Malc

Ls400s ........... in 18 years and 200k + miles only ever had 6 breakdowns including three flat tyres ( years apart )...............on my Mk1 pas leak onto the alternator blew that on the M20 one dark cold night Mk1 again and the water radiator reservoir cap disintegrated and threw up all sorts of warnings ( £5 new cap at the time ) Mk3 now with the catastrophic PAS leak from hidden corroded steel pipework that just burst, 4.5 years ago pretty free from breakdowns methinks tbh ..... great reliability, wonderful cars with regular servicing and preventative maintenance ( forgive me if I've forgotten a breakdown or more over the past near two decades ) Malc

to my mind it only makes sense paying dopey money for such a car if you're going to keep it in aspic and never get the joy from using it and that's dopey too really ...... mine's at 217k and a daily driver at 12/15k miles a year AND I get enormous joy and satisfaction from driving her Malc

can you get this sorted by someone who knows how to re-solder the connections ..... if that's what the issue might be Many many years ago on my Mk2 I had a guy nr. Farnham fix it for me, on his bench at home ( I think it was this fading/failing problem ! ) I drove there, he removed the set-up, sorted the connectors etc and re-installed it all ..... @£100 maybe, I can't remember Steve2006 on here might remember all about this issue too ........ ???? Malc

the owner from brand new would have suffered a huge amount of depreciation whatever he gets for the car ........... a couple of grand less on existing depreciation of @ £50/60k should be irrelevant to him i would have thought I don't know the original price new in 2007 tho', just surmising If you don't want it then make a silly offer that he can refuse, then if he doesn't the car's yours ! Your mind will be made up for you It's now 12 years old remember and comparatively ........... at 10yrs old I paid £4k for my 56 plate Honda Legend with all bells and whistles and 106k miles ......... a faultless top quality car too Malc

come back soon eh ! Malc

apart from a few ( preventative ) major costs. like cambelt and waterpump and now UCAs ( on a couple of cars ) my 18 years and some 200k + miles of driving Ls400s has been nothing short of BRILLIANT ........... now remembering alternator trouble about 15 years but hey, most cars at an age suffer this other cars, marques I've had have never been troublesome either, just acceptable fair wear and tear with anticipated costs of running a working machine that will always require maintenance I suppose an alternative is simply to change one's car every couple of years from brand new and take on board the phenomenal usual depreciation .. and without the Ls400 comfort Good luck to you though Mr Doofa, sorry to see you go, you're now totally fed up with Lexus .. Ford's are great cars, after all many many millions of people globally buy them, change them for new ones and the old'uns go on and on for ever somewhere ( I guess ........... ) Malc

yes for sure, why not, bit like asking for an opinion on oils ................ I'm expecting they'll be as clear as the MOT Tester Malc

oh dear, you sold your Mk3 for a £200 fix + labour ......... sad 😢 Malc

and is there a happy outcome to this ? I hope so Malc

have the specific wheels that leak given extra special attention to the rims by the tyre fitting garage. They'll charge you for the " puncture repair " but should give the rims a darned good seeing to and make them leakproof recently happened to two of mine and fingers xd all ok Malc

maybe check the manufacturers websites for opinion and advice ? Malc

Roch thank you for this simple comprehensive advice on servicing etc which will give confidence to and place any LOC Member looking to take-on a Mk3 in a good position I have discussed your car with my partner and she's trying to convince me to have a second Mk3. As you may know I'm about £2k spend into mine this last year and she's hopefully set-up for a decade or more to come Giving my indy a second Ls400 to look after will send him nuts methinks ..... he's convinced me not to buy a Bentley S1 or 11 or 111 as I could not run her with the same robustness as my Ls400 ................. alongside my Ls400 of course The rarity of a black Ls400 grabs me hugely however so, in summary, thank you for your kind offer but I shall pass on this right now Best of luck with the sale, I can't imagine it will be unsold for too long Malc

never seen a black one apart from the one for sale here . thought that might have been a ' special order ' colour Malc

and you have a chronological and comprehensive load of service receipts too ? including cambelt and waterpump change at 100k miles or so ? or even at 2 X 65k miles ? Thanks Malc

I'm quite impressed with the million miler Ls400 in the USA ............... whatever you spend on your car will never be value for money in the real world .... it's just whatever it is you want to do and to ride in for me it's my 217k Mk3 right now............ . new cambelt, UCAs and all oh, and plenty of £££££ Malc

welcome to the Club hope you have many years of brilliant Lexus driving ...................... and advice from this forum ..... which you probably won't actually need very often Malc

welcome to the Club Malc

well well well .............. sounds like an absolute steal for a 13 year old Celsior If you actually paid less than that then you're good at what you do Reminds me when buying my 1994 Mk2 Ls400 on 8542 miles in December 2007 for £3750 from a dealer in Windsor ............ 13 years old and very little money even then Well done you Malc

preventative maintenance is the key to longevity with our Mk3s I know ................. so not luck at all, just good planning Annual service with the MOT and my indy is amazingly thorough and knows this car's going to last me for many years to come. My indy also has the mindset to make sure my costs are kept to very best value .... hence he was happy to use the copper tube method at £3 for replacing the front pas cooler pipe rather than the Lexus OEM steel part at £171 etc etc I did find that other garages/workshops refused to use this method and would only use OEM ....... maybe thatfatbloke has encountered this syndrome with his mechanic His £1900 would have been about £200 with judicious purchasing of the parts I do " invest " in my car though, she's just a marvel for the 12/15k miles I cover each year Malc

it's very scary driving at over 120mph ........ my old'un ( Ls400 before this car ) did that in Germany without any modification ... not sure i would ever feel comfortable doing that again tbh Malc

I know nothing ........... but prior thoughts have been that the fuel filler cap might need taking off and putting back on again ...... weird I know but that's said on here before ! Malc

so how much does a white 2005 celsior cost these days without air shocks ? Thanks Malc

my prior post referred to by thatfatbloke on his earlier post last week refers ! copper tube length £3 suffices as opposed to £171 ?? from Lexus Malc

get a second opinion about the rust for sure ............. corrosion is often only skin blemish deep and not always very serious ........ worth a second opinion for sure.. MOT Testers can be a rum lot ! mine's on 216k miles and same age and not a blip in sight on the underside I'm told . and to my knowledge she's never been specially treated and for at least 10 years lived on the coast too Malc

Herbie, please read the other thread just prior to this about substitute pas stuff and it's pipework ............... it's fine and economic too in appropriate cases Malc