ambermarine

Hi Neil Yes I borrowed one that Lexus Glasgow had on offer for a ride round the city ,I have to admit the roads around there were not good but the M8 gave me a chance to open it up and I found the response similar to my LS but felt better because the car was tighter but not a sports car feel if you get my point. I know that the looks put people off but I quite like the look which drew my interest in the first place. Enjoy your car.

Graham The parts you need can be sourced at Premier parts a Russian parts supplier online who ships from the UAE they are genuine Lexus parts and here is the good news part no L45002-50012 wait for it 493 dollars part no L45898-60020 " " a dollar per bolt presume two are needed On there home page type in the model and when the parts catologe page numbers appear on the bottom right hand side go to page number 671 & 719 for the reference and price. Best of luck find a good independent who should have no problem replacing and marrying up the actuator to you present set up new keys may not be required ,if a new barrel is required a further cost of around 200 dollars will click in but Its either one or the other thats failed I think, not both.

Hi Jim Appreciate your reply I never got a motor bike my old man put the block on said I was mad enough on a push bike did have a vespa scooter I bought for £20 for two weeks when I was at Catterick in 65 but it was used to get me back there after a weekend leave and someone gave me a tenner for it. By the way in my previous post I referred to the frog eyed sprite as a Triumph when in fact they were Austin Healey , it was along time ago.

Jim If you Google the SC430 you will find there are a lot about not so many with 50 K on the clock but some nice examples. I toyed with the idea of one for the weekend a couple of years ago but if you look at Hammond the hamster review on u-tube he trashes it I did a lot of research and in the end I trashed it as I believe it was not right for numerous reasons. The main one it was neither fish nor foul in respect of the drive( Automatic sports car?) and the actual ride experience was akin to a Triumph frog eyed sprite( I had one back in 69 so I know) hard is what I am trying to say. Most of the reviews in the states where it was aimed at are very staid and it was mainly sold to middle aged rich women who did'nt want the Sedan . As we all know the build quality is a Lexus through and through but the concept at the time was way off.

The description matches the pics and the history speaks for itself the issue I have is the best as been had from this car and 153k is a lump of miles the upholstery is well used and looks less than tight. Would imagine the bushes and the like around the suspension will if not already done require attention shortly. At £2k it would be a decent buy but thats about all, expect to spend money in the next 20k miles

As i said getting carried away

The seller is getting mixed up with what the market will pay and his estimation.the LHD makes it useless in this country. the LHD in Europe is common to Lexus supplied and other examples will be available with less mileage but the mercs will be plentiful and more for the money in Spain. My car is the same mark with 36k miles better condition and the correct wheels( important when a car is quoted as original) but I doubt should I ever dream of selling it I would get 7K.

Yes it does ,and I am mistaken in that I have crossed into a manual transmission, either way do not depend on it on a incline of any sort.

The engine compression is holding the car in a stationary position but should not be relied on to hold the car in a fixed place as the weight of the car and its load can move the engine through its rotation and the car will creep backwards or forwards.

The shoe surface does disappear at a rapid rate if you drive away after forgetting you had set it which happened on my mark 1. I eventually stopped using it and that led to the seizing up which required a full strip down.

My mark 4 as no rust anywhere when I got her at 14 years old the underside was immaculate and the only suspect point was the area on the floor side of the cills where the paint meets factory applied underseal the weld points were showing slight rust. I applied Dinitrol to the metal exposed parts on the rest of the chassis and treated the suspect floor area with anti rust and applied Dinitrol . Today five years on there is no rust anywhere and I believe the suspect areas mudguards and rear cills that were a problem on my Mark 1 have been addressed by the engineers over the years of development so rust never gets a start.

I cloned a mark1 identical and switched over all the front seats way back in 2002 as the doner had low miles ,the seats don't interchange because the electrics for adjustment are different I think the floor mountings are different. It might be possible to take off the upholstery and interchange that.

Ron Check this link Dead Instrument Cluster On A 2005 Ls430 - 01 - 06 Lexus LS430 - Lexus Owners Club (USA & Canada).html

Could be the ignition switch problem that we have on our mark 4 400s but usually rights itself with a restart. I renewed mine this year as it was too disconcerting losing everything at 70mph.

It sounds like the solenoid in the lock mechanism as stuck and disengaged the handle release. If all the other doors lock and unlock on the remote locking or manual key locking and this one does'nt it will be the solenoid. You will need to remove the door card and access the door lock, get a replacement off a breaker as the solenoid will be difficult to service.

The engine does rev when the steering is actuated to deliver the required power to the steering pump through the serpentine belt,The power steering leak will not affect the operation as long as you keep up the correct level in the power steering pump fluid reservoir.

Henry Well done you have yourself a first class car at a bargain price.the options are varied for the belt changes but as the belt is over ten years old it should be changed I chose a Lexus dealership but because my car had only 20k mileage I did not have a kit change so the cost was £350 including the belt. My car did its Mot this morning sailed through with a fan club forming at my local garage and a refusal to let me have the car back as everyone wanted to buy it.

This initiative of printing the suppliers name on the number plate was founded by the anti-theft dept ,the main thrust in that the printing of number plates can be taken out of the hands of criminals. How effective it is will be determined by the police action on unprinted plates ,are there any statistics that can be checked.

If I am to seriously take as read some of the foregoing comments then my complete 36km in better nick than the example we are discussing should be worth at least 12k ,better not tell the wife.

Very tidy but not complete there is a plastic cover missing from the engine compartment that sits forward of the battery , It might sound like I am being petty but these things are important when the car is classed as complete, the other aspect is the wheels are not the original spec . I have a mark 4 with less mileage and in similar pristine nick but I doubt it is worth any were near 8k, the reason being there are plenty of good examples for a lot less. It might get the price if it was the last of the breed on the road other wise it is what someone is prepared to pay .

It looks like the garage is acting as agent in this transaction and is not the owner,they could well be doing a favour for the owner in pursing a sale for the vehicle and to that end take no responsibility for the history or forward guarantee's to the vehicle in question .The fact you have paid a deposit to the garage may be a convenience to the owner who will collect the payments from the garage. The top and tail of it at the moment is this is a private sale as long as the v5 comes straight from the present owner and they are named on the transfer of title .

Dusan Thanks for keeping us all informed on the regs and getting the info from the proper channels this forum is a mine of info when used properly but as to have input from guys like yourself.

I have to say that an explanation including the words cannot adjust sounds like bull**** to me this is exactly what the clown in Barnstaple said and was sorely proved wrong . There is no point in spending good money on alignment testing and getting off the premises with no adjustments when there is obviously some needed. These machines are a waste of money if they are not acting on the results they give.

Simon There are other factors to consider on this scenario you could have a sticking caliper check if the side that is pulling is getting hotter than the opposite side after a run ,check the tyre pressures look at the treads on the tyre check for uneven wear. Then take it to a trusted garage and get the steering components looked at.

Pete I had this problem from day one on my Mark 4 I went through a new tyre in 8k miles wearing the shoulder away. I had the car at Lexus who blamed the tyre and said the alignment was ok .I had it up on a teletrimy laser gizmo in Barnstaple and two visits to tyre suppliers who said it needed a new tyre. I then took it to Kenny Miller( motor engineer )in Glasgow a specialist in building racing cars who fixed it and the problem was camber and toe in. The lower arm as an adjustment on it which is initially factory set but any serious knocks (potholes kerbing) at the front end can put that out and no amount of adjustment anywhere else will sort out the problem. Mine was two degrees out on negative camber and combined with misalignment on toe in created the end of two perfectly good tyres. I can still see the initial markings he made on the lower arm setting guage and they are now two marks apart to get the car properly set up. 15k later and there is no adverse wear on both front tyres.