Leaderboard

Went to view the car this afternoon as arranged. A young lady came out, handed me the keys and said take it around the block and have a look around it,ring the door bell when you're done. "I don't know if you know anything about these cars" I replied "That's mine parked behind" "Oh another Lexus, I didn't see that, my partner tends to change cars every 6 months and this is the best one we have ever had but with child number 4 on the way we now need something a little bigger". The car is pretty clean with as described a few scuffs on the rear bumper and scratches on the paintwork, interior is very tidy, all seats good, wheels are 17" with newish budget tyres fitted. Engine bay is tidy with all fluids except the oil level correct ( oil was at the very bottom of the dipstick when checked but oil was clean and fresh) and the ATF was a clear cherry red. Engine starts immediately on turn of the key and is nice and quiet. Only rust I noticed was around a 6" long area under the upper windscreen rubber, the paint hadn't broken but you could feel the lift of paint and see it was pushing the seal away from the body. Rear wheel arches were surprisingly clear of any mud/crud build up. A few fixing screws missing from the under engine cover (haven't we all) There was something dripping from under the transmission area driver's side but could have been AC condensate or a dribble from the exhaust flange joint (no noticeable blow) All discs are new with no wear edges present, both front UCAs have been replaced albeit with aftermarket ones. Boot was clean and tidy,even the toolbox torch was still in there wrapped in cellophane, full size spare with what may be the original unused Dunlop tyre. Needs a good exterior detailing and some quality wax/polish to fully bring out the shine. Didn't drive it as not sure re insurance. Price is now up to 3.3K so may make what he wants, had I not got my 1994 I would have seriously considered it.

Happy Hallowe'en Ls400/430/460/600 Owners :)

Hello, I just thought I'd document my experiences with seized front calipers on my 2006 GS450h. Apologies for the long post, but hopefully there will be some useful information in here. When I originally searched for information on seized front calipers, I didn't find too much information. Rear calipers seem to be more of a problem... I bought my car in Dec 2014 so didn't have it that long. (I originally typed this up in April but only getting round to posting now...) As these cars get older, I think this may become more and more of an issue, given how easily I think this can happen. Looking at some of the US sites, seized front calipers seem to be common enough for various Lexus cars in the US. I could go into the whole story and background to this, but I don't think it would add to the usefulness of the post and would reflect badly on me, as someone with an interest in his cars and who should have noticed this much much sooner... In summary... This process was prompted by a slight noise from the front left disk when turning left. What started out as a change of brake pads turned into new pads, new disks and two new calipers. The first indication of the issue was that the inner brake pad was actually seized in the caliper on the left hand side. This is first time I have ever encountered this on any car I've had. When I got the pad out (after much prising, cursing etc.) I found the pistons for the inner pad on the left hand side were also seized. The reason why this was not noticeable when driving was, unbelieveable to me, that the right hand side was in exactly the same state; the inner pad was seized in the caliper and the pistons were also seized! The biggest suprise was that I hadn't noticed any issue with the brakes until very recently when I began to think I had a warped disk. I'd driven several GS450hs before buying mine and the brakes seemed to be no different on mine. I believe the pads were seized before I bought my car. Both sides had a seized pad, hence the braking effort was similar. Perhaps this a case where the brake actuator etc. really does provide a totally artificial feel. The only symptom (in hindsight) was that at times, when the road was damp or slippy, I felt there was too much rear brake bias in the car. This I put down to excessive regeneration rather than brakes so never investigated further. Note: there is no electrical or electronic switch on the Lexus to warn of worn pads. There is a spring on one pad designed to be very noisy when it touches the disk. This spring is on the inner (and seized) pads so there was no warning of worn pads in my case. When I had looked at the service records for my car, the brakes were changed in a Toyota garage in 2013 so I had been confident the brakes were in good condition. I think this problem arose because the outer rubber seals were damaged when the pistons were being pushed back when the brakes were being changed. In the seals for the affected pistons I noticed a small nick in each seal of approximately 2-3mm in each. The pistons themselves appear to be mild steel with a chrome or hard coating on the piston walls. The pistons may just be highly polished with no other protective coating. In any case the pistons themselves, where exposed, seem to have rusted very heavily and very completely. I believe this car might have lived beside the sea before I bought it, leading to even greater and more severe rusting. This rust seems to have moved from the top of the piston, which is uncoated, down under the side coating. This has made the sliding surface rough and has also been sufficient to trap the piston in the aluminium caliper. I managed to extract one of the seized pistons and I've put a picture of it here. Given the condition of the piston, I would not be willing to risk reusing this piston and caliper on what is a heavy and quite fast car. If a piston is seized, I think it could be dangerous to push it back in without inspecting everything throroughly. As I was under a certain amount of time pressure, I decided to go ahead and purchase two brand new calipers from Lexus. These were expensive but at least I know what I have. I've had a chance to do some more searching since and I've seen rebuilt calipers for sale for $70 dollars or so each. Given the damage to the pistons on my caliper, including the pistons that haven't seized, I would only be comfortable if all pistons were renewed and all seals, inner and outer were changed.

Just keep saying hmm that's too expensive. Eventually they'll drop the price considerabley

Mine is exactly the same. My previous IS 300 was the same as well. During the service on that one Lexus managed to improve it considerably so I will mention it next year on this cars first service as its not important enough to take it in now. Mine is exactly the same. My previous IS 300 was the same as well. During the service on that one Lexus managed to improve it considerably so I will mention it next year on this cars first service as its not important enough to take it in now. Got exactly the same thing with my brakes, they grunt and groan as they are slowly released. Had it in to the dealers twice and they cleaned and lubed the pads, made little or no difference. Don't know which makes the most noise, the brakes or my stomach when I'm hungry..

Mine is exactly the same. My previous IS 300 was the same as well. During the service on that one Lexus managed to improve it considerably so I will mention it next year on this cars first service as its not important enough to take it in now.

I'd normally do it myself but wanted some protection for the paint as I'd heard it's a little soft. Hopefully this will keep it looking good over the winter.

Sorry, David, when rereading the original boot lid comment I see I for one "sprang" (is that a word?) to the wrong conclusion.

The earlier cars, (with 4-speed boxes) were filled with Toyota T- II from the factory. Toyota Type- II is no longer made. Toyota T- IV supercedes Toyota T-II . Therefore, Lexus now recommends fill with Toyota T- IV. Simples. p.s. Dextron II/III is for your power steering.

I had the same experience in an A6. I must say that the IS300h cvt pretty responsive and that's after using the 8 speed ZF in latest 3 series.

Update: Finally got round to changing the coolant as per the forum guide. Got my Indy to do it and he followed the instructions and charged me £28 labour! Top bloke he is. I've had to top it up a couple of time since so would recommended buying 12 litres in total to save a trip back to the stealer. The fan is now blowing hot again so thanks for all the expert advice, really appreciate it. Next job: dual cat and middle pipe replacement, one for early next year once I've saved a few pennies!

I've got a mk1 Gs sport and a 57 ls600hl Got a 04 ls430 in the house too Still love my Gs Currently broken down for the first time in 18 years, oil leak on to alternator!! Hopefully back on road tomorrow

Does this work? Aha...looks like it does. No pressure then Rayaans but I called Pt 1 Detailing your Lexus Pt 1 - Exterior.pdf