ambermarine

Shirish I got my mark 4 done for the 10 year life expiry as the car at the time I bought it had only 20k. It was done at Lexus Glasgow for £350 but that was just the cambelt . Your quote looks very fair but as scribe as mentioned you would be well advised to get the belt tensioners replaced whilst the front of the engine is exposed, they can get noisy when worn and replacing them later will involve exposing the front end just to access them,a lot of labour time. The extra cost will probably add 15% to your quote.

Richard That is a turn up for the books I was considering a tow bar for a small trailer now I have disposed of my Jiffy and that info as kyboshed that idea. Thanks for the info as it as saved me a lot of frustration by the sound of it

Jonny It is unlikely the retro fitted positive lead was a tracker supply, the concept of a tracker is not to let anyone know the vehicle as one, giving the trackers time to find the vehicle before the stealers find the tracker. The wiring for a tracker is clandenstine and very difficult to find.

Shirish My 98 Mark 4 was owned by Lexus for twelve months and was fitted with a tracker by them for ins reasons as it was likely a demonstrator. I have all the details and can resume the service anytime as the tracker is in for the life of the car, it as a annual subscription charge and thats around £300 . The down side is there is a drain on the battery but as I have it on float charge when not in use I don't wish to go looking for it as it will be well hidden .

The issues with the starter motor are usually linked to battery status the amperage required to turn the motor is high and although your battery may look Ok in terms of general use whilst driving and using the car ,the battery on the LS400 is constantly being used when the car is idle. I soon found that if I left my car unused for ten days the battery could just about turn over the engine but unlikely to start it if I left it a fortnight I would get the dreaded click. I have my car on a intelligent float charger which keeps the battery topped up and I do not get any electrical gremlins on any of the systems within the car. It may well be that previous owners of your car let the battery run down and this could have set a default mode for your starter ,but I think if you keep the battery at its optimum charge the starter problem will disappear .

My Mark 1 rusted badly virtually from about six years old .The rust came through the rear wheel arch under the rear doors from the inside, water penetrated through the mudguards and got inside ,this was a very poor area on the mark 1 and also round the top of the rear wheel arches . I could not get into the door side of the wheel arches so I pumped gallons of waxoyl into that area from below through the chassis ,It stopped further corrosion and in the 12 years following the other areas that went were the rear of the sills again rusting inside out( mot fail) and the rear subframe. When I got my Pristine brand new condition Mark 4 I sprayed the whole of the non undersealed parts of the car with 6 cans of Dinitrol 4 years on it is still pristine as a little bit of surface rust on the subframe but non on the body I sprayed the area below the bootwell with more layers than elsewhere as the metal is exposed to stone chips behind the wheels. Generally the metal is better protected on the later models mainly because of vast improvement in the paints used today and the chassis compartments are treated with a type of waxoyl to prevent condensation build up. The worst condition a car can sit in regards rust and corrosion is a damp airless garage always have plenty of fresh air blowing in and out ,if that is not possible make sure the car is as dry as you can get it before shutting the doors on the garage.

Haylands I would browse the Lexus owners US site, there are a lot more owners and contributers there ,I think the shortage of low mileage high price is holding back some of our stalwart 400 and 430 owners plus the reliability promise with their models. I would not buy a 460 now as my 400 as only got 37k on it and you will be hard pressed to find a 460 with that mileage. The 400s and 430s were bought by lots of private converts from other marques, less so the 460 they were bought by leasing companies for corporate use, hence high miles. Good luck and welcome back.

Denis Why?

John With regard to your LPG conversion ,the issue I see from your pics is where do I put my towing hitch, keep your answers clean please.

Hi Shirish Being one of the older members of the LS400 forum and a 400 owner since 96 I have had quite a bit of experience of these cars having owned a Mark 1 for 16 years and now a Mark 4 for 4 years ,as one member as said you get smitten when you own one because there is simply nothing better as a luxury vehicle in its sector . Reliability will stop any worries on parts replacement and the parts that need replacing (consumables) are going to be rare with the mileage you intend to do. Follow Cruisermark' s excellent advice and your intuition and you will end up with a dream come true

I had a wobble yesterday and it as now righted but worth a mention. Been parked up for a while as the wife did the supermarket shop,started up on her return and the windows misted up ,as I drove to the exit my attention to what I was pressing on the dash control buttons was distracted and when I looked again the screen had blanked on the centre console and the audio did'nt work. I waited till I got home and switched off the ignition switched it back on and everything was fine,it looks like I pressed a combination of buttons and that particular sequence disables the screen but I have no intention of trying to find out,so I will never know which combination it is unless someone else knows.

I agree with Ray no need to wait for six minutes especially in this weather but it is obviously a upgrade to the last of the mark 4s as my 98 has no such requirement .It is a requirement to re- enter a radio code if there was one originally.

The LS400 mark 4 with vvt-i engine takes 6 litres to get on the full mark (dipstick.)half a litre more than pre- vvt-i. Remove the oil filter after the sump drain and if you jack up the car on the nearside and remove the front wheel it is a lot easier to get at the oil filter, this practice also ensures you get most of the residue out of the sump as it tilts to the offside. I now change every two years as the mileage is around 5k a year. The engine does burn a small amount of oil depending on engine wear as my Mark1 got past 140k miles it sent out a puff of blue smoke on start up after being stood for a few days. As the valve seals wore the oil would drip onto the pistons whilst the car was stood idle and burn off on start up,the more they wear the more oil falls on to the piston . During normal running the amount seeping through is not enough to cause a blue smoke cloud, it is burnt off on each stroke.

I am confused by your statement Malcolm,Lexus Liverpool are offering new the Lexus 600h L Premier for a bargain starter price of £99995.00 are you saying that the LS as a range is now unavailable in the UK?

Ja I think it is actually more than that from new ,If you compare the price of a LS400 in 98 @ £52K it looks like the price as doubled in 18 years. My first LS was a mark1 and that cost new £37K in 90 so they virtually double in price every 20 years.

Simon I suppose when you have owned a LS400 as long as we have the predictions on what can go wrong and what needs looking at are as near to getting up in a morning and having a brew. I think this is one of the reasons we don't change to something else, the fear factor . I recently disposed of my little truck "The Jiffy" ,some of you may remember me mentioning it when I lived in Scotland. Unfortunately for that vehicle where we have moved to is a bit too urban and does not lend itself to having vehicles sitting in the drive in bits whilst I do another overdue upgrade.I took it to a Mini specialist in Lancashire(The Jiffy is mechanically a Classic Mini) who marveled at its unique wiring and engine management system and wanted to spend hundreds of pounds of my money getting it right. I had owned it ten of its 34 years and 8 previous owners,during my ownership I had brought it back from the dead and knew it inside out having virtually rebuilt it. So as far as getting it right ,who makes the judgment ,I decided a new life and new owner would be the best option for all concerned, so "The Jiffy" as been sold to a Prop and classic vehicle supplier to the Film and Media industry and will be a film star henceforth ,its days of tramping the streets are over and it can now rest on its Laurels in comfort. If I keep the Mark 4 in the same way for a few more years that too may end up doing the same thing and why not, its already a star in my eyes.

Phil The idea in principle is tempting but in reality difficult ,most of the motors that are used in the Lexus are sealed for life units and are non repairable, the drives are bonded to shafts which are part of the core windings .The motors are induction powered (brushless) and mounted in non-replacable bushings. Ultimately there are no spare parts marketed and interchanging parts from other motors would be possible but difficult as the cases and bushings are press assembled.

Steve It comes as no surprise really as the power to weight ratio is more than adequate and very competitive with bog standard aircraft engines. Some of those that are flying about today were designed long before Toyota designed the V8 we now know to be one of the best and reliable engines ever designed. Should there be a drift into the flycar market that the futurists envisage I expect the Lexus V8 to be the engine of choice and that is probably why Toyota chased the FAA certificate at the time.

I had a nearside front go on my Mark 1 at 140k and it cost £60 for the bearing and £110 for an indie to fit . It is a consumable and the quality does matter on life span but a pothole can cause them to go prem.

Hi Matthew I was a bit remiss in my post on the cost of a replacement screen I should have said the whole module which fits in the centre console made up of the various audio / air conditioning and satnav controls. I doubt if anybody and certainly not a breaker is going to separate the touch screen out of the module so I am afraid it will be the case of buying the module.

When I bought my 98 Mark 4 I saw the screen as a potential source of mutiple loss of information so purchased a unit off ebay when one came up a month after I bought the car. Fortunately I have not needed to replace mine yet but your experience confirms my foresight. Check out the breakers they will have them but may ask a lot as they are over £5k to replace.

Hi Just had Bridgestones fitted to my LS400 and at first go noticed quieter ride,fitted on my drive for £111 each. Will have to see how they wear.

Hi Colin I have to concur with Steve it sounds like a foreign object as fallen into the worm gear on the runner drives ,this may not be apparent at first inspection and you may have to dismantle the worm drives .

Colin Take the seat out of the car and it will be easier to identify the cause of the problem there are several motors in the seat and they are easy to replace after identifying which one is faulty. This is easier and less costly than replacing the whole seat which you will need to remove to fit a replacement. There are four fastenings two at the rear under the plastic covers and likewise at the front.

There are companies who will quote you a warranty price for any late model of car but its weather you will want to pay the premium when you get the quote. Type car warranties into your search engine. Usually the car must be no more than twelve years old with no more than 60k on the clock. My LS400 fits the mileage criteria at 34k but fails on the age as its now 18 yrs old