steve2006

Delphi......the Greek God of motor spares 😀

Yes also true, JDM imports do not show the CO emissions on the V5c, this is good regarding VED but not so good if you happen to be in a ULEZ and the car is “Not Recognised, that will be £17.50 please”

Hello and welcome to the LOC. I wouldn’t trust much said on ebay TBH but there is a seller on there “Lexussparesdirect” who breaks the LS models, the guy is called Paul Frost and quite a few members have bought spares off him at a reasonable cost.He can however take a while to respond. If it’s just the rear cover they can be bought separately.

You could also have smelt the coffee as you were also 25 miles from me 😀

Personally I now avoid fleabay for anything as I feel it has become the world’s premier counterfeit outlet. Have you looked at Rockauto....even adding the shipping and VAT the prices and choices are good? https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/lexus,1999,ls400,4.0l+v8,1356083,suspension,stabilizer+bar+end+link+/+bushing,7580

I never realised until mentioned by another member that my imported Toyota Celsior costs £280.00 a year while the equivalent year Lexus LS430 is £340.00 a year when apart from the badges they are the same car.

Also it’s worrying that you have had to replace all four tyres so soon after purchase, was this for legal (low tread) or other reasons (mixed makes) ?

Could have gone on the brewery tour as well.......maybe not though😀

My newly purchased Celsior has the “S” mode but this aftermarket paddle kit from ebay has no fitting instructions.

I had what sounds like similar damage and circumstances ( 3rd party admitted liability) to my Celsior many years ago, my own insurers insisted on sorting it using a “Claims Management Company” so the car was transported to their local depot. As expected it was “Written Off”. I was then contacted by the 3rd party insurers who offered a cash settlement for the car plus an additional £1000.00 for my Mam who was in the car with me and £1000.00 for myself. They also allowed me nil deduction salvage rights so kept the car and paid me another £500.00 for not requesting a “Hire car”. After a bit of a struggle I finally had the car brought back to me from the CMC and then had a local body shop complete the repairs to the front bonnet edge, front wing edge, bumper and fit a new headlight unit. No new panels were fitted and they did an excellent job of pulling the dents out and repairing the bumper for around £800.00. maintaining originality. So not only did I keep the car which I still have and use I enjoyed a couple of holidays on them. The only downside was my own insurers again insisted that the car was declared written off before they would cover it again so it now has a marker on it. So it may be worth calling the 3rd party insurers’ directly and see if they would be happy to do a similar deal.

If you can tell me which model code you have from the list below and PM your email address I can send you the exploded diagrams and part number lists specific to your car.

You don’t normally fit wheel trims on alloy wheels, do you mean the hub centre caps?

The A,B,C and C-F specification JDM Celsiors refer the the various trim options for example leather or wool seats. Mechanically with the exception of air or spring suspension they are all the same.

Any update John?

I’ve had “classic” car insurance on mine for the last 6-7 years ( car needs to be 20 years + old to qualify) plus I had a company vehicle. An agreed value limited mileage policy saved me over £100.00 a year. It came around to bite me though when I bought a newer vehicle......the full NCB I had was “expired” so I ended up paying nearly all that saving back on a year’s cover! Took a bit of finding cover as well being an import one insurer wanted a Cat 1 Thatcham fitted so there was another £500.00 even though it is a factory fit system on UK models.

It could be a number of things, upper control arm bushes, antiroll bar bushes to name 2. Only way to tell is either a pry bar exploration or get it on some shaker plates.

Hi Geoff and welcome to the LOC. Sorry to hear of your problems getting your new Lexus, I guess covid is a valid reason plus the ship stuck in the Suez hasn’t helped deliveries. Perhaps a subtle hint of cancellation may help although I suspect it is out of the dealers hands, they want to sell you a new car at the end of the day and retained a valued customer. Another possibility is “free incentives” to continue the wait a little longer, service packages for example or “I’d like one of those Lexus umbrellas at the very least” 😀 I guess you could buy a lesser brand but would you then be in the same situation in a few months time?

Fuse boxes and positions are in the owner’s manual starting around page 500. I only have a USA version which shows fuse 36 (TEL) supplying the audio/navigation display unit rated at 7.5A. Location is stated as “Passenger side kick panel” but this could be on the opposite side for RHD models.

Hi Jaro and welcome to the LOC. Lexus only ever made 2 diesel engined cars, the IS220d and IS200d. TBH they were a bit of a disaster with many serious engine issues which resulted in many having engine rebuilds under an extended warranty. Fuel consumption figures as you are now discovering were never brilliant. On the plus side some owners have never had any problems so I just hope yours is one of those. As Linas mentioned,had you joined before purchase you would have been advised towards the petrol IS250

The bleeper is normally some type of piezo sounder, you could try sticking some tape over it to reduce the level, they do tend to be on the loud side given the installation location is normally in the rear of the vehicle far away from the driving position but still need to be heard over engine and traffic noise. I notice from the link the manufacturer has contact details inviting questions about the product, perhaps they could offer an alternative solution?

Here is a conversion chart from AWG to mm2. https://www.multicable.com/resources/reference-data/cross-reference-awg-to-mm2/ The higher the AWG number the thinner the wire basically. So for your purpose anywhere between the quoted figures of 16-22 AWG is fine, it won’t be carrying a heavy current. A 0.75- 1.00mm2 wire is fine for the job, this can be found for example in the cable for a table lamp either the blue or brown wire. Or just buy a length of 1.0mm2 solid copper wire from an auto parts store it will be fine for the job. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261181733837?hash=item3ccfa4fbcd:g:wyoAAOSwd4tT3zj4 Personally given your lack of electrical understanding I would get someone who does understand to do the job...you only need to cut the wrong wire or make a wrong connection and you could end up with multiple problems including an electrical fire!

It sounds like your car has been hacked by Microsoft ! That would explain why Bill Gates had a LS400.

Difficult to tell as it could have TEMS which has conventional springs but piezo dampers like my 1994. Given Japanese auction prices at the moment, another £1500.00 shipping and then 20% VAT that’s a fair price OTR.

Originally SORN had to be renewed yearly but now applies continuously unless you scrap or sell the vehicle. I got caught out by the system when having received no reminder I got a fine of £80.00 for not renewing it. The car was on private land and being broken for spares so no engine in it even. I argued with the DVLA and even sent photographs showing the location of the car and the vacant engine bay to no avail, all I could do is pay the reduced rate of £40.00 in time.

At an asking price of nearly £15K do we have a new record I wonder for a Lexus LS400? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/402844119112?hash=item5dcb617048:g:7eMAAOSw5KZgnmr4