep, I think it's been looked after but not loved too much, has the odd corner knocked off...!!! Number plates are from Lexus Manchester and it has a southern Eire garage sticker in the rear window so I may be able to find something....

2 hours ago, cruisermark said:

Looks and sounds good - how does it compare to your 430?

Very similar, you can tell they come from the same place, you sit lower in the 460... from what I can remember it's about the same, NVH is just about non existence... You do notice the difference when you bury your foot in the carpet though, I did a couple of flat out runs on the test drive to see if it would blow up..!! It spins the rear wheels, the traction kicks in and it flies, you can tell it has another 100bhp over the 430 but to be fare the 430's are so good it's hard to get better....

If you like using cruise the laser cruise is superb, it picks up a car in front 400 feet away, if it's going much slower than you it backs off earlier, it's all very smooth and progressive, if someone feeds you a slow lorry it slows to it's speed, as the car passes you pull out and it realises that the car that passed you is going faster than you so it picks the speed up straight away and takes you back to the set speed... all very relaxing on the motorway....

 

Given it a wash this morning to establish the condition of the bodywork, it has been parked near a railway for some time as the paintwork feels like sandpaper, it has train brake dust etched into it, on the whole though it's in very good condition, there is a scratch on the rear arch that has gone rusty, slight damage to the rear bumper near the exhaust and a nasty chip on the passenger door, the front bumper has been well painted recently as it only has three stone chips I can see.. The switches on the center console are worn on the edges and my OCD won't like that...!!!

 

 

The wheels have been nicely refurbished in smoke chrome 

The spare indicates what they would have looked like... colour coded and scuffed..... nice...!!! NOT..

It either never had, or someone removed, the locking wheel nuts, that's saved me a few quid in new nuts as I always throw them away when I get a car, IMHO a total waste of time and just cost a fortune when some garage monkey overtightened them

The only other things of note I have found is that the trip computer display doesn't display a value for any of the values that rely on it knowing how much fuel has been used but does work on the time and mileage ones... also the gear selection display is always blank, maybe this is something to do with the new MPH dash... Or does anyone have any ideas...

The Battery retainer is not attached properly and is flapping about and most of the plastic clips that hold the under bonnet panels in place, are missing...

All in all well pleased with it, I'm looking forward to knocking it into shape...

[Normski]

Congratulations! The colour combo is fantastic. Really loving the wooden steering wheel too. I'm being tempted with the previous 430 so to see one of these is amazing!

I wonder how much a dash swap cost. Must have been HUGE money!

Keep us posted on the project...

[Haylands]

Thanks I do love the colour, I'll get some better pics up after it's been to the paint shop...

The dashes are about £500 second hand so yes, I guess it would cost a bit...

Just been looking on eBay and managed to get all 8 center console switches, which looked in mint condition, for £80 delivered.

I looked on lexuspartsnow.com and one heated seat switch is nearly $200, so I'm pleased with that....

[Scribe]

We look forward to your experience of the car.  Some of us may be following in your footsteps one day!

Sorry to be ignorant, but what's laser cruise?

[Haylands]

To save me typing a lot, see here... I've heard a lot of mixed things about it... I can confirm, it's superb...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_cruise_control_system

The Lexus laser is hidden in the front grille badge to keep the front looking clean....

[Tulpen]

Peter, welcome to LS 460 ownership. The more you drive it, the more you'll love it :)

BTW Malc, the 460 has a timing chain, not a belt.

[Spacewagon52]

No timing belt? That is another saving at the mileage you have bought it. Well done with the switches! I will be very interested on the reliability and running costs when you have sorted out the problems.

That is a cracking motor for the price. Keep us all informed.

[Malc]

.  ok, no timing belt just the chain  ...........  make sure that gets the appropriate attention too when needed ........  on most cars they really don't last forever you know and when they do go, or start to rattle etc  it's probably an enormous pain, more so than a belt.............  get some proper advice about it at 120k miles eh !

But hey, enjoy your new toy and good luck with it all 

Malc

[jonthetourist]

Congratulations Peter. You not only have a great-sounding vehicle, but the kind of project you thrive on!

My 430 with no sunroof came from Ireland too - I went to fetch it. Annual road tax of £1500 makes for eager sellers. As a fellow 6'5" sunroof hater can I have first option on upgrading to your car when you get tired of it? You can name your price - no haggling. I read your CL project when I had an SL so I have a feel for your work.

 

Enjoy!

 

[Haylands]

5 hours ago, Tulpen said:

Peter, welcome to LS 460 ownership. The more you drive it, the more you'll love it :)

BTW Malc, the 460 has a timing chain, not a belt.

Thank you Brian, I'm enjoying it so far, still trying to memorise the 596 page hand book, not forgetting the 216 page Navigation manual...!!!!

2 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

No timing belt? That is another saving at the mileage you have bought it. Well done with the switches! I will be very interested on the reliability and running costs when you have sorted out the problems.

That is a cracking motor for the price. Keep us all informed.

I will do...

51 minutes ago, Malc said:

.  ok, no timing belt just the chain  ...........  make sure that gets the appropriate attention too when needed ........  on most cars they really don't last forever you know and when they do go, or start to rattle etc  it's probably an enormous pain, more so than a belt.............  get some proper advice about it at 120k miles eh !

But hey, enjoy your new toy and good luck with it all 

Malc

Malc, it's whisper quiet at the moment, there is no servicing to do on them, they will stretch and the guides will wear but I would hope it has another few hundred thousand miles on it before that happens...

4 minutes ago, jonthetourist said:

Congratulations Peter. You not only have a great-sounding vehicle, but the kind of project you thrive on!

My 430 with no sunroof came from Ireland too - I went to fetch it. Annual road tax of £1500 makes for eager sellers. As a fellow 6'5" sunroof hater can I have first option on upgrading to your car when you get tired of it? You can name your price - no haggling. I read your CL project when I had an SL so I have a feel for your work.

 

Enjoy!

 

If/when I sell it I hope I remember to ask you first....

[jonthetourist]

If/when I sell it I hope I remember to ask you first....

 

Annual reminder set in Google Calendar - Message Haylands re LS460

 

;)

All day

Repeat: Annually on January 20Edit

All day

Repeat: Annually on January 20Edit

[SH20]

Welcome, while reading your history with the LS I thought it was me writing.   Looks like there is another OSD Lexus owner who takes a good car and then spends the next 6 months putting right every fault or blemish.  It becomes really bad or sad when chrome plating your locking wheel nuts becomes normal behaviour for example, something most owners would think too much and plain daft.

 

[Haylands]

Very nice, does the key still fit? I still maintain they are more trouble than they are worth though.......!!

[jonthetourist]

Forgot to say, if you know the original reg, you can get a history check on here http://www.motorcheck.ie/

One member car I looked at was registered as a hackney.

[SH20]

Yes, key still fits and works fine, no issues with the chrome breaking away when  the load is applied when removing the locking nut, this is simply down to the high quality of the chroming company I used. i was surprised to see no sun roof in your car as back in the day when it was built sun roofs were a standard feature but maybe Eire was the exception. Fitted a wood steering wheel myself because it makes such a difference to the interior, although I have no heating in mine as the car was not built with a wood leather wheel as original equipment.   Switch packs just transferred over.  Like the darker wood in your car.    I own a ex dealership selection kit for salesmen to show customers the trim choices which has no use other than it's nice to look at from time to time.  Did I say I was a bit anal about stuff?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[Haylands]

On 1/23/2017 at 0:23 AM, jonthetourist said:

Forgot to say, if you know the original reg, you can get a history check on here http://www.motorcheck.ie/

One member car I looked at was registered as a hackney.

No idea of it's old number unfortunately...

On 1/23/2017 at 11:13 AM, SH20 said:

Yes, key still fits and works fine, no issues with the chrome breaking away when  the load is applied when removing the locking nut, this is simply down to the high quality of the chroming company I used. i was surprised to see no sun roof in your car as back in the day when it was built sun roofs were a standard feature but maybe Eire was the exception. Fitted a wood steering wheel myself because it makes such a difference to the interior, although I have no heating in mine as the car was not built with a wood leather wheel as original equipment.   Switch packs just transferred over.  Like the darker wood in your car.    I own a ex dealership selection kit for salesmen to show customers the trim choices which has no use other than it's nice to look at from time to time.  Did I say I was a bit anal about stuff?

Yep, you sound about as anal as me.......

 

Onto this morning... was wondering if mine had the PCS (Pre-Crash-System) as it has the laser cruise, I did think about trying to run into the back of someone but thought it's probably not a good idea...!!!! Anyway, looking under the dash above the pedals reveals all....

The knob on the left is the volume control for the door open/lights on etc beep, the SET button is for the TPMS (Tyre-Pressure-Monitoring-System) and the pre crash off is to turn off the braking assistance in the event of an unavoidable accident, there are various levels of the PCS system, it appears mine is just for me crashing and not being rear ended as I don't have a rear sensor behind the bumper...

It was then time to get it on the 4 post ramp and check the front suspension and brakes all round... 

The front nearside lower arm ball joint boot is split..

The offside is misting but not failed yet...

All four upper arms are showing signs of bush deterioration.

All four discs are well worn with big lips, no misting or leaks from any calipers so that's good...

So the plan is to change the lot

New front discs and pads

New rear disc and pads

Four new upper arms

Two lower arms

Two lower control arms.

I can source ADL Bluespot brakes and PowerDrive (OEM manufacturer) arms for £698.31 for the lot.

We gave the rest of the underside a good look over and all appears to be well. Whilst I'm doing the above it will have new oil and filter, new spark plugs. I also plan to change the gearbox oil and filter and the rear axle oil, I shall change the brake fluid as well and drop the coolant and renew it. Air, fuel, aircon and seat filters will also be changed and it should then be good for a while...

Whilst I'm waiting for that lot to arrive I popped to the paintshop... they are having a quiet week... we had a good look at it under the sunlamp, it has had various panels painted before, nothing appears to be from serious damage, this and the few marks it has round it means both sides and the rear bumper will get repaired and painted.

They soon had it up and on the scissor lift

And 10 mins later the rear bumper is off...

It's lost a small piece of the polystyrene from the bumper support where it was hit by the tailpipe... The rear PCS sensor would be fitted in the bit of polystyrene that goes up in the middle, there is certainly nothing there so I just have the front system...

The damage to the bumper came out with some heatgun use...

The exhaust tips are fitted to the rear bumper, they don't actually touch the exhaust, they are fully stainless steel but were fitted on with mild steel bolts, these all snapped so I brought them home to drill and tap and give them a good clean up...

Sheared bolt...

They need a good clean up...

 

That's it for now, you will have to excuse me while I take these off the coffee table before I get told off..........!!!!

[ambermarine]

Great job Peter It is interesting to compare the retro steps that have been taken in manufacturing some of the parts that are fitted to the LS460 as against the original LS400.

The mild steel bolts that are in a real muck catching position, would it have been a fortune to fit a corrosion resisting metal bolt,

I have never had a ball joint gator fail on any of my LS one of which did 200k before I sold it.

Tell me is the exhaust system full stainless steel as it was on the LS400,

It also looks like the car as been worked hard if the discs are worn out, or again is it a poorer quality metal thats been used to save money.

My Mark 1 400 discs were changed at 150k but a lot of those miles were motorway.

It could be of interest finding out were this car lived (town or country)for analysis  on the wear.

Either way I think you have bought well and used a pragmatic approach to what will need doing. Good luck.

[Haylands]

Phil, yes it does seem balmy... the exhaust is stainless so hopefully will last...

The 460 weighs 1945kg the original 400 weighs 1700kg

The 460 has 390bhp the 400 has 240bhp, I don't think it is fair to compare them, they are two totally different animals, the 460, like most modern super saloons will be hard on brakes and suspension, the original 400 (which I absolutely love BTW) is far more a gentleman's carriage to waft about in than the 460. Rumor has it that Toyota didn't make any money on the original 400 so the accountants will always take over, it would be possible to make a car that lasted forever but then they wouldn't sell any after a while....!!!

I'm happy with the quality, it still far outweighs the competition even if it can't match the earlier cars..... 

[ambermarine]

Peter

The weight difference as you say is significant and will make a lot of difference as will the driver and passenger usage so comparisons are unequal.

In hindsight my logic on the bolt was misplaced as the only way it would have been needing replaced would have been in a replacement or repaired bumper in which case a new one would be required.

You are correct in your comment, the first ten years produced no profits on the LS ,but I suspect that was factored in to the cost of a successful entrance to the Luxury car market

I believe profits were made on the other Lexus models so Grandad paid the entrance fee, a bit like our house.