Leaderboard

Maxwellwd i only use mine for the run to work and back, which is around a 14 mile round trip so tops I do in a year is about 4K, in that time I've had no issues apart from no backlight on the radio. Which I have decided needs fixing now. Ive seen a few mentions of lpg and I personally don't see the need if you are only doing 4 to 5k per year as the payback would take way too long on the Ltd mileage you do, I've thought about it a few times and don't see the need. with regards to chasdads thought on not bothering spending the money and just replacing when need be, I don't agree with that, as there are very few good ones coming up for sale at a reasonable price, and even when a good one comes up it will inevitably need money spent on it, I've been looking on and off for the last 12 months and not one has caught my eye that I could justify buying. I recently saw one pop up on eBay, for 3600 navy blue, low mileage apparently stored for 10 years of its life, unfortunately it had the ugliest after market alloys, no service history past 2001, an aftermarket exhaust that sounded like it came from a Ferrari, and no record of a timing belt. To get that back to standard and fully serviced etc it would have cost me 5k all in, granted it only had low mileage (37k) but I couldn't justify the extra costs. Anyway my point was, if you know your car and it's in good condition and just needs some moneybspending to make it perfect I would rather do that than hope another one comes up in the future.

Hi Maxwellwd I would say yes, go for it as I'm going through the same process although a bit slower than you, I bought mine just over 3 years ago and the first thing I did was have the timing belt and water pump done with all the other extra bits that needed doing, plus all fluids etc changed as the car was stood in a garage for 3 years prior to my ownership. Having gone through the I need a new car over the last 12 months I can't find any car that I would rather have, so have decided to splash the cash on my current one. I'm getting the alloys refurbed probably all 5, 5 new tyres, rear bumper needs a respray as I think it's been reversed into something by its previous owner, cracked paint and lacquer, new number plates as mine are beginning to delaminate, new boot seal, find a fix for the heated seats, (I'm adamant I will find one), new stereo or some hack to get an iPod connection. This will probably set me back well over £1000, plus I believe a few bushes need replacing as they were mentioned as advisories on the mot, will get them done too, this all because I know for the money I spend I will probably get a decent return in that it only cost me £1250 3 years ago and if I now spend another 1200 to 1500 I am sure I will get another 3 years, probably even more, and for a that money will can't find any other car I would rather have.

Today, I tried a little off-roading in the 450. Not because I'm mentally deficient you understand, but because I had no real choice... The route to my target club was out as a rail crossing I normally take is closed, so I was forced along a 2 mile rutted track, and onto the range. On arrival, I re-adjusted my spine, and picked up what remained of my fillings, now liberally scattered across the floor....(F-sports belong on tarmac!) It was obvious that the previous few nights heavy rainfall had taken their toll, and rather than lug all my kit across the field, I tippy-toed the RX off the track and onto the rough and bumpy.....and exceptionally muddy field! The moral of this story, is when tempted, don't do it unless in the dry! I managed to get 50 yards before coming to a slippery halt with all 4 wheel spinning and not a lot happening. Careful use of the throttle and some back and forth motion got me going again, so I turned around and made my way back up onto the track. With cross country tyres, it might have been ok. With road tyres, it was just silly. Meanwhile, those in Landcruisers, Jeeps and Freelanders waltzed across without a care in the world.

As a hoarder....still got 3 boxes of cassettes; plus sit next to circa 700 CDs.......look on them as 'hard copy'! (Use HDD/itunes at home-folk here know I'm rather into hi-fi. spent more on set-up than any car!) As to spending money. Worth it every time, as long as you don't get itchy for that 'something new'. Depends on the heart really? It's so hard when we're bombarded with 'get this new ***** wonderthing' all the time. But the pleasure of being in something comfortable, smooth, special. Plus VERY well made, with no sign of all those 'aids' that can go wrong. e.g. why would you 'need' tyre valves that tell you the pressure? You've got eyes, hands and a gauge! Simple is best-and easier to maintain. A good (ideally Ser 4?) LS should motor on for ages. The only thing 'wrong' is the conservative shape-which is why I drive an XM Citroen-but then, I had Citroens for 35 years before Lexus, so was innoculated/indocdrinated? Bought the only one I could find that was half decent. Not a patch on Lex build quality though, but smooth and quick enough.

Spend a bit of time enjoying it as-is. Then decide. FWIW, I refuse to think of it in those terms - wasting money is what you do buying a £15000 car that will be worth £11000 next year, and £8000 the year after that. But don't listen to me, I'm genuinely considering putting a manual gearbox in one of mine... :-/

Probably somebody deliberately crashed it just because of getting bored of the colour

Ah yes - gotta love the cold, greasy roads :-S. That moment when the engine is properly rolling on the power in 3rd, the rears start spinning up at about 70mph and the traction control decides you're having too much fun! A total antidote to S.A.D.!

Here you go, did a video and uploaded it for you... Lexus LS460 failed Left N/S (RHD) rear shock absorber (damper) This is standard running on air suspension. Right side bounced 5 times then released, car rises then settles, Left side bounced 5 times, was easier to bounce, and when released it went up, down, back up and settled. You must do this with the engine running, in Park and parking brake set. It's basically pretty easy to tell, if you're fillings fall out when you go over a pothole and your glovebox rattles about 10 times then they are probably failing, to be honest i was 99% sure they were gone, but it's a big expense and I don't have a lot of experience with air suspension on cars, and haven't actually driven another 460... If anyone wants to come and have a drive before it's fixed then let me know, perhaps we can have an LS meet at mine....

A tiny exhaust leak into the cabin could also cause sickness. So tiny that smell does not detect it. Must be very rare these days with better made vehicles but worth checking if all other possibilities are rejected. John

Hi folks This is a bit of an unusual question! I've only had my CT200H Advance 2014 for a week, but I am finding that after driving it for about 10 minutes I start feeling slightly nauseous. It's like car sickness when you are a kid. After driving, it takes about an hour before the feeling wears off. It's very strange! As anyone else experienced this? After writing the above, I was reading some of the other forums (for Hybrid cars) and discovered that this is not an uncommon problem. Some people put it down to the large batteries, others blame the shape of the windscreen, or the lack of engine noise. Most of these seem pretty unlikely to me, so I was wondering if anyone else might know the cause of this? all the best Paul

For quickness I would personally take the are to Lexus, tell them of all your concerns and get a report off them of what they have found. This you can take to the dealer as proof of the issues, if they fob you off inform them you’re going to instruct Lexus to make the repairs and take them to small claims court to retrieve the money. :)

Thanks chaps, glad the build is going down well on here, its been just over 2 years now, hopefully be finished by the summer. I will keep you posted as it goes.

The thing is I would say this is a good one, and there are not many about these days that come up. In terms of the bodywork it is mint - only the odd blemish, no rust and not a single ding anywhere. Prices for good ones range from all over the place from what I have seen

Hi Everyone, I was looking to get an RX400h for around the £7k to £8k mark, but have just discovered threads about a sinister-sounding inverter failure that seems to be affecting the kind of age I've been looking at (2007-2008) How common actually are these faults? It's very hard to judge from web forums, as people only tend to post horror stories. Some of the repair bills quoted just seem berserk - £5k plus in some cases - which is almost as much as the cars are worth. There are a few warranties available, but I suspect most would not cover hybrid component failure. Lexus' own extended warranty is expensive - annually it works out about the same price as finding a used inverter online and getting it fitted. What was the forum's thought on this? I'm assuming that there are a few isolated instances of nightmares doing the rounds no matter what car you're interested in, but as I said above, I'm keen to know the feeling about how common pricey disasters are with a 400h cheers M

Actually, James22 got me thinking (thanks James) I am in the habit of using the +44 number format as I used to travel Europe on business a lot many years ago. I changed my home number to lead with a '0' and like magic, the caller display worked So... that's the answer I think - remove the +44 from all numbers Really pleased to have found it (prompted by James of course). Thank you everyone. Neil

You can ask yourself if Bentley Continental saloon comes up to your standard... because Phaeton is effectively rebadged Continental.

I on the other hand would say no. Use it while save for another if you like it. And maybe pay a bit more next time and get a really good one

I'm in a similar boat with mine and have already done a full cambelt job, new tyres on newly sourced dhp wheels. Mine also needs an aux belt and potentially the tensioner too due to an occasional whine from that area. New tyres were £95 each, I went with Dunlop 235/55/17, a bit more palatable than the correct 245/50! Close to 2 grand spent on a 1 grand car :)

Just an update, collected the car last week and have to say. Very impressed overall for the price. Engine is silent at all speeds, gearbox is good. A couple of points as got checked over by my local mechanic who I trust. He was amazed at thr amount of car for the money but he said that needs a new auxiliary drive belt, the radiator has seen better days, tyres are near legal limit but other than that all good. Said a bit of surface rust on rear sub frame which I knew about. The thing is I'm one im one of those people people that likes to bring their pride and joy back to its former glory, but is it worth it for a £1400 car? For instance the leather interior could use a re-dye and the front armrest needs a retrim. Decent branded tryes for the DHP wheels are £175 a corner, parking sensors, aux input fitted, new rear chrome badges rather than gold. The list is beginning to build up My question is, would you do the same on a 20 year old car? Ive been here before with an Audi TT which was a money pit, but also my mileage is minimal. 4-5k per year at most Sent from The Isle Of Sheppey

Blind Spot Monitor. :)

Loads of room...!!! had it brushing both door handles several times....I carried a chainsaw for when it didn't fit..!! Took it everywhere for three years and only got a few small dents... loads breaking on eBay and panels are cheap so wasn't too worried....

Saw some of your Range Rover off-roading exploits! How the hell you dared take that rangie through that gap I will never know. Was your backside twitching? Mine was watching it! I have done a little off-roading and know how difficult it can be! Very impressive. I am not off-topic as I was comparing the LS460 suspensionwith a Range Rover!

The highest depreciation is in the first year. If you look on the Lexus Used section - Lexus Liverpool is selling a CT200h Sport with only 3k on it for £18.5k. Bare in mind, that car will also have £500-1k worth of discount to be had on it so final purchase price would be £17.5-18k. If the dealer gives you top book trade offer, they'll be making £2k which is their usual margin

You would need W5W/T10/194 bulbs in cool white. Getting to the bulb is fairly tricky. You'll have to move the mirror using the buttons all the way up. Then stick your finger underneath and give it a solid pull and the glass should come away. There'll be 4 screws behind the glass which needs removing. Remove the claws that hold the glass and then remove the cover.

I could not agree more but he bought it from the main dealers and has always had it serviced there ..... " They know the car....." And they also know he is loyal custom and has a large wallet. .

Yes i hope they will look at it properly. Anyway, today all the warnings dissapeared but hope they can still see what was the problem as the fault code should still stay in history even if its not present... dont want to ignore this and want it fixed as planning a 4000mile roadtrip and just want to be safe its not gonna break down lol...

Any particular reason you're drawn to the hybrid? I like the CVT and being from an electrical/technical background I also sort of fancied just having a 400h for the technology used in the car. Plus, I thought it would have worked out much cheaper in the long run but it doesn't, so I decided against it in the end and went for a petrol RX300 then had it converted to LPG. I was surprised to find that road tax for the 400h is just £30 cheaper (£260 instead of £290) and that fuel consumption is a bit better than purely petrol, but not hugely so and certainly less than I would have thought.

Why on earth would someone go to the main dealer for anything (unless it can't be sourced elsewhere) let alone an MOT for a 12 year old car that's done 150,000 miles? And why would that person, having gone to the main dealers, be surprised by a high-value quote/bill? They aren't nicknamed 'main stealers' for nothing. All the plush carpets, comfortable seats and the 'free' coffee and biscuits have to be paid for somehow.

Airbags are fine and hold air no problem, it is the shock absorber that runs down the center of the airbag that has failed, there is no external leak visible so I imagine the internal workings have failed and the oil has been pushed passed the piston. You can't repair or replace just the shock unfortunately...

Just got back from a site inspection, decided to take the F, very therapeutic although the roads were very greasy which made for some "interesting" moments.

I think out of the 2 I am starting to like the looks of the GS-F more than the RC-F, might start to look at one seriously in 12 months time when the prices are more attractive.

Lexus Cardiff do

Not good media for the RCF, but good news for those thinking of upgrading the ISF in the future https://www.carthrottle.com/post/hilarious-depreciation-makes-this-471bhp-lexus-rc-f-look-like-a-bargain/

Off to mid Wales now you know what that it's not about you driving your 'F' around enjoying yourself in what is one of the best value normally aspirated , reliable , fun cars availbe on the second hand market for not a lot of money cough...... cough....... ITS ABOUT NOT FORGETTING LOTS OF PICS ON HERE FOR US GOT IT 😂😂😂😂 And if you are not going on your own a little video clip as well and while I'm on the ask in Crickhowell there is a little off-licence that used to sell Anniversary tinnies of a certain drink you may have heard mentioned in these parts called Guinness 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Big Rat

It was definitely a tongue in cheek post Dan [emoji13] Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Not planning to change my car for at least 3 years, but when I do it'll almost certainly be another Lexus that takes it's place. The logical decision would be a 3rd-gen IS (my choice would probably be a 200t F-Sport) but I completely agree with what was said earlier regarding how "inferior" the newer model feels by comparison. Granted, my only experience of one has been with a loaner 300h base-model when my car was in for a service, but I couldn't help but notice how noisy, unrefined and cheap it felt compared to my own car. With that in mind, I think I'm more likely to go after a 450h next (either GS Mk4 or RX Mk3) or maybe even an RC-F if they depreciate heavily enough...

It comes time to renew my insurance and current provider (Bell) gone mad. Yes I am young driver and London based, but their offer makes no-sense. I just wonder if that is just me or it is with all insurances trying to catch you out if you not careful and not shopping around. Last year their tried to pull the same thing, but after some negotiation I got rather good deal ... Renewal was like £1360 (£200 more than first year), but after negotiating the price it got to ~£900 and later when I moved to different area they even refunded £150, so I ended-up with ~£750... This year same story again - renewal price £1098. After priming call they let it down to £920.. which is still more expensive. Funny thing is that lady on the phone was going through each point on the form and the answer to all of them was "no, no change still the same" and somehow the price changed by nearly £200. As a young, but "becoming older" driver and with increasing in NCB I am expecting my insurance to become cheaper.. but somehow that is not the case. It went £1129>£1360 (with discount and refund to ~750)>£1098 again. I was told that price could be affected by non-fault claim which I didn't made, just let them know that police is investigating it and it will go to court... For me that makes no sense.. how can my premium raise from non-fault claim, which I didn't even made. Anyways, checked comparison sites and it seems I can get quote for ~£698-724 from likes Esure. Finally, one funny thing. When filling form on comparison site I got automatic car value as £7650 (I wish), so maybe some code has changed in their software because last year that was ~£5200 or my 2008 IS250SEL actually appreciating at rather healthy speed.

Got my car booked in for an inspection at my trusty local mechanic a week on Friday. From the zoorst leak pic's I took he reckon's it'll be better to chop out the offending rear Y piece and drop in a couple of new bends. Once up on the ramps we can determine what the best option is, then he can measure up and order what's needed. I'll also be able to take another closer look at these weeping front shocks. I've covered a fair few miles in her now and had a good 2hr commute (each way) yesterday to understand how she drives on roads I know well. I have to say that I'm impressed, the ride is comfy yet firm enough when you need it, it's quiet and comfortable so is everything I'd hoped. I'm still trying to adjust to the power and gearbox, not that there's much to do mind you! Cruising at the legal limit gives 40mpg+ on the read outs but anything more and mpgs drops off, as you'd expect. But did I read somewhere that over 80mph the eCVT goes into over drive or something?

Its all based on statistics. Street parking is cheaper because the statistics show that a lower proportion of cars get stolen from streets with keys. If you're car is in a garage, they know which house to steal the keys from. Same thing with the mileage - their databases show the annual mileage of drivers who claim the most and they adjust the premium accordingly. Upon renewal (Admiral) my multicar policy went up to £890. I had paid £764 the year before and nothing had changed, in-fact, the value of the cars had dropped and our NCD had gone up to 17 and 13 years. Granted, it was the cheapest quote I had obtained anyway as brokers wanted £1000+ for each car. I rang renewals department and asked why it went up. The woman asked a few questions, all of which I said no to and the price went down to £750. I believe its a sales tactic - inflate the prices and some people either won't notice or it'll be cheapest for them anyway and they'll automatically renew.

Well done Pete. Sadly,I seem not to be aware of anything I thought I knew !! Regards John

Hi, I also have a GS so cant comment on RX> In fact just noticed this is posted in the GS forum not RX or NX. Anyway, what I can comment on is: 2. Ive had 2 different models on Lexus approved used, both 100% spot on totlally fault free One had not had a last service they said it had when i checked the handbook at the test drive. The serviced it (£400) before I picked it up and apologised for the mistake 3. Quite a few Japanese makes\models subject to an airbag recall due to a faulty part used by a 3rd party supplier. You can check a specific vehicle here: https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/your-lexus/#RecallInformation 4. If buying approved used haggle over the APR if you taking finance. I got mine dropped from 5.5 to 2.9 just by asking.

It looks fine on the 3rd picture, reminds me of that Churchill advert with the car crushed into a block.

For GAP insurance take a look at ALA Insurance. Have used them twice now and always quite reasonable. As usual main dealer (whatever manufacturer) pricing for this is a rip off.

Right, I've just spent a few hours jacking the car up to investigate the dealers comments; both front tyre valves leaking - the OSF definitely is, around the base of the TPMS sensor. I can't see any leaks on the NSF rear brake pipe corroded - all I can see is a small rub on each side, looks like the inner arch has rubbed the pipes slightly front shocks leaking from body - all four dampers are bone dry! - I look forward to hearing what Lexus have to say about this exhaust blowing at 'Y' section - agreed, I'll discuss this with the dealer that sold me the vehicle exhaust also has a slight leak from the mid section - I couldn't get underneath the vehicle sufficiently today to check this It's a good job I took the time to pop off all the wheels and crack the wheels nuts as some were crazy tight, so much so that I doubt you'd shift them at the road side. They've all been cleaned up, lubed and torqued down nicely now.

I have come across this on other forums, but never experienced anything like it myself. I do get earache in my left ear whenever my wife is in the car never found out why. John.