ambermarine

The LS400 and LS430 are pretty low down as regards entry and exit and do not lend themselves to elegant entry and exit for some one in a wedding dress. I think a car with a step up entrance is more suited.

The biggest destroyer of paint is the Sun and if you keep your car under cover most of its life the paint will last like new as on my 98 ls400 .It is garaged when not in use and the paintwork is showroom quality and the only treatment as been wash with holts wash and wax as long as I have owned it apart from the occasional polish with turtle wax. When I used to stay in Florida for the winter any car more than a decade old was paintfaded some to the extent of patches of bare metal showing. the interiors fared worst with faded upholstery and cracked dashboard with destroyed vinyl surfaces hence the prolific use of windscreen sunguards . With regards to resprays it is probably more than the value of the car upto £4k for a proper job.

The Manufacturer of the shocks will recommend a shelf life before any supply chain is established. Under the( just in time) policy of parts supply at most Japanese car companies the components are supplied on a sevicible life estimate relative to the vehicles manufactured that use the component. The issue with these components is durability of shelf life and the ability of the various parts to stand the non use and drying out process as a consequense of non use. The parts have been paid for by the car manufacturer so they are reluctant to dump the parts if they are passed their sell by date so the recipent is the test bed and a suck it and see scenario comes into play. I suppose anyone with a classic car of modern vintage is going to become susceptible to these anomolies because the more modern classics are a lot more sophisticated than the pre 1980s models.

The issue with this situation for the workshop is they have to be fair to both parties .If they put a guy on this at a hourly rate and the work is as extensive as they estimate the cost could be more than the car is worth and that will only reflect badly on them in a public analysis. If you take it to another workshop and they submit the same response you know you have a decision to make regarding the replacement of the a/c. The LS430 had a similar design were the pipe running to the back outlet failed but the solution was to terminate and seal the back pipe and retain the front end a/c is that a possible outcome for your car it may be worth investigating.

Covered the washer sensor subject ten years ago the doughnut gets waterlogged just remove the sensor from the bottle and place it in the airing cupboard for a few days until it is dried out then coat the doughnut with laquer this seals it and mine is still working ten years on.

The peice that is obviously proud is part of the upper windowframe inner enclosure .You will need to remove the door card that will then give you access to that part which needs removing and refixing.

There is abundant evidence in this doc that long life in batteries is achieved by proper maintanence and servicing. Without doubt most of the premature failures are due to the fact that modern vehicles have batteries fitted that most owners would not know were they where located let alone know how to insert distilled water. When I was in the Army as a driver Royal signals in the 60s part of the "first parade" (vehicle check) before going anywhere was to check the battery level and we also carried hydrometers in the service kits. So much initative is taken away from the individual in todays easy society that we have become zombi like and materialsticly wasteful which is why the IOP as to produce documents like this.

If the battery is six years old its probably give up with the cold snap the average life of most batteries is 3 to 4 years in normal usage, beyond that they have to be maintained on charge and lightly used. Bearing in mind the national grid you have on that car your battery as done very well and I would be surprised if it is covered by any warranty. The connecting of a trickle charger seems difficult from what you describe so in some respects all the gizmos on the latest models are achilles heels for the batteries.

Now you have found it you have the choice of removing it, remember if you reconnect it your battery you will have a constant drain,If you re-register it with the organisation that it is assigned to the device you will have to pay a annual subscription and prove you own the car . I have never found mine I suspect it is somewhere in the floor space but let sleeping dogs lye is my motto, in your case searching for it as been a good outcome in finding the possible rust scenario. Get that cleaned up and sprayed with wax as soon as .

Use some needle probes on a multimeter when the various ign powered up scenarios are in place if there is any life in the circuits check for load and ohms output .If nothing is apparent leave it alone and forget about it. Lexus demonstrators were fitted with trackers as standard for the dealerships insurance policy .My ls400 which was owned by the dealership for its first twelve month still as it in situ and is a constant drain on the battery but because I have it on battery charge when idle I will leave it in place I can always re-register with the tracking company if needed.

For the best under bonnet experience of a Lexus you cannot beat the original grand daddy of them all the series 1 as seen here when mine was 18 years old

The debate over what battery and constant maintanence charging is not specific to Lexus it is a general requirement on any vehicle that uses a battery for its primary power source. I have used Yuasa for my last two replacement batteries on the Mark 4 the first one was when I bought the car 14 years ago as it was supplied with a totally dead battery and that was replaced seven years ago with the present one which is still 100% .I keep the battery on constant charge through a golf caddy charger I found in a skip and have used that for twenty years on both my Lexus ls400s. It is a remarkably good tool and connected up every time the car is garaged and idle.

The point I was making is the 98 version did not have the reversing camera so the sensors were very inaccurate on their own ,better to use ones reversing skills with your mirrors not swiveling your neck.

The 1998 Lexus Ls400 was not factory fitted with sensors thank god just a load of hassle.

Just to put things in perspective on the value of a 25 year old LS400, the car I have was in for its MOT yesterday and is now a officially according to my insurance a Classic.It passed with no advisories as it as done since new and costs £256 to insure and £325 to tax,It as done 53000 miles (not run in yet).It is my second ls400 and with the combined ownership I have been driving them for 27 years. The value to me is not monetary I could have any car I wanted within reason it is the knowledge that I have a very nice reliable car that is easy on the eye and easy to maintain( I do all the servicing on the car),The pleasure it gives driving is beyond the cars of today and I know that avoiding any mishaps this car will see me out. I have kidded people that I plan on being buried in the car and to be honest if it were possible I would I love to do an El Cid departure but alas the authorities would put the block on that much as they do anything else .

Would this be the key its off my 1990 mark 1 and the battery is available in the UK for about a dollar. replace the battery and you should be ok the programming is permanent unless it is messed with losing power through a dead battery is something I did a couple of times and it did not affect the operation of the remote when I replaced the battery, which is a BR1216.

Like I have said before someone as to pay for those marble tiles nice sofas pretty girls and free coffee,not going to be me .

Its nearly as nice as mine

The rubber seals are bought in by Lexus as are most of the components, so as long as you keep the old ones as a reference they can be bought to fit the profile required from aftermarket suppliers.

You need to get those mouldings off as soon as possible to evaluate the reason for them lifting it may be decomposing vegetation that is swelling with heat and moisture. The seals look perished and the sun as damaged the one with the orange peel texture. The surface area where these mouldings attach to the body frame is usually well painted and surfaces may need only a light cleaning but you will need to put in new gaskets as those in view are shot.

Very astute approach to this potential purchase and it sounds like you were correct in doing so it is a walk by ,no doubt at any price .

You are so wrong Andrew The ls600 will be a money pit the ls400 example shown will require nothing for the next 100k miles except servicing and that is within the capabilities of anyone with a brain. The LS600 will require specialist servicing certainly around the transmission and suspension and the reviews on this model are not in the same bracket as the LS400 ,let me remind you the ls400 is the platform that all other Lexus models were spawned from and they got it about right when this Model arrived in 99 things went a bit off track after that and still are if the reviews on todays models are anything to go by,especially on reliability.

And your reply should be use E10 petrol its cheaper.

Michael good luck with that note to the Preston branch of Lexus I asked for a quote to replace my cambelt and they said they would need to reference back to Lexus in Japan because the information for procedure and hours to do it was no longer on their system I am still waiting for a call 12 month later. Job was done by Granville motors in St Annes by a very component guy for a very attractive price.

Long gone.