alphacat

The easiest way to increase mileage is to drive further.... Its not rocket science..... What some may want to do is increase the miles they get for each litre of fuel. In that case they need to drive slower or take some weight of the car. Or don't accelerate so hard. Increasing 'mileage' isn't a problem or even something people would aspire to. Get it ? I find those who go on about MPG to be incredibly boring. Buy a diesel, don't overtake, leave the kids at home, act like your brain dead whatever. I have a 430sc and it will do 30 mpg. What more do you want ???

Yes mine is black.. looks great after a polish but when washing you have to very very careful and not let it dry in anyway before rinsing. washing on a hot day is pointless unless your going to add polish. That's what I have found . I agree too that some car washes are a lot better than others. Cheap ones don't do the job at all.

I agree sound advice...

I have had mine for a year now and I never knew that !!! Cant wait to try it.. Thanks.

Mine did drain when it was driven home after being in a garage getting repaired for 3 weeks (unexpected trip into a very deep muddy pig field after hitting a river on the road) got it home fine but wouldn't start next day. Just topped the battery up with a trickle charger overnight.. Its been fine since.... I often leave it in the garage for long periods as I don't use it every day and have another car (Jag with 4 wheel drive) that gets used most of the time.. I also left the 430 SC in a car park at LHR for nearly two weeks a few weeks ago and it was fine on return. I do think there is a lot of load on the battery I think the 430n has as much BHP in electric motors etc than it has for the road (slight exaggeration) so its best not to leave it for weeks and weeks and to make sure auxiliaries are off when parked etc. Loved the bit about using a solar panel on the dash.... Bit optimistic I would have thought if there really was a problem.

Thanks for the tip..

When you look at all the sad looking euro boxes around isn't it refreshing to see something like the 430SC ? I think so.

I have done that on mine driving from North Yorkshire Down to LHR..and return...(Standard 430SC with 60000 miles on the clock) and also on one trip down to Guildford and back.. On one trip to Guildford I started off an it was foggy for the first 120 miles or so This kept my average speed down and I got 31 mpg overall.. I was very surprised and that was from filling the tank not just looking at the instruments. The other trip was good weather and early mornings with little traffic going to LHR I managed 29.4 mpg and I was flying !! Its a great car.. At the speeds I was doing my sons BMW 335 only managed 34.8 mpg and that's a diesel. !!!

I just looked in may garage.... There is one in there..... Black with ivory leather.... I drove it inbto a pig farm a few months ago after hitting a flood on the road so everything but the roof has been re sprayed.. Looks like new..

Interesting fuel figures I admit its a considerable improvement and 127k is a lot of miles. But I see no reason why it should slowly increase if Terracleaning works surely it should at best straight after the process? But I suppose it would take some time to be sure of the figures unless fuel consumption is taken from full tank to full tank. Also the figure your achieving for around town (urban driving ) in a Mk1 SC430 is 10mpg better than the manufacturers claim for a new car (16.4mpg) even the mixed driving is claimed to be 23.5 mpg and your beating that by 3.1mpg.. If Terracleaning makes the car better than when new its nothing short of miraculous!! That's why I am sceptical. Well that and having looked inside many engines that have done considerable miles and knowing they don't accumulate much carbon these a days..

I have never heard those tales as most of the cars that have them originally were Mercs and Lexus. I know a lot of cheaper models now have them so maybe its those. Mine works like a dream and is very easy to care for.

There are some on e-bay at about £10 each. Lexus spares are nearer £80 each !!

I read in the paper that the recall of many Japanese cars (and some European ones) includes 2001 to 2003 Lexus SC430s It seems the airbags if activated can cause some injury from splinters etc. Wasn't much detail in the paper. Mine is a 2005 (6) so I don't think its affected apparently it will be a mod done at the dealer free of charge. Anyone know more ?

As an engineer (not a car mechanic) with over 40 years experience of ICE (and others) I am always interested in these sort of processes.. In all truth I have never yet found one not in use or recommended by manufacturers that works.. It used to be years ago that all cars needed de carbonising after a certain time but those days have long past with fuel technology, materials technology and modern engine combustion methods. The old 'magnets' scam has long been debunked but there is always a new way for some to make money. I have read through the 'Terraclean' web site and its claims as well as its testimonials. I am not saying this procedure (whatever it is) does not produce any benefits but I do smell a whiff of what can only be called 'cognitive dissonance'. This works in such a way that if the price of having a car engine 'Terracleaned' doubled many of those paying for it would claim twice the benefits.. Some of the claims on the web site actually make the vehicles better than they were when new. !!!! How can 'decarbonising' do that? Personally I believe any initial benefits will be short lived at best mainly because modern car engines don't need it.. My SC430 (6) has now done 60000 miles and I am getting around the manufacturers claimed MPG on a long run in fact its much better than claimed and over 30 mpg is easily possible even at 'real' motorway speeds. I am more than happy with its performance. In fact it feels much more responsive than the 282 claimed bhp. In the past a simple way of getting rid of some carbon that did build up was to use a fuel additive directly into the carburettor (nowadays into the air intake) too much and you ran the risk of burning out valves as the engine had to be run at reasonable revs during the process. It put up cylinder temperatures and 'burned' off the carbon. I expect 'Terraclean' is a modern equivalent of that process. I wouldn't have it done because I cant see the need to do it.

Looks good in white but its on the wrong side of the road.!!

Its far too expensive. I just bought an ELM Easy OBD11 on Amazon for £14 it fits in the socket and you can leave it there. Communicates to my Android phone by bluetooth. The App is a called Torque and its free. You can get a full version but you dont really need it unless your fixing lots of cars. Gives fault codes and descriptions on screen. Can be used to give indications of acceleration an turbo boost pressures (active) if you have a turbo. Lost of other features too. It will cancel the Engine Warning Light (ECL) even when its running. There are lots of varieties. Mine came from Hong kong in 5 days !!

The £9000 is not far of the usual asking price. £8000 probabaly reasonable for one in good condition as you indicate. also the car will be in the lower tax bracket and to get one of them as a Mrk 2 (6 Speed Auto box) 430SC you have to go for one in late 2005. Getting one of the early models also results in the pre modified suspension. Some people actaully prefer that I understand. All in £9000 with a full Lexus warraunty from a Lexus dealer seems very fair.

I would agree with all of that. Would add if anyone has had an RX8 (i dont recommend it) switching the engine off before its hot is often a disaster.!!

Thats very silly advice (leaving it running for 10 minites) The thing to do is to start and drive if possible. In some EU countries it is illegal (belive it or not) to run the car idle without driving it on start up. This is because when cold engines use much much more fuel and driving under load will warm them up quicker and reduce emmisions considerably on start up. I am no fan of the Eu but I am a fan of people understanding the technology they use every day. Its silly waiting you shoul drive off immediataely but keep the revs down and do not accelerate hard until the engine is at normal temperatures. waiting for 5 or 10 minutes is just wasteful. Heat comes with work. Make it work it heats up quicker and reaches its operating temperature sooner. Result. Less wear less emmisions.

I know the VSC light and the VSC OFF light are linked to the OBD code for the emissions sensors on each engine bank.. I had the engine warning Light (ECL)come on and it was always followed by both VSC lights when the car moved. My friend is a very experienced automotive engineer (used to be on the Toyota WRC team) he does all my maintenance and found the code straight away changed one oxygen sensor and that was it car is fine. You need a code reading machine (they only cost about £20 max) You can even get a bluetooth transmitter and an App called Torque for your android and it will read the codes and cancel etc. Then if you have to take it to a garage you have some insight into what they have to do. That's always agood thing.

My son has had run flats on a Mini works and a Porche Boxter they were awful. he changed the Boxter even he admitted it was back breaking. I would think the 430 would be able to cope better with them?

The cam belt change is not 10 years. Its 100,000 miles that's what Lexus recommended but its not always what Lexus dealers will indicate. There is no reason whatsoever to change a cam belt after 10 years if it has done less than say 60,000 miles. They wear on use they dont deteriorate by standing still in these time frames. The maintenance schedule for Lexus indicates a change only on mileage (100,000 miles) and not on any time frame., Not sure about that. Is the SC timing belt made from some special material that doesn't deteriorate? My service book for my IS also says 100k no indication of time. But I asked Lexus and they said 10 years, change it, as it does deteriorate over time. If Lexus thought it deteriorated over time they would say 10 years or 100,000 miles. They dont do that. Only some Lexus dealers claim its a 10 year item. They need the business. Its a very heavy duty cam belt. Made to last 100000 miles if it sat in a garage for 10 years it would be as good as new. Everything deteriorates in time but one thing about modern man made materials is they are actually very difficult to get rid of. It wont under normal conditions deteriorate much at all in 10 years. Its just some dealers wanting to increase there turn over and they really shouldn't do it as Lexus dont think its required. I spent sometime looking into this as i was going to buy a 2003 model in fact I got very conflicting advice from dealers. But I do know some very well qualified and experienced automotive engineers and they all agree. If it was supposed to deteriorate without use in 10 years Lexus would advise changing it. As they dont do that 100000 miles is perfectly acceptable. In the end I bought a late 2005 (6 speed) with 50000 miles on. I wont be changing the belt in 2015. More like 2019 at the mileage I do. Cant see me changing the car. Some dealers want there bottom smacked.

Tow bar ?? What for? The very idea is like fitting a conservatory to an F1 car.

Like the car and the interior . I have a black and ivory 2005 (6) model but always liked the dark blue. Not sure about the wheels. They look a bit ..... but certainly better than the original disc type dinner plates. I will never know why they fitted them. Enjoy it, I am sure you will there is no better way to travel on a summers day and it doesnt get much worse with the roof up either. Then again if you liked a Ford St then you have come a long way.

Dont worry about i pod compatibility just buy a transmiiter from Amazon. It will fit in the centre consul plug into the 12 v socket and transmitt your SD MP£s card or i pod (USB) direct to a channel you can choose on the FM radio. Perfect sound and you only need to choose the channel.