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Hi everyone That time of the year, I've has my LS400 for about a year now, have done almost 10,000 miles. Enjoyed every single one of them. The car has been completely trouble free. Apart from the major service which included timing belt, tensioners, coolant, spark plugs, water pump, battery, a/c, air filter, cabin filter, break pads, new wiper blades new tyres when I first bought it, I've had the oil and filter changed once more. No other costs incurred. Booked it for an MOT on 25th Feb, it passed with one advisory "nearside front Suspension arm ball joint dust cover deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt". Is this something I need to worry about? Thanks for your advice. Tarun

I now have both a 2013 IS300h Lux with Premium Nav and a 2016 CT200h Adv with Regular Nav in the household. Obviously I'm now getting familiar with the CT having long had an IS rather than the other way around, and the Premium versus Regular Nav is a significant difference, but anyway... It's all a matter of opinion, but a few things I prefer about the CT: - the interior buttons (greater differentiation between rear demister and AC button, for example); - the cup holders (further forward, so better at least for driver/front passenger); - side mirrors (you can flick them to come back out when you turn the car on - you can't on the IS); and - basic Nav (I marginally prefer the look). I have to say I find the ride excellent - I suspect it has been greatly improved at time of facelift. A few things I prefer about the IS: - the drive (rear wheel of course); - the interior styling (no plastics here thanks, and the analogue clock is classy); - back storage (this is very limited for rear passengers in the CT); - boot (not just bigger, but you don't hear the contents while in the front!); - Premium features of the Nav (I do use the Connected Services and am not afraid to admit I miss the reverse camera innthenCT too); - exterior styling (CT looks like pretty much any other hatchback; the IS is outstanding - for me, anyway). They are different cars but I have to say they both do everything well that Lexus does well. I very much like them both.

Some owned at same time as others and a few bikes to, not listed race cars but you can tell by the dips in the road car standards when I had these :-) Largely chronologically ordered. Piaggio typhoon Benetton Peugeot 309 diesel Peugeot 306 D-Turbo Honda CBR400 repsol Honda Civic VTI Westfield/Lotus twin cam Fiesta 1.3 Vauxhall Frontera 1956 Landrover series 2A lightweight Sylva Striker Suzuki SV 650s Toyota MR2 mk1, turned into a race car Toyota MR2 mk2 Ford Econovan - aus import VW passat VW polo 1.3 CL KTM 990 Superduke Toyota Celica T-sport Lotus Elise R Mazda 6 2.2 sport Mazda RX8 R3 Audi S3 - 406bhp Lexus ISF Phew quite a list considering I've only been driving since 1998.

Hi All, So I finally took some photo's, I followed rayaans detailing guide not using all the exact same products but near enough the same process. Taken me all day, the missus won't stop moaning at me for how long it took but I got pics of it looking it's best so here they are.

Might be of interest lol

Even your headlight bulb skills will be stretched on the LS430!! Because the radiator is a straightforward job any decent garage will do it, and it shouldn't cost that much, but I would certainly use it as an opportunity to have completely new coolant, about £25 for 5 litres from Toyota.

Congratulations, another year on the road for your LS400. All the costs you have spent so far could apply to owning any car... But I'd rather it be a v8 luxury cruise! Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

Reading Lexus were expensive for cambelt change. It was 350 and when I asked them to change the water pump as well the said that would be another 350. I did tell them that they are next to each other and couldn't be the same cost again but they didn't budge...so I ended up at powerhouse Camberley for 520. I think it was a central call centre that was quoting me the cost and not the dealership itself. I went to them for wipers and they also fitted them for free.. When I spoke to them face to face while fitting the wipers they said I should have gone straight to the service desk and agreed that the call centre had got the cambelt and water price combined wrong !! A lesson to us all...speak to the people that know and not the the call centres monkeys that know nothing ! [emoji1] Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk

My Wife has one, MX-5 Mk2.5. Fantastic little car. We even went to Lake Annecy and Chamonix in it. Up in the mountains with the roof down ... it was utterly brilliant. We have a Hard Top for the winter months (she's on now) and the Mohair for the summer. Avoid Vinyl roofs IMHO ... they tend to crack on the seems and last a lot less than Mohair. Just about to start looking for a MY2010/11/12 to replace with.

Chas, welcome to the forum. I can echo Piers' recommendation for Japex. They are an excellent garage to deal with. Having said that, replacing a radiator on your car is a pretty straight forward job, not hard at all. Depends if you like tinkering and saving some pennies at the same time.

Found one, bought it :) Has a few issues but I got it at a good price. GS430, 2005 with 73,000 miles, Silver with grey interior and black maple wood. All the options I believe :) Bad bits... A/c needs regassing Rear callipers are seized Due timing belt service (due to age) Corrosion on leading edge of bonnet Weeping rocker cover gasket

John, disconnecting the battery can cause the VSC light to come on. Once you drive a few miles it will go out. Don't forget, if your car is a 2000 Mk4 LS you need to leave the ignition key switched in the 'on' position (one notch before 'start') for 6 minutes or the car won't start. DON'T press the accelerator either. Hope this helps.

I agree that the car is reliable, however you soon get the £1,000 back by getting fairly minor items sorted out, Items you might otherwise consider leaving with due to the cost of parts and labour. In today's money, £1,000 is not a lot of money, in particular where luxury brands are concerned. Under warranty, I have had replaced both taillights due to condensation and one mirror that would no longer darken. As pointed out above by Tom, other brands may have refused to pay out and put these faults down to wear and tear, but mine were replaced without quibbling. And I got a free courtesy car. And my car got valeted while at the dealer. And I am still covered for 2 years.

Hope you don't mind me chiming in Just wanted to say that I also agree the extended warranty is worth getting. On mine, 2 months after purchasing it, my car needed a new flywheel. Lexus Edgware Road took care of it, no fuss. As such, the warranty has now paid for itself, and I still have peace of mind for some time to come.

Hi Mark. I have recently been through what you are going through in terms of looking for a GS430, there are not exactly a lot about and I had to travel about a fair bit. My advice is to keep on top of places like Autotrader every day as good ones can get snapped up quickly, mine was only listed for an hour or so before I spotted it and arranged to view it the next day. One thing I would advise you check on any potential car is the inner sides of both exhaust back boxes (get right up underneath if you can) as the cars I looked at seemed to have common rot there. A replacement box is over £400 per side from Lexus. The cambelt on the GS430 I bought was due next year but for peace of mind, Lexus Bristol did mine recently for £295 which is a damn good price as it took them 4 hours plus. Not sure if it's common but my GS has some minor bubbling on the leading edge of the bonnet, the other car I looked at didn't. I wish you all the best in your search, hope you find the right car soon.

The standard Lexus one on my GS was active (I think the RX too) and I've also used Puravent http://www.pollenfilter.co.uk//display_filter.php?id=386&part=M2194 I think it makes a difference, one of those things that is difficult to tell. It's also difficult to know when the it stops working, does it last the full 20k miles / two years between major services?

I have found the receipt for the Hybrid Pump bearings. Not sure if the part numbers would make sense, so I have measured the bearings with vernier callipers so the correct parts can be ordered. I bought mine from Brammer UK Ltd, in Hereford (01432 276630). The part numbers are 61900-2Z and 608-2Z. They were in stock at the time. The dimensions for the front bearing are 22mm OD, 10mm ID, 6mm width. The dimensions for the rear bearing are 22mm OD, 8mm ID, 7mm width. Giles.