Malc

Nach, hi, ...... there's lots of prior forum comments on Ls400 cambelt change intervals ................. up to Mk3 ( incl ) it has been quoted at 63k and / or 10 year intervals and Mk4 onwards 100k miles and 10 years. The USA forum quotes 100k miles for all Ls400s.......... same engines of course. Destruction point of a cam belt has been said to be 150k miles + ........... the waterpump is more likely to fail before a cambelt ! The Ls430 might well be 100k miles and 10 years Malc

6000 revs doesn't equate to speed in this instance particularly, I just wanted to leave the little tailgating sod way behind me, approaching the A249 from a slip road ..... probably no more than 70mph but zipped to that speed in, it seemed, about ten nanoseconds................... , but guess it was a bit longer It felt immeasurably good and exhilarating, my g/f thought we were about to take off into flight ! I think the car enjoyed too . in PWR mode, my usual day to day driving, makes the car feel more responsive and somewhere I read ( and can confirm ) it doesn't consume any more fuel for it either. Malc

aha .... but today the Volvo 121's the Amazon ? is a really sought after and collectable and comparatively valuable car !! Malc

Maybe I shouldn't be saying this right now BUT I would always be suspect of an MOT Advisory on rust ........... my Mazda 323f now 20 yrs old, is on it's 2nd year of rust advisory, several paragraphs; they cover themselves, the MOT tester discusses his views ( coz that is all they are with Advisories ) with my indy and there is bugger all real rust to worry about atm BUT the Tester is obliged to cover himself .. when in 2 or more years time, when the MOT tester thinks there might be a real need to do summat about it, it's likely to be a simple and very contained floorpan plate welding job ... maybe an hour or so each side in the front, the biggest job will be not buggering up the carpets too much to lift them to plate the floors. I would treat Lexus Ls400 MOT Advisories as just that, maybe absolutely nowt to really be concerned about for years to come ( fingers xd ) Malc

....... was the original target audience USA based I wonder ?

...... end user was obviously going to be me ........... on my 3rd now and enjoyed every single mile of my Ls400 motoring ..... and still proud to be driving what is to me, the very best car on the road :outforcount: Malc

I'm thinking that even an average car wouldn't probably take a huge amount of money to get to better than average and might be worth buying at some time ........ if heaven forbid I was to prematurely lose my Mk3 for some reason or other. I guess it's all a question of having a really good indy who wouldn't rip one off. Malc

I think somewhere there's a way to check with the DVLA on numbers on the road and SORN'd too. Malc

.............. and I popped it to 6000 revs today ...................... a boy racer was trying to tailgate me and succeeded in annoying me sooooo much Malc

makes me proud to own such a beautiful car Malc

Oh well, don't forget the USA has very little history for him to see .............. it's cultural, and we should do all we can to help the world in that regard ......... not forgetting that we probably caused his family some severe grief when we tried to colonise Kenya from whence his grandfather came........... and probably caused his family immense suffering and for which we may yet get a bill from USA descendants from Kenya ................... I wonder !! Malc

Andy, if it's Lexus serviced it will probably be on their central computer and they might be happy to provide you with the printout service history to confirm...... but I guess it's not too current ! Mine has H R Owen numberplates, provided when it was put on a private plate by a prior owner sometime. Malc

quietly and unostentatiously concur Malc

I would take the least expensive option ! btw.........., booted it to 6000 revs today ......... felt really good :outforcount: Malc

I'm sure that more learned persons will come along to advise BUT I do understand from comments here that your's is not at all an uncommon problem and the price you have been quoted doesn't look unreasonable. The Ls400s rarely suffered the same problems and if they did the repair was a small fraction of the Ls430 repair cost. Bad news never comes cheap sadly. Malc

OMG that sounds horrendous, who'd have thought such an excellent car would be so expensively temperamental. Hope they didn't charge you for the diagnostics check ! Malc

The Ls430 door rust issues are not uncommon ...... have read on these forums that Lexus will repair/replace the door under the 12 year warranty. My Ls400, 19 years old now, showing two slight spots on the drivers door middle, where the trim is, guess it's those damned tin mice having a go .... no other car would have so little rust after 19 years eh ! Am I worried, not one jot. ............. the car's super .................. Malc

............. the need to wiggle the ignition key in the switch was also a bugger of a feature with my Mk3 for a while ..... then like all good Lexii, the problem resolved itself ( fingers xd ) BUT this is not a problem only to Ls400s, my indy chap told me it was a feature on other cars too from time to time. Malc

I used to live on the seafront at Littlestone ........ just along from there Malc

........ quite agree, the very best coffee service too ....... and it's only a few £00's a cup .................... and they also wash your car someone told me Nonetheless, it's quality marketing and customer service ( generally ) ... and my only limited personal experience of Lexus main dealer was to buy replacement wiper rubbers and battery ........... excellent coffee tho' and quality newspapers .......... and very expensive wiper rubbers ( and normal price Mk3 battery ) BUT they do seem to last several times the life of other non Lexus / Toyota branded parts ...... all in all, a quality experience. Malc

Excellent ;) result ...................

............ just heard from SMA, the car didn't sell outright on the block, sold privately after a provisional bid, selling price agreed between vendor and eventual buyer, therefore sale price private and not revealed ! Malc

just to be nosey I've emailed SMA thru their website asking for the hammer price achieved ! Malc

Depends who you bought it off ........... . if it was a car dealer / trader then go back to him under the Trade Descriptions Act and get some recompense ...... he will be legally obliged. Malc

Docp ............... the tyre life is impossible and the keys could be a major issue and the car's just tooooooo expensive methinks. Malc