Cotswold Pete

From my experience of Mk3, the ECU capacitor issue meant it kept stalling at junctions after engine warmed up, but never impacted the mpg (as far as I could tell) With Mk4 I have not experienced any problems that seem ECU related and having just had throttle body cleaned it does seem make a difference to when idle, and a mild improvement in MPG, but my car has never been as bad as 1mpg, even when climbing 18% hill from a cold start (gets as bad as 6mpg when doing this).

I would say that cargastruts have not faired as well as I would have liked, but being cheap as chips, I guess after 4 years that's what you get. I find in cold weather they are next to useless, so still keep the Lexus Bonnet Wood-Shaft in the boot, and will get around to forking out for better ones some time.

Like the broken mountain bike my son has just presented me with after his trip to see a mate. Still too dark to have a good look and cannot be ars*d to sort out the bike shed right now, so it's off the the fridge for a beer!!

I prefer blue, had silver in the past, and agree silver looks better for longer but a well waxed blue is IMHO a nicer look. Like the wheels, though would not suit the 400 as much as 430. I assume you go to Asda early in the morning as never seen a supermarket car park that quiet after 10 in the morning.

Now in 5th year of ownership of the Mk4 and sailed through MOT with no advisories (thank heavens after the money spent last year with control arms). I gave her a nice 20 mile sprint down the M4 - rather than do the back roads home. Had the Blueprint pads changed for Pagid and so far the brake vibration has gone. Amazed that the Blueprints were still less than 50% worn after 40K - but they have been driving me nuts these last few months. Also had the throttle Body cleaned and now morning starts are fine - before it was firing up and then dipping down to 100rpm (or less), and even stalled a few weeks back. This makes me wonder if last years twice flooding the engine was not me (with heavy foot) but the throttle sticking. One other comment, with the brakes sorted I have noticed the NEXEN N Blues do produce their own distinctive rumble, mind you after 10K miles they seem like less than a 3rd worn, which seems a little crazy given the rough surfaces I drive on every day on what the local authority calls a highway. Now need to find some cash to repair the keyed paint work, and the rear pillar dent (falling branch strike) and some time to spruce the leather work up.

Never had a problem with the scissor jacks on Mk3 or current, and always felt safe when using it to change tyre or fiddling with windscreen wash sensor Wonder if Mk1 had a different make of jack

Had two LS with leaky boot. I just got the old seal off, cleaned up the metal edge, (used rust stop on one where corrosion was starting so set in). I then clean out the seal (using a blunted screwdriver) and then used bog-standard silicon seal (B*Q stylee) and re-seated the original seal. Took about an hour(ish) and saved a few bob. Never had any leaky boot syndrome since. Maybe in 10 or so years time I will regret doing this if the silicon fails and is a real monkey to clean up the seal, but modern sealants are better than what would have been used originally so should last fair bit longer.

Great looking car, I love that colour more than my blue, but when I was looking no tidy ones were around. Enjoy the wafting times ahead

My Mk4 had a full flush at 160K, the oil was brown, not totally dark, I had no idea of what previous owners had done in terms of ATF changes. My regular Lexus mechanic said full flush might be a good idea, so i went ahead, and it was about £170 (I recall). On the other hand he said you can get away with silly mileages so long as you do a drain/replace, and looking at the 'Chris the Fix' video it kind of makes sense. Not experienced any problems with slipping, or dodgy gear changes, did seem to make changes a little smoother when I really put the pedal to the floor, and fuel consumption did not change after the full flush. I assume main dealers see the gearbox as bullet proof so no need for full flushes, and maybe they are not keen because they end up with a lot more yucky oil to pay someone to take away.

Have a look at this posting - http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/75877-programming-ls400-keys/ - sounds like if you can find another key with the electronics in it, you might stand a chance. Also found this http://www.keyfobprogram.com/1999-lexus-ls400-remote-programming/ As far as I can tell a Master Key is a key which has the electronics in (you get two of these when you buy a new Lexus). I would guess a Lexus port of call is going to see you spending North of £200, had the same issue with wife's Honda a few years back, but they wanted £250+ (about what the car was worth).

My experience of French electrics is if they work then your okay, but if they do not, then be prepared to park up open a bottle of Red and leave the car to rust away. When I had a Peugeot 406 from new after 3 months the radio would turn off or change at random, and more than once the headlights would go off (at night), then all the dashboard would go, and then 5 seconds later it was like nothing had happened. Glad I only had that company car for a year. BUT my dad who bought a 406 at the same time has had no such problems and 17 years later his 406 is still trundling along. A mate of mine who is french prefers to buy non-french motors and would love and LS if his wife would let him, but has to make do with some BMtroubleU. The one thing is the french seem to build (or at least they did) good diesel engines if you like that sort of thing.

I suspect that posting your number openly would be seen as offering your 'data' for public access. The scammers access the public web site and they are merely cold calling. Not sure if you can register your mobile phone on the TPS service (though organised scammers will merely be calling from outside UK - to circumnavigate the law). Always tick the box to never have your data (email, phone number etc.) shared And never put a full phone number on a web site that has open access. Lets hope your mobile has not been sold onto too many dodgy b*stards.

Not easy to find as far as I can tell. have come across these is USA, Rhino rack They don't seem to do them for LS400, otherwise I might have given them a go. That is the one thing with the 460, 430, I have no need of a fridge and all that other stuff, and I like boot to be for useful stuff, and like you when we go travelling nice to have the boot full and the seating for people only. I use a Saris Bones for the bikes on the boot lid.

I'll be putting this on my Xmas list for 2019, and hoping the missus wins the lottery. Or wait until I get my pension and rather than blow a lump sum on a Lambo (just a low lying tractor with guts) I'll be heading off around Europe on 500H. Nice to know the LS range refuses to die.

What is interesting about Mister Auto site is that if you look at all pads for LS400 (Mk4) the dimensions are all a bit different, (but I guess within tolerance). The Ferodo are the same price as Blue Print (though an invoice from when I had Blue Prints on - they were half this price - garage discount???). As to Feredo and whether they are Premier it is not easy to see unless you have the box they come in, which seems to have Premier clearly on the side. Also did some reading on a few forums on Ferodo Premier and they seem to suffer squealing from time to time, so makes me wonder if having silent pads is a bonus rather than a right.

Well a cam belt change still looks like a challenge to me.

The securing pegs should be a tight fit into the hole, that stops any movement, and accidentally kicking up the mat. I would look at putting some kind of thick rubber sleeve with new mats just to ensure that the pegs are tight in there to 100% ensure no movement of the mat. I will live my 15 year old mats for a while longer, they look okay when given a darned good soak (apart from the Lexus legend now looking like a boogie stuck to the mat.

All of this makes me think I'll not bother looking for a 460, as it sounds so nice I would have to forgo a new roof on the house. Damp carpets versus LS460 I know which one I would have, but going to live with my 400 for a bit longer, and keep the missus from divorcing me.

Like you I am not impressed with BluePrint, squeal all the time, and wobble about like 40 Weebles in a sack. Interestingly no garage up to now wants to change either discs or pads, as they think (me not being a grease monkey) I do not know what I am talking about. My discs look as if they still have a shed load of life in them, but I think I'll be aiming for for both front discs and pads to be done, not sure if Brembo/Pagid mix, or Brembo all around. ... and then got to sort out hand brake - used every day - but have been told (for last 3 years) will need sorting at some point due to corrosion.

Perception is everything, Reality is Meaningless. I got 52% on the quiz. (amazed) However 'There are lies, damned lies and statistics', so even the quiz is based on data gathered by people who may not have actually put down the 'truth'. In the meanwhile a Japanese motor is always a better quality bet then Vorsprung durch horensagen (Progress through hearsay)

I think about changing from an LS, but each time I get into anything else I always find things that make me question why am I even looking. The LS is not perfect, but for what it is (and the price you can get them and run them for) nothing comes close. I must admit if I had very deep pockets I might got for a Q7, but they would have to be pockets that grew money.

You've got my sympathy given your situation. If they say £2.6K to fix, I would think using a decent independent would be less than £1k to sort out, and Mk4 is such a nice machine (IMHO). Whatever you do, I am sure there is someone out there willing to take on the LS if you go for an RX. Best of luck with the insurance company

It does this on my MK4, and also on previous MK2, so I guess it is a 'rapid fresh air' feature. I have also had the blank touchscreen with no audio symptom, I did manage to get it sorted without re-starting, but for the life of me I have forgotten how I did that.

The bulbs do deteriorate over time which makes a difference, and also each manufacturer bulb will be slightly different in light colour, so you can end up with different coloured, different brightness bulbs which does look way off (for oncoming drivers) and means you light up the road ahead unevenly. So always best to replace HIDs in pairs.

I also prefer the originals, but I must say this option does give the car a certain look that I could also live with, certainly a bit racier looking.