mikeyv

Be careful. A starter motor that sticks on can catch fire, I remember an episode of The Garage, where a BMW did exactly that with expensive consequences.

I think Transporter has some good points, in fairness. Modern cars are unnecessarily complicated imo. Things I could happily live without Rain sensing wipers - I'd rather make my own judgement thanks, and they seem to often go wrong anyway. Lights that turn themselves on at dusk - see previous point. Self dipping mirrors. Built in sat nav that costs a bomb at manufacturers prices, and will need updating at a higher cost than a new complete up to date system from tom tom etc. Anything that takes control of braking or steering from the driver - the potential for disaster in the case of electrical failure is surely obvious to all. I'm thinking in particular of bread and butter cars, the type bought by ordinary motorists, as opposed to luxury cars. The point about fuel consumption is a good one too, we pay thousands in the cost of the latest fuel saving ideas, plus thousands more to change to latest models in depreciation, just to save hundreds on fuel. Lastly, from a green point of view, perfectly good cars will be scrapped, purely because of complicated systems being uneconomical to repair, especially where your only option is a main dealer.

NSU Quickly (moped with pedals for hills) BSA C15 (motorbike) 66 Ford Anglia Super 58 Ford 100E 71 Ford Escort (first new car £800 on road) 60 Vauxhall Victor FB estate 59 Frogeye Sprite 66 Ford Anglia 72 Hillman Hunter 73 MGB roadster 74 MGB roadster 73 Vauxhall Viva HC 73 Ford Capri 3.0 GXL 74 Hillman Hunter GLS Holbay 79 Fiat 127 (second and last brand new car) 63 Morris Minor 61 Morris Minor 73 Triumph Dolomite Sprint 77 Ford Cortina 2.0 GXL 78 Ford Granada 3.0 GXL 75 Triumph 2.5 PI 78 Hillman Hunter 79 Hillman Hunter 80 Hillman Avenger 80 Datsun 280C estate 79 Toyota Cressida estate 79 Datsun Laurel 73 Morris Marina 75 Morris Marina 77 Fiat 127 78 Toyota Crown 81 Morris Ital 82 Datsun/Nissan? Laurel 2.4 Five boring fiestas as driving school cars - years and models escape me. 86 Toyota Camry 90 Toyota Townace 91 Ford Sierra 97 Toyota Avensis 02 Toyota Yaris diesel 96 Honda Accord 97 Honda Accord coupe 94 Honda Accord Aerodeck(est) 04 Honda Civic TypeR 95 Nissan 100NX 98 Honda Accord Aerodeck 02 Fiat coachbuilt motorhome 04 Honda Accord tourer 07 Peugeot coachbuilt motorhome 02 Mazda MX5 03 Toyota Hiace campervan 99 Lexus LS400 Plus quite a few cars bought to sell or scrap for parts, that I never really counted as mine.

I feel like a fish out of water too, and I was born here 62 years ago, but that's another subject. Interesting to hear your thoughts on Oz being more ripped off than us, I'd always assumed it was the other way round. You're right about the tight parking spaces too, though I'm used to trying to squeeze a motorhome in, so the Lexus comes as a bit of a relief for me. Anyway, welcome to what's left of Great Britain.

Mike - yes i'm in same boat as you , just bought an LS on understanding that i would convert it to run on gas to justify the running cost. I would be interested in a 'group buy/discount' maybe Steve or Colin will comment as to whether we could try and set something up. Hi Keith, I rang a few converters, but the best I could muster was a free tank of gas, which I got when I converted with mint lpg anyway. Mint lpg is local to me, which is a good thing, as I've had to go back twice with minor teething problems. Not a big problem, but would have been a real pain if I was miles away, and would certainly have negated any small discount I may have got by travelling to get converted. Stay local would be my advice.

Thanks Keith - that does sound tempting. Annoyingly though I'm not ready to proceed yet. My wife has convinced me to hang on until probably around november (we're expecting a baby in a few weeks!). Also thinking that £1500 should be my maximum budget too really as I'm going to need to get a smaller car as well for my wife who definitely doesn't fancy driving the Lexus! I currently have an 03 Subaru Forester which I am hoping should fetch a bit more money in the winter than it would do now which is another reason to hold off. Thanks. Don't fall for that one - my wife didn't fancy an auto, thought it would be too big, blah, blah, blah. You should see her now, perched on the drivers seat, sunroof open, chick music on the stereo, like the cat that got the cream. They're a devious bunch, women.

Well done, my fingertips feel sore just looking at that first pic, love what you've done with the wheels too.

Listing was ended yesterday, so somebody has got a nice new motor.

Hi Mark, I don't think there are that many owners on here, it's a fairly rare car after all, so you might not be snowed under with replies. Welcome anyway.

Looks a beauty. The best Of the LS's Nice colour. Lots of history. I know a lot of people will say its to much money but its a good start to negotiate from. What other car can you buy with renown build quality and such long lasting components can you get for under £2500? Mike. Absolutely. I posted it because there was somebody looking for a car recently on here, but I can't remember his name, so hopefully he might see this thread.

It's not just car parts, many well known names have gone, only to reappear on cheap crap that's just been rebadged. So you see a name you know and trust, and end up buying junk from the far east. Bush, for example, were top quality electrical goods when I was a kid, now they are always the cheapest you can buy on tv etc. I suppose all we can do is research as much as possible before splashing the cash, then cross everything.

New on ebay, looks a very nice car to me, and well priced for a dealer. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280911573826&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

Thats the firm I used, I just checked my ebay account and it was 2008, so a good sign that they are still about. Here's a link to what you need Mike. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALLOY-WHEEL-COURIER-FOR-ALL-17-LEXUS-ALLOY-WHEELS-/370478731954?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item564240d2b2#ht_1692wt_922

I posted on that thread, and since then, bought from Opie Oils, and fitted, Ferodo premium front pads for my Toyota HIace campervan. As expected, perfect performance from a braking and no noise point of view. I'll certainly be happy to fit these pads to my car when needed.

Search for wheel couriers on ebay, that's what I did when I wanted four Accord estate alloys with tyres collecting. That was a couple of years back, they arrived unwrapped with just a label on each wheel at a cost of just under 30 quid IIRC.

Sounds like an awful lot of aggro, with the possibility of a lot of money leaving your wallet, especially if you go lthe legal route and don't succeed. If the car is fit to drive through an auction, I'd be inclined to get rid, and cut my losses, then move on to a more reliable model. Your problems could be over within days.

A set of wheels like these sold for 30 quid last week, they were usual lexus condition but supposedly with decent tyres. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-LS400-ALLOYS-AND-TYRES-/120929841673?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Rims_Car_Wheels_ET&hash=item1c27faf209#ht_500wt_1182 These look to have only one decent tyre in the pics, and two different style centre caps

Very nice mate, classy and not over the top.

I love the sound of a burbly exhaust, as long as it belongs to somebody else. From a sound point of view, I preferred induction kits - no noise unless you're booting it, though I'm not sure that most kits increase performance.

If you put "cars with cvt" in google, wikepedia lists a lot, including Toyotas and one Lexus, an HS, which seems to be non UK model.

Shell and Esso are same price range as Tesco, asda, and Morrisons round here. I get three emails a week from petrolprices.com, and there's never more than a penny a litre between them, and they seem to take it in turns to be cheapest. I just fill up wherever is convenient at the time, with no noticeable difference in performance, or reliability.

Ring Lexus, they will probably have updated their recommendation since 1995. I wouldn't panic though, when was the last time you heard of an ls400 going bang, and I'm sure many will have had "wrong" oil put in, and many again will have gone without regular oil changes.

Its odd you say that. I have bid over the odds before on some smaller things & won but the price went back down to 'just' above the other bidders when I won, I was thinking about those things when I bid on the LS, but, it did not go back down this time, there is a POSSIBILITY that whilst I was making that bid and could see nothing but the process of my making my bid someone else came close, I dont know. Does it also depend on what bidding increments apply possibly? Might be 50p for example on small items, but £50 on something like a car, so if best bid was £1200, ebay would take £1250 from you rather than £1201, but then would they not allow a bid from you if you had 1249 as best bid? I've given myself a headache now, time for a lie down.

£1200 all in, including full tank of gas at Mintlpg, Newport. I'd check online for yourself though, as prices are far from stable with various seasonal offers available from different converters.

Just looking on petrol prices.com, and there are two motorway services near us doing reasonably priced lpg - might be of interest to anybody passing near Cardiff or Bristol on M4/M5. M5 Gordano services, J19 M5 68.9p/litre M4 Cardiff gate services, J30 M4 69.9/litre. Not bad compared to the premium you pay for petrol/derv at these places, not to mention curled up sandwiches.