glawrie

It is the same car - like you I got someone else to look at damper that was said to be leaking and they said it was OK - so didn't fix at time. Got four more years from them 🙂 but this time I can't dodge the task. 7zap looks like it uses same data as japan-parts, but nice interface 👍

Thanks Farqui - yes report on dampers is from an independent MOT shop, so don't doubt. My experience with Lexus dealers has been poor. Prior to hitting the mileage limit for warranty cover I used our local dealer for servicing, but they were not so honest in reporting how to fix issues (and in requesting to do repairs for non-existing issues) so for a few years now I've had independents work on the car. I am asking around for quotes - but first one I got back (from a Lexus dealer) was £1600 to change all four dampers... which seems absurdly expensive. NipponAutoSpares don't appear to have the dampers for sale any more, but found excellent parts identification database complete with diagrams at japan-parts.eu and pretty good prices from LexusPartsNow (at least compared to UK based sources). But would prefer simply to repair the ones I have got... but perhaps that is not possible.

Thanks for the info. Just had MOT fail with three dampers needing replacing (both front, one rear): seems the best I can do for new replacements is to order from US (about £700 for the three), and none apparently in breakers right now. So trying to work out if there is another way of sorting. I'm not greatly experienced at cars, but on motorbikes there are quite a few specialist shops that strip / repair dampers, so wondering if similar exist for cars.

Helpful - thanks. Defo only got one 12V battery... Trying to work out what suspension dampers are needed: parts lists have two for each wheel depending on whether APSSS is fitted. In passing - for motorcycles it is common practice to rebuild shock absorbers, but this seems not to happen for car ones. Is it possible to refurbish / rebuild the shocks on the GS?

Hopefully this is a very simple question to answer... I have a 2007 GS450h SE. How do I tell if it has APSSS fitted? Thx!

Hi John, Helpful link - I'll go exploring :D G.

John / FozzyF - thanks for the extra info. I imagine you are right about parts of various types all being sufficiently similar to work on my GS450h: my first car was a SAAB99 and that had many parts that 'overlapped' with other models (e.g. you could fit points from a Ford Fiesta) that sold for a fraction of the SAAB price - but the trick is knowing what matched what. Given the very strongly links that exist between older Lexus and Toyota models, I am sure that there are equivalences which could be exploited. However, given how hard I have found it to find out the part number of the correct suspension for my car, I imagine the only way I'd find out what Camry part to use etc. would be through experts such as you two sharing the info... which is one of the values of forums like this one I think.

I actually tried KYB first - but didn't find anything. Doesn't mean there is nothing to find, just maybe I'm not so good at looking. However - I did find this site - http://www.japan-parts.eu/ - which allows VIN lookup for Lexus, and then gives diagrams of subsystems from which you can get part numbers. So I got the numbers for my front suspension, and then looked these numbers up on a US parts supplier - http://www.lexuspartsnow.com/ - and found them. According to the http://www.lexuspartsnow.com/ site the parts have been succeeded by new parts, but either way they can supply the old or the updated parts. The two replacement parts (excluding shipping / import duties) will cost in total a shade under $400 (i.e. £260 or so) - which is astonishing compared to the Lexus 'standard UK' price of £311 each. Even allowing for costly shipping and duties, looks like the US route is massively cheaper than buying same parts in UK. However, if it is possible to get existing shocks refurbished, that would be even better value solution I think. So do post results of your trip to suspension shop tomorrow - will be very interested to hear how you get on.

Hi I tried that, but the US parts supplier wrote back saying that they were unable to look up part numbers for vehicles with 'European VINs' - not sure what that means, but is there some other way to find out if a part will fit? Thx. G.

Hi I've got a 2006 GS450h SE that's done about 100K. Got an advisory on one of the front shocks leaking. Lexus want £500 to put in a new one - but that'll be just the one shock and elsewhere here advice is to replace shocks in pairs - so £1000 for the front pair. I've tried to find alternative suppliers for the parts (which list at £315 from Lexus direct) - but seems very hard to find anyone in UK that supplies OEM or equivalent parts. There are several in the USA that offer apparently similar parts for much less (e.g. here), but model differences mean there was no GS450h offered in USA in 2006, so that part is for 2007 US spec GS450h SE. Alternatively, I've found a breaker in UK that offers pair from 2006 Lexus SE for £60. I'm sure I'm not first person to want to replace shocks on this car, but little about options in the forum threads. Anyone got any guidance on whether the 48520-80176 part would fit my GS450h SE, and / or knowledge of best options for sourcing replacement shock for the car in the UK? Thanks a lot for any help you can give!

I've been using Dunlop SP Sport Maxx RT 245/40 R18 Y (97) on my 57 plate 450h. I think they are very good. They get a "C" for fuel efficiency, an "A" for wet weather breaking and "68db" for noise: which at the time I got them was the best combination of any of the major brands. They are particularly quiet compared to the Pirelli Zeros that were on before, and were reasonably priced too. HTH