ambermarine

Denis Is it useless info? from a LPG user 's point of view it may be quite informative.

Malc The cover you are paying for is protecting you against claims and covering your car for damage. If you choose to pay for the damage to your car without claiming from the insurer you are not breaching any agreements you made with them. As for making a claim against the other parties insurer then that is a bit more difficult but possible with legal backup. My initial views on this thread were based on protecting your car from indiscriminate write off and unequal valuations and on that basis one would have to take some kind of hit if they were excluding the insurer from the final decision. All of these scenarios will carry a cost but the ultimate aim is to have the final say on what happens to the car.

Malc There is no obligation on your part to repair your vehicle through your insurer regardless who's fault the accident was. In the case of you being at fault or the other party decides to go through their insurance you must inform your insurer so they are aware there could be a claim against your policy,they will ask you if your car was damaged and if you are submitting a claim. You can say no to the claim submission and as far as your insurer is concerned that is the end of their involvement in your car repairs. everything else is as I have mentioned in previous posts. To clarify the claim against your policy even though you may have not been at fault ,this scenario will manifest itself when you have an accident on a unclassified road where there are no road markings.The procedure the insurance companies take is a knock for knock where both insurers share the claims costs each claiming against the other ,you won't get a say in the matter and all bets or off regarding no claims, excess's and whatever else in benefits you may have had. So be careful when driving on country lanes and the Highlands of Scotland.

Jim Ebay don't give a monkeys about traders pulling strokes they are only interested in getting revenue from them.

Malc You are p**sing up a gum tree really because as I have already stated in this thread we are dealing with desk bound D**k Turpins. Whichever way you try to get a decent deal these people will have already screwed somebody exactly under the same scenario and will know the script backwards. I have come to the conclusion because of our somewhat unique situation ,owning near classic rare vehicles that are inevitably low book value the best thing to do is get the cheapest quotes, insure the car for full cover and if you are unfortunate enough to have a accident do not claim get the car fixed if possible at your cost or if it the other parties fault try to pursuade them to pay rather than going through their insurance. The write off will then only come into play if the car cannot be repaired as to make it roadworthy,now this might sound like a nonsense but if the insurance company want to write it off for a scratch on its paintwork or similar which they will given chance,what have you got to lose? at least not the car.

There are conflicting opinions on this subject and I have followed with interest the views submitted by the parties concerned .My view on engine temperature, is the oil is designed for just that. Various oils are made for different running temperatures in the engine be it diesel ,lpg, kerosene or even paraffin on the post war tractors. The engineers who design the engines are obviously mindful of the variants on engine wear and heat is probably the biggest not so much in in the extreme but in the variance during engine warm up. As the head is the most exposed to heat as it is where 90% of it is produced oils have to be selected for their ability to deal with the transfer of the heat from moving parts. The expansion and contraction of those parts and over what time period is also a factor in what oil to use for example the viscosity and how that viscosity changes at different temperatures. If Lexus have a policy not to service engines that are converted to LPG the reasons are simple,they did'nt design the engine to run on LPG so they have no expertise in what is happening to the engine during its operating cycle running on LPG. The same can be said with regards to the oil that goes in to the engine ,so the only information on what oil to use comes from what worked historically without any manufacturers research. Scientific data on one medium does not simply transfer to another just because it applies to the same environment. Variances of 10% in combustion can have an effect on the oil were it matters most so I would go with the history lesson on which oil to use.

There are other factors to consider with these insurers that insist you take it to their designated repairer. Many years ago I back ended a fiat uno and it was just a 5mph touch. The fiat driver would not let me pay for the damage and insisted on a insurance claim I found out later the motive for that was whiplash injury which they lost. I decided because it was an insurance claim I would get the Mark 1 repaired also on the insurance. The damage was a bruise on the bumper and a misalinement of the whole bumper which required its removal.The repair outfit I was sent to had cars coming out of its doors waiting for repairs and I realized after asking the camera weilding techy what he intended to do that this was not going to be an happy ending. He said a quick respray was all Norwich union would allow and that was it ,a £100 touch up. After a very hot debate with their claims manager who's" We are not putting your 8 year old banger in mint condition" cost her job when it was later played to a senior director and he had listened to the tape and seen the photo's of my Mint Mark1. The car was eventually put right at my insistence at a Lexus body shop in Swinton Manchester and cost £2000 back in 98 co-incidently the year my present Mark 4 was born. The point of this post is to make it crystal that even when you get the car to the repairer you are not out of the woods.

When I decided to replace my aging Mark 1( 18 yrs old) I looked at both the 430 and 460 as contenders to the mark 4 . The Mark 4 had to be a low mileage minter which is what I eventually found ,the main issue that was standing in the way of the 430 was the air suspension . There were lots of pros & cons at the time and the main thing for me was peace of mind and after 4 years of the Mark 4 I have had that so the objective as been realized.

Peter The weight difference as you say is significant and will make a lot of difference as will the driver and passenger usage so comparisons are unequal. In hindsight my logic on the bolt was misplaced as the only way it would have been needing replaced would have been in a replacement or repaired bumper in which case a new one would be required. You are correct in your comment, the first ten years produced no profits on the LS ,but I suspect that was factored in to the cost of a successful entrance to the Luxury car market I believe profits were made on the other Lexus models so Grandad paid the entrance fee, a bit like our house.

Great job Peter It is interesting to compare the retro steps that have been taken in manufacturing some of the parts that are fitted to the LS460 as against the original LS400. The mild steel bolts that are in a real muck catching position, would it have been a fortune to fit a corrosion resisting metal bolt, I have never had a ball joint gator fail on any of my LS one of which did 200k before I sold it. Tell me is the exhaust system full stainless steel as it was on the LS400, It also looks like the car as been worked hard if the discs are worn out, or again is it a poorer quality metal thats been used to save money. My Mark 1 400 discs were changed at 150k but a lot of those miles were motorway. It could be of interest finding out were this car lived (town or country)for analysis on the wear. Either way I think you have bought well and used a pragmatic approach to what will need doing. Good luck.

Hi Malcolm I tried this last time I changed insurers they insisted that the policy was more expensive and did'nt cover for such as legal cover and other miscellany their reluctance bordered on refusal to take me on if I pursued that route. Like John I think they are more about covering their *rse than yours.

Hi It is not a product that is made by Lexus ,You could approach a 3D printer company that will design and manufacture one as they would with a prototype for a full scale production run . Might prove expensive but it would solve the problem.

Steve Are you being serious ?

Shirish If you can speak to a friendly Lexus parts dept forearmed with your part numbers they should be able to determine what goes where. Buying these parts from the USA is still a reasonable option as the cost will stay the same even though the pound as fallen against the dollar the parts are cheaper in the states on purchase cost. The parts are costed in dollars worldwide in the first place .

Chris I take it that the Master as acknowledged the accident occurred because of a dog in the Hunt's charge,this being the case your claim should be against the hunts insurance and under no blame criteria their insurance company must put your car as it was before the accident and cannot write it off.

There is no doubt at all in my mind that insurers are ***** Turpins behind a desk. When I moved back to Lancashire after spending 15 years in the highlands of Scotland ,Churchill who I had been with for twelve years and never made a claim slammed a 50% rise on what was left of my annual premium ,stating postcode. I went ballastic as I saw it for what it was, a opportunity to rip me off,I promised the cretin on the other end of the phone who kept repeating he was so sorry but was laughing up his sleeve that I would never use these shytes again. When I came to renew in November I approached direct line who actually quoted less for a year at my new address than the previous years premium in Scotland. I then had another cretin rang me asking why I was'nt renewing with Churchill and pointed out the reason the cretin remarked that different companies interpret the postcodes differently. There was silence when I pointed out that directline and churchill operate from the same address and I think belong to the same group of companies. So I applaud anybody who argues with and fights these people at every bend in the road because they really are a bunch ***** Turpins.

Shirish Main symptom of a temp sensor malfunction is high revs for prolonged period after the car as been started from cold. The car starts and runs at about 1100 revs initial start up A/C off it eventually falls back to normal tickover of 650 rpm as the engine warms to normal if the revs stay above that 650 rpm at around the 1000 to 1200 rpm area the sensor as failed. This will be apparent at starts from stationary as the transmission will clunk when putting the stick in drive from park.

Only ever went out in snow in my Mark1 years ago (96) The road I lived on then had a slope at the junction to a major road with a blind corner. The car started to slide both forward and sideways into the kerb which fortunately stopped the car, otherwise I would have careened into the traffic coming at me from the right on the major road. Braking is a nightmare as the anti-lock works in a bizzar reverse of what it should do because the brakes lock the car skids and the anti-lock mechanism releases them. The snow feature is simply a gear lock which as someone as correctly described as useless . I have to say it was the most frightening experience I have had in a car apart from an incident back in 1969 when driving a taxi for an early morning pick up,the ford consul 375 I was driving had a brake fluid leak and when I got to the end of the street to enter the main road frantic application of the brakes produced a brown stain in my pants,luckily it was 4 30 am and I survived the no stop entrance to the main road.

Simon I agree with your remarks on the do-able maintenance I have carried out all the upkeep of my Mark 4 including brakes (new pads) apart from oiling and changing fluids there are no difficult upkeep tasks. I refer to the service schedule for the tasks and if the mileage is low some of them never occur. I also used the same methodology for 16 years on my Mark1 .

Removing the protectors is easy enough, the muck collection between the inside edge of the protector and the wing is less likely to get ingress as unless you are driving around fields or country lanes the front wheels pass most of thier muck backwards. The thing to bear in mind is when you unscrew the screws you expose the metalwork around the screw so when replacing the protector apply the sealant to the screw tips before inserting them.

This is basically using a renowned V8 engine to get the power you require for the activity it requires nothing more nothing less.

Peter Totally agree with your comments on changing oem spec on Lexus cars The research and development that goes into the car is exhaustive and the best solution to all the variables is what you get at the factory gate if low profile tyres were the best solution they would have low profile tyres when you bought the car from the showroom. The constant pressure to so call upgrade these cars is created to sell the after market product that some young designer knocks up on his or her computer sticks it on a 3D printer and tells us its the best, without knowing the first thing about the technicalities that make up all the telemetry the suspension and the comfort factors that originally went into the design of the original wheel. When I first got my Mark 1 and it was being serviced at the Lexus dealership which in those days was Toyota/Lexus a salesman approached me trying to sell me a set of 16 inch wheels from a new model sale that had been upgraded with chrome effect finish wheels, the mark 1 had 15 inch wheels,the techy that looked after my car went ballstic and tore the salesman off a strip citing everything I have mentioned in this post. Treat these cars with the respect they deserve and the car will repay you with years of unrelenting service, mess with them at your peril.

Shirish The oil filter is only accessible from the side or underneath ,the method I use is ; Remove the ps front wheel this gives you access to the protection grill for the oil filter ,remove the top and bottom screws and one on the plastic engine under shield be careful with these screws, they tend to seize up if not regularly removed and refitted with a touch of oil on the thread.If you apply to much pressure they will snap so apply plenty of wd40 and leave it for a couple of days before attempting the job if they look rusty.

Shirish Do the oil change yourself the filter and oil will come to less than £50 ,There are lots of opinions on here of what oil to use I use Castrol Magnatec and have done for twenty years on my Lexus cars. On the Mark 4 I upgraded to a K& N air filter which is on the car for life. If Lexus do the cambelt and ancillaries the whole shebang will be Toyota /Lexus parts they will not use anything other than OEM parts.

Hi Shirish Looks like I was a bit wide of the mark with my 15% but mine was done four years ago and was not done by an independant which is were you got your first quote, the last quote from Lexus main dealer is about the rate for main dealership work and the guarantee it will be right is paramount when the prices are compared. I had some issues with mine when the techy marred the plastic engine covers negligently,the whole lot were replaced by Lexus at a cost of £600 to them and I also got a lot of freebies in the car care range.