Just Purchased My 99 Ls

[fred81]

Hi All,

So on Sunday I went and picked up the 99 LS I mentioned earlier in this thread. I appear to have faired much better than poor Ruud - the car is in fantastic condition aside from the 2 small rust bubbles, a scrape on the bumper, there also appears to be splitting on the bumper valance? The aerial is permanently up, and the seller claims the memory for the seats does not work, although I've not tested them yet. The light behind the digital clock didn't work, gave it a little tap tap tap and it is now lit! Should the temp readouts also be lit? Aside from these issues (minor I'd say), everything else works great!

It was 190 miles home in the rain (M1 -> M6), the best drive I've ever had. Smooth, quiet, relaxing and power when needed. The Mrs had fun with the electric and heated seats, and had enough space for all the cr*p she likes to surround herself with! I think she is just as much in love with it as me, and she hasn't driven it yet! Cost to get home, around £25 :)

Best of all, my insurance cost increased by a massive sum of....£13

I'll go over it with a fine toothcomb at the weekend and report back. Even though it's already clean and tidy I will be cleaning out all the hard to reach places, seals, etc.

Anyone have a sat nav disc going spare? Or know which part number I should be looking at? Also if anyone has ideas on how best to go about fixing the issues I've outlined above, I'd really appreciate it!

Regards,

Fred

[jpjsavage]

Congratulations on your purchase. My aerial stopped working a week or so ago. I'm no mechanic but I had it done in under an hour (see other thread) with a £16 part off eBay. As for the ride, I remember driving back to Sandbach from Milton Keynes around 15 months ago. A great experience and I still love doing longer trips in her today (Cambridge and back yesterday).

[Cotswold Pete]

Sounds like a good purchase.

Without SatNav disk I think you are not able to use the menu settings to change clock, etc.

I did try making a copy of the disk, and it did not seem to work, seems like I need a Linux engine on PC and then use right options (but I do not have Linux).

The sat nav is naff mind you, but good fun if you want a laugh. It once suggested a 6 mile detour to get to my house when I was 400 meters away from front door. Maybe the Lexi just fancied a longer outing!!!

I would wind the seats right back, both of my LS have had more biscuit crumbs (and money) lodged down there than I have seen in any other motor I have owned.

[fred81]

Thanks jpjsavage. could you link me to the other thread or provide an eBay link to the correct part?

Pete, I do have a sat nav disk, as my sat nav currently works. It's just wildly out of date. In fact, it doesn't even have my street on it :D. Still, it got me home the 190 mile journey from picking the car up :)

I suppose I should just check the unit and see what disk is in there, then look for an updated version of that disk? I am a competent Linux user and would have no problem replicating for other users.

[bigjap]

i don't think you can get anything right up to date,im sure the newest one is 8/10 yrs,its a cd based sat nav the later ones are dvd based,no updates availiable,'/

mine works ok when i tried it but way out of date regarding roads etc,i use the garmin if i need sat nav

[Adam Evans]

Can the nav unit from the 430 be wired up to work on the 400 screen ????

[The-Acre]

Interesting reading the comments on the sat nav. I have to say, in the year plus that I've had this car the sat nav has been excellent. I can only assume the previous owner updated it. Obviously it can't accept post codes, but that aside I find it really good.

[jpjsavage]

Thanks jpjsavage. could you link me to the other thread or provide an ebay link to the correct part?

Of course.

eBay link to the aerial I bought: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-REPLACEMENT-AERIAL-MAST-LEXUS-LS400-LS430-GS300-RX300-SOARER-SC2-5-3-4-/111202547497?ViewItem=&item=111202547497&nma=true&si=k5IZwl2Wep3fhSWTemLzrgdWkjE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Link to the post: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/84733-quick-question-regarding-the-aerial-fittings/?hl=aerial

[bigjap]

Interesting reading the comments on the sat nav. I have to say, in the year plus that I've had this car the sat nav has been excellent. I can only assume the previous owner updated it. Obviously it can't accept post codes, but that aside I find it really good.

mine works fine it would get you where you want to go just a bit long winded to set up,i tested it on known routes,its been ok but some places i go to don't exist on there but.back in 1998 it must of been a magnificent piece of kit

[Titch LS]

Congrats Tim, as you have found out these are great cars to drive. Nothing quite like them. I have a mk4 like yours and no other car I have had (and that's quite a few), can compare to the Lexus. My sat-nav works ok but obviously it's missing loads of new roads but it can get me home when I want to play with it. I actually prefer the instructions and voice on the Lexus sat-nav compared to my new Garmin strangely enough. I just love the clarity of the instructions. Anyhow, enjoy the car and remember there's a lot of help and info on this brilliant forum if you need it.

[The-Acre]

Interesting reading the comments on the sat nav. I have to say, in the year plus that I've had this car the sat nav has been excellent. I can only assume the previous owner updated it. Obviously it can't accept post codes, but that aside I find it really good.

mine works fine it would get you where you want to go just a bit long winded to set up,i tested it on known routes,its been ok but some places i go to don't exist on there but.back in 1998 it must of been a magnificent piece of kit

What I find with the Lexus sat nav is that instructions when leaving motorways for instance give me more info than my TomTom. Shame it can't be brought right up to date.

[fred81]

Thanks jpjsavage. could you link me to the other thread or provide an ebay link to the correct part?

Of course.

eBay link to the aerial I bought: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-REPLACEMENT-AERIAL-MAST-LEXUS-LS400-LS430-GS300-RX300-SOARER-SC2-5-3-4-/111202547497?ViewItem=&item=111202547497&nma=true&si=k5IZwl2Wep3fhSWTemLzrgdWkjE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Link to the post: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/84733-quick-question-regarding-the-aerial-fittings/?hl=aerial

Thanks, I'll check these out.

I looked at the CD mine is using and it's showing "2005-2006 Version 1". So it has had a new CD at some point. What do you guys have in yours? Is there a newer CD?

The Lexus site shows that there is a HDD with latest maps for gen 1 devices. This would make sense since all the latest map info would not fit on 1 CD. Maybe this is a drop in replacement unit?