LS400 versus LS430

Malc · July 8, 2021

Marcus, is there any useful and provable service history with the car being sold .... particularly the change of cambelt, waterpump ............. and pulleys check ....... date, mileage and by whom / which Lexus Main Dealer

and has anybody checked with Lexus that the original RECALL work has been done with regard to changing the Starter Motor ? a specific issue with the Mk3 and not always seen to I understand

.............. and is it a NEW alternator ............. or simply the usual Exchange Reconditioned one .......... and who by / from ?

Thanks

Malcolm

Mbish91 · July 8, 2021

Hey Malc,

not a real consistent services history, I know its been mostly taken to a local independent garage in Hitchin from the receipts and mainly MOT certificates, near to where I live. I have no idea about the recall, the previous owner had it since 2000, I brought the car from a someone he trusted to sell it for him. It was probably a bit of a gamble, but I will have a look at it properly on the ramp this weekend if it's free and take some photos of the underside. The water pump is working fine and all the electrics work on what I've tested so far. and yes the alternator is NEW, it was brought from an eBay shop. I will take a photo of that when it arrives and put that up here.

thanks

Marcus

Malc · July 8, 2021

53 minutes ago, Mbish91 said:

and yes the alternator is NEW,

well Marcus, a NEW OEM alternator is the best part of £1000 from Lexus .......... an exchange reconditioned one is maybe £4/500 from a known and reputable supplier

Malc

Mbish91 · July 8, 2021

Well Malc.

where are you buying your parts, quick jump on google and I'm not seeing anything anywhere NEAR those prices.

messi · July 8, 2021

8 minutes ago, Malc said:

well Marcus, a NEW OEM alternator is the best part of £1000 from Lexus .......... an exchange reconditioned one is maybe £4/500 from a known and reputable supplier

Malc

£1000 for alternator? I've got to ask the same question, where do you get your parts from? Rockauto is the place to go, or buy a second hand one for around £60, and spend another £40 or so and get it reconditioned before fitting it

Malc · July 8, 2021

well Marcus .... Lexus itself for OEM Main Dealer ............ and other usual reliable suppliers for exchange reconditioned

I haven't checked Lexuspartsdirect .......... maybe you could check them out |?

maybe check out Amayama and Rockauto ( USA ) too

Malc

Malc · July 8, 2021

2 minutes ago, messi said:

£1000 for alternator? I've got to ask the same question,

yes for sure, that's the price quoted by Lexus when mine went at 208k miles ( I think that was about the mileage )

Malc

messi · July 8, 2021

You got robbed if you bought it. I remember I had a toyota celsior ls400, alternator went on it, I bought a second hand one from breakers yard, had it reconditioned, and then fitted, cost me total of £100

Mbish91 · July 8, 2021

yeah I agree with Messi, might have got robbed their. I've brought a new one for £190ish...and just got a quote from my mechanic who lives 30meters from me who called a company named Beds Battery (where he gets all his lorry parts and car bits) and they quote 190 trade or around £220 over the counter for normal folk. thats OEM. just to be sure I wasn't being done over by another eBay scammer.

Edited July 8, 2021 by Mbish91
Spelling

Malc · July 8, 2021

4 minutes ago, messi said:

You got robbed if you bought it

I thought that too had I bought it

It's well documented on here somewhere .............. I bought from EurocarParts or some such recognised name and think it was about £400 exchange and reconditioned

The Honda Legend alternator went too shortly thereafter sadly and NEW OEM from the Honda Main Dealer was about £1000 too

One doesn't often get the opportunity to delay fitting a replacement alternator to one's car when it's in daily use and recovery by the RAC is in throes :wink3:

ordering from Amayama / Rockauto doesn't get you the part overnight sadly

Malc

steve2006 · July 8, 2021

Here you go.

Mbish91 · July 8, 2021

Fair enough, I'd be happy with any of these

Buy Alternator for LEXUS LS II (XF20) » Lexus LS UCF20 400 (UCF20_), 264 HP 1UZ-FE (year from 1994) ...If I was planning on restoring to showroom condition I've probably go all out...but I'm not so..these parts will do.

Malc · July 8, 2021

they sure look the part ............. good luck with the sale ..... do keep us in the picture .... we're always interested in these things

Thanks

Malc

Mbish91 · July 27, 2021

Sooo, after getting a barrage of idiots on Facebook and eBay, I've returned here to see if any would be interested and not looking to waste each others time!

I've dropped the price to £2900 which I think is fair. Alternator has been replaced and rear braklines have been replaced as well, as well as the front right spring and had an oil and filter change, she runs great and the brakes are finally as they should be!

if you're interested, 07599 084 823

messi · July 27, 2021

Best to put some pictures up

Mbish91 · July 27, 2021

Here is one of the brakeline sides.. I haven't got a pic of the alternator, but it looks like a new shiny alternator and fanbelt.

Malc · July 27, 2021

Marcus hi

so please remind me ...... how was the excessive structural corrosion dealt with and the 4 x perishing tyres ? from the Nov 2020 MOT

and was the opportunity taken to change the cambelt, waterpump ....... and check out the cambelt pulleys ? at any time recently / over the past few years

Thanks

Malc

Repair immediately (major defects):

Nearside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (5.3.6 (a) (i))
Offside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (5.3.6 (a) (i))
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Tyre slightly damaged/cracking or perishing all (5.2.3 (d) (ii))

Mbish91 · July 27, 2021

hey Malc,

I've own the car a total of 5 weeks.

the rear suspension mounts with the structural corrosion wasn't touched, I don't have the budget to plough money into to fix it. But hey the new owner can feel free to replace it or put the car on coil overs. The Tyre perishing is slight as describe above, I've been driving around on it fine. again, if the new owner wants to put new tyres on it feel free, 3 of them have 5mm of tread and 1 has 4mm. I didn't replace the water pump as that is working fine. all the pulleys were moving fine when I replaced the alternator, the tension springs back strong as it should.

This isn't a perfect car hence the price. If it was it would be going for WAY more, just check eBay for the price some are going for 6-10k. This car needs a little work, the chassis it's self is good. the paint work is good for it's age and does have some imperfections, but it is almost 30 years old. The interior is good. So I think the price is reasonable at sub 3k. other cars non running and spares or repairs are going for 2k.

If you want more questions in detail mate, I suggest coming to have a look in person.

I'm based in bedfordshire and can be contacted on 07599 084 823

Alan305 · July 27, 2021

I had a 93 LS400 from 95 to 99, did 140,000 and replaced dash and plug leads. Had a 2003 LS430 from 2004 to 2012, did 240,000 and replaced one steering wheel motor, radiator and had two minor issues with air suspension sensors. Preferred the 430.

Malc · July 28, 2021

19 hours ago, Alan305 said:

I had a 93 LS400 from 95 to 99

Hope you thoroughly enjoyed her too 😊

I've had mine for 10 years now, and driven 110k miles of the now 233k miles she's covered , and before that a Mk1 and a Mk2 Ls400, all concurrently and for 20+ years now and probably covered the best part of at least a quarter of a million miles in them overall .......... marvellous, brilliant, fantastic, virtually trouble free motoring too :yahoo:

BUT I have always tried to do preventative maintenance ....... like the cambelt, pulleys, waterpump sorted every 10 years / 100k miles say

AND whilst tyre tread is quite ok at 4 / 5 ml mine never got to be underused and suffer the dreaded sidewall perishing ............ to drive in fear of that horrendous blow-out potential and in a 2 ton car ..... blimey, that would be some spectacle eh ! :wink3:

Malc