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John That is a sickener and just when you had got back into the LS400 after a short absence. Push for a repair as you were not in anyway responsible. Make them put it right do not let them write it off as they will want to,even your insurance company will go for the easy option but you do have the right to a repair.

Get noticed this Winter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301829378361?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Think it's beyond a panel beater. I agree about buying it back, after you've researched possible costs of repair. Would be a shame for it to become a scrapper. Good luck and let us know please.

Omg it's terrible would u ever think mini cause so much damage Probably do category d @ buy it back @ get it repaired ask for payment @ get it repaired at a fraction of cost. Insurance company will c market value so some time it's not worth thier while to repair it will pay u out seen worse damage but good panel beater can repair that best of luck

thats a write off, i feel your pain :(

Looks like an expensive repair, could be written off.

I'd be crying my eyes out. Feel for you mate.

Ouch. Hope you at least get a good pay out.

The possibility of getting ripped off when any car I've ever owned has gone in for scheduled servicing at a dealership has always given me a bad stomach, the reason being that you can never be 100% sure that everything that should be done will be done - and done properly - despite the higher bill in respect of an independent workshop. And, given my mistrustful nature, so it will always be. However, I have to some extent factored my stomach pains into the cost of ownership, and, as specifically regards Lexus, I take comfort from the fact that, after religiously following the recommended service schedules, I have had remarkably few reliability problems with any of the five ISs I have bought from, and had serviced by, three different dealerships. How much of this has been attributable to the cars' intrinsic reliability and how much to the regularity and goodness of the specialist servicing I don't know. And since I have no basis for technical and financial comparisons, I never will. What I do know is that after buying my first Lexus I have kept going back.

.What a rotten Christmas present. I feel your pain. Did they stop so you could get their details. Mike.

I bought mine from Lexus Woodford, but I have recently found this on ebay - it's Lexus Birmingham (sort of) but cheaper. http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/lexusbirm/m.html?item=181669635499&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 Have a look for the ball joints - he doesn't do everything but worth a look. I've also had good service from these guys who do a wide range of suspension parts: http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/japeurocarparts?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

The dealers will twist this by using fixed price or menu priced servicing. In an intermediate service all they basically use is oil and filter. They then use a check list. Now on a fairly new car this does not take long. Major service is only air, and possibly pollen filter added. Plugs may not be required to be changed as lots are now longer life. Brake fluid change may also be done. Technicians who work 8 hrs CB be billed out for 12-14 hrs. I'm going in for my 6th service next week but to be fair they do clean and wax my car as part of the service FOC. It's a lease car, but if it was my own car I would be slow to use the dealer just because I know how cheap it can be done elsewhere and the standards are no different. To be honest most industries work like this, factor in the costs of the showroom and all the coffee and fluffy stuff. That prob costs more but subsidised by the high margins. The margins for warranty work are low as the manufacturer has tough set allowances on time and much lower labour rate. So the customer paying for the service is their cash cow!!

Filaments get hot, and then if they cannot dissipate heat they will fail quicker so after many years they are bound to go. Mind you an LED reduces in brightness due to the fact that the Diode junction gets really hot and wears down over thousands of hours. This is why we do not notice LEDs failing because they do it so gradually. As to replacing with LED's I am always nervous of this because of the noise LEDs can create, which may upset other systems around them. When a circuit is designed with LEDs in mind then noise regulation is generally taken into account, and fact that filaments are not constant resistance from start time to active time, means LEDs can stress other devices a little more on power up. Someone more technical than me might say you need a shunt across the LEDs to be safe, but if this is a spare unit, might be just as well to go ahead and see what happens.

buying into the lexus brand unfortunately ties you into more expensive servicing charges it shouldn't come as a surprise.

I always use OEM filters as well and 5W-30 oil but semi-synthetic rather than synthetic. I use Millers Trident oil as it meets the A3/B3 specification in the LS400 Owners Handbook. There are two reasons why I use semi-synthetic. One is that both cars had semi-synthetic oil in when I bought them, the cars seemed to run fine with that oil in them and I have just carried on using the same type. The other is that I change the oil annually but do a relatively low mileage (about 3000-4000 in each car), so it is cheaper to use semi-synthetic. In fact, I have never had a car in which I have used synthetic oil, in the main because I have always had older cars! But I am sure synthetic is fine as I know a lot of people on here use it.

I always use OEM filters and a quality branded 5W-30 fully sythetic engine oil. If you have no cambelt history get it done ASAP, if the belt breaks or one of the pulleys fail the engine will be wrecked, also recommended to replace the water pump at the same time. IIRC the cambelt change is 100,000 miles/10 years for this engine so it is now overdue if no previous renewal records. My local garage will do the job for £200.00 + VAT labour if I buy the parts so expect to pay around £500.00 in total.

I have just been through this - my wife shunted her car into a garage door requiring a new bumper and fender plus repainting of course. 1) You have the right to choose where your car goes for repair. The insurance company will undoubtedly say that the work won't be covered or whatever but you will get a warranty from the bodyshop, especially a Lexus bodyshop which will give 2 years warranty on any work carried out. 2) You may have to pay an extra £250 excess on top of your original excess to go to a non-approved garage i.e Lexus approved bodyshop 3) Lexus body shops have strict quality control, they shouldn't give you a car back with poor paint job or misaligned panels etc. However, its common knowledge that Insurance approved bodyshops cut corners to lower the cost to the insurance company and therefore increase their profits. Insurance companies choose their "approved repairers" on a cost basis, not a quality of work basis and therefore, it is very likely you'll get a car back with poorly blended paint which may flake in a year. 4) 9/10 Lexus approved bodyshops will get the work done much quicker than insurance approved repairers. Reason for this is that insurance approved repairers are usually saturated with cars whereas Lexus bodyshops charge more (due to their higher quality work and quality checks after each process). 5) Had a look at Rainbow and they don't exactly have great reviews BTW my wife's Lexus IS300h F-Sport was done by RRG bodyshop in Bolton (used by RRG Lexus Bradford, Stockport, Bolton and Manchester). They will collect and drop off the car and I can bet they'd have it done in less than 2 weeks from contact. The 300h has a tri-coat pearl paint and therefore I was quite worried about it but they did a perfect job and would highly recommend them! Ive included a link for you below and you can get in touch with them directly via the bar on the left side where you can upload pictures of the damage etc http://www.rrg-group.com/accident-repair/

IIRC from previous similar posts you have the right to have the car repaired at a garage of your choice, so if you want Lexus to do the repair work insist it is done there,this would also remove any doubt over future claims on your extended warranty. Obviously approach your insurer's with your concerns and let them know you would feel uncomfortable if a non Lexus dealer did the repairs,main thing is be nice in doing so.