1996 LS400, Black over grey, 90k, MoT 4/25, £7,000 ono

Howplum · May 19

I have reluctantly decided to sell my car, which has kept me busy, on and off, over the last four years. My trials, tribulations and triumphs are chronicled in the following topics:

Below is a draft of the advertisement I shall shortly be placing on Car & Classic's website, but I thought I would give club members a heads up, in case anyone is interested. If so, please send me a PM. I live in Milton Keynes.

"1996 Lexus LS400 (UCF20R) - N808 VRP

90,423 miles

Onyx black (202) with Dark Metallic Grey (UCA31) cladding & bumpers

Light grey interior

3 owners, including me. The first owner, a friend of mine, owned it for over 20 years

MoT expiry date 20/04/2025

I bought this car in 2020 from a friend of the original owner as a non-runner, which proved to be a faulty alarm immobiliser system. The mileage then was 79,844. Since then I have done a lot of work to bring it up to its present condition, culminating in a full respray, and it always draws favourable comments.

There is a mostly complete service history, apart from between 2015 and 2020, when the second owner owned the car.

The work I have done on the car includes, but is not limited to, the following:

ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN

Timing belt, auxiliary belt, idlers and water pump replaced. Oil, air and cabin filters replaced. Engine oil, power steering fluid and differential oil replaced. Spark plugs changed.

BRAKES, STEERING & SUSPENSION

Front and rear brakes pipes repaired or replaced as necessary. All four calipers overhauled, with new seals. All four flexible hoses and brake discs replaced. Rear brake pads and sensors replaced. Parking brake cables and shoes replaced. Four new tyres fitted. Rear shock absorbers, steering tie rods ends and front brake dust shields replaced.

INTERIOR

All leather upholstery cleaned and restored.

ELECTRICAL

New Battery fitted. Instrument cluster and climate control panel replaced. Stereo replaced with a Pioneer MVH-A200VBT unit so now has AUX and USB inputs. It also is connected to the reversing camera I fitted. Aerial mast replaced.

BODYWORK

There were marks and blemishes (but no rust, thankfully) on every panel, so I removed the bumpers, cladding, door windows and handles and embarked on a full respray in the original Onyx Black. All badges have been re-plated in 24kt gold. I also repainted the wheels. The bonnet struts have been replaced.

The car now looks very smart and rides well and the stereo is fantastic.

I will do an oil service before sale.

If you check the MoT history you will see the tester commented on the presence of rust on the rear suspension. I have therefore removed all the loose rust, applied rust inhibitor and then sealed the entire suspension with lanolin wax. Obviously I have replaced the faulty number plate bulb.

I should point out that the seat heaters unfortunately do not work, and apparently haven’t for many years. This seems to be a fairly common problem.

This is by far the most comfortable car I have owned in my 60 years of driving, so I shall miss it, but now it’s time for someone else to enjoy it."

And here a a few photographs: