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For anyone who might fancy sticking on a bike rack to the rear of their LS I can definitely recommend the Saris Bones rack. The rack is well made, tough yet very light. I attached it easily to my LS and put on two 29" MTBs. I came down to Sennen, Cornwall on Saturday from Sheffield and the bikes were stable and I felt confident driving up to 80 mph. (max recommended speed for the rack) I removed the pedals and put bubble wrap on the forks of one bike and I can happily report that the boot suffered no marking form the six straps that attach to the lid. In fact I thought the car looked pretty cool with them on the back. What does amaze me though is that I didn't see another LS on the entire journey. Certainly very rare cars. Nick

Called at a car meet yesterday and spotted this beauty. Can't be many around

Update. Lexus replaced both rear shocks today at no cost. Had a brand new NX 300h premier as a courtesy car. Was disappointed with that in comparison to the GS!

Hi. I'm not really a new member, but I have been absent for a couple of years since selling my IS300 SportCross and buying an Audi. But I'm back with Lexus again after picking up my new (to me) RX450h yesterday. Today's task has been to figure out how it all works, a job which I am making progress with but there's a lot to learn! I know how much everyone likes pictures, but it was raining when I got the car home yesterday, so here's a few from this morning, along with its stablemate from the opposite end of the Toyota catalogue.

No - that's £795 fitted for the pair. It's £595 for a pair of front ones, hence me thinking it might be cheaper. Also work joining the Lexus Owners Club to get your card just for that discount alone! I have saved £308 over the last year using all my discounts!

Never used any temp gauges for that so I can't relate to specific numbers. What I would say is If you can smell the heat of the hub ...it's too hot If you can't touch it (be very careful doing this) without fear of burning ... it's too hot If the disc looks slightly blue coloured and darker, certainly not silver like normal .... its too hot. I noticed one of the wheels of my wife's Mx5 had a much darker disc a few weeks back. Looking closer I could smell it was hot. Once it had cooled down I jacked the car up and took the wheel off for a looksee. Caliper pin was sticking so the pads were not releasing properly. Removed the offending slide pin and cleaned out the bore, regreased with the correct grease and reassembled. All is fine again now. That weekend I removed all the wheels and overhauled all the slide pins on.

I bet it would frighten his guide dog though....

Wheel woolies have arrived today, they look very good, will get chance to try them out this weekend hopefully!

The above points are true, but to be honest I don't think it matters. The problem here is that on some marketing material Lexus called something stainless steel specifically implying it will be more robust when exposed to elements, which is not the case and outright lie. I personally don't think that reduces the value of the vehicles or impacts experience in any way. Reliability, of mk 2 IS250 auto (specifically not manual and not diesel) is second to none (ok maybe mk1 LS400)... and mild steel exhaust last over 8-10 years and well over 100k miles, which is approximately just above average for ICE cars. So it is bit mixed message - Lexus lied in their marketing material ... shame on them, yet does it really matter, does it make car worse than peers in segment - definitely not.

@Big Rat That's an impressive watch you are keeping on the market there......

Hello from what I found out my sat nav is generation 1 which means it won't update to the most current software 2017 anyway. I'm just leaving it for the meantime unless an update disk pops up at the right price. I did try a copy disk but it made the whole nav system really slow so I couldn't use it. Now brace yourself for an essay- With regards to the CD player. No mine didn't have aux it is the mark levison system, but I have an update. After I changed the broken one in the car for the one off eBay which seemingly worked fine after 2 weeks it also began to say Error 4 which was strange so I sent it back for a refund and replaced it with my original system. I looked into it further and found that the error 4 message is the sign of a mechanical failure in the disk changer itself. So I tried the trick posted on the forum of holding the radio power button and the eject button at the sae time as turning the key. And hey presto it made some funny noises then opened the load disk :) then I loaded a disk and it works lol. My theory is if it's a fault in the multi changer then if I only use one disk at a time it will be ok and I haven't had any trouble since (fingers crossed)

Hi Lee Your car looks amazing; definitely doesn't look 9 years old. I'm in Nottingham too. Can you PM me approx. cost too (do they do interiors too? Also where did you get the spray attachment? Looks a lot better than the standard one that came with my power washer. Cheers Geoff

I've had 3 ls400's, 2 ls430, 2 Gs300 mk3, 1 Gs430 mk2, and now I drive an sc430, but I can still say, the Lexus ls400 is the best and the most reliable car ever made

I love this car it's so smooth to drive. Thanks for your help sorcerer, I'm going to France on Saturday so the car will get its first proper trip. I'm expecting to be at fuel stations a lot with averaging 20mpg around town lol. But I love it I raised the suspension only a bit it was the front passenger coilover that was 3 cm low. Much better now. This forum is great dibble it gives a wealth of advice and support from fellow owners. :) glad it helped you too x

After putting another couple of hundred miles on the exhaust I can now confirm a definite improvement in economy of around 5%. This is something I had not contemplated as a result of changing the exhaust, but I am more than pleased with the result. John.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-navara-d22-Lexus-4-0-v8-2wd/222609025021?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D45732%26meid%3D4818652d47b24fdf97f1d28a11f3fb2e%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D232442489659&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 Tempting if you need space?

Good outcome. Keep a close eye on the fronts just in case you never know. John

Absolutely agree on the pleasurable drive. Quality motor and should have got one ages ago! trying to get up to speed with all the toys! paul m.

Strangely, almost all of my cars have had a sunroof including the RX300 that I have now, but I can never understand either their attraction or why manufacturers put them in cars with aircon/climate control. Nothing better than setting the cabin temp to what I want and letting the climate control see to it; far, far better than a sunroof in my humble opinion - especially as the sunroof tends to mess with my hair

Pads and discs fitted. I'm extremely happy with the fit and quality. I know some cheaper pads come with a terrible paint finish or the back plate is out of shape and need a bit of filing to get them to fit nicely in the calliper, but these were lovely. Time will tell how they fair. The kit seems well worth the low price at the moment.

I was In the same situation and although I prefer the facelift front grille I couldn't justify nearly £2000 extra just to get it. I drove most variants and frankly if there are differences they were so small I struggled to detect them. In the end I found a low mileage clean example from my local lexus dealership at a good price. It was pre-facelift but frankly I have no regrets and have found economy extremely good for the vehicle size. I think it's slightly better economy compared to my GS450h. Ultimately it comes down to how much you are prepared to pay. Decide on that figure then get the best one for the money you can find carl

I needed an UCA a few years ago, Lexus RRP was nearly £500.00, the same part from Nippon was £120.00 was genuine in original factory wrapping so yes I can vouch for them.

Cycle Carrier Boards, did not realise they are as cheap as chips (not too solid in engineering terms). £20 from Halfords - 2m cable £18 from Screwfix - 4m cable plus cost of number plate

They are good prices for the adjustable dampers, were the listings available online? I see you refer to 1 damper needed replacing per axle but shouldn't dampers be replaced in pairs, across the affected axle(s).

First mod. Yay! Yellow... Not yellow... Now just to get some of those washer nozzles that light up and a boot sub that will surely kill me in an accident and I'm sorted

Nice car Ian

Hi Neil, DAB in my area is far better than FM, but i wanted to listen to stations that were not on FM in my area like LBC. The signal does not drop out and the quality is excellent

Hi Nicky have tried yr hack and it seems to have cleared my error 4 message even though i had no more discs in and its now operating normally! I got brave and tried 2 discs, it worked fine too! Still need to try on a long journey and see how it works once it gets hot but so far so good. Thanks for passing that on and thanks to whoever posted it originally! Now to sort this sat nav.......

Back to Tim's original query: you mention 09-15 RX.... I would recommend that you go for the facelifted model that came out in 2012. Better specc'ed, a little more fuel efficient. easy to pick out... it has DRLs whereas the 09-11 model does not.

If they are the correct parts that is an extremely good price. The cheapest I have been able to find front or rears have been £100 more than the prices quoted. The non hybrid GS shocks however are at the price levels quoted so beware that they are the correct parts. The difference is that the GS450H shocks are adjustable on the road. The adjustment is via a rod accessest through a hole in the top of the threaded section of the shocks. John.

Looks like the old Toyota Camrys ? I remember my uncle had a V6 GXI one

Try IPA on wipers first.

I wonder if the same would be said on a German car forum!

I have DDPai as well, I just was not a big fan of looks of m4 Plus, so I have Mini instead (still 1080p @30 or 720p @60FPS). What I like most - it is invisible from outside, so I am not worried somebody going to smash my window to steal it.

looks dopey money to me tbh Malc

well, I'm pleased they stopped wittering on about the exhaust being welded as an Advisory ! Quite surprised that it actually failed on some rust areas, in such a young car and low miles too .... but hey, there we are ......... must be just unlucky I guess OTHER THAN maybe a giveaway was the lacquer peeling on the door mirror .......... perhaps a sign of some badly repaired earlier more serious damage at some time.... and rust now rampaging through the beast Malc

Hey Nicky, you've not been here for a while so just curious - how's the car doing and are you enjoying it?

Wrong coloured interior for me. Red is the only colour that will suffice.

then surely you will buy an elderly Ls400 ?? Malc

Car and coffe wirrall.it on once a month, always a great turn out . And we'll run

Couldn't agree more. How do you find the SC430? A friend of mine is in the market for one and after another member kindly took the time to give him a spin he's smitten!

My last car was a 5 Series, it was only when I bought that when I decided I needed a dashcam. Accepting there are an awful lot of idiot BMW drivers, it is also true to say pretty much every other road use hates BMW cars and are out to kill them. Seriously, it is crazy the amount of times I was getting cut up, my other half called my 5 Series the Invisible car such was the lunacy I faced whilst driving. Since owning the Lexus, driving has become a much more relaxed affair, I don't get cut up anywhere near as much as I did in the BMW, hence I dawdled about fitting the dashcam. I gave the Mobius to my daughter and bought a DDPAI (http://en.ddpai.com/m4plus.php) on the back of a Technoman review. I've had it about a year now sat in the garage. I didn't want anything stuck to the windscreen but in light of recent events, I installed it yesterday. I need to sort out the power as it is plugged into the socket in the centre arm rest. The supplied cable wasn't quite long enough so it travels under the passenger floormat lol. I also need to sort out the bottom of the door pillar/dashboard segment as I couldn't get the cable hidden.

Carry on Top Gear I say. It makes them rarer and cheaper to buy. Double win.

The merits and de-merits, the latter mainly economic, of ML audio have been debated as long as LOC Forums have existed without, as far as I can see, anything like a general consensus of opinion having emerged. As for me, my RC is my first Lexus without ML, which, on the basis of tried and trusted performance, I would have preferred had its availability not involved a wait of 4-5 months against immediate delivery of an F-Sport with the 10-speaker system as standard. While I have learned to live with the latter system, and consider its quality perfectly acceptable (so much so that I am faintly ashamed to be focusing on such a typically First-World issue), I would still objectively have preferred the ML. What I would not have tolerated, on the other hand, and would have put up with any length of waiting-list to avoid it, is the 6-speaker system, whose tinniness I experienced in a CT loaner and which would certainly once not have been considered worthy of Lexus, let alone of any of its higher models.

I tried the Turtle Wax (Magic wax with a black die in it) on the scratches on the bumper yesterday - my lad was using it on his black car so I thought I would give it a go to see what the result was on the damaged bumper. The wax came with a lipstick type of wax on a stick and a bottle of wax. While it is not a cure as the scratches are quite deep and it does need repair and re-spray, the wax has covered the scratches. They are still there but not immediately noticeable - pictures below are before and after. First time using this so I done the whole car - stone chips are not visible after using this also (they are still there but the die has hidden them) I thought it was really good stuff as a temporary measure - bit messy and needed to wear gloves. BEFORE - original post after the damage was done AFTER - after using the wax yesterday AFTER - after using the wax yesterday

I am a great believer in leaving modern high performance cars well alone in terms of wheels and wheel spacers. The car is designed over thousands of miles to run on particular wheel combinations. Putting spacers in surely will cause unnecessary stress on all sorts of components and possibly lead to premature failing of things like wheel bearings and drive shafts.

My household is theoretically the owner of three current Lexus models until the end of the month (see signature). I thought I'd do a brief review of each on the relevant thread, essentially aimed at helping people considering. Model This is the current (pre-impending facelift) NX300h F Sport with premium nav. This gets it most of the good stuff - sport styling/leather, radar/sensors/pre-crash, auto tailgate, electric adjustment on steering wheel and seats, and so on. Missing are some of the safety aids such as HUD and BLIS, and I have no sunroof of any kind. Interior The interior will divide opinion. I think it is superb, but I can see why others are less enthused. Firstly, there is quality everywhere. There is plenty of leather and some excellent padding all round. Nothing in here feels cheap at all. No one would dispute that. Secondly, I like the way the driver's side feels like a cockpit. Unlike most SUVs (including the RX), the centre panel is set inwards, essentially enveloping you (and mimicking, cleverly in my view, the basic outline of the grille). Thirdly, there are some nice touches (like touch sensor light switches), some pleasant touches (like knee padding), and some frankly bizarre touches (like a centre console cover which, when lifted out and turned over, is also a mirror). I also have the Qi charger - adaptors to enable the iPhone to work on this typically cost less than a tenner. Exterior Again, this will split opinion. Some will suggest it looks like any modern Japanese SUV. Some will suggest it is a literally outstanding proposition. Needless to say I'm in the latter, particularly with the F Sport. The auto tailgate is slow, but can be stopped with any of the buttons depressed briefly. It is useful that the car can be locked or unlocked via any door, but why not also the boot? It looks pleasant from the back, outstanding from the side, and like a Samurai from the front. Take your pick! Infotainment A bit of a niggle here - the logbook still hasn't arrived so I cannot register it on "My Lexus", thus the premium nav still isn't working despite the fact I'm paying for it. Ugh! Let's not get too upset, but it is true infotainment remains a weak link for Lexus. I am still not yet comfortable with the laptop-mouse-style controller, which is too easy to depress. That could, seriously, be a deal breaker for some. That said, there are a few nice touches; for example, the Nav now distinguishes between an outright expressway (a dual carriageway with left exit only) and a regular dual carriageway - that is potentially quite useful. The screen is good quality too, although gathers dust too easily. One really good point is the audio. This is not ML is the F Sport but it has extra speakers and is really good, even in the back and even over Bluetooth. Although I believe the car lacks volume control, it barely needs it. Driving This has been a very pleasant surprise. Certainly I miss the IS's turning circle and its comparative pace, but the NX is absolutely no slouch and I find it almost as good. The steering is direct, the ride is smooth (even if bumps do cause too much of a crash in the F Sport), and bar the odd mis-step the radar cruise is sublime (I have managed 20 miles using only he steering wheel and cruise lever with decent consumption levels). Reliability It is too early to say but this thing feels like it is built like a brick. I am currently on around 37mpg (over 40mpg since last fill, mind, so I'll keep watching that!) Summary The truth is I wondered about this car at the start because it is so different and there were so many aspects to get used to. However, with 1000 miles on the board I am now totally enthused. Getting the premium nav working would complete the set and, assuming it operates as it did in the IS, I would have no hesitation in recommending at least a test drive.

All models prior to the series IV (1998-2000) had the reservoir mounted on top of the pump but the last model had the reservoir located remote from the pump. Having compared on Toyodiy the pump itself is the same but you would have to remove the reservoir from the donor pump and fit the reservoir bracket from the faulty pump preferably fitting a new O ring seal then reconnect the reservoir pipe to the stub pipe on the bracket. Check all the rubber pipework to the pump for loose clips before diving in. You can also buy a pump rebuild kit from Lexus (04446-30172) for around £30.00 if you wish to repair your original.

Here it is in pdf form if that's easier ... sorry wasn't thinking, 1st one was in Word document. Headlight and Bumper removal.pdf

I used to get so fed up with this back when i owned coupes that I'd park on the outer edges of the car parks at an angle across 2 spaces, preferably on the end of a row just so I could get back into my car. To this day I prefer to park on the edge of car parks and enjoy a bit of exercise (although no longer take up two spaces as I have a 5 door rx ) rather than risk door dings and difficult access.