Malc

ps............... I've got his phone number somewhere if you wanted it Malc

Hi, the dashboard lights flicker and then eventually vanish permanently on the Mk1 and Mk2 cars. Happened on my Mk2 after 14 years. I thoroughly investigated the fix and plumped for Chris Vince near Farnborough Hants. I drove the car to him, he fed me coffees while he sorted the removal of the dash, the soldering and re-installation .. all in a short space of time and I think then for £70 ( not quite sure on that price now ........... and maybe 6 yrs ago now ) I had the offer to just zip the dash out and send it to him to fix and he would post it back for me to reinstall. Seemed best to me to bite the bullet and drive over to him so as not to lose using the car. Others on here have found the skills to do the fix themselves, after all it is only the finer side of soldering !!! BUT tbh it was all a bit beyond me to do myself. There is a tutorial somewhere on DIY and it's said to be simple ( if you know how ) ................ . as are most things in life. Chris Vince was able to sort my problem quickly, efficiently and at minimal cost ( to my mind ). I was happy with the result and quite enjoyed the day out. Good luck with your decision, whatever it may be Malc

I too find the cold weather reduces mpg too ............. but hey, it's nearly always summer here in Kent so it's usually ok Malc

The mpg is dopey, having a new exhaust sounds a bit strange too .................. why ??? they last forever ! apart from that tiny bit that needs welding after 18 years .... and the wheels look crap ........... but at 114500 miles the price otherwise seems reasonable. Malc

.............. she will look lovely with some tlc Malc

The N reg is a Mk3 ................ the Mk4 has standard issue wheels Malc

.............. and the engine and gearbox is probably worth £1000 ......................... so my indy tells me ... to somebody developing an off-roader or whatever. Malc

just refurbish ............... Lexus designed the wheel style specifically for aerodynamism .......... see a post on here somewhere about the Press Releases back in the USA in 1989 Malc

.................. you will probably have zero problems running an Ls400 for the best part of 1mn miles tbh. ....... there's a USA guy just bought one with 897000 miles and it was still going well seemingly. Of course you must expect the usual servicing bits and pieces but provided you have seen the last MOT Advisories then you will know what to expect needs doing for the next 12 months anyway....... if anything. A Full Lexus Service History is brilliant so I would be inclined to buy this with some confidence, You might be unlucky BUT at £1200 it's peanuts for a great and wonderful car. The drive train will probably go on for ever....... it's only failing cambelts and waterpumps that cause catastrophic issues, oh, unless you're really unlucky with a Mk4 vvti engine, a couple of which we know of on here have just gone " bang " BUT you would have to be really really unlucky. Best wishes to you and ENJOY Malc

I like Falkens ....... 20k miles front, 22k rears on the Lexus ................. 20k fronts and 40k rears on the Mazda 323f had them for years and have never been disappointed. Malc

............ I achieve 30mpg when it's fully loaded, on the M way and doing the speed limit....... and in PWR mode and sometimes on cruise. . seems to perform best that way. Malc

............ I guess just need to make sure that they aren't " seconds " maybe !!! That price does seem inordinately inexpensive. Malc

Barry, clearly the Lexus dealer hadn't realised that the rear system had been blanked off ( a common issue ) to circumvent the near £1000 cost to repair that part of the system. Then assumed that all was not well with the simple check-up and probably just " thought " that you would wear an unprofessional £800 bill to try to fix it ......... without repairing the rear of the system even. I wouldn't think much of the professionalism of the Lexus main dealer to be honest and would, at your age of car, find an indy who tbh, would save you lots of on-going service and repair costs cash and do at least as good a job. Malc

don't they scrub up well ...... she looks good, a Mk1 or 2 and at £900 looks a bit of a steal provided the cambelt doesn't need doing etc etc etc. I would be interested in having a look at it if I didn't have mine ........ I do so like that shape. Malc

sadly................ but you were warned you would feel like this ........... but your reasons to part company were impeccable .... just very sad Malc

I spose having run my various Lexii Ls400s at 30psi for some 14 years now I may have inadvertently got used to the effect of 30psi all round at all times. I feel comfortable with them, peformance seems fine to me too ...... and on Falkens for some years too. Whenever my tyres have been renewed the garage automatically puts in 30psi. And I get 20k on the fronts and 22k miles life on the rears. Malc

mine are at 30psi and never seem " odd " .............. 225/60/16 standard tyres with all steering and suspension joints ok and at 165k miles Malc

just keep an eye on the tyres and if u see undue wear then review again. I wouldn't rush if the last MOT didn't even show an Advisory with this issue. Malc

well, rear wishbones are another issue thank heavens and quite honestly that price seems damned ridiculous !!! Not sure what the price should be BUT I would think an awful lot less tbh. If it's not an MOT Advisory then they surely can't be anywhere near needing to be replaced. And if they are needing to be then i would get an indy ( recommended to you ) to give you an estimate. That £740 seems totally bonkers............... sorry i can't help further, I'm sure someone will come along soon who can tho' Malc

I'm supposing these are the Upper Control Arms ? if that is so then the price seems about right sadly, very expensive on the parts but a short job to replace. I would have expected you to have had a prior Advisory on an MOT to tell you the wear was starting to show and that the mileage would, I hazard a guess, be @200k miles or thereabouts. In my old Mk1 years ago I replaced them at 160k miles I think BUT I was chasing the car up and down the unmade track to my home for a few years prior and felt that accounted for a lot of the inordinate wear. Concensus on here seems to be that less than Lexus original parts just aren't any good. Malc

methinks the trouble of cleaning out the petrol tank isn't worth the extra cost of a few more litres of juice in the old lady ............. maybe a simple solution to any potential problem, which, tbh, I've never heard of on an Ls Malc

petrol costs are a mere trifle in the running costs of almost all other cars .... with the Ls400 the petrol cost is just about the only challenging cost anyway .................... I doubt my g/fs Mazda 323f ( 1994 ) costs me any less to keep on the road servicing etc wise and certainly petrol wise it's getting maybe 30% better fuel consumption overall ..... I know what I def prefer to have.............. but the g/f wants what she wants and that's an end to any argument I may have about getting her a replacement with a Ls400...... and I sure have tried Malc

. I think at that time it cost me about £50 or so, might be more now as it was 3.5 yrs ago and I guess early days in this technology being readily available too. Malc

,,,,,,,,,,, quite agree, the good lady and I, in September 2012 took 15 days up from Kent touring Scotland in Lexii and we travelled, wonderfully, 2800 miles door to door ..... was a glorious experience ( and of course trouble free ) .... unplanned B & Bs all the way for the most part, there was always somewhere to stay that was quite good, and affordable too. Malc

I recently paid just about £100 a corner for my Falkens ...... all-up, fitting, balancing, new valves, disposal and whatever else is involved .......... at Treadmark Tyres in Canterbury. And it was there 3.5 years ago that they laser re-aligned my tracking, camber and whatever else the high tech kit shows up needed doing at the time ..... with the appropriate trained expert to do the job, analyse and adjust etc They gave me the pretty coloured printouts showing before and after too. Malc