New LS 400 owner sa... Oh, I can't keep doing this

[rich1068]

Yes, I've bought another Lexus.

No flights to the Scottish Highlands or accosting pensioners in car parks. Just a simple classifieds spot, a heart attack, a bit of "Life's too short" and an understanding wife who doesn't class this as trouble. As in "It keeps you out of trouble." Fair enough.

So this is a January 1997 LS400 (MK3) in Moonstone Pearl with a grey leather interior. I had the proper colour codes the other day but can't seem to lay my hands on them now. Anyhoo, it's only done 62k miles and is pretty much mint. Unfortunately a patchy history but nothing that can't be solved with some fresh fluids and belts. Most importantly, GOLD PACK! I look forward to the coming weeks! 

No real pics yet other than a couple taken today by a friend I bumped into at Lex-Tek. His is the gold MK4.

Regarding Lex-Tek, I should also mention that Dave was very much involved in this purchase and I couldn't have done it without him 

[ajchetcuti]

Congratulations! It looks great [emoji4]

 

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[rich1068]

Thank you!

[Herbie]

That does indeed look to be the dog's whatsits, well done!

[Razor61]

Looks spot on and a good find👍 was it for sale in Wetherby by any chance?

[rich1068]

Cheers guys.

13 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

Looks spot on and a good find👍 was it for sale in Wetherby by any chance?

As a matter of fact, yes  Got a rather good deal too. 

[royoftherovers]

Well done Richie.That should enable a full recovery in Warp time .Congratulations.

[Razor61]

37 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

Cheers guys.

As a matter of fact, yes  Got a rather good deal too. 

I'm green with envy, the car looks pretty much 'as new' as you could hope for, great colour combo and wheels look 'bob on' as well.

[rich1068]

The wheels appear to have been recently refurbished to a good standard. Cheap tyres though, hence my question the other day. And yes, the "friend" reference was a cunning ruse I'm sure no one saw through 

There is a small to do list (new aerial, a couple of parking dings) but not much. Hopefully enough to keep me occupied.

[cruisermark]

When a mark 3 still has the front bumper trims intact - you know its been looked after - good find!

[The-Acre]

How about a little hint as to what you paid?

[Farqui]

Looks great Richard, well done 

I thought I recognised those railings, did Dave help with the purchase?

[royoftherovers]

33 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

How about a little hint as to what you paid?

Or, perhaps what his friend might have paid Phil ?

[rich1068]

4 hours ago, cruisermark said:

When a mark 3 still has the front bumper trims intact - you know its been looked after - good find!

I think there's a bit missing on each side. Looks like it anyway. On the edge as it comes towards the centre of the car. Not sure.

3 hours ago, The-Acre said:

How about a little hint as to what you paid?

More than I paid for my GS 

3 hours ago, Farqui said:

Looks great Richard, well done 

I thought I recognised those railings, did Dave help with the purchase?

He came with me. Road trip and an expert eye!

2 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Or, perhaps what his friend might have paid Phil ?

John! It was me all along! 

Couple more pics. Mileage today and a pretty standard find for a Lexus coin tray I guess.

Oh and any idea what this small coaxial I found in the boot is for? Was for?

[Malc]

rather like the original wheels too

what is the colour ?  grey or aspen green maybe ?

and price paid ?

Malc

[Herbie]

6 hours ago, The-Acre said:

How about a little hint as to what you paid?

 

3 hours ago, rich1068 said:

More than I paid for my GS 

You said it was a classified ad so at least tell us what the asking price in the public ad was

3 hours ago, rich1068 said:

Oh and any idea what this small coaxial I found in the boot is for? Was for?

That looks like a PL259 coax plug so my bet is that the guy was either a radio ham or a CB enthusiast and that was to connect to a mobile transciever.

[ambermarine]

The coaxial was standard factory fit in the boot  for a phone transceiver which was usually fitted at the dealership. It was fitted to the right side on the Mark 4 because the left side was taken up by the disc player for the satnav and as we know the mark 3 did not have satnav.

[rich1068]

4 hours ago, Malc said:

what is the colour ?  grey or aspen green maybe ?

It's called Moonstone Pearl. In most light it looks like a light grey but when the sun gets on it there's a green tinge to it. I rather like it.

3 hours ago, Herbie said:

That looks like a PL259 coax plug so my bet is that the guy was either a radio ham or a CB enthusiast and that was to connect to a mobile transceiver.

 

2 hours ago, ambermarine said:

The coaxial was standard factory fit in the boot  for a phone transceiver which was usually fitted at the dealership. It was fitted to the right side on the Mark 4 because the left side was taken up by the disc player for the satnav and as we know the mark 3 did not have satnav.

Interesting. It didn't look aftermarket and I'd found no other evidence of phones, aerials etc

In other news, I fitted a new pair of SGS bonnet struts and started on cleaning the interior to my satisfaction. Under seat cleaning bonus consisted of an adjustable spanner, a jelly snake, a mint humbug and a 50p piece commemorating the Isle of Man TT. The 50p piece will go back under the carpt as per @ronniemac

 

[dutchie01]

Great find, but.... No more Saabs?

[steve2006]

37 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

It's called Moonstone Pearl. In most light it looks like a light grey but when the sun gets on it there's a green tinge to it. I rather like it.

 

Interesting. It didn't look aftermarket and I'd found no other evidence of phones, aerials etc

In other news, I fitted a new pair of SGS bonnet struts and started on cleaning the interior to my satisfaction. Under seat cleaning bonus consisted of an adjustable spanner, a jelly snake, a mint humbug and a 50p piece commemorating the Isle of Man TT. The 50p piece will go back under the carpt as per @ronniemac

 

Could I have the jelly worm please provided there’s not too much carpet fluff on it 😀

[rich1068]

1 hour ago, dutchie01 said:

Great find, but.... No more Saabs?

Still got the 9-3 convertible 

32 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

Could I have the jelly worm please provided there’s not too much carpet fluff on it 😀

It was fairly well preserved. Protected from the elements between the seat runner and transmission tunnel. Scoffed it.

 

[ambermarine]

13 hours ago, rich1068 said:

It's called Moonstone Pearl. In most light it looks like a light grey but when the sun gets on it there's a green tinge to it. I rather like it.

 

Interesting. It didn't look aftermarket and I'd found no other evidence of phones, aerials etc

In other news, I fitted a new pair of SGS bonnet struts and started on cleaning the interior to my satisfaction. Under seat cleaning bonus consisted of an adjustable spanner, a jelly snake, a mint humbug and a 50p piece commemorating the Isle of Man TT. The 50p piece will go back under the carpt as per @ronniemac

 

The coaxial cable was fitted in the factory with the rest of the wiring looms so that if the customer wanted a phone the phone installer would not be tearing apart a brand new Lexus ,the phones were an option and probably less than 20% of new 400's had them fitted.

[rich1068]

Not much of an update today. Bit tired.

Ordered a new pen light because the original was missing. And some more carpet mats. The non-original ones that are in are not the right shade. Well, I placed an order but carmats4u actually send you templates for the foot wells and samples for colour. Rather good I thought even though it adds to the time taken.

Nothing really planned for tomorrow, maybe some more cleaning. Friday the tracking will be done, the seller had new ball joints fitted and the steering is off. Saturday over to Dave's for what we hope is the anti-roll bar bushes. In hot weather the squeaking from the front is most un-Lexus like! One of those jobs I'd like to do myself but not at the moment. Then I'm just waiting on Russell at Lexus Sheffield to come back off his jollies and I can order the service bits.

On 9/15/2020 at 10:00 AM, cruisermark said:

When a mark 3 still has the front bumper trims intact - you know its been looked after - good find!

I had a look underneath the front this morning. Previous owner must have damaged a side at some point and they've trimmed it back about 3 inches. They've done the same on the other side to even things up! See below.

[Malc]

the lower front trim at the bottom of the main bumper is so so fragile and a tad too low for most kerbs or anything for that matter

I had mine surgically removed years ago. I was fed up constantly catching it and the breaks in it

Malc

[rich1068]

Ordering parts...