Celsior from Finland

Micco · August 2, 2019

Hello all!

I got this car around a week ago.

Rear windows are very dark and maybe that's why the rear view mirror don't get any darker(at auto position) if someone is driving behind at night.

Is there a reason for golden emblems(special package or something) or is it just some option that you can choose between chrome or gold?

Been trying to get familiar with the Japanese screen.

I found a menu for parking sensors, I could adjust the volume and other things but this menu is strange... does the car have some kind of parking assistance?

There is also menu for the rear view camera with two different options how the lines are drawn, curved or squares with colors(yellow, red and green) and the green one turns with steering wheel.

BigBoomer · August 2, 2019

Welcome to 430 ownership. 😁

The window tinting and the gold emblems are just the former owners taste, not standard fitment. You can get the tint removed if you don't like it.

Yes, it's Park Assist. You can download the EU version of the owners manual to see what it says in English (maybe even Suomi). I've never used it as the mirrors and camera are good and the beeping sensors useful for very close parking.

The-Acre · August 3, 2019

Yes, welcome to LS430/Celsior ownership! What you have is standard Japanese spec. The rear windows are dark due to hot Japanese summers but are not removable as mentioned, it's simply dark glass. You get used to it and its not a problem. You likely don't have a sunroof for the same reason. Mine is exactly the same as yours, same colour, same gold badges. Apparently the badges are 22 carat gold plated! I've more or less got used to the Japanese display, although oddly some of it is in English! I took my sat nav disc out to stop it speaking to me in Japanese every time I started it. And like mine you have the 6 spoke wheels which weren't available in the UK. How about some interior photos? Do you have the Celsior over mats? And do you have a sticker showing a cam belt change? The Japanese often put the sticker just inside the bonnet at the front rather than the engine bay.

Micco · August 3, 2019

Thanks for the info.

I like the black windows, that's one reason I made an offer in auction.

Here is some interior photos and that sticker showing cam belt change.

What are these? There's four of them in the winshield.

Looks like that the emblems in my Celsior are painted

The-Acre · August 3, 2019

It looks very nice. The wires on the windscreen are for the automatic toll payments in Japan, ETC. You may get a message in Japanese which will tell you you haven't got a credit/debit card set up for payment! Do you know when yours was imported from Japan? You may be able to clean the front Toyota badge, if not perhaps spray it silver? It's only held in place by one screw so easily removed.

Micco · August 3, 2019

Thanks.

Yes I got message about ETC when I start the car that something is missing.

I bought it through dealer(guy who imports cars from Japan to Finland) from Japanese auction at the end of March and it arrived in July. The guy made headlight conversion from rhd to lhd and took the car to registration inspection. After that I got it home. Now I just need to wait for the taxes to be paid(we have to pay car tax even for used imported cars) and after that get the final license plates.

I had two Celsiors what I was bidding, other went 1000 EUR over my budget and this one was little bit under.

I might try that cleaning for the Toyota badge.

The-Acre · August 3, 2019

39 minutes ago, Micco said:

Thanks.

Yes I got message about ETC when I start the car that something is missing.

I bought it through dealer(guy who imports cars from Japan to Finland) from Japanese auction at the end of March and it arrived in July. The guy made headlight conversion from rhd to lhd and took the car to registration inspection. After that I got it home. Now I just need to wait for the taxes to be paid(we have to pay car tax even for used imported cars) and after that get the final license plates.

I had two Celsiors what I was bidding, other went 1000 EUR over my budget and this one was little bit under.

I might try that cleaning for the Toyota badge.

If it is correct that the badge is gold plated it may respond to a cleaner of some kind. Mine came to the UK in March last year. I notice that the rear armrest in yours doesn't have any controls, does that mean you don't have reclining rear seats etc?

Micco · August 3, 2019

That's right.. No nice electric gadgets for the rear passengers. At least there's air purifier and that small (not cooled) box behind the rear armrest.

But there is fusebox with fuses for rear seat heater etc.

I was checking the subwoofer and it seems to be ok.

The-Acre · August 3, 2019

Do you have the Mark Levinson system or the Celsior one which is a Pioneer system and actually more reliable? You may also have a stainless exhaust which I have.

Micco · August 3, 2019

No Mark Levinson so I guess it's that Pioneer system. Haven't checked exhaust that well yet.

The-Acre · August 4, 2019

8 hours ago, Micco said:

No Mark Levinson so I guess it's that Pioneer system. Haven't checked exhaust that well yet.

I think that's a good thing, the Pioneer system is good and you'll unlikely have problems with blown speakers. I had two previous LS430's with the ML system and both suffered from blown speakers, but this one is fine.

Micco · August 4, 2019

11 hours ago, The-Acre said:

I think that's a good thing, the Pioneer system is good and you'll unlikely have problems with blown speakers. I had two previous LS430's with the ML system and both suffered from blown speakers, but this one is fine.

Good to know that it's more reliable than ML system.

Do you know if it's possible to change the Navigation screen from LS430 to Celsior?

I was also thinking to change navi for Europe but I guess it needs something else too than just Europen DVD.

I tried to watch some DVD's but that DVD player might be area coded to Japan as there wasn't very clear picture.

I'm taking the car to local Toyota work shop for oil change at the next week, they're also going to change the speedometer language to English

The-Acre · August 4, 2019

1 hour ago, Micco said:

Good to know that it's more reliable than ML system.

Do you know if it's possible to change the Navigation screen from LS430 to Celsior?

I was also thinking to change navi for Europe but I guess it needs something else too than just Europen DVD.

I tried to watch some DVD's but that DVD player might be area coded to Japan as there wasn't very clear picture.

I'm taking the car to local Toyota work shop for oil change at the next week, they're also going to change the speedometer language to English

To change the sat nav screen to English/Europe you need to replace the screen for a used one from a breakers and the disc drive also. I looked at this but for about £300 for the two it doesn't seem worth it. My TV doesn't do much so I'm guessing if I want to watch TV in my Celsior I have to take it back to Japan for a holiday! Personally I like having Japanese on the screen and some of the buttons, it's a good conversation topic! The main thing really is the drive, even brand new cars I've driven aren't as good. And the V8 engine is just the best!

J Henderson · August 4, 2019

2 hours ago, Micco said:

I tried to watch some DVD's but that DVD player might be area coded to Japan as there wasn't very clear picture.

Japan and Europe are both DVD Region 2. Their TV system standard, however, is NTSC (60Hz), not PAL.(50Hz). Maybe that's the issue.

The-Acre · August 4, 2019

22 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

Japan and Europe are both DVD Region 2. Their TV system standard, however, is NTSC (60Hz), not PAL.(50Hz). Maybe that's the issue.

I have a Lexus sat nav disc of Europe from my GS but it didn't recognise it, It's just so much easier to use either my TomTom or my phone. In fact using the TomTom on our last three drives in Europe was both brilliant and invaluable, I'm not sure I would have said the same for an outdated Lexus system!

Micco · August 5, 2019

22 hours ago, The-Acre said:

To change the sat nav screen to English/Europe you need to replace the screen for a used one from a breakers and the disc drive also. I looked at this but for about £300 for the two it doesn't seem worth it. My TV doesn't do much so I'm guessing if I want to watch TV in my Celsior I have to take it back to Japan for a holiday! Personally I like having Japanese on the screen and some of the buttons, it's a good conversation topic! The main thing really is the drive, even brand new cars I've driven aren't as good. And the V8 engine is just the best!

Yes, and the maps are not very fresh like google maps or something similar from phone.

And the car itself is quite good conversation topic.We Finns are not very talkative people to strangers but there has been several times that some guy has came to me like "What is this Toyota, where you got it from?" and stuff like that. Talked about an hour with one guy at market's parking lot.

Micco · August 5, 2019

21 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Japan and Europe are both DVD Region 2. Their TV system standard, however, is NTSC (60Hz), not PAL.(50Hz). Maybe that's the issue.

Nice to know, I thought Japan is region 1.

The-Acre · August 5, 2019

1 hour ago, Micco said:

Yes, and the maps are not very fresh like google maps or something similar from phone.

And the car itself is quite good conversation topic.We Finns are not very talkative people to strangers but there has been several times that some guy has came to me like "What is this Toyota, where you got it from?" and stuff like that. Talked about an hour with one guy at market's parking lot.

That's one of the things I like the most. Most people know the name Lexus, but it confuses people seeing a big car with a Toyota badge! And when I say Toyota Celsior they usually say "Don't you mean Celica?"

Malc · August 12, 2019

nice car, well done

are you sure that what you think is a cambelt sticker isn't simply the one shot two sugars coffee order for the mechanic ? :no2:

I have no Japanese language skills for sure

Malc

Micco · August 14, 2019

On 8/12/2019 at 11:44 AM, Malc said:

nice car, well done

are you sure that what you think is a cambelt sticker isn't simply the one shot two sugars coffee order for the mechanic ?

I have no Japanese language skills for sure

Malc

Thanks. Might be that coffee order too 😂