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Picked up the other half tonight after a shopping trip and she decided to pull down the passenger sun visor to use the illuminated mirror. No light! This car is not even 21 years old yet and a bulb has failed. Sorted it though, used the bulb out of my side as I never do my make up whilst driving anyway :)

Bet its on the same tyres as well

I know what you mean. My 15 year old mk4 needs a replacement numberplate bulb. Thinking of trading it in for a Renault...

Wouldn't touch a 400 for that simple reason, if a bulb only lasts 21yrs what else have lexus scimpt on.

How about something to keep the seats clean? Enjoy. Regards John

Hello again, and thank you all for your replies, and especially to Mark for the picture of the switch. It’s a relief to know that the problem is only caused by a faulty switch, and not by something buried in the electronics as I had at first feared. At least I know what to do now if it happens again, wriggle the key, or if not, stop and switch off and on again. I have to say that as well as my LS400 being the nicest car that I have ever owned, its also been the most reliable by far. Its certainly the only car I have ever had where after fifteen years everything still works, even the radio aerial. Unlike my wife’s Renault Scenic which is the most unreliable car I have ever owned and has cost me a small fortune. Anyway, thank you all once again for your help Kind regards, John.

Here is a picture of the faulty switch What happens is over time for some reason the back becomes loose as shown by the arrow - inside the switch is a series of spring loaded copper discs which rotate to make or break an electrical connection and i think whats happening is when the back becomes loose it creates enough Loosiness between the discs to break the electrical connection which causes the blackout. wiggling the key corrects hope this helps

Part number is 84450-16080 and it is the same as a Toyota Starlet 96-99 models which will probably be cheaper than the Lexus price around £85.00!

I've noticed, occasionally, my car pulls to the left when I pull upto traffic lights ... but if I try again (when safe), it seems fine. I'm new to rear wheel drive and not sure if my problem is due to camber in the road affecting this lighter steering, or some odd intermittent braking problem. I don't notice any binding sounds, nor pulling when free-wheeling at low speed.