alphacat

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 maintainence schedule for Lexus indicates a change only on mileage (100,000 miles) and not on any time frame.,

I wouldnot have run flats. Dont like them at all. I do have an out of date container of gunk and the lexus air pump but i have been told its hardly likley to get you far. So i rely on breakdown cover. Its probably going to be required in any case. So why not just rely on it for punctures that rarely ever happen ?

You can buy a gadget that fits in the center consul and plugs into the 12v that will send your i pod tunes onto your FM radio. (you choose which channel) It costs about £20 and works well it has a seperat remote if needed. Someone stole mine when it was in a garage after i hit a flood and drove into a pig farm through a hedge !!

Electrical problems really can be difficult to diagnose. Is there any history ? It certainly seems like the battery is draining so some sort of earth could be the cause. this could explain other electrical equipment operating like the ariel. Has anyone fitted an accessory for instance ?? Past damage etc??

I dont think the SC430 ride is 'floaty' at all. Its certainly not firm. Its not meant to be. For a start its not a track car its along distance cruiser. I have never had a more comfortable car over distances and I have had some good cars. many people (including my son) miss the point completely. Its quiet, its comfortable its fast (even he admits that adn couldnt pull away from me in his 335 i which is chipped to 340bhp). The ride is excellent but the raod holding wont match a mini or many other small cars made to go roaund corners. To do that it would have to be harder and that would spoilt it. In fact the suspension sorts out the handling but for those who are used to a hard sports car feel its a little disconcerting and few ever have the confidence to drive it like it can be driven. The aluminium parts certainly lower the CofG but if the boot is full of roof the weight is too far back to drive it like a sports car. Overtaking on motorways is very satisfying and it feels much faster than the 280bhp says it should be.trouble is you dont notice it. I love it.

.Its the type of parking brake it is and its better to refer to it as a 'parking' brake rather than its mode of operation which is irrelevent. In fact its very safe for doing what its designed to do. ie Apply a permenant brake to the wheels when the car is stopped. Unlike some cars braking effects on the 430SC also come from the gearbox so putting it in 'P' also provides some measure of temporary braking.

I play my MP3 through the FM radio channel. I have a little unit that pugs into the 12v socket under the armrest and it has an SD card with loads of my MP3s on and it takes a USB card as well. Its is set to Channel 5 of the FM radio. Great no problem, can play all my collection. I bought it of Amaxon for about £12. Just look in amazon for Car MP3 FM transmitter.They range from about £12 to around £40. Full range of car mats for the 430SC from www.simplycarmats.co.uk full range of colours and it can have Lettering of your choice. havent bought mine yet so cant comment on quality but they have a range of different thickness mats each with a colour availbility.

Its quit an intresting post for two reasons: 1. If someone drives with the roof up when its a cold night surely they should find the best heating settings for them by experiment. its just a matter of using the climate control without aircon ON. 2. It often amuses me to see (and yes its usually Merc owners) who drive whatever the weather with the roof down. it just cant be comfortable so it must be image. I can understand it as with some soft tops the car looks crapand tatty with the roof down. But with the 430Sc it looks great with the roof in any position. If its cold its roof up for me, quiter more efficient and more comfortable.

I have a 2005 (6) 430 SC and an 8 year old daughter. with my wife in the front passenger seat my daughter who is tall for her age has loads of room in the back and is quite happy. She loves it with the roof down. I can understand some drivers with long legs who have the seat well back, find it limits the use of the rear seat behind the driver but for me its no problem On top of that I went to the airport (on my own) with two large bags and with the roof up they fitted in the boot no problem I thought one may have had to go on the back seast but it was fine. Great car much more flexible and useable thatn many seem to suggest.

Yes they can save expensive trips to the garage. Just a comment on my 430 Sc two weeks later and the cars fine lights havent come on again. I talked to a friend who is going to service the car in a few weeks time. Top well qualified automotive engineer with his own buisness. He said it probably one of the pre heat wires in the sensor on the indicated bank. The real fault only exists on start up as soon as the engine is running its not there nor is it there when the engine is warm. In short I can run the car and keep resetting it if it comes back. Otherwise if its too regular he will change the sensor next service. Sounds logical to me and it shows the sort of faults that send many rushing to a rip of visit to a Lexus Dealer.

Hello Phillip Good idea. My car is going in to get some body work issues sorted soon. Previous owner just didnt look after it and I want to keep it looking good. I live in Malton

Was that aimed at me ??

And poisonous spiders too. etc etc

More on this. After a two week stay in an airport car park my 'ECL' and 'VSg' and 'VSG Off' flights came on again. I checked with my OBD ( code reader) it said P0031 again. which is something like H20 Bank 1 low temp. i tried to reset it with the code reader but it didt work. Continued to drive the car as nothing wrong I managed 30 mpg back from the airport and no loss of power. Next day tried to reset it again . No success. As it said 'Low temp' on Sunday (two days later) I warmed it up drove for a while till the engine was hot. Tried to reset it again. Now there is no warning light and no problem indicated. I am sure it will come on again when the car is started from cold at sometime but its not a big issue. I will get it sorted eventualy but really its no panic. First stop a very expereinecd automotive engineer i know and see what he says. More later.

Not that intrested in Lexus as a marque just people who buy something like a 430SC must have something in common. Lets face it. Its not about loyalty to a particular brand of cars. Its about owning a quite unique car that has very few owners in the UK. Not saying Lexus is not a marque worth shouting about. Just that meetings should be about something in common. I personally cant understand anyone wanting a big slow car for instance. I appreciate their preference i just dont share it. A meeting of 430SC owners would be one for those who like to drive with the top down if possible as well as like a big V8 and who like the advantages of quality sound and great driver comforts. SC 520 ?? tell me more !!!!!!

There would have been a code, your reader just couldn't obtain it there are code readers and there are good ones that actually give you the correct codes. In my experience the cheap handheld ones aren't that good unless guaranteed to work with Toyota/Lexus and can read the manufacturer specific codes. Readers that hook up to a computer, even the cheap elm327 ones, normally do better as the power and intelligence is in the software running on the PC, of which there are many programs to choose from. Yes thats right but my point was, buying one of the cheap ones is a good bet because many ECL warnings can be spurious. I cant see the point of paying for an expensive code reader because even these are not model specific. The good thing about the one I indicate is that it allows you to erase the warning light. My warning hasnt repeared. without the code reader i would have had to take the car to a garage. They will find something to charge you for. My Jag ECL light seems to stay of for ages and over time I belive the problem is probably a vacum leak..... I wont be worying about the code until the car itself shows syptoms Neither have done that.

On the Issue of ECL (Engine Check Lights) ..... These can be a pain on many cars. I have a Jaguar that is constantly coming up with a ECL warning(These problems are related to emmision controls). but no one can find anything wrong with it. One auto electrician supposedly knew what he was doing and changed both O2 censors but within 100 miles or so the light was back on. It cost me £180. Now I will make clear the car had no symptoms. No lack of power no excess fuel use nothing. In the end I bought a simple Code reader from Amazon U480 CAN-Bus OBDII OBD2 EOBD Trouble Code Read Diagnose Tester Diagnostic Scanner It cost about £18 . Still available. I checked the Jag and it came up with two codes . One Fault and one pending. Didn't know what that means and the Code (P1000) wasn't identifiable., The U480 has a facility for resetting the cars system (it puts the ECL off). To cut short I have been running the Jag now for two years resetting the ECL occasionally. No problems it passes inspections and MOTs and I have a very reliable well qualified and experienced Auto engineer (used to be in charge of a major rally teams engineering). He says there is no problem with the car just the ECU warning. In short a fault with the warning light. After a number 'cycles' it shows a warning for no reason. A 'cycle' is one start warm up and shut down' of the engine !! Or something like that. It can happen if the car is stalled sometimes. . With the U480 I can run the car and not worry about spurious warning lights. If there is a real fault it will be triggered as soon as you drive the car so its not in any way dangerous. The OBD system will only cancel the light on its own if there has been no pending fault (a fault that is maturing) in 3 cycles or no faults identified for 40 cycles. Now to the 430SC. about 5 days ago I started up the engine to drive home and I got the ECL warning. Along with this was the VSC and VSC OFF lights. Drove the car home an noticed nothing wrong. I am not sure if the VSC was actually off but it may have been. I used the U480 code reader and it showed no real code just asked if I wanted to erase the warning and I did. Car has been fine ever since with no warning lights no symptoms its as good as ever. The U480 has a multi pin socket just under the dash drivers side. The device just plugs into it then you switch on the ignition dont need to start the car. it runs through some checks then you press enter only an enter and a search button to worry about its that simple. In short my advice is. Get one of these Code readers. If you dont have one you could well be taking your car to the garage for a fault that doesn't exist and you bet your life they will find some excuse to make you pay for the privilege. My son has had the same sort of problems solved on two of his cars a BMW and a Subaru over a few years and he advised me to get one of these code readers a while ago. I first borrowed his for my Jag. Must have saved me £££s Well worth investing £19 in.

The service technician isnt able to give that information. No one is. if its out of date and anything went wrong he would be liable if he said it was OK. Most of us know these dates are usually arbitary and have large 'profit' component built into them. They would usually be Ok. However I think the advice about not worrying to much is very reasonable. Make sure you have good breakdown cover (some are not worth the paper they are writen on). If you really want to provide a kit that inflates and seals they can be bought from most car component shops like Halfords for about £25 but I have heard some reports that they are not very reliable. My kit is also out of date but I am resigned to making sure I get some use uot of my breakdown cover should I get a puncture. Although I have toyed with the idea of getting a get you home wheel and tyre (many SC430 users in the US do this) They get a cover and If you need the boot , as said it takes up alot of the room available ' if ' the roof is down, it can be placed behind one of the front seats. Luckily in my family we are not very tall so its an option.!!

Trekking could be part of the fun!!! On the right day.. I am sure it would take awhile to build up interest. But these cars do sell quite well. Hope you consider such a meet a possibility. regards Peter

Yes they are just the job for a run in the good weather. Bit back heavy with the roof down but............ Good thing is with the Uk weather its only 25 seconds away from having a very nice coupe..... Cant beat it... Glad your enjoying it..

I am sure thats agood point. But I wasnt worried about numbers. Opening up to other Lexus models would miss the point I think. I like being rare !!! for me thats part of owning one. if it was more popular it would be a bit boring. Take your point though..

It seems to me the Club meet section is well out of date:: Not only that but by mixing with all the other focus groups its a little hard to navigate to and keep up todate. Grouping things together isnt alwasy helpful. I understand there are now only about 2400 lexus 430SCs registered (could be wrong about that) its not many. I am not interested in other models or other brands. Those of us that own the 430SC know its problems and understand its advantages. I wonder if like me we could do a meet sometime and discuss our experiences drive our cars on worthwhile roads etc. I live in Malton North Yorkshire we have very attractive accommodation at reasonable prices (and even some night life) and within a mile or so we have some of the best roads an scenery that make owning a 430SC (roof down or up) absolutely fantastic. I am not a business owner nor do I have any commercial interest in such a meet. But we get lots of car specialist groups through here for very good reasons. MGs Subaru's (of all things) Classic cars of all descriptions but Lexus 430SCs ?? Never. Anyone interested.???

Just add to my last. drove my 430SC (6) from Surrey to Yorkshire recently on supermarket fuel. Morrison's on start and Tesco's on the way back. motor way speeds lots of overtaking an 30mpg. Thats just excellent. for 4.3 V8. I wont Use anything else if I can get it. never have never will pay for over priced fuel. Those that do dont know anything about engines or fuel and even less about marketing fuel. Alpha, Audi, Lexus, Ford or Rolls Royce they all obey the same engineering principles. People who sell fuel have to follow them. They wouldnt last long if they didn't. Its not rocket science but it is science and therefore it is predictable. Only car dealers make up this crap and we should be informed about them, it seems to me 'hondansxr' is one of them. What he knows about cars isnt really worth knowing. His views on fuel are in fact laughable

My Nov 2005 (2006 model) has rear parking sensors and they work fine.. never woud have bothered if they werent allready fitted. But i now rely on them without looking.

I have included some of my experince on this in my posts on the 'How many Owners' thread. Also my general comments on the update..