Malc

I had one front N/S UCA done 2 years and 20k miles ago, a pattern part at @£250. The Lexus part OEM then was @£500 EACH had I had them both done. The other sides are ok seemingly Malc

maybe just lift the boot carpet / cover and see the swimming pool ?? or not Malc

Well, a bit of a surprise here today Just failed at 193k miles with the Nearside Rear Upper Suspension Arm excessive play ...... it was all ok last year and not an Advisory This is an expensive part as ONLY available from Lexus, there is no availability of a pattern part .............. I guess coz they never get replaced. I think about £275 incl VAT and I presume not much labour cost to fixing it. The other side is all OK ( thankfully ) I'll keep you posted if there's anything untoward on the regular servicing Get the car back end of the week / the weekend. The part delivery is 2/3 days Cest le Vie Malc

............ any news on this troublesome aspect ? Malc

pleased to tell you that my Ls400 is in for it's annual service and ( failed ) MOT and one of the jobs was to sort out the Alarm Going Off syndrome ( thank you Dale V ) and my indy has found the under centre console adjuster and done just that ........ by the way it's made in France .............. and hopes that is the solution .... only time and occasion will tell ! More about my MOT in a bit Malc

so who is going to buy it from here ? it would be such a shame to see it scrapped Steve 2006 are you sure you can't find a home for this project ? Malc

Denis, hi, STREET PARKING PERMITS apply most everywhere these days............ in many town centres, coastal resorts, wherever My cars are parked on the road, I don't have a driveway nor a garden, just a courtyard and my house is @450 years old !........ but the stables were along the High Street in those days Malc

............. if i had somewhere to store it i would have a go at getting it back on the road. I have a feeling that most everything is absolutely fine, the pas pump needs a £1.50 gasket , the tyres need pumping up, the brakes need carefully priming when first used, the battery needs replacing and wallah ! ........... she's off at 0 - 60 in 6.9 secs and doing 70mph and wheelies around the car park ! No exhaust blow, the cambelt is absolutely like new ( and if it's not then " so what " it's non-interference ) and you have a superb Ls400 anyone now want to take it on ?? scrap- value is @£200 Malc

Peter, I think everyone on this site would be interested BUT we know far too much about these cars to take it on " blind " I have no doubt that once fettled this will prove to be a worthy classic at some ( near ? ) future time. It shouldn't be scrapped, neither would anyone take it on blind with the probable re-commissioning costs likely to be incurred ........ we've already reached £1000 with the cambelt and brakes sorting out ..... and there's the usual power steering leak and if that's caught soon enough the alternator should be ok............ not covered in pas fluid and kaput ! Then the resale value now, when fully fettled, might just about reach the re-commissioning costs. A terrible dilemma for you, and for us, coz no one here wants to see it languishing Good luck with it all Malc

no indication if the cambelt has ever been changed ! and that's @£500 with all the bits ! and is mileage and time due if not yet been done. You might want to factor that into your equation ( as will everyone else I think ) Malc

yep, agree, an 11 year old car with whatever options might not be that important to a potential fresh owner, certainly not to the car dealer. , well, not that is going to make any difference to the price he pays you. But you will have enjoyed the luxury of it all ............. so do you think your next move to a Ls600 is actually " trading up " ? Malc

Doing 5/6000 miles over a month or so isn't too much of a challenge in the Ls ( 400 ) 200 miles a day is easy peasy really and allows you to see much of a country, stop for coffees and lunch and a nice hotel or B & B and an evening meal .............. refreshed for the next day's adventure taking clean clothes out of the boot and storing the terrific local chateau wines you can pick up along the way It's a brilliant way to spend retirement if you can afford it............. driving in an armchair with unlimited power and speed and safety is the way to go AND getting maybe up to 30ish mpg too ain't half bad Malc

feels to me that it is possibly a really damp area of carpet somewhere or maybe the boot is full of water in the spare wheel well maybe ! Malc

I had a similar problem when i went one time, touring Europe, plenty of tread left for many months normal use at home here BUT with the long journey I would have fallen foul of eu minimum tread depth rules .... 4mm ? ............. towards the end of my trip. So I bought two new tyres Malc

Maybe your long journey and tread wear over those weeks might put you in danger of falling below the legal minimum tread depth ? You'll possibly cover 6/7000 miles maybe ? I know I did 5 / 6k miles in 5 weeks driving through France and around Spain and Portugal Malc

Hope the holiday was otherwise a Great Time for you ? 225/60/16 is the standard Ls400 size tyre ? BUT getting elusive to buy as I posted quite some months back. Treadmark Tyres at Canterbury usually stock one or two ( for me I think ) Maxxis which is one of the few remaining manufacturers of this size tyre ! Had you had breakdown cover i would have thought they would have sorted you out and not charged you that dreadful £84 KwikFit tow fee, maybe just taking the wheel to the tyre fitter ! AND found you a quicker available tyre maybe......... Felixstowe seems a bit of a drag Malc

those photos were taken 12/2/2011 Malc

I suspect it's the original belt The first Ls400s didn't have any recommended time or mileage change, the belt being made of a product including kevlar ( indestructible material ) Then they said ( for UK cars ) 65k and 10 years BUT in the USA with exactly the same car they say 100k miles and /or 10 years Mine was last changed 90k miles ago in 2007 .... just the belt I'm planning on having mine changed, along with the original water pump and peripherals next year at the 100k mile interval Malc

I think I should stop writing on this Post now .......... I'm getting annoyed. I just mentioned that specific car for sale coz it looked interesting and from the photos a well looked after example. You nor anyone on here ( I guess ) has any knowledge of the " honest trader " syndrome with this specific car or trader All I'm mentioning is that this car can come with a 12 month Warranty to purchase. with a full on-line availability of the detail of the Service History by Lexus. Like any car, " buyer beware " but in this case with a 12 month warranty by a company who knows whom it may be, nor yet their adequacy in honouring their warranty. Not many would take on the Ls600 with 215k miles but there's a price for everything in this world and who knows, everything that needs repair or service might well have been done. After all, a Ls400 with 215k miles could be full of potential life and last, like in the USA, an example approaching 1,000,000 miles. Malc

so by offering a 12 month warranty ( to purchase ) then they must have quite some confidence ( or the Warranty company will have ) in that specific car ? Malc

and it's for 12 months ! Malc

............... they offer a warranty on the 215k miles one by the way ! Malc

on Autotrader there's a brilliant looking one at £11k with Full Lexus SH with 22 stamps in the book and only 215k miles Probably impeccably and expensively maintained BUT if you're only doing small miles it might be one to look at Malc

did they really actually change the filter ? Malc

I remember the days when it was a great thing to go buy a rev counter to fix up alongside the dash ....... boy racers did that back in the 60's Malc