Nothing to report...

[Davehedgehog31]

Purchased my first Lexus from this forum in December last year. It's a 2005 RX300 SE-L. 

I had really hoped to contribute more to the forum as I received a warm welcome and found it a really useful source of information and knowledge. However, the car has been pretty much faultless! I've done roughly 3000 miles (I think, I would need to double check) and it hasn't missed a beat. 

I'm just back from a work trip to Inverness which inspired me to post a little update, can't think of many better ways to cover the distance. Comfy armchair, lots of cubbies for odds and sods and and a tremendous sounding stereo. 

Only little issue I've noticed is a bit of a clunk/bang from the NSF suspension. It happens when the shock is fully extended, ie driving off the end of a speed hump, into a pothole etc. It doesn't rattle over broken surfaces so suspect it's a strut top mount. Will look into swapping it over and see if it resolves matters, still drives fine, just a bit annoying when it's otherwise so serene. 

Overall, a delighted first time Lexus owner, it still feels like a special car when I get in.

[Mr Vlad]

Live those black wheels 👍 car looks really nice especially with those rear tinted windows. Glad you like your steed. Ruddy good cars.

[Davehedgehog31]

Bit of an update on the RX. 

Went in for MOT at the end of June, I wasn't expecting much hassle as it seemed in fine fettle bar a sticky NSF caliper. 

Oh...



Looks a lot, but totalled NSF caliper, rear brake discs, handbrake sorting and a new inner CV boot. As for the "Suspension system inoperative" line, I haven't a clue. It was working fine with no warning lights as far as I could work out and continues to, selects all heights fine and cycles through them. Regardless, all four height sensors were stripped and cleaned and tyre pressures set. 

I fitted the new caliper which was pleasantly straightforward (As someone more accustomed to working on old Peugeots) Rather than fanny about with CV boots I just bought a good used driveshaft for £45 and swapped it over. I'll refurbish the old one and keep it in stock. 

The handbrake on the offside was completely seized. After an initial stripdown it was concluded the shoes had left a big groove inside the disc and the cable was toast so it was elected to replace the lot. New discs, pads, shoes, fitting kit and cables went on. Caliper pins were stripped and cleaned and new boots on too. I done the inital stripdown but lost heart and opted to outsource the rear brake work to a good mobile mechanic who made short work of it. I am not a fan of drum brakes but this lad could do them with his eyes shut. 



In for a retest and a clean pass, straight into 600 miles over a week and it has continued to perform faultlessly. It's a lovely clean car and that lengthy fail sheet really does it a disservice. 

Final finishing touch is to sort the A/C, it was working previously so not sure if it's just sprung a minor leak. The compressor does kick in but cooling effect is now negligible. 

Slightly moody shot of said Lexus on it's travels round the South West of Scotland (It has since been cleaned!)

[Spacewagon52]

Basically all those issues are wear and tear items which need replacing at some point. I do not understand the suspension bit. I had front and rear discs and pads replaced and a full service by an independent. Aircon - re-gassed - on a 2008 RX400h

[Davehedgehog31]

11 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Basically all those issues are wear and tear items which need replacing at some point. I do not understand the suspension bit. I had front and rear discs and pads replaced and a full service by an independent. Aircon - re-gassed - on a 2008 RX400h

Agreed, nothing out of the ordinary! 

For a big, heavy, luxurious car they don't seem too needy *touches wood*.

[steve2006]

Did you perform a Post Mortem on the seized calliper as generally it is the slide pins which seize or were the pistons the problem?

Gone are the days when we used to pour oil down inside a brake cable to prevent it rusting up as a preventive measure 😀

[PCM]

Great reading - thank you.

I had to have my footbrake cable replaced last year. I also get my calliper pins greased annually.

[Mossypossy]

Taking my GS to Switzerland next week. Full preparation list:

Pump up tyres

 

 

[Davehedgehog31]

14 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Did you perform a Post Mortem on the seized calliper as generally it is the slide pins which seize or were the pistons the problem?

Gone are the days when we used to pour oil down inside a brake cable to prevent it rusting up as a preventive measure 😀

I very scientifically tried to shove the piston back in with the end of a breaker bar and all my weight on it, it wasn't for moving easily. 

It was an exchange part, so didn't dismantle it any further as I had to return it to get my surcharge back. 

In other developments, I've decided one big Lexus isn't quite enough. Watch this space....

[Davehedgehog31]

So as alluded to I'd decided one big Lexus wasn't quite enough. 

I'd owned this Peugeot 405 GTX 1.9 TD for about four years, until Saturday that is. It departed to it's new owner and it was a pleasantly easy sale, had tons of interest and I got a bit more than I had initially reckoned. 

Was a sad day to see it leave, but it was time for a change.

And on Sunday night I collected my new Lexus! 

Its the 1999 LS400 DHP that was on sale on the forum from Pete (Plastic Orange). I went up to Dundee on Tuesday last week for a look and returned on Sunday to collect. A really easy transaction and the car is a real credit to Pete's ownership, hope I can continue to keep it in the style to which it has become accustomed! 

The drive down the road was as lovely as you'd expect. Accelerate to 62mph, set cruise control and assume the position to observe the nearside lane. I'll take 35.4mpg from a 4.0 V8 barge!

Yesterday afternoon i took a run out on my lunch hour to the dingiest car park I could find...

The interior is ridiculously plush and there's no way you'd know it's a 22 year old car with approx 180k from in here. It wears it's miles tremendously. 

As Pete alluded to in his advert, there's room for some improvement. It needs some paint on the leading edge of the roof and one rear quarter/arch and a few other small bits and bobs that I look forward to getting stuck into. 

Took it a run to show my brother last night, pictured with his IS250h Premier. Two cars from the same marque 15 years apart, they're quite different! 

Cheers again for the easy sale Pete and good luck with your corvette! 

[plastic orange]

I'm glad you're enjoying it Gavin and hope it gives you many years of enjoyment as it's a great car. 35 mpg is good too, but it won't be used to cruising so slowly. Brakes should be bedded in by now too. Corvette arrives around 7 pm tonight.

 

Pete

[Davehedgehog31]

Been using the LS a fair bit, done maybe 800 miles or so and going very well. 

Not quite as thirsty as I'd thought, first tank of mixed but careful driving;

As noted in the ad, the sat nav didn't work. It gave an error that it couldn't detect the disc. That would be fine, but it meant you couldn't access the menu to turn the screen off, change time on the clock etc. I bought a new (to me) sat nav unit that goes in the boot from eBay for a very reasonable £25. 

Installed it on my lunch hour and all functionality restored! I opened up the old unit, but there was nothing obviously knackered and easily fixed. I may look at it some other time. 

Have spoken to a bodywork chap I know to get the roof and rear wing sorted out, reckon it will probably be early next year before he can fit me in but good to know it will be addressed. Probably not be cheap, especially as the windscreen will need to come out but the rest of the car is so nice that it deserves it. 

Costco have a deal on Mobil 1 oils at the minute so I'm going to pick up the stuff to do a change on the LS and RX, neither are due on mileage but are on time. Levels stay rock solid and the oil is clean, but best to keep up changes.

Further to this, I'm venturing on another Lexus collection caper tomorrow and Friday, sadly not myself buying this time but going along for the trip. 

[Davehedgehog31]

Although not strictly Lexus related here's a little update on the others in my current fleet. 

The car that oddly does probably the majority of my driving is this. It's a late 2009 Citroen C1 with the uncommon 1.4 HDi engine. I've had four of these cars (Two C1s and two 107s) although this is my first diesel. 

I really rate them, parts are pence and easily picked up and they're quite enjoyable little things to drive. I'd probably not recommend the diesel over the petrol in all honesty, the 1.0 three pot petrol is much livelier and pretty much unburstable, still capable of MPG in the 60s on a run. No timing belt, EGR, DPF etc to worry about either. 

With that said, the little diesel one is returning over 66mpg on average over the last 6k miles of mixed driving, I live in Glasgow and spend more time than I'd like in traffic as well. It's just a great at being A CAR. 

I've traditionally been a bit of a Peugeot/Citroen nut, have owned a lot of them and although this is badged a Citroen with a PSA engine, the Toyota influence is clear, there's more parts stamped Toyota and more typically Japanese fasteners than anything French, so I'd say it's the first time in probably 10 years I've not had anything properly French on fleet. 

Three cars is my ideal number, then I idiotically spotted this in Inverness very, very cheap. It's a very crusty 1.8 MX-5. I have a friend who works for Scotrail, a Friends and Family return was £6, so we headed up last week and had a fun drive down the road with the roof down. 

It's very crusty, it probably won't see another MOT without some pretty serious fettling. The engine and box are sweet though and it drove fine. I'm going to see if I can get it on a friends ramp and work out if saving it is viable in the slightest. If not, there are plenty good parts on it that can be split off. It may even see a Knockhill trackday... 

In all honesty, it would probably make a good donor for a spaceframe style kit car like this - https://mevltd.co.uk/kit-cars/mev-exocet/pricing

That looks a laugh! 

[plastic orange]

42 minutes ago, Davehedgehog31 said:

Been using the LS a fair bit, done maybe 800 miles or so and going very well. 

Not quite as thirsty as I'd thought, first tank of mixed but careful driving;

As noted in the ad, the sat nav didn't work. It gave an error that it couldn't detect the disc. That would be fine, but it meant you couldn't access the menu to turn the screen off, change time on the clock etc. I bought a new (to me) sat nav unit that goes in the boot from eBay for a very reasonable £25. 

Installed it on my lunch hour and all functionality restored! I opened up the old unit, but there was nothing obviously knackered and easily fixed. I may look at it some other time. 

Have spoken to a bodywork chap I know to get the roof and rear wing sorted out, reckon it will probably be early next year before he can fit me in but good to know it will be addressed. Probably not be cheap, especially as the windscreen will need to come out but the rest of the car is so nice that it deserves it. 

Costco have a deal on Mobil 1 oils at the minute so I'm going to pick up the stuff to do a change on the LS and RX, neither are due on mileage but are on time. Levels stay rock solid and the oil is clean, but best to keep up changes.

Further to this, I'm venturing on another Lexus collection caper tomorrow and Friday, sadly not myself buying this time but going along for the trip. 

I'd been promised a replacement sat nav unit when it went belly up (on a trip to Skye), but kept getting fobbed off by a local guy breaking an LS, so I just lived without it. I too couldn't see anything wrong with it. For years now, I've used Mobil 1 0-40 from costco, plus either a Wix or Toyota filter. Oil does remain clean between changes though. Windscreen will obviously be damaged and need replaced to coincide with paintwork I'd guess - roads are in a shocking state. Glad you're still enjoying it and nice to hear of updates.

 

Pete

[Davehedgehog31]

Little Lexus update. 

The LS has been superb. A properly special car and has been pretty faultlessly reliable. I've tidied up a few little bits and routine servicing, other than that it's been great. 

Wish I could have said the same for the RX. I had been really happy with it after it's last MOT in August, it needed some work for the test and parts were reasonably expensive, but that comes with the territory. 
 

From then though it was nothing but a pain in the backside and incredibly needy. Snapped three of the height sensor arms at various points over six months, so all four were replaced. Shredded it's fanbelt, developed a parasitic Battery drain, started getting damp inside and then finally it dropped it's PSF fluid everywhere. 

Dealt with all it's issues as they arose, but then when sorting the PSF pipes I was shocked at the state of the underside after 1.5 Scottish winters. I hadn't been underneath it since the MOT in August and by March it was markedly worse. It had rotted through the metal piece of PSF pipe on the OSF. I sleeved it and it hadn't damaged the pump fortunately, but looking at the condition of the rest of the PSF and AC pipes, the front subframe and the floorpan my mind was made up and it was for the off. It was by no means rotten, but it was as rapid a deterioration as I've seen in any car in the admittedly harsh conditions. 

I didn't fancy selling it within the forum really, so it was sold to Copart as salvage. I got a decent amount for it so will chalk it up to experience. 

All in all, a lovely car when it was working properly, but not without it's flaws. The air suspension is a pointless feature, ride was still too firm and the height adjustment not worth the complexity. The gearbox was poor and far too quick to kick down. It was brutal on fuel, although that was a given.

If I had to have another it would be a hybrid without the air suspension, but I don't think I'd bother in all honesty. Sorry for the negative post on a single marque forum. I am still a Lexus owner and a big fan of the brand. Should also add that it's not a reflection on the previous owner either, it was as nice an example of an RX that age as you'd find and had been very well cared for. 

An undignified end;

[Davehedgehog31]

A little fleet update on the rest of my scrap appreciating modern classic vehicles. Let it never be said that I'm not a glutton for punishment. 

The LS, what a car. Going for some paintwork at the end of August hopefully, windscreen will need to come out so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It comes out at weekends mainly just with the price of fuel and it always feels special.

My everyday car at the minute is this 2003, E46 BMW 320D. It's leggy at 180k and wears a couple of battle scars but has been a good, economical and dependable family car. Have done some bits and pieces like new tyres, new shocks and springs etc. Recently done 650 miles over a weekend and averaged bang on 50mpg fill to fill.

In a further act of stupidity I saw this 03 plate Z4 2.5i with knackered roof for sale a few weeks back. It has done 188k, has zero history but did have test til March and is actually very clean. AC is ice cold too which was a bonus last week. Seemed very cheap at £950. Have managed to (largely) sort the roof. Currently chasing a front end knock, fairly sure it's a shock, so got a second hand strut to go in as I don't like dicing with spring compressors. 

Apologies for BMW content (boo hiss), I'm no fan boy despite owning two of them at once. I'm thinking I'll probably shift the 320D on shortly and maybe push the boat out a bit on a nicer family car. I'm doing about 16k a year since moving house, so would be nice to do it in something a bit fresher.

[plastic orange]

I'm pleased the LS is still doing what it's meant to do. I'm not surprised with your RX woes as they are very similar to the one we had - rust, tail gate issues, gear change, brakes, wheel bearings,water leaks and poor mpg (although I knew that when I bought it). They certainly can't cope well with Scottish weather and from what I can gather even the newer ones aren't well protected underneath either. I would certainly never have another. When we had the LS it was our economy car and less expensive to run generally.

 

Pete