I have joined the fold

[Mr Ponkerson]

On Saturday I flew down to Gatwick (from Edinburgh) to pick up this wonderful wafty thing from a nice chap who may occasionally frequent this forum, but is more often on the barge thread on Pistonheads (it's been christened Sherman by myself and the other PTs at the gym coz it is a big old tank of a thing).  I had never been close to, let alone driven an LS400 before this.  I had plenty of time to get used to things on the drive back up North though.  Now my only regret is that I didn't take the plunge sooner.  It has a couple of little foibles - non heating seat(s) - only checked the drivers but not too fussed, and the temperature gauge doesn't work so I'll be having a look at the wiring around the sensor at some point when there's less snow.  Much like myself there are a couple of cosmetic flaws but nothing concerning - mainly a bit of paint fade and a couple of very small patches of surface rust due to stone chips.  I'm finding I love this car more every time I drive it and can't wait to get behind the wheel - what a fantastic machine!

[Nick W858]

Great purchase - welcome - you will never regret buying an LS400

[Normski]

Welcome Joe! i'm sure I saw your post on the PH Smokers thread too. Love the car! 

[graham8370]

Welcome Joe, you have been smitten.

[Tinonline]

Welcome. The force is with you.

😉

[moriwaki]

The Greatest Car ever produced Right There........and trust me......if you drive it for a few years.... every car you own from then on will feel Agricultural in comparison.

Best looking model in my view.....changed  mine for a 460....worst thing I ever did.....bored anyone who would listen with that old story....

Love the DHP wheels too.

[Chafford1]

20 minutes ago, moriwaki said:

The Greatest Car ever produced Right There........and trust me......if you drive it for a few years.... every car you own from then on will feel Agricultural in comparison.

Best looking model in my view.....changed  mine for a 460....worst thing I ever did.....bored anyone who would listen with that old story....

Love the DHP wheels too.

Agree on the looks. Clean elegant design.

[Texas]

As far as I have read the heated seat problem is a common fail and owners can forgive it's failing ( it's the flexing of the seat fabric apparently and the heating pad is not seperatable from the seat itself)  as the car makes up for it in lots of other ways, as you seem to be experiencing!

paul m.

[mrdoofa]

Welcome to the wonderful world of LS ownership, I’ve had an LS400 and now have an LS430, they are quite simply the finest machines on the planet, everything else is just transport compared. Enjoy!!!

[dendonc]

Looks like you got a great buy there as well as an exciting 4 or 500 mile first trip easing into it. What I am surprised about is the huge time lag here in england, were either a year behind Lothian or you broke the speed of light barrier going back, i.e. according to your profile.

[Malc]

she looks brilliant ...  I'm just amazed at where all that rust came from to earlier fail an MOT, and at such a young age and low mileage too .......  never mind, it's fixed by now I guess !

The very best daily driver car you can possibly have to enjoy.

On my third in 16 years and wouldn't change her for, well, anything tbh  

Malc

[jpjsavage]

Welcome to the LS club! In the past I've had a couple of LS400s and they have been great. Good luck with your new car!

[SHELLDRAKE]

Welcome to the club JOE, your car is the same colour as mine, a 97 400,  tomorrow it goes in for it's M.O.T.  over the years it has never failed, but we will se the end result. Enjoy your 400,at the end of this month we are going to France, that is when you enjoy the car most of all.

[Mr Ponkerson]

7 hours ago, Malc said:

she looks brilliant ...  I'm just amazed at where all that rust came from to earlier fail an MOT, and at such a young age and low mileage too .......  never mind, it's fixed by now I guess !

The very best daily driver car you can possibly have to enjoy.

On my third in 16 years and wouldn't change her for, well, anything tbh  

Malc

I crapped myself when i read this post as I thought I'd missed something major in the history so have just had a look under the car, it's definitely rusty so might post up a couple of pics to gauge people's opinion on how bad it is, a lot of it also appears to be peeled paint.  i can see that a component has been replaced on the nearside.

[Malc]

I just read the DVLA MOT check stuff on-line  

BUT it's all passed since and no Advisories lately so you will surely be all ok. 

Maybe it got caught in some flooding somewhere at some time ...  don't worry too much about it, just maybe get a fresh pair of eyes on it all from a new MOT tester if you have a friendly one that can give some useful and non negative and constructive feedback

Malc

[cornershop]

“All that rust”

”flooded”

Give him a break Malc, how about something positive 

[Malc]

such as ?

I thought my last comment was quite helpful and positive 

Malc

Am I the only one to have read the DVLA MOT stuff ?

[cornershop]

Maybe just me but I wouldn’t suggest a new members car had possibly been flooded previously.

Apart from a few years, MOTs history is pretty good.

[dendonc]

4 hours ago, Malc said:

get a fresh pair of eyes on it all from a new MOT tester if you have a friendly one that can give some useful and non negative and constructive feedback

Is that the 'right proffesional' pair of eyes? I'm probably going to get my entire chasis & underneath done by a rustproofing prevention facility within reach of where I am, I think it's well worth it in the long term, all this patching up with spray cans & the like is all very well as a short term quick fix patch up but I just wanna get the lot done & forget it for quite a few years, the prices within appx 30-40 mile radius of here for a 'medium vehicle'  range from 200 quid to 500 + VAT, but, my thinking is of a long term time frame spend condensed into a 2 or 3 days time frame.

Ive just typed into google "West Lothian car underbody rustproofing service'' & the whole of P1 google search is full of underbody specialists near you, as far as my own research for me Dinitrol sounds like my prefered option.

.

[Mr Ponkerson]

19 hours ago, Malc said:

I just read the DVLA MOT check stuff on-line  

BUT it's all passed since and no Advisories lately so you will surely be all ok. 

Maybe it got caught in some flooding somewhere at some time ...  don't worry too much about it, just maybe get a fresh pair of eyes on it all from a new MOT tester if you have a friendly one that can give some useful and non negative and constructive feedback

Malc

yep - I had read it too, but thought I'd missed something more sinister - as it happens I had misread one of the rust fails and hadn't realised it was a structural element and not just a component.  It looks quite rusty underneath but some looks like peeling sealant and some could be road grime.  Will be giving it a good clean when i get the chance.  I also have a client who's a mechanic and he's going take take a quick look when he's next in the gym.  I do appreciate your comments chap as it means I can deal with anything small in the near future before it becomes a serious issue.

 

Dendonc - thanks for the heads up about treatment possibilities, will definitely be looking in to this

[cornershop]

Worth having a good poke around once on a ramp - they hide rust pretty well in the sills.

Do make sure all loose underseal is removed before applying Dinitrol over the top, else you’ll just make the problem worse.

you may have read my broken spring thread, thankfully upon inspection it is just coil springs that were corroded/broken, all other suspension components appear okay.

 

[nickd]

Mr Ponkerson.  That looks like a lovely 400, may the LS give you a lot of ownership pleasure.  Though I have a 430, I think the 400 has a far more classic look and at times I wish I'd bought one myself.  Enjoy!

Nick in Sheffield

[JohnDavis]

Great choice of car. Everyone on here knows the LS is the finest car ever made!

[DaKa]

Well maintained/preserved Lexus LS400 models are desirable classic collectables now, so your timely purchase will reward you with both the pleasure of ownership and a good investment.    

[Newbie1]

Well done. Something so special about these old girls.They must be becoming collectable as Toyota has started to delete parts for them...