A New 'old' Member.

[Tulpen]

In 1997 I was looking to buy a nearly-new BMW 7 Series or Mercedes S class. I went to visit my local dealers in Glasgow but, probably because I was dressed 'in a casual manner', they weren't too interested. The Mercedes salesman wouldn't even shake my hand!

A work colleague asked me if I'd thought about a Lexus......I had no idea they existed. A few days later I visited my local Lexus garage and was given a 2 year-old gold LS 400 for a day. The car sold itself and I bought it.

I still own it and it has become like an old friend. Back in 1997 there were very few Lexus around and we used to wave at each other when passing.

The car has been exceptionally reliable: apart from regular servicing, the only things that have gone wrong are one indicator bulb and the front part of the exhaust had to be replaced - not because it had failed but because the metal flanges attaching it to the car had rusted away.

The British made security system (since discontinued, I believe) failed on me twice and was replaced under warranty.

The only large cost servicing items have been the timing belt replacements at every 68,000 miles. The car has done 162,000 miles and still passes it's MOT easily. As the topic tag says - a good decision.

In the past few months I have moved to Holland and will be here for the forseeable future. It is just not possible to drive a British registered car here for any length of time (paricularly on the insurance side) so I've bought a car here - a 'first registered in 2009' Lexus RX 400h.

This means that the LS 400 is, unfortunately, surplus to requirements. I had thought of putting it in the classified section but there is a difference...........I am not trying to sell the car; I am trying to give it away to a Lexus enthusiast. There is no catch in this; it is not worth very much and, if no-one wants it, it will go to auction. I would rather not do that. It has been a very reliable car and will continue to be so. The Lexus Owners Club seems, to me, to be the place to find someone who wants it. It has tax and MOT until Apr 2013. And it has NEVER been smoked in.

The car will be in the Glasgow area for a couple of weeks in the middle of November. Anyone interested can just pick it up. Please PM me if you want any more info.

To the Moderators: if this is against the forum rules, I apologise. Please feel free to delete or move as necessary.

[steve2006]

Hello and welcome to the LOC.

I bought my 1994 model as an import badged Toyota Celsior over 6 years ago with 38,000 miles on the clock and it has now reached around 80,000.

As with yours with routine servicing nothing major has failed apart from the starter motor which I rebuilt myself.

I don't have a problem with members giving cars away and infact I would be very interested in your offer of the car.

[Chris Skelton]

A nice idea! I recall giving away a Citroen CX Auto to grateful, but impoverished, Citroen fans.

It would be good to know if it's a '97 Ser 3, or a late 97 Ser 4 (as in-you can tell by the headlights and Ser 4 has satnav)

I'd be tempted if Ser 4, as I miss mine!

Chris in Bristol

[steve2006]

It's a 1995 Chris ( a 2 year old car in 1997)

[Tulpen]

No, I'm afraid it's a Mk3.......just not registered till '95.

[RayKhan]

What a nice gesture and I do hope it goes to a nice home.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Sorry to bump an old thread but did anybody get this? Seems to good to be true!