Bought This + By-Product

[dendonc]

So Sat found me traveling Virgin 1st class, for the first time ever, 300 miles north west of here to ''see'' & take a test drive (as passenger) in what is now my 'new', 1999, LS 400, no need to point out the good points on here, enough to say ''Its like new''.......This am I was 'double checking' something out with the garage which originally sold it to him, as a by-product of that conversation the garage (I think the owner) says he has another LS400, Maroon up for sale, I know in recent weeks a couple of people have been interested in buying another so the garage which has one is 015242 62105, if I were still looking for one I would be up there ASP, hope I can upload this jpeg of my 'new, blue car', which I had a pleasant 300 mile trip back to London in, 159k miles

 

[The-Acre]

Well done, looks excellent.  Dare I ask what you paid?  

[dendonc]

It was advertised at 2k, bargained down to 1,800, 159,000 miles it had a cambelt, water pump & pulley's etc changed appx 20,000 miles ago, they are still around but seem quite rare without corrosion issues (my reason for change) bonnet struts need replacing because I >'think'<, they are an MOT requirement, do you know if they are? I'm not sure

[Cotswold Pete]

Nice car, same colour as mine, but mine in need of a lot of TLC with body work (keyed down drivers side 2 years ago - no rust though, tree hit near side passenger pillar - big dent, bat sh*t pock mark on bonnet), and also aerial not retracting and nearside indicator misting up.

Apart from that it's been 5 years of great driving, and at 184K, still got a lot of life in her yet.

I paid £2.2K for mine, best bargain I ever had, and (IMHO) better than the Mk3 (apart from fog lights not as good).

Enjoy (as they say in USA - and some UK restuarants these days)

[Guest]

Looks great and nice to know you also travelled back first class.

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, dendonc said:

So Sat found me traveling Virgin 1st class, for the first time ever, 300 miles north west of here to ''see'' & take a test drive (as passenger) in what is now my 'new', 1999, LS 400, no need to point out the good points on here, enough to say ''Its like new''.......This am I was 'double checking' something out with the garage which originally sold it to him, as a by-product of that conversation the garage (I think the owner) says he has another LS400, Maroon up for sale, I know in recent weeks a couple of people have been interested in buying another so the garage which has one is 015242 62105, if I were still looking for one I would be up there ASP, hope I can upload this jpeg of my 'new, blue car', which I had a pleasant 300 mile trip back to London in, 159k miles

 

Congratulations Denis.A fine car and a seemingly good spot.

If you travelled 1st class North, did you travel Premier class South ?

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, dendonc said:

It was advertised at 2k, bargained down to 1,800, 159,000 miles it had a cambelt, water pump & pulley's etc changed appx 20,000 miles ago, they are still around but seem quite rare without corrosion issues (my reason for change) bonnet struts need replacing because I >'think'<, they are an MOT requirement, do you know if they are? I'm not sure

Good price!  I'm not sure bonnet struts are an MOT failure but I do know how much it hurts when it crashes down on your head, nearly knocked me out!

[Texas]

2 hours ago, dendonc said:

It was advertised at 2k, bargained down to 1,800, 159,000 miles it had a cambelt, water pump & pulley's etc changed appx 20,000 miles ago, they are still around but seem quite rare without corrosion issues (my reason for change) bonnet struts need replacing because I >'think'<, they are an MOT requirement, do you know if they are? I'm not sure

Replacement gas struts can be had here, https://www.sgs-engineering.com/car-boot-tailgate/lexus/ls

I have used them and can recommend, not cheap but good quality and a lot cheaper than genuine I know!

paul m.

 

[dendonc]

1 hour ago, Texas said:

I have used them and can recommend,

Personaly I would/will not renew them unless it's for an MOT, the only time I ever look under the bonnet is to check the coolant (very rare check) or engine oil, the only others who go there is my indi to change the oil & coolant every 5 years.

Yea it was a much classier ride back to London, but, It was only this AM that  think >repeat< think, I might have managed to understand the controls system in center consul it took quite a bit to work out that consul is for much, much more than the sat nav, lovely car though.

I found quite a lot of 'wide boy fly by nights' on my shopping  round trip, a much higher % than when I was shopping round last time........'shopper beware' is my best advice.

 

[ColinBarber]

This has been discuss before. The aren't an MOT failure.

 

[Malc1]

hey, I couldn't pass this by and not give praise for the good looking " new " car you've just bought, wow, she looks good

Dreaded cambelt etc recently changed is sooooo positive

159k is tiny mileage as you know but I would mention ( not that it will happen to you ) that on my cars front UCAs went on my Mk1 at about 160k and the alternator too but that might have been due to the Mk1  pas leakage that's common to the Mk1

On my Mk3 one front UCA went at 173k and one rear UCA at 193k  ( the n/sides only ) and the rear summat or other both sides were replaced about 120k I think by ACLex from here ( expensive job he told me )

 

She looks a great car, well done

 

BTW  I'm now in India for a month and again can't remember my original sign-in password !

Malc

[cruisermark]

Great looking car - enjoy!

Mine used to be the same colour with grey leather - I sold it in 2012 for 2k - it was in excellent condiiton and having just looked up the mileage it has just done 101K - Just goes to show how values have bounced back on these cars.

[dendonc]

2 hours ago, Malc1 said:

my Mk3 one front UCA went at 173k

Er, dummi here! Whats the UCA? yea really, I have no idea what it is

 

[dendonc]

I can see the first job to do on it is change the coolant to make sure it's got good coolant in it & do an oil change as per normal

[Malc1]

just the Upper Control Arms   

Malc

[GibletPH]

Congratulations. I also purchased a LS400 over the weekend in the same colour!

[dendonc]

Thanks about bonnet struts Colin

Wow what a coincidence, I only noticed one blue around whilst I was looking all over & that was the one I ended up buying, did it take you long looking around to get one you were satisfied with? 

I notice your an ex ISF user, any reason to change to our 'old' ls400

Does anyone know if there is 'snow' mode on a 1999 400, also is/has anyone used this new coolant? Think I'll call lexus tomorow & ask them if its ok, maybe not, they might want me to use theirs instead

https://www.simplycar.co.uk/product/prestone-ready-to-use-antifreeze-coolant-4-litre-vy25449/

 

 

[cornershop]

Maybe just me but I wouldn’t leave coolant  in the engine for 5 yrs, 2 years max for me.  Our 62 plate Ford has 10yr life coolant - why, I don’t know,  it’s a £50 job to change. Maybe environmentally unfriendly.

[cornershop]

Congrats on the car BTW, doubt you will regret it.

[GibletPH]

3 hours ago, dendonc said:

Wow what a coincidence, I only noticed one blue around whilst I was looking all over & that was the one I ended up buying, did it take you long looking around to get one you were satisfied with? 

I notice your an ex ISF user, any reason to change to our 'old' ls400

I viewed one a few miles from me. Test drive didn’t go to plan, owner took us for a spin and was pulled over just as we returned by an unmarked BMW X5. He was driving without insurance. Car was seized and is likely to be disposed of as he can’t afford to have it released. 

My brother stumbled across an advert on Facebook for another. We exchanged a few messages and then I drove up with a friend to view the car. A deal was done and my friend drove the car home. 

I chop and change cars regularly. The ISF was replaced with a heavily modified Evo X which was then replaced with a Alfa 4C spider. That was recently replaced with a Renault Zoe! 

The LS400 was purchased for an upcoming roadtrip. Just a short drive from Leeds to Lahore...

[dendonc]

1 hour ago, GibletPH said:

Just a short drive from Leeds to Lahore

Wow, you'll have to keep us posted on that trip...

[Malc1]

3 hours ago, GibletPH said:

Just a short drive from Leeds to Lahore...

you might  get pulled over if you're going via the Afghan or Iran Highway ............  good luck with that one    but 5k miles is a doddle in a Mk3  ( even the 10k if you're coming back  )

Malc

[GibletPH]

The Iran visa has been a bit of a pain but hopefully it should be sorted in a few days. The car will be coming back but most likely by sea. Don’t have enough time off work to drive it back sadly so I’ll have it shipped home. 

[dendonc]

Last week-end seems to have been quite a buying week end all round of what are increasingly rare cars for sale in good condition, I've also noticed others have bought 'new' 400's in recent months, so, there is one for sale in N Lancs, I haven't seen it but I do know the guy has a very good reputation.

[Malc1]

suppose you've thought to sell it there and save the shipping costs back to the UK ?  Just a one way home air ticket ?  Let me know if you want to buy one and  maybe pvt message me if you wanted to explore that .......  Travel is my business professionally !  That's why I'm at my Delhi office right now  

Malc