2 more potential LS430’s

[dendonc]

41 minutes ago, mrdoofa said:

my last LS430 went disastrously wrong!!!

What was wrong with it?

To add, I have had 3 LS400's & with all of them the seat heating did not work, on this one (2011 buy) the steering 'shifts' are a hit & miss on the 'in out' mode, but, for me, neither of those things are traumatic, heart breaking, emotional catastrophies which have LED to a string of endless private doctors visits and tranquillizer diets & ending up on the Jermeny Kyle couch............yet!

[mrdoofa]

Been in touch with the dealer, the electric steering adjust works!!! Had same owner for 10 years who did about 4,000 miles per year, cambelt done at 63,000 miles BUT all the service records have been lost, apparently the previous owner had his local garage do all servicing etc but even they have no record because they don’t keep a computerised database so the dealer said it’s difficult to find any record of service history for the car. That has cast a new light on things as I don’t think I’d be happy taking one of these on without any service history especially at the asking price. What are your thoughts?

[dendonc]

1 hour ago, mrdoofa said:

That has cast a new light on things as I don’t think I’d be happy taking one of these on without any service history especially at the asking price. What are your thoughts?

For me at any rate, I would not care about >written< service verification so long as it could be established that oil & filter changes were carried out, if they 'can't think of a way to manage that/'think' of a way, it's unlikely I would bother with it.

However, you might want to check MOT history, according to MOT history some work would have been carried out between 2015 & 16, I would certainly want written verification of that, I did not check the history before just now & wrote the above a hour & half ago appx

[cornershop]

Lack of service records really only come into play on resale, potential buyers will go through the same thought process you’re going through right now.

If you plan not to sell, maybe not an issue?  Can the cam belt change be evidenced by other means. - eg sticker in the engine bay

[ambermarine]

The points Shirish makes are very relevant and my Car as only got the Lexus stamp in the book for the prelim and 9000 service when Lexus moved it on to its last owner before me.

His independent garage serviced it and for obvious reasons did not fill in the service record,

I took the car to Lexus for the cambelt change at 19k by then the car was 14 years old they stuck the sticker on but would not put it in the service record because I did'nt have a service.

I have filled in the services since then but just to keep a record for myself as I have no intention of selling it.

In situations like this you have to judge the answer yourself you are not going to get a cast iron guarantee of the welfare of this car under any circumstances that only comes with a new car but given its mileage /condition and the fact you will be paying less than 8% of its initial retail price It should be a buy.

[dendonc]

1 hour ago, ambermarine said:

they stuck the sticker on but would not put it in the service record because I did'nt have a service.

Yes, mine as well last May.

 

1 hour ago, ambermarine said:

I have filled in the services since then but just to keep a record for myself

I just used to keep the oil & filter receipts 'cause I bought those & my indo just changed it all, now I just don't bother saving them.

[39buss]

I've seen and test drove this car.  It's a DEALER description and you would be disappointed if you did 200 mile round trip and lost your deposit. First it's not even cleaned (DEALER) just put straight up for sale. Look at the wheels and they're caked in brake dust inside the spokes. Passenger door soft close not working. A little de-lamination on driver door glass.  A little bit of rust on driver door in the usual place just above the chrome trim, touched up but will need attention. At the bottom of the dash display the outside temperature is only half displayed so not sure why. The interior needs valeting but "it's just come in". They say they're trying to establish the service history and the previous owner had it 10 years. MOT about 3000 miles a year. On a 10 mile  test drive on my own,  it pulled to the left but could have been road camber so I pulled into Kwik-Fit and had the tyres pumped up and they were all down quite a bit.  At about 20 mph the steering twitched left and right, not come across that before, any ideas.  Brakes felt soft but pulled up straight without any juddering. Coming off the gas the car seemed to be still pulling and once stopped it was ticking over at 800 rpm in neutral, is that a bit fast, nearer 500/600 normal ?. Drivers seat warmed up and what buttons I did press all worked but didn't have time to go over everything.  Personally I like the colour but not sure about the "dull, drab dark grey" trim but it may well clean up nicely. Beige or light grey are my preferred choice but it's second hand, "OH NO" it's a preowned vehicle, so take what there's out there.  Over mats so carpets are good and full tool kit. Always best to see a car and not buy blind.  Pictures don't show how it drives.      

[dendonc]

18 minutes ago, 39buss said:

any ideas

Yea, maybe sell it as a fairground ride

[ambermarine]

As I

1 hour ago, 39buss said:

I've seen and test drove this car.  It's a DEALER description and you would be disappointed if you did 200 mile round trip and lost your deposit. First it's not even cleaned (DEALER) just put straight up for sale. Look at the wheels and they're caked in brake dust inside the spokes. Passenger door soft close not working. A little de-lamination on driver door glass.  A little bit of rust on driver door in the usual place just above the chrome trim, touched up but will need attention. At the bottom of the dash display the outside temperature is only half displayed so not sure why. The interior needs valeting but "it's just come in". They say they're trying to establish the service history and the previous owner had it 10 years. MOT about 3000 miles a year. On a 10 mile  test drive on my own,  it pulled to the left but could have been road camber so I pulled into Kwik-Fit and had the tyres pumped up and they were all down quite a bit.  At about 20 mph the steering twitched left and right, not come across that before, any ideas.  Brakes felt soft but pulled up straight without any juddering. Coming off the gas the car seemed to be still pulling and once stopped it was ticking over at 800 rpm in neutral, is that a bit fast, nearer 500/600 normal ?. Drivers seat warmed up and what buttons I did press all worked but didn't have time to go over everything.  Personally I like the colour but not sure about the "dull, drab dark grey" trim but it may well clean up nicely. Beige or light grey are my preferred choice but it's second hand, "OH NO" it's a preowned vehicle, so take what there's out there.  Over mats so carpets are good and full tool kit. Always best to see a car and not buy blind.  Pictures don't show how it drives.      

As I said no guarantees but not anything major there it as probably been run through a non Lexus servicing regime so the electronic niggles are not detected the steering twitch could be the steering speed control module and the fast tick over sounds like the coolant temperature  sensor. Are you going to get one this good for just over 3k in the future.

[39buss]

What a great forum this is.  Some excellent info there. Never knew there was such a thing as a steering speed control module and if it's the coolant temp sensor then an "easy" fix. Makes the decision a bit easier. Air Con not ice cold but OK ish possible regas.  My personal views of course and another viewing would be necessary this time a bit earlier as it was getting dark and rush hour on the  A1  Western Bypass is not my cup of tea.  

[mrdoofa]

14 hours ago, dendonc said:

What was wrong with it?

To add, I have had 3 LS400's & with all of them the seat heating did not work, on this one (2011 buy) the steering 'shifts' are a hit & miss on the 'in out' mode, but, for me, neither of those things are traumatic, heart breaking, emotional catastrophies which have led to a string of endless private doctors visits and tranquillizer diets & ending up on the Jermeny Kyle couch............yet!

It suffered complete gearbox failure which effectively wrote the car off, I think it was caused by water from the radiator getting into the gearbox hence I’ve been asking so much if there is a way to check for this problem.

10 hours ago, 39buss said:

I've seen and test drove this car.  It's a DEALER description and you would be disappointed if you did 200 mile round trip and lost your deposit. First it's not even cleaned (DEALER) just put straight up for sale. Look at the wheels and they're caked in brake dust inside the spokes. Passenger door soft close not working. A little de-lamination on driver door glass.  A little bit of rust on driver door in the usual place just above the chrome trim, touched up but will need attention. At the bottom of the dash display the outside temperature is only half displayed so not sure why. The interior needs valeting but "it's just come in". They say they're trying to establish the service history and the previous owner had it 10 years. MOT about 3000 miles a year. On a 10 mile  test drive on my own,  it pulled to the left but could have been road camber so I pulled into Kwik-Fit and had the tyres pumped up and they were all down quite a bit.  At about 20 mph the steering twitched left and right, not come across that before, any ideas.  Brakes felt soft but pulled up straight without any juddering. Coming off the gas the car seemed to be still pulling and once stopped it was ticking over at 800 rpm in neutral, is that a bit fast, nearer 500/600 normal ?. Drivers seat warmed up and what buttons I did press all worked but didn't have time to go over everything.  Personally I like the colour but not sure about the "dull, drab dark grey" trim but it may well clean up nicely. Beige or light grey are my preferred choice but it's second hand, "OH NO" it's a preowned vehicle, so take what there's out there.  Over mats so carpets are good and full tool kit. Always best to see a car and not buy blind.  Pictures don't show how it drives.      

I’m glad I didn’t put a deposit on it now or go and view it urgently. I would never buy a car like an LS430 without at least good or full service history, also with the faults you mentioned and complete lack of any service history the asking price is too high despite the relatively low mileage although I’d rather have a higher mileage car with proof of proper maintenance than a low mileage one without.

[dendonc]

3 hours ago, mrdoofa said:

It suffered complete gearbox failure which effectively wrote the car off, I think it was caused by water from the radiator getting into the gearbox hence I’ve been asking so much if there is a way to check for this problem

The very high probability is that the water was not from the rad but a leaking water pump, which is why the water pump is best changed when the cambelt is changed along with tensioners etc & why a water pump is always part of a cambelt 'kit', (water pump is accessible from there) & why many folks buy & use 'cambelt kits' & not just the cambelt alone. Of course it may well be that it was just a rad leak or combination of water pump & rad, nevertheless, that info is worth bearing in mind at next cambelt change.

[Malc]

it's an utter nonsense that there's zero service records ....  unless the previous owner has died or gone gaga and all the paperwork is lost ( thrown out by executors ) then it is inconceivable that the owner didn't keep his records ....  it's what one just does, especially when " looking after " a car and doing 3/4000 miles a year.

I wouldn't believe the dealer, especially offering a filthy car for sale too

However, all is not lost ............  a brand new MOT from YOUR service guy/MOT station before you buy it and at the dealer's expense  and a full service after, addressing all and any issues, then maybe you should think about having it ......  at an acceptable price.

Malc

[dendonc]

40 minutes ago, Malc said:

it's an utter nonsense that there's zero service records

The MOT history shows all 4 ball joints wonky & suspension issues on the 2015 MOT, then, after that 'nothing' & no receipts????

Makes you wonder who tells more porkeys, private garages or preists

[messi]

4 hours ago, dendonc said:

The very high probability is that the water was not from the rad but a leaking water pump, which is why the water pump is best changed when the cambelt is changed along with tensioners etc & why a water pump is always part of a cambelt 'kit', (water pump is accessible from there) & why many folks buy & use 'cambelt kits' & not just the cambelt alone. Of course it may well be that it was just a rad leak or combination of water pump & rad, nevertheless, that info is worth bearing in mind at next cambelt change.

The water does leak from the radiator into the gearbox and it's a very  common issue with  the ls430. To rectify this fault, you will need to replace the radiator or get a separate cooler fitted

[mikeyv]

4 hours ago, dendonc said:

The very high probability is that the water was not from the rad but a leaking water pump, which is why the water pump is best changed when the cambelt is changed along with tensioners etc & why a water pump is always part of a cambelt 'kit', (water pump is accessible from there) & why many folks buy & use 'cambelt kits' & not just the cambelt alone. Of course it may well be that it was just a rad leak or combination of water pump & rad, nevertheless, that info is worth bearing in mind at next cambelt change.

I think you are way off with this post, I can see no connection between the water pump and the autobox failure, whereas the rad problem is well known, on the 430 and other Toyota group vehicles.

[dendonc]

7 minutes ago, mikeyv said:

the rad problem is well known, on the 430 and other Toyota group vehicles.

I did not know that, it's only been this past week or so it's started to come up, well on this particular forum anyway.

[Malc]

1 hour ago, dendonc said:

I did not know that, it's only been this past week or so it's started to come up, well on this particular forum anyway.

Hi, I think this has in fact been this forum's quite major point about the Ls430 for maybe a year or more now !  it's just been hidden amongst other stuff from time to time and I guess not actually been a specific Forum Post in itself.

But hey ho ............  it's Xmas and all things are good to all Men whatever

Malc

 

[dendonc]

4 minutes ago, Malc said:

quite major point about the Ls430 for maybe a year or more now !

Its seems that if someone buys an LS430 its best change 2 rear suspensions & buy a new rad to fit the car & only then...'feel secure'  with it? or are there other issues?

 

[messi]

Another issue with ls430 is vsv valve fails, part cost £59 from main dealers but it's a 4 and half hour job and also on some earlier models, the petrol tank leak. But with all these issues, they are lovely cars when they are working

[dendonc]

11 minutes ago, messi said:

with all these issues

Any idea if these were generally >'fairly' common< issues with the 430 or 'rare' issues?

[Malc]

I don't own and have never had a Ls430 BUT if my Forum memory serves me well:

radiator issue above  ( mixing with gearbox oil )

air suspension

steering column adjustment motors stuck

delaminated windows

rust on driver's door  ( and boot lid ? )

there's possibly some others but hey, these cars are now getting some age to them

age and mileage is the main factor in degradation I guess ......  rare or common I know not 

Malc

[messi]

50 minutes ago, dendonc said:

Any idea if these were generally >'fairly' common< issues with the 430 or 'rare' issues?

These are all common issues. They are lovely cars when they work but to thus day I still say the ls400 is a much better built car. Even the leather interior in the ls400 feels more heavy duty than the leather in the ls430 

[Chasdad]

im considering another ls. I've had a few 400s and one 430. all the 400s were over 100k. 2 nearer 200.

everything still worked. whereas the 430 which only had 93k and a good service history had a few what seem to be common problems.

rear subwoofer foam perished,as were some in the doors

mark levinson amp packed up

worst of all air con compresser leaked. 

i much preferred the interior in the 430 which is why I'm looking into importing a celsior .

[mrdoofa]

12 hours ago, messi said:

These are all common issues. They are lovely cars when they work but to thus day I still say the ls400 is a much better built car. Even the leather interior in the ls400 feels more heavy duty than the leather in the ls430 

This is the problem, the LS400 does seem that bit better made and less problem prone but I do prefer the more modern feel of the LS430 and I’m a bit of a sucker for the extra gadgets!!!

How expensive is it to have a new radiator fitted? How do you know the damage isn’t already done, in other words you haven’t closed the barn door after the horse has bolted? There is one I was looking at that the seller claimed that the radiator had been done but no proof of it, Is it easy to tell if it’s already been done by just looking at it?

How do you check for contaminated coolant/gearbox oil?

If the worst did happen and lightning did strike twice and the gearbox failed again, how much roughly would it cost to replace with either a new or reconditioned box?

Thanks again to you all for your continued help and advice, it is appreciated!!!